Real Time Example

[Sourdough]

The news said they pulled a woman from the rubble yesterday still alive after a week. That's pretty remarkable for no water and given she was 69 years old. Bravo for her!!!

I have for some time been uncomfortable with the foundation facts for survival. It is time for re-evaluation of basic assumptions for survival needs. I fear we have collapsed the two domains of what is need for "Healthy" life, with what is the minimal needed to stay alive.

[Pal334]

A significant lesson that we all can take from this calamity. Although being "Prepared " is desirable and probably to a great extent necessary, the human spirit and the will to survive can not be discounted. Also a great deal of patience

[aflineman]

Looks like they just took another hit. This has always been my largest fear in a earthquake. Aftershocks days later. Things just start to settle down and you get another one.

[trax]

I have for some time been uncomfortable with the foundation facts for survival. It is time for re-evaluation of basic assumptions for survival needs. I fear we have collapsed the two domains of what is need for "Healthy" life, with what is the minimal needed to stay alive.

I agree wholeheartedly. If any person is stuck in a ba!!s to the wall survival situation I believe that it's imperative upon those considering that situation to look at it for what it is....get out of that situation and to safety/healthiness as quickly as possible. I'm sure that those folks in Haiti right now aren't seriously contemplating squatter's rights in northern Manitoba or what's the best crops to grow in areas with a short summer for their new homestead. And they're just one example. Now, there's certainly no harm in contributing to threads about both types of situations, as long as we're clear and those reading know that we're offering something relevant to the topic at hand. (Thread hijacking aside, which of course...I've never done)

[BENESSE]

I fear we have collapsed the two domains of what is need for "Healthy" life, with what is the minimal needed to stay alive.

You are right.
IMO the various needs for a healthy life are fairly subjective and endlessly debatable.
I find that learning about the latter in a place like this is by far more constructive.

[Rick]

Last night they showed a bunch of little kids that were in the process of being adopted. They hustled them through the process and flew them to Pennsylvania. They were all smiles as they stepped off the plane in sleeveless T shirts, shorts and sandals.

[Pal334]

Another lesson to be learned:
The simple relatively low tech ham radio

"When other systems don't work, [radio] always works," he said. "It doesn't matter -- no matter where you are in the world ... you can get a [high-frequency] signal out and somebody will hear."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/20/h...ex.html?hpt=C1

I am certain there are exceptions to that statement, but it has worked in this situation.

[Pal334]

Another thing that I personaly have not given sufficient thought to:

Care of Senior citizens that you may be responsible for. Shelter , food,medical/medicine. Due to typically a fragile health state, they are very vulnerable.

"Seniors left without careThe residents of a retirement home in Haiti have been left without medical attention since the earthquake. Their ailments range from cancer to dementia, and they have little food, water or medicine"

[Rick]

Another lesson to be learned:
The simple relatively low tech ham radio

You can also build a radio that requires no batteries or electricity.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=hole+radio

[Pal334]

You can also build a radio that requires no batteries or electricity.

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...ght=hole+radio

I was reading that post. I do vaguely remember it from school. It is a reciever only? Would be invaluable to at least recieve news, is something to grasp onto during the "dark" times. Do you know how complicated it would be to purchase the equipment for a simple HAM style radio? I am not overly concerned with the licensing aspects, just acquisition of the hardware and getting it running.

PS: Those instructions will be printed and posted directly to my "BOB" book.

[Pal334]

I like this for using technology, cuts alot of the "BS " out


"Guard Uses Chat Room to Support Relief Effort
By Air Force Staff Sgt. J. Paul Croxon
Special to American Forces Press Service
SAN JUAN, P.R., Jan. 21, 2010 - With the recent earthquake destroying so much of Haiti's infrastructure, communication between military units remains vital to supporting the relief effort. "

Air Force 1st Lt. Tirso Peña, a navigator assigned to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard's 156th Airlift Squadron, monitors a chat room at the Puerto Rico National Guard joint operations center in San Juan, P.R. Multiple military units use the chat room to transmit information about the Haitian earthquake relief efforts. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Croxon
(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

A readily available chat client is being used to relay critical information between the services and is proving to be a powerful communication tool.

Defense Connect Online is similar to many commercial chat clients. It has different virtual chat rooms where groups can congregate and disseminate information; however, these chat rooms are filled with military members from every service.

"This is the first time I've seen anything like this," said Air Force 1st Lt. Tirso Peña, a navigator from the 156th Airlift Wing who is working in the Puerto Rico National Guard joint operations center. "We're able to see all this information and requests for support and disseminate the pertinent information down to the individual units."

One such instance occurred when a Navy P-3 Orion was trying to communicate with Army units on the ground, Peña said. The radio frequency information for the Army unit was relayed to the P-3 via the chat room, saving the sailors valuable time searching channel by channel.

Other uses for the chat room involve getting supplies to the people who need it most. Peña said he saw a request from units on the ground for food, water and medical supplies for an orphanage that hadn't seen any relief since the quake hit.

"We were able to funnel that information to our Puerto Rico National Guard units in the Dominican Republic who were able to load a [HH-60] Black Hawk helicopter and get those supplies to the 20 or so orphans."

The Defense Connect Online program fits a unique set of circumstances since the earthquake devastated the telecommunications infrastructure but left some Internet connectivity. It also is an efficient way to organize information by audience, mission or geographic location.

"I've seen the system be used to relay information such as flight times from Puerto Rico to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and to help plan missions to extract a little girl with internal bleeding," Peña said. "It's one more tool to get aid to the people who need it most."

(Air Force Staff Sgt. J. Paul Croxon serves with the Defense Media Activity-San Antonio.)

[Rick]

@ Pal - Yes, the radio is receive only. I'm not up on Ham but there are a few on here that are. This guy is on my "gotta have" list.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0666.html

As to your post on seniors. Yes. That should be a concern as well as anyone that has ongoing medical needs such as ostomies, recharging wheelchairs, etc.

On the chat room, Bravo to them!! Whatever makes the job easier and facilitates saving lives. Isn't it great they have the lee way to utilize some out of the box thinking?

[Pal334]

I am going to look closely at that radio, may be a good buy.

"On the chat room, Bravo to them!! Whatever makes the job easier and facilitates saving lives. Isn't it great they have the lee way to utilize some out of the box thinking?"

Notice was National Guard, not historicaly known for allowing "the system" to get in the way of common sense

[Rick]

You might find a better price by looking at something like thefind.com. I just book marked that one so I would know what I was looking for.

[aflineman]

I am going to look closely at that radio, may be a good buy.

"On the chat room, Bravo to them!! Whatever makes the job easier and facilitates saving lives. Isn't it great they have the lee way to utilize some out of the box thinking?"

Notice was National Guard, not historicaly known for allowing "the system" to get in the way of common sense

We used them many a time. Both during exercises and in real life. They work well, and help keep down on some of the noise in the DCC. As I was leaving, they were starting to issue handheld devices to folks on the Damage Assessment Teams. I can see that making the system really shine. Radios are nice, but these things could send text, photos and video also. One heck of a nice tool for the toolbox, as long as it works.

[Pal334]

There is an "app"for that

This guy some how made a good decision when he was downing loading applications for his phone.

"CNN) -- Alone in the darkness beneath layers of rubble, Dan Woolley felt blood streaming from his head and leg.
Then he remembered -- he had an app for that."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americ...ex.html?hpt=T1

It pays to think outside the box, it could save you life!!!!

[crashdive123]

I heard that story on the radio today.

[Rick]

Wow! That's just crazy stuff. Thanks for posting. I hadn't seen that.

[crashdive123]

As I was driving today I thought that this might give a glimmer of reason for those that look down their noses at technology.

[Rick]

The key to anything is to be able to use it to your advantage. I guess black powder was state of the art at some point. There was probably a crusty old Chinaman leaning on his long bow watching a bunch of younger guys mixing up some black powder thinking, "Just a flash in the pan".