Remember this acronym as it may save your life one day. In order to survive, your must use a P.L.A.N:
- (P) rotection
- (L) ocation
- (A) cquisition
- (N) avgiation
Protection
The first requirement will probably be some immediate shelter from the elements, especially for any injured. A more extended reconnaissance of the area can follow afterwards in order to choose a proper campsite. Make the most of any natural shelter such as caves and augment it by using whatever materials are at hand.
If injuries are too severe for a person to be moved, some kind of shelter must be provided for them on the spot.
On bare ground, if there is no equipment or wreckage which can be utilized, then the only thing to do is dig down.
If possible, find a natural hollow and burrow deeper, using the excavated earth to build up the sides. This will at least get any injured out of the wind. Get a fire going to provide warmth (it will also help raise morale, which is essential to mental health) and use reflectors to maximize the heating effect, which will enable you to preserve fuel.
If the circumstances make movement away unnecessary or impossible, follow similar procedures. Build up rocks, wreckage or equipment to form a windbreak if no natural shelter is available.
Huddle together in a group environment as this will reduce the loss of body heat. Survival time for badly injured persons in these circumstances is limited and your must hope for an early rescue. Fit people must go off in search of water, fuel, shelter materials in food (always in at least groups of two, if possible). Put out as many signals as possible to attract attention.
Remember that shelter may be as necessary from the sun as it is from the wind and cold. Exposure is not only a matter of hypothermia.
Location
If your have a radio or mobile phone your can signal for help.
However, in the case of an Air Disaster, do not go back on board a damaged and potentially explosive aircraft to do so. Wait until your are sure it’s quite safe.
The rescue party will want to know your location. Those who were traveling overland should have a good idea of their position – even if temporarily lost – and with a map should be able to give a more accurate fix.
However, if your are the victim of a disaster at sea or in the air, it will help considerably if your know your planned course and have some idea of your position when the disaster struck, as well as wind or current directions.
As often as your must light fires – three fires are an internationally recognized distress signal. Make them as large as possible. Lay ground signals to attract attention, use any kind of pyrotechnics (e.g. signal flares) when your know help is within range.
Making noise when help is very near is also helpful. Using a whistle or other type of high-pitched noise device is most useful as high-pitched sounds travel further and are easier to hear.
It will be at this time that your’ll appreciate that the authorities were told of your intentions and that you kept precisely to your route. It should be only a matter of time before rescue comes. In the meantime try to make everyone as comfortable as possible.
Of course, even the most careful plans can go astray. Navigational instruments can fail, storms, high winds or fog could throw your off course and even though your survived and are sheltered safely, it’s likely that no one will know where your are. You could have a longer wait than you anticipate and you need to provide for that possibility.
You also need to assess where your are on a more local scale, to study the terrain for anything it can tell you, not only to pin-point your position, if that is possible, but to see if there are safer and even more comfortable locations to establish camp and find sources of fuel, food and water. In the long term you will also be assessing the possibility of making your own way across the land.
At sea, you will be looking out for any indications that, rather than staying put, there is nearby land. Your survival chances are greater if you try to reach it rather than holding your present position. But you are at the mercy of wind and current, though you can delay your drift with a makeshift sea anchor.
Acquisition
On an isolated cliff ledge, cut off by the tide, or forced by a storm or mist to wait until your can move on, there may be little opportunity to exploit natural resources.
Do not dip into emergency rations right away. Wait, as your may be in this situation for an unexpectedly long period, and, hungry though you may be, you should ration them out, allowing for a much longer wait than even a pessimistic assessment suggests. Even in such a situation there may be water and food within reach.
Elsewhere, save your emergency rations for when there is nothing else and tap nature’s resources first. Do not find just one source of food – seek out a variety of plants for leaves, fruit, nuts, roots and other edible parts. Look for signs of animals which can be trapped or hunted.
When it is your very survival that is at stake, there is no place for squeamishness about what you will or will not eat or about how you acquire your food.
However, that does not mean that you should totally abandon concern for wildlife and the environment. When there is an abundance of other choices there is no reason to take already endangered species for your food – animal or vegetable – nor to set traps (which cannot discriminate in what they catch and maim) that will produce more meat than you can eat fresh or preserve.
Making the most of nature’s resources does not mean plundering them. Over-exploitation will be to your own disadvantage if your have to stay in the area for a long time. Over use of available natural resources will only result in turning an abundance into a scarcity.
Also, remember that the most easily obtained nutritious food may be quite different from what you usually eat. If you have already learned to eat an unusual diet as part of your training, you will find it much easier to feed yourself and will be able to encourage others to eat the same things.
However, if you have the advantage of being at, or near home, you can provide food and herbs for both you and your family through this Survival Farm that grows more food than expected in a very small amount of space. With this, there would be no need to hunt or forage for food that may deplete quickly or not be available in sufficient quantities.
Fuel for a fire will be needed for boiling water even if the temperature does not demand a fire for warmth – but do not be deluded into thinking that a warm day is going to be followed by a warm night. There can be dramatic temperature changes from day to night in some parts of the world.
Navigation
The first thing to do is to coordinate signals (flares or fires, for example) so that you are best prepared to receive rescue. Then organize water, food and shelter.
You should stay where you are and only consider moving if you are en route to a final destination.
The advantage of this is that you will be able to use any equipment and materials from the plane or vehicle and your will be able to use the wreckage as shelter. Also, it will be easier for you to be spotted from the air.
Survival Tips
On land, it is rarely a good idea to set out immediately and walk to safety, rather than wait for rescue. However, if you know that no one will be aware that you are missing and if the terrain is so barren that it provides no food, water or shelter, or if you feel convinced that your reserves of energy and rations are sufficient to see you back to civilization, or to a location where you are sure you will be able to live off the land, you may decide to set off as soon as the light is good enough or conditions are otherwise right.
In the short term, water is much more vital than food for your survival. If fresh running water is not available, there are many other sources your can tap, but sterilize or boil to ensure that it is pure. Make finding water sources a priority.