NORWICH – Though it was only a simulation, the emergency training event that took place earlier this month prompted many in the community to wonder how long they could survive while their government was busy.
In a real emergency, individuals and families are advised to prepare to survive without governmental resources for at least 72 hours, say two local safety and survival specialists.
Robert H. Benton, Jr., owner/operator of TASIS Communications, a Sherburne-based emergency communications company, said access to a store for essentials like water, food, clothing, medicine, first aid supplies and batteries cannot be guaranteed during times of an emergency. Other essential items could be infant formula, medical prescriptions, spare gasoline and a generator.
“Many things will simply be unavailable during a time of an emergency, so people must be prepared to be on their own,” he said. Benton said people who were stranded in Bainbridge and Afton during Chenango County’s record-breaking flood in 2006 simply couldn’t be reached for a period of time. Many others had to wait longer for clean potable water, food and shelter.
The recent simulation event, coordinated by Benton, involved more than 70 emergency management officials responding to the Chenango County airport, Chenango Memorial Hospital and Kerry BioScience in Norwich. He regularly volunteers his time to address various groups and organizations who have made safety and survival a priority. His powerpoint presentation, available for free on the Internet, lists safety and survival items to stock in automobile, home and/or office kits.
Survival and Rescue Specialist Paul E. Marsters, also of Sherburne, said as society adopts new technologies, people begin to lose basic survival instincts. “Our forefathers had a great natural survival sense, but as technology increases our primitive natural instincts are buried deeper and deeper within us,” he writes in an article for Woods N Waters, a trade publication for outdoor enthusiasts.
Marsters, who also offers safety and survival training, said each individual is ultimately responsible for their personal or families’ survival during a catastrophe. Therefore, people should take courses throughout their lifetime that instruct, demonstrate, and re-enforce the basics of survival.
“The most important thing we can do as citizens, individuals and families is to prepare our most important survival tool: our brain,” he said.
Marsters highly recommends a map and compass course. “Knowing how to read a map and use a compass could be the difference between taking the shortest, fastest and safest route home and winding up where you don’t want to be or can get out of,” he said.
He also suggests having a fire arm for personal protection and obtaining primitive food when supplies run out. “Mastery of firearms safety and employment as necessary in a survival situation,” he said.
NRA certified instructor Tom Dibrittahand of Oxford offers a hand gun safety and responsible ownership course training. The next class is July 24 and 25. Call 607-244-1637 for details.
Benton said people who require medications should stock at least a three month supply at all times. That’s difficult, he admits, because most insurance companies cover the cost of only one month’s supply. “You really have to fight to get three month’s supply, or pay for it,” he said.
The following home-based emergency kit items are recommended:
• A three-day supply of food and water stored in a handy place. Choose foods that are easy to carry, nutritious and ready-to-eat.
• Medical supplies and first aid manual
• Hygiene supplies
• Portable radio, flashlights and extra batteries
• Shovel and other useful tools
• Household liquid bleach to treat drinking water
• Money and matches in a waterproof container
• Blanket and extra clothing
• Infant and small children's needs
• Fire extinguisher
• Manual can opener
If the electricity goes off, use perishable food and foods from the refrigerator first. Then, use the foods from the freezer. To minimize the number of times you open the freezer door, post a list of freezer contents on it. In a well-filled, well-insulated freezer, foods will usually still have ice crystals in their centers (meaning foods are safe to eat) for at least three days.
For more information and course availability, contact Benton at administration@tasis.org or by calling 674-6024. Contact Marsters at paul.marsters@sartac.us or by calling 413-530-2736.