2005 Year in Review

Survivor

Most people have a good idea of what to do if the building they are in catches on fire - get out! If your wallet is handy and you know where important people and pets are and know how to get them out quickly you should do this. Call for help from a neighbor's or on a cell phone. Since most people die of smoke inhalation, running back into a smoking building without breathing apparatus is not brave - it is stupid. If it's a flood you should head for high ground, if a tornado for the basement and if a hurricane, go inland.

Anyway we can go on and on about what it takes to be a survivor, but unless we think about it in advance and prepare, the odds are stacked against us. The television series didn't offer much good advice because it was a competition between the people you need holding our interest with a clash of personalities and a touch of real drama. In a real survivor situation you need all the help you can get.

A popular management training game is to prioritize a list of materials that are available that you think would be most important to live in the wilderness for many days awaiting rescue. First, individuals list their items from most to least necessary. Second, the team discusses what items are most important and makes another list. Third, the lists are compared to what a group of wilderness survival "experts" would take. Nearly 100% of the time the group list comes closest to the expert list proving that decisions made by a group are generally superior to individual choices. Recognizing what is important is not always obvious. If you crashed on the moon you would take the inflatable liferaft because you could hold and carry a lot of stuff in it. If you were stranded in an arctic environment a pot is more useful than a hatchet.

You survive by forming teams, making group decisions and recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your group. You need breathable air, protection from the elements, food and water. If you are out of harms way and have these you are in good shape for as long as the items last and until you can get more. Food being the least important thing because you can survive a very long time without food, but there is a psychological aspect of eating and sustenance that is so important that rationing supplies and eating small amounts at certain times for reward goes a long way.

The types of people in your group (or tribe) are not always as important as you might think because the circumstances dictate the need. Age, sex, girth often pay little notice to strength, skill, wisdom and, my favorite, stamina.

What did we see looking at Katrina and its aftermath? The storm passed quickly but the infrastructure fell apart. Rich and middle class people heeded the warnings and got out leaving poor and stubborn people. If the mayor told everyone in Morrison to leave home because of an impending disaster how many people do you think would leave? You need to have a place to go to and the ability to part with precious things. After such a disaster you do learn what is important. Rebuilding lives and handling trauma is a whole other issue.

On the offshore oil rigs I worked on world-wide we prepared for and practiced for every imaginable disaster or emergency from fire, evacuation, medical emergency and man overboard to blowout, hazardous gas leak, terrorism attack and war. Men of all abilities, disabilities, skill and mental or moral aptitude had to work together and be ready. We prepared in as realistic a manner as possible, which is always unpleasant, unexpected and annoying (who wants a fire drill when you've just gotten to bed and been asleep for 30 minutes?). What would happen in a real emergency is unknown (but don't ever expect rescue to be swift) and we prayed that we'd never find out. In general, don't follow the guy who is yelling, screaming and crying unless he appears to know how to launch the lifeboat, in which case you probably should be on it.

by Marc Adami, Guest Columnist
September 10, 2005