Category: Kinds of Disasters

Surviving a Terrorist Attack? The threat of a terror attack continues to be a major concern and has proven that it’s a very real threat. You never know where or when one will strike. The most important thing that you need to do is to make sure you’re prepared so that you know how to survive one.

While preparation is key, it’s also important to know what to do as an act of self-defense right at the moment, because it can mean the difference between life and death. Sometimes you’re not caught with your gear at hand, so how do you handle a terror attack using a self-defense mindset?

Guide to Surviving a Terrorist Attack

The best thing you can do is stay aware of your surroundings. If you see someone suspicious, get out of the location. Notify authorities if you feel compelled to. Watch for unattended bags or boxes, and listen for people shouting before an attack so you can flee immediately.

Surviving a Terrorist Attack: an Explosion

When an explosion happens, it can be nerve-wracking. The sounds of the bomb, shattering glass, the rocking of buildings, and the screams of people can render you immobile.

But that’s the one thing you don’t want to be in an explosion – paralyzed by fear and confusion. When there’s an explosion, it’s the pressure of the object you’re hit with that can injure or kill you.

Projectiles and shrapnel fly through the air with rapid force. In the event of an explosion, the first thing you should do is take cover if you want to find yourself Surviving a Terrorist Attack – especially if the place you were in took the direct hit.

You don’t know if there’s going to be a second explosion where you are, and you might not be able to see through the dust and chaos to know whether or not the responsible party is waiting to pick off survivors.

Everyone’s instinct is to run from explosions but how you run away from the event does matter. Keep your head down and make tracks until you reach a place that’s going to offer you some protection.

If you’re inside a building that was weakened by an explosion, you must get out because the building could collapse. But don’t make the mistake of running right out in the open.

Keep yourself close to other buildings and stay down to make yourself less visible as a target. Head for another building if you can and look for the strongest point of the building.

If you can’t escape the building that you’re in, find the strongest point of the place that you’re in. You must keep calm and not panic if you want to survive. Panic after chaos works against people.

If you’re with a group of others, try to make sure everyone remains calm and works together. For those who are injured, set up a triage area to make sure they get help first. If you’re injured, take care of your injuries or get help. Group panic can hamper you Surviving a Terrorist Attack.

Your chances of surviving a chaotic explosion lessen if you pass out from injuries or loss of blood. Locate the exits if you’re inside a home or building so you’ll know how to get out when you’re ready.

If you can’t get out, once you get to a safe point in the building, do not go near the doors or any of the windows. If you’re inside an office building and there’s an explosion, the debris and fire could cause secondary injuries.

You’ll want to cover your mouth using whatever is handy so that you’re not breathing in that dust or anything that could have been associated with a biochemical attack. Once you’re in a safe place, remain undercover until you know for sure it’s okay to leave.

Surviving in the Middle of Gunfire

It only takes one hit from a bullet to a vulnerable spot of your body to end your life. Yet people have managed to survive horrific situations involving gunfire throughout history by following survival tips.

This isn’t new to any grade-school child in America. They have constant drills for “code black” constantly because sadly, there have been too many active shooter scenarios on their turf.

The second you hear gunshots, try to locate an escape route. Even if everything is confusing, try to take a second to know where the shooter or shooters are and go the opposite way.

Don’t assume that there’s only one person doing the attack. As you make your way toward an exit, don’t run away in a panic. Instead, go as quickly as you can, keep your head down, and stay out of sight as much as possible.

Trying to escape might mean not following the crowd of screaming people. When people are screaming and making a lot of noise, it lets the shooter or shooters know exactly where they are.

In the event that your escape routes are blocked, your next best bet is to find a place that you can hide and stay until the threat is over. Look for a place where you can get completely out of sight.

That might be a location such as a room you can lock, a janitorial closet, a bathroom, a break room, a walk-in refrigerator, or in an office. Once you get inside the room, you’ll want to block access to the door.

While you’re in the room, quietly add layers between you and the door. Keep your head down and lie flat on the floor. If it comes to a point where you must escape from a safe room and run, constantly be aware of your surroundings.

If you get cornered, fight back with whatever you have on hand such as a computer monitor, desk items, and anything else you can throw or beat the assailant with. For shooting cases in large public places such as a mall, use whatever you can reach to defend yourself if you have to.

Never make a move blindly. The shooter or shooters are actively searching for victims. If you run directly into his path, you could be next. If you can’t see where you’re going, don’t go that way.

If you barrel through a door without checking first, the shooter could be on the other side. When you’re in the middle of gunfire, don’t take the time to call anyone except emergency authorities.

You can’t think clearly when you have a sobbing loved one crying in your ear. Keep your phone off so it doesn’t distract you or call attention to your location. Save yourself and not your possessions.

You need your hands free. If you’ve been shopping, let go of your bags so you can run unencumbered and have your hands free to fight back if necessary. If the worst-case scenario occurs and you happen to end up in the shooter’s line of fire and you can’t fight back, then you must run.

To keep yourself from becoming an easy target, never do the expected – which is to run in a straight line. Run from side to side in a zig-zag line, and try to keep objects between you and the shooter. That is the easiest way to surviving a Terrorist Attack when there is a shooter.

Surviving a Dirty Bomb

Most people associate a dirty bomb as being the exact same thing with the same impact as a nuclear bomb, but they’re not the same. A dirty bomb can contain nuclear material but has a shorter blast range.

When a dirty bomb is chosen by a terrorist, the goal is to cause panic as well as kill, but the widespread devastation isn’t as big as a nuclear bomb. While the material inside can be radioactive, it can also be created with explosives like C-4 or dynamite.

The radioactive content isn’t usually what kills people with a dirty bomb – it’s the pressure per inch that’s caused by the explosion that maims or kills. The closer you are to the actual bomb, the more likely you are to sustain an injury or die.

In the event of a bombing, if you’re able to, you need to put as much distance between yourself and the explosion as possible. The more distance you put between you and the bomb, the more you lower your risk from radiation exposure.

Never run with a crowd. What happens with some dirty bombings is that terrorists want to strike a second time and they want to hurt as many people as possible. So the more people that you’re around, the higher your chances are of going through a second attack.

Leave the crowd behind and get away from the point of impact. Because terrorists are known to hide other explosives to create more fear and confusion after an initial bombing or to hurt responders, don’t go near any unattended bags, packages, or vehicles that are near where the bomb went off.

If you’re having to leave a building, be careful to watch for the sudden collapse of that building or ones nearby. Stay away from buildings that have been affected by the explosion so that you’re not hurt in the event of a secondary incident or by debris falling to the ground.

Keep going until you’re someplace safe before you worry about calling anyone – and that includes the authorities. If you stick around in the immediate area and try to call, you could make yourself a target.

Reconnect with your family and friends who were not at the shooting location at a different place by using your emergency plan to meet up. Facebook now has check-in measures for disasters so you can let everyone know you’re okay.

Surviving a Nuclear Bomb Attack

Surviving a Terrorist Attack that involves a nuclear bomb? I know – it seems like it would be impossible. I look back to my grade school “duck and cover” drills and think how they simply gave us the illusion of control – but would never have really helped us.

You can survive a nuclear bomb attack if you’re prepared and know how to react when one hits. A nuclear bomb doesn’t just kill a few hundred or a few thousand people. It can kill millions and wipe out entire cities.

The fallout from a nuclear bomb strike is what can continue to injure people. After a nuclear bomb strikes the damaging radioactivity from the bomb is spread beyond its point of impact and anyone within range of the fallout is subject to radiation poisoning or death.

The pressure wave from a nuclear blast can disrupt air transportation, radio waves, and communication abilities. It can level buildings and create fires from that destruction. The first thing you need to know is that certain areas are more at risk of experiencing a nuclear bomb attack than others.

Cities with a military presence are at greater risk. So are port cities. State capitols and anywhere important government buildings and infrastructure exist are at risk. Airfields and power plants are also high-risk areas to live near.

To survive a nuclear attack, there are three things you need to do. Run, shelter, and avoid. You must run to get away from any potential radioactive fallout. Find a safe building or structure and get inside of it.

But make sure this place is not within the range of the nuclear fallout. If you remain in a contamination zone, you’re at higher risk of not surviving the bomb after effects. Once you’re inside, remain sheltered there until it’s safe to leave again – which is when it’s considered safe from fallout radiation.

The closer you are to the bomb, the less likely it is that the area will be safe until many years have passed. Consider the Chernobyl disaster which occurred in 1986, yet, there are still areas where the government has closed it down and deemed it unlivable even after all these years.

If you come in contact with anything that was touched by the bomb such as building materials, debris, shrapnel, immediately take a shower. If you’ve prepared in advance and know a nuclear bomb went off nearby, get into your fallout room.

This should be a room with walls designed to prevent radioactive material from seeping through. Make sure your room is stocked with the survival supplies that you need such as food, water, medication, and first aid items – especially items needed to treat burns from the radiation if needed.

Never build a fallout room that’s near an outside wall. You’ll want your fallout room to be away from the outside walls. Seal off any vents, windows, and anything else that will allow material to seep in.

Avoid contamination. You’ll need to remain inside your shelter for a minimum of four days – but it may be longer, depending on your proximity to the blast site. Don’t allow anyone to come in if they’re contaminated.

Surviving a Biochemical Attack

Terrorists are always looking for ways to cause the most deaths possible. One of these ways is by striking with a biochemical attack. By using biochemicals, terrorists can slip under the radar until after the event occurs.

One of the ways that terrorists strike using this method is by attacking a major water system. Once the contaminant is introduced, it can travel widely and affect a great number of people before anyone realizes what’s wrong.

An entire city can be caught in the grip of this type of terror attack within just hours. They might target your water supply or some sort of food supply. It’s not simply the water supply system that’s vulnerable.

Anything that can be used to quickly spread a hazard, such as air vents, can be used. In the event of an attack, you need to make sure you stay away from highly populated businesses and avoid crowds.

That means don’t go to the mall, the grocery store, or anywhere there will be a lot of people – including public transportation such as the subway. Most people think fleeing is the right thing to do, but everyone is going to have the same idea.

The more people flee, the more the biochemical has a chance to spread. Immediately after an attack, make sure you’re sheltered in a safe place. Don’t use any water that comes from the public utility.

Instead, use the water that you’ve set aside in your survival stash that you’ve had for a while. This is why it’s important to plan ahead. Since water can be safely stored for years and you can’t survive without it, it’s wise to set aside a lot of it.

However, if a strike does happen, make sure you boil water that you use for any reason and that includes bathing. Listen to authorities to find out when they give the all-clear for any kind of terror attack. You should be ahead of the game for Surviving a Terrorist Attack.

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