Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Survival Basics - C is for Communication




During an emergency or crisis, one of your main priorities will be communication. You will want to know that all your family members are safe and out of harm's way. Likewise, they will want to know that you are OK also. Having a communication plan and basic gear enabling you to communicate with others in the event of a natural disaster or other crisis is a vital part of being prepared. Communication is a basic part of survival.





A simple whistle can be an effective part of your communication arsenal. It can easily signal your whereabouts to rescuers.





An emergency radio can keep you informed of important weather bulletins and alerts, even if the power is out.

A cell phone can be used to contact a friend or relative out of state if phone networks get tied up with inbound calls.

A simple notepad and a pen or pencil can be used to leave a message for others of where you are or where you are headed.

Always include communication gear and a plan for contacting and communicating with other family members and friends during an emergency or a crisis as a part of your preparedness efforts.

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

8 comments:

Bitmap said...

Don't forget the police scanner and knowledge of the frequencies in your area.

Anonymous said...

Great topic,and timely.I've heard a few thing's the past few day's that concerned us all.When MJ died,Google shut down for a few hour's,believing it was a hacker attack.Twitter went down.Some cell phone system's had problem's,and today I read that the gov't system had a hacker attack on the 4th.
Nothing will be totally reliable,depending on the type and scope of the crisis.The best situation would be a ham radio,but out of my budget now.If one were to bug out to the middle of nowhere,radio station's may be impossible to find,if the terrain allow's.A friend of mine that camp's a lot has one of those antique satellite cell phone's.Huge,but alway's work's anywhere!
Dean in Az

riverwalker said...

To: Bitmap

Excellent point! I have a scanner but failed to mention it in my post but thankfully I have great friends and readers who always let me know if I miss something. Thanks Bitmap!

RW

riverwalker said...

To: Dean in AZ

I would love to have a satellite phone but it's not in the old budget right now. Thanks Dean.

RW

Anonymous said...

No disrespect, but I wouldn't rely on cell phones. Once the cell tower repeaters go down your cell phone will be as useful as a hockey puck.

Get some good CB radios or 2-way hand-held radios. I recommend Motorola.

Snoop-Diggity-DANG-Dawg

riverwalker said...

To: Sn00p-Diggity-Dang-Dawg

CB's and handheld radios are good to have but their range can be limited but they still can be quite useful in an emergency. Cell towers may be down in some localized areas but will still be working in other areas where towers are still working. Youe best bet is to probably have several different options available. Thanks for bringing up the usefulness of the handheld radios in an emergency. Thanks.

RW

Home on the Range said...

Keep a regular phone line in your home. Yes many people are dumping those for "cell only" to save money but trust me on this one. Your cell may not work if there's a explosive type terror attack and cell service is disrupted to avoid another bomb being triggered by one.

riverwalker said...

To: Brigid

I actually have an old rotary dial phone as a land line that works even when the power goes down. I have a cordless phone but it doesn't work if the power is out. The phone company has back-up power units that keep the juice flowing when the grid goes down. You make an excellent point about the use of cell phones to possibly trigger devices. Thanks for the insight on this!

RW

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