Real Life Survival Scenarios You Should Practice

Preparing for a disaster or emergency situation is impossible without actually doing drills. I know it’s comfortable to buy stuff, but the thing that makes the difference is how you react to the disaster once it hits. Practicing the drills below on a regular basis will ensure your reaction times are spot-on.

Print them out, try them out and stay safe!

Natural Disaster Drills

Natural disasters wait for no one. When they come, it’s on their timetable and either you’re ready or you’re not.  Events under this category are things such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes.

What You Need for the Drill

You will need:

• Your emergency plan
• Your emergency packs
• Family Members
• Cell phones and other methods of communication like 2 way radios or handheld CB radios

How to Perform the Drill

• Set a specific time for the drill to begin
• Make sure you and your family members have your emergency plan in hand – Your emergency plan should fully detail how your family will handle this emergency, how you will communicate after getting out of the home, contact information for individuals outside of the affected area, where your family rendezvous point will be
• Give a 5-minute warning prior to the start of the drill
• Shut off the main power to the main house – this mimics the usual power failures that happen during a natural disaster
• Turn your cell phones to airplane mode or off
• Sound an alarm to start the drill
• Make sure you start and finish the drill on time.

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Questions to Ask Yourself During the Drill

• How did my family do?
• What weakness presented themselves during the drill?
• Did any of our emergency equipment malfunction?
• How long did it take to perform the drill?
• Did anyone seems particularly frustrated by the drill? If so, take note and work singly with them.
• What kind of improvements need to be made in order to make my drill better?

Example Scenario of How to Practice a Post-Earthquake Drill

The drill has been set for 3:00pm. Before the drill commences, The family head makes sure all members of his family has their emergency plan in hand and are ready to begin. At 2:55pm he sounds the 5-minute warning. Two minutes prior to the drill he cuts the power to simulate the power failure after a major earthquake.

When it’s time to start the drill, he sounds the alarm and starts. He carefully times his family while they put their emergency plan in action. During the earthquake simulation, he makes sure everyone knows where to locate their emergency packs which should be in a central agreed upon location, and everyone gets out of the house and to the rendezvous point. During drill the family head and his family makes sure to keep in contact using the 2 way radios. Once everyone is safe in the central point, he ends the drill.

The family is accessed on their speed and effectiveness at executing the drill. Any weak points and equipment malfunction is corrected for the next drill.

Things to keep in mind

• The more you practice, the better and quicker you will be.
• Make notes of all mishaps during the drill and correct them.
• Time is of essence so practice regularly
• Night time drills are very important
• An unscheduled surprise drill will test the strengths and weaknesses of your family’s emergency plan and expose any faults.

Fire Drills

Home Fire Drills

Home fires can happen at any time. They can happen because of a mishap in the kitchen, or because of a pesky rodent chewing on electrical wires. Regardless of the cause, the effect is devastating. Prepare for a home fire so that when it happens to you and your family, you will be ready to act.

What You Need for the Drill

You will need:

• Your emergency plan
• Fire alarm
• Handheld stopwatch or watch
• Your emergency packs
• Family Members
• Cell phones and other methods of communication like 2 way radios or handheld CB radios
• Towels or dusk mask to cover your face

How to Perform the Drill

• As with any drill, set a specific time for the drill to begin
• Make sure you and your family members have your emergency plan in hand – Fire drill emergency plans should consist of your plan for your family to safely and successful exit the home. Getting out is the main priority
• Review this plan one more time with everyone
• Make sure your family knows and are agreeable with the predetermined rendezvous point. This is the location where your family meets after having successfully evacuated the burning home. It’s vitally important that each member knows how important this is. If one member forgets, especially a child, it could have sad consequences.
• Give a 5-minute warning prior to the start of the drill.
• Sound the fire alarm or another type of alarm bell.
• Rally up your family, coach them out of the house by way of your planned route and make your way to your rendezvous point.
• Keep everyone encouraged and calm while there
• Record the time it took your family to do the drill.

Questions to Ask After the Drill

• How much time did it take for us to complete this fire drill?
• How did my family do?
• Which weaknesses were present in your family during the drill?
• Did anyone seem particularly frustrated by the drill?
• How did my kids handle it? Did they take it seriously or think of it as another “dumb” drill?
• What kind of improvements need to be made in order to make my drill better?
• Will my family perform as well if it was an actual fire?

Example Scenario of How to Practice a Surprise Nighttime Fire Drill

This is a surprise drill. The family head has practiced several times a month with his family during the day and is now going to test their abilities with a surprise nighttime drill. The drill has been set for 3:30 am on a Saturday morning. Before the drill commences, the family head cuts the power, so that his family will have to move by memory of their surroundings. At 3:30 am, he sounds the alarm and wakes up everyone in the house by screaming: “Fire, Fire, Fire!”

He carefully times his family while they put their emergency plan in action. He stands at the evacuation point and records the time of how many minutes it took for his family to get up and get out of the house and safely to the rendezvous point.

The family is then accessed on their speed and effectiveness at executing the drill. No doubt this surprise nighttime fire drill will be slower, but true success is in how well they did it. Any issues should be addressed and handled before the next practice drill. Watch VIDEO>>

Things to keep in mind

• Due to the fact that fires can happen without notice, it’s better to practice several times a month until your family is good with your plans.
• Correct all issues either with equipment or attitudes. Not acknowledging issues can cost lives.
• As with the scenario above, night time drills are extremely important. Families have been caught unawares in the middle of the night and perished by the fire. An unscheduled surprise drill will test the strengths and weaknesses of your family’s emergency plan and expose any faults.

Violent Home Invasion Drills

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Home Invasion/Intruder Drills

No one and I mean no one likes to think of an intruder coming into your home while you’re sleeping in the safety of your warm bed. That’s vulnerability in its purest form. But as much as we don’t want to think about it, it’s one of those situations that you need to prepare for.

What You Need for the Drill

You will need:

• Your emergency plan
• Safe Room Plan or Escape Plan
• A safe room. A large closest or bathroom inside of another room is ideal. That way you can secure not only the safe room door, but also the outer room door.
• Weapon, if you choose to flee to the safe room
• Nylon Rope or tied sheets ready by the window if your plan is to escape out of the window. Make sure if your room is the extraction point, then your family members know to run straight there to evacuate.
• For a home invasion escape plan, make sure to have a predetermined rendezvous point for the family.
• Cell phones

How to Perform the Drill

• Intruders usually come at night, so set your drill time for late at night or early in the pre-dawn hours.
• Make sure you and your family members know your emergency plan for an intruder. A situation such as a home invasion tests every aspect of your being. Make sure your family is aware of the importance of speed and efficiency.
• Start the drill. Have an alarm, not like a fire alarm, but the sound of glass breaking or a door being broken in. Your family needs to recognize those sounds as the queue to go into action.
• Being unheard while you make your way to your safe room is the key, so make sure your family performs this drill in near silence.
• The safe room should be a room farthest from the front door. Putting greater distance between you and the intruder.
• Time your family as they all make it to the room.
• Once inside lock the door.
• Time how long it took your family to get to the safety of the room.

Evacuating During a Home Invasion

• Time this drill during the night.
• Make sure the selected evacuation room is the furthest room from the front door.
• If your home has more than two levels, plan for two evacuation points and family members on the lower level will use the lower room and those on the top level will use the top room.
• On the top level room, have a premade rope or fabric ladder sitting next to the window you plan to go out.
• Carefully scaled down the ladder and to the safety of the ground beneath.
• If you have younger children, practice this drill with extreme care, but do it regularly so they will not be overcome by fear. And when the situation arises, they will know what to do.
• Get to the safety of the rendezvous point and call 9-1-1

Questions to Ask After the Drill

• How much time did it take for us to complete home invasion drill?
• How did my family do?
• Did my family remember where the safe room was?
• Did my family safety evacuate according to the escape plan?
• What improvements can be made?
• What do I need to do in order to guarantee the safety of my family if it really does happen?
• Am I ready to use my weapon to protect my family?

Example Scenario of How to Practice Violent Home Invasion Drill

This scenario will use the safe room drill. The family head has practiced this drill with his family and is ready to execute the drill. Since intruders don’t announce their arrival time, he opts to wait until the family has been sleeping for three hours. After setting a time for the drill, he starts the drill by sounding the alarm, by pounding loudly on an interior door to simulate intruders trying to break in. He alerts the family with the words: “Intruder! Intruder!”

The family goes into action, and the family head times how long it takes everyone to get to the safe room from the time the drill starts.

The family is then accessed on their speed and stealth at executing the drill. Any issues should be addressed and handled before the next practice drill.

Things to keep in mind

• Home invasion drills although necessary, can be very stressful to an individual. Contemplating someone coming into your home and causing harm to your family taxes your emotions. Be ready to deal with emotions during drills.
• Practicing at night is ideal, but practicing during the day is good too.
• Remind your family of the need to always be ready to act, because it could mean their lives.

Active Shooter Drills

These types of drills are not necessarily strictly for the home. A shooting event can happy anyplace and anytime. So it’s good to test your family to be sure they are ready and they know what to do in the event they are brought eye to eye with a shooter.

What You Need for the Drill

You will need:

• Your emergency plan for an active shooter event.
• Your family members, who have been taught prior to this drill that they need to stay low and out of sight during a shooting.
• A room to simulate a schoolroom or workplace office
• An audio recording of gunshots
• Stopwatch, timer, or watch
• Prop gun, if you choose
• Cell phones

How to Perform the Drill

• An active shooter can strike at any time so set various times for this particular drill.
• Start the drill by unsuspectingly playing the audio recording of the gunshots.
• This should startle your family, and move them to action
• Simulate the event by playing a variety of recordings, alternating from people screaming to gunshots. The aim is to make this drill as real as possible. They must be frightened.
• Watch how your family reacts; take note of the one who makes themselves an easy target by jumping up and running or moving into sight.
• If they follow the plan correctly, they should disappear before your eyes, using anything close to them to shelter and shield them from your view.
• Time how long it took your family to get to out of sight.

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Questions to Ask After the Drill

• How much time did it take for my family to get out of sight?
• Was there anyone who jumped up and came into view?
• How well did my family perform this drill?
• What are their odds of survival according to their execution of the active shooter plan?

Example Scenario of How to Practice an Active Shooter Drill

The family head has worked with his family as a whole and individually going over the details of the shooter plan. This plan entails what they should do; mainly get out of sight and away from the shooter’s line of sight. When it is time to start the drill, the family head waits until a time when they are all sitting around the table working on either homework or something work related. Since they are engrossed into their work, they will be caught by surprise.

He initiates the drill by playing an audio recording of the gunshots and people screaming. He takes notice of their reactions and alerts them that there is a shooter on the premises. He watches how they execute the plan and takes note of whether or not they got out of sight and out of mind. He times how long it took them to accomplish this and accesses their skills.

Things to keep in mind

• Active shooter events are rare, but they are happening more frequent than 15 years ago.
• Practice this once a month, and go over the plan individually with each member of the family.
• Not everyone will react the same way, so cater your one on one session to the individual.
• Remind your family as a whole that the keys to surviving a shooter are getting low and out of sight and getting away from him.

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Final Word

These are just a few suggested real world survival scenarios that you should practice. Of course, you can cater these examples to the needs of you and your family; you’re certainly free to do that. The point is to ensure the safety of your family and to make sure they are prepared. Good luck!

SOURCE: www.disasterrecoverymanager.com

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