One Second After By William R. Forstchen
This book was an interesting read that makes you think. Forstchen covers a lot of aspects of human behavior and crisis management on a scale that I had not previously considered. The setting for this story is in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, near Asheville, NC, where I grew up. The story follows a small mountain town coping with the aftermath of a widespread Electromagnetic Pulse attack on the United States. Some of what occurs is quite disturbing, but I would not say it's far-fetched. If you're interested, it's a good read. No spoilers here.
How does this relate to Personal Defense Readiness?
Emergency preparedness is very much like self-defense in that it is something many people neglect to prepare for. Many people hide behind a blanket of apathy and denial thinking, it will never happen to me, so I don't need to train or prepare for it.
Often discussed by Coach Blauer in our PDR training is the Mental Blueprint Psychological Void concept. Anything you have done, thought about, or specifically trained for is a mental blueprint. The more vivid your experience the more vivid your mental blueprint. On the contrary, anything you have not done is a psychological void. For example, the statement, "fueling your car at your usual gas station," may have brought vivid images to your mind. Maybe you can even see the prices of gas on the LCD screen or "feel" the weight of the gas pump in your hand, whereas the statement, "rejecting a claim under 103(a) supported by K.S.R. case law," may cause you to mentally go "huh?" if you are not familiar with the US Patent Office procedures. The take-away here is that you should not be mentally going "huh?" about situations that could have a serious impact on your survivability.
What are your plans in an wide-scale emergency or natural disaster?
Cool! You're prepared, you have a go-kit!
Peel the onion further.
What if you can't get to your kit because of mass-traffic jams because you're at work or traveling when an emergency happens?
What would you do if someone attacks you?
Peel the onion further (to different scenarios)
-You are at a bar and someone shoves you
-You wake up to the sound of glass breaking and a prying sound at your front door.
-Someone with road-rage forces your car to the shoulder, blocking you in, and gets out with a bat and approaches your car
-Someone attacks you at your parking lot or parking garage at your usual grocery store
What are your options? Will you fight? Where could you go to get to safety? What are your improvised weapons?
A little bit of planning goes a long way.
How does this relate to Personal Defense Readiness?
Emergency preparedness is very much like self-defense in that it is something many people neglect to prepare for. Many people hide behind a blanket of apathy and denial thinking, it will never happen to me, so I don't need to train or prepare for it.
Often discussed by Coach Blauer in our PDR training is the Mental Blueprint Psychological Void concept. Anything you have done, thought about, or specifically trained for is a mental blueprint. The more vivid your experience the more vivid your mental blueprint. On the contrary, anything you have not done is a psychological void. For example, the statement, "fueling your car at your usual gas station," may have brought vivid images to your mind. Maybe you can even see the prices of gas on the LCD screen or "feel" the weight of the gas pump in your hand, whereas the statement, "rejecting a claim under 103(a) supported by K.S.R. case law," may cause you to mentally go "huh?" if you are not familiar with the US Patent Office procedures. The take-away here is that you should not be mentally going "huh?" about situations that could have a serious impact on your survivability.
What are your plans in an wide-scale emergency or natural disaster?
Cool! You're prepared, you have a go-kit!
Peel the onion further.
What if you can't get to your kit because of mass-traffic jams because you're at work or traveling when an emergency happens?
What would you do if someone attacks you?
Peel the onion further (to different scenarios)
-You are at a bar and someone shoves you
-You wake up to the sound of glass breaking and a prying sound at your front door.
-Someone with road-rage forces your car to the shoulder, blocking you in, and gets out with a bat and approaches your car
-Someone attacks you at your parking lot or parking garage at your usual grocery store
What are your options? Will you fight? Where could you go to get to safety? What are your improvised weapons?
A little bit of planning goes a long way.
RSS Feed