HEALTH SKILLS
Almost all crises are accompanied by injuries or illnesses. That is why it’s important to acquire health skills and manage emergencies as they occur.
You will know what to do when a disaster comes and someone sustains an injury.
Learn basic health skills to protect yourself, care for loved ones, improve your health, and survive uncertainties.
Acquire first-aid skills to handle high-pressure situations and avoid panicking.
Remember that you may have to treat wounds, cuts, and other injuries caused by disasters or survival scenarios, including handling someone unconscious. So, knowing how to administer first aid will prove helpful.
The most important first-aid skills are cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which saves someone from choking, dressing wounds, managing bleeding, handling head or brain injuries, and treating severe allergic reactions.
Make sure you always have all the personal medication you need.
Your first-aid kit should contain everything you need to survive an emergency.
The most important things to remember are to remain calm, aim to preserve life, provide pain relief, prevent the escalation of injury, and call a health professional once you’ve contained the situation.
Learn or improve your first-aid skills by knowing the basics, practicing regularly, and taking first-aid courses.
Make sure you have a first-aid kit in your home that’s stocked with the basic and most important supplies, such as bandages, medical tape, gloves, eye shields, dressings, antibiotic ointment packets, antiseptic wipes, different-sized sterile gauze pads, antiseptic solution, tweezers, and a first-aid manual.
USING NATURAL REMEDIES
If you don’t have a first-aid kit, are stuck outdoors, and an emergency comes, you must respond appropriately.
You may be stuck without your medical kit and run into an emergency. This is where natural medicines come in handy.
When you know what to look for and how to use it, you can save your life or the lives of those around you. Natural medicines can cure wounds, prevent colds, reduce swelling, treat skin irritation, relieve fever, lower blood pressure, and more.
All you have to do is identify and use the right herbs or plants.
If you get stuck in the wilderness, for example, certain herbs can help you treat emergency-induced insomnia and an upset stomach.
In addition to a first-aid kit, ensure you have medicinal herbs at home. Examples include ginger, chamomile flower, garlic, Ginkgo Biloba, ginseng root, turmeric, valerian root, elderberry, milk thistle fruit, feverfew leaf, St John’s wort, and echinacea.
Use the proper dosage, watch for reactions, and understand potential side effects.
Natural medicines can interfere with certain medications and cause serious side effects. So, don’t use them blindly. Consult a health professional or your doctor if you have a critical condition, rely on certain medicines, are pregnant, or are breastfeeding.
Turmeric, cinnamon, bayberry, black pepper, aloe vera, ginseng, and safflower can help heal wounds, boils, and sores.
Herbs like sandalwood and safflower can help reduce fever. Herbs like marshmallow roots and leaves can improve your digestive system or neutralize stomach acids. For infections, use goldenseal, aloe, and chirayata.
Add turmeric, peppermint, or cloves to improve the taste of food.
Other important herbs you need for various conditions are basil, chives, apple mint, thyme, variegated lemon balm, golden oregano, variegated sage, fennel, and cilantro.
FINANCE SKILLS
Financial skills are important for survival. If you know how to manage your finances, you can meet all your financial obligations and avoid pouring money down the drain. When emergencies caused by unexpected events happen, you’ll have the necessary funds.
So, start saving and investing to ensure you have all the funds you need for certain survival situations.
You can protect yourself, your loved ones, and your business when a crisis hits or inflation occurs.
You won’t worry too much about banks closing down and failing to access money because you have cash reserves. You can provide for your physical and overall needs because you are prepared.
So, review your expenses, start saving, and build cash reserves to face challenges and mitigate them as they come.
Financial planning, budgeting, investing, raising money, improving cash flow, and investing in personal finance courses should top your priorities.
Search for reputable online courses and improve your financial skills. Focus on courses with high student ratings and positive reviews.
You can also watch YouTube videos and read money blogs to cultivate your skills.
The most important thing is to apply what you learn and ensure you can survive any crisis that emerges.
OUTDOOR SURVIVAL SKILLS
Master outdoor survival skills to properly handle disaster situations, sustain life, and provide for your various needs.
Survival skills help you sustain life in any natural environment. You can access shelter, food, water, and medication when you are stranded outdoors. For example, when you are fishing, hiking, hunting, or horseback riding and an unexpected event occurs, you can deal with it.
All you need to do is know which plants to use and avoid. You should also have proper knowledge about certain animals to protect yourself. This is especially true if you get stuck in a forest with wild animals.
Have an outdoor emergency kit that contains a map, compass, fire starter, signal mirror, warm clothing, a 2-meter length rope, water purification system, food, cordage, fish hooks, a flashlight, a knife, and a first-aid kit.
Your survival backpack should contain enough supplies to meet the bare necessities, such as food, shelter, clothing, water, medication, and a handheld GPS for navigation.
A first-aid kit can help you handle sprains, treat injuries, and access the necessary medicine.
One of the things that makes survival difficult is panicking. That’s why you must prepare your mind for critical situations and train it to handle life-and-death situations. This will help you reduce stress, remain calm, and get through the disaster.
The best way to train yourself is to think of all survival situations and practice handling them. Do this frequently until you are comfortable with it.
Remember to remain calm, think clearly, and apply what you’ve rehearsed when disaster strikes.
One of the most important outdoor survival skills to master is rope typing. This will be useful if you must do rock climbing or sailing or want to secure hunting traps, fishing lines, and survival shelters.
If you know different types of knots and how to tie them properly, you’ll survive any situation.
Watch YouTube videos on different types of ropes and knot tying. Learn about building a shelter outdoors, making fishing lines, netting, and setting hunting traps.
You can also use the rope to hang food and clothes, mark trails, and more.
If you get stuck without a rope, learn to make one with plant material.
You only need to find and use a fiber-based plant, such as hemp, dogbane, or milkweed.
Gather enough strands to make a rope. Weave the strands into the type of rope you need and ensure it’s strong enough to serve your needs. For example, if you want to support your weight, provide the material you gather and the rope you make are enough to handle that.
NAVIGATION
Mastering navigation is the best way to increase your chances of endurance and find your way out when you get stuck in a survival scenario.
You’ll find your way back home if you get lost in a forest, snow-covered mountains, or desert as long as you know how to find the right course.
The best ways to find and start moving in the right direction are identifying the high ground, using a compass, using the sun, and using the stars.
Find high ground or a high point and use it to determine where you should go. Climb a small tree or the nearest hill to find your way. If climbing a tree or a mountain is impossible, use the sun and tree limbs.
Tree limbs often point in the southern part of the sky as they are exposed to direct sunlight because the sun spends most of the day in the southern part. So, you can find the south that way.
Another trick is to use a stick. Push it into the ground and mark where its shadow is on the ground. Wait for a few minutes and then find out in which direction the shadow has moved. That direction is east. So, use it to find your way.
The simplest and most effective option is always to carry a compass and a map with you and use it for navigation.
Reading a compass isn’t difficult. A basic understanding of how it works can help you survive and navigate your way out of any situation.
STARTING A FIRE
Starting a fire is one of the most important survival skills you must master. It will come in handy in survival situations and when you get stranded. You’ll be able to keep predators at a distance, provide light, signal rescuers, provide warmth for yourself, purify water, and cook.
Ensure you know at least two ways to start a fire to meet your needs. The first option is carrying matches or other tools to help you start a fire. Another option is to know the best ways to start a fire without those tools. This is because you can’t predict when and how accidents happen.
So, if disaster comes and you don’t have the required equipment, you can quickly start a fire, provide heat, cook, and do everything you need to survive.
Learn to cook over a fire so you can prevent starvation.
Never cook your food over an open flame because it’s not effective. It will get burned, and you’ll only be left with charcoal. Let your fire burn down to coals, and then start cooking.
Another option is to wrap your food in banana and non-poisonous leaves, place them on top of the coal, and let it cook.
Most rescuers use aircraft to search for survivors or lost persons. So, using fire to signal them is the best way to ensure you get found. It makes it easy for them to find and rescue you.
If you use fire to signal rescuers, build 3 fires triangularly. This is because it’s recognized as a distress signal, so they will know what to do when someone sees it.
The most important thing is to bank your fires and avoid igniting the surrounding areas carefully.
Other signaling methods include flashlight, whistles, mirrors, flags, and bright color markers.
BUILDING A SHELTER
Building a shelter is a basic survival skill you need to master. It is a great way to avoid fluctuating temperatures and prevent illnesses such as colds from occurring.
Learn to protect yourself from excessive exposure to the sun, wind, rain, or cold. Build a strong shelter to protect from the elements, predators, creepy crawlies, and so on.
When choosing the best location to set up camp, consider a few important things, such as the type of soil, the type of terrain, weather conditions, water sources, and wildlife.
The most common survival shelters are debris huts, lean-to shelters, put tents, tree pit shelters, and snow shelters.
You can buy a survival tent that’s durable, comfortable, safe, and easy to move with. However, if the emergency catches you unawares and you don’t have your survival kit, you’ll have to build the shelter from the material that’s available in your surroundings. For example, wood, leaves, and tree branches.
Learn how to set up a tent and secure it. This will come in handy when you have your survival kit and need shelter. Practice in your backyard until you can complete the entire process in a few minutes. This makes it easy for you to pitch your tent in survival situations as quickly as needed. For instance, when it’s about to rain or there are strong winds.
FOOD ACQUISITION SKILLS
To survive, you need food and clean drinking water. Learn and master food acquisition skills to prevent starvation.
When going on a trip, pack extra food that will help you during emergencies. Include non-perishable and high-energy foods, such as protein bars.
The main goal is to pack enough food to cover breakfast, lunch, and supper and ensure you never starve.
If you don’t have your emergency kit when a crisis occurs, learn to acquire foods from the wild.
Know the right plants and fruits to eat and ones to avoid. Remember, not all plants are safe to eat. So, know which ones are appropriate to prevent infections, illnesses, or poison.
Some edible plants include clovers, chicory, burdock, cattail, dandelion, and edible pennycress.
Learn effective methods to find food including fishing, trapping, hunting, and foraging.
FINDING SAFE WATER
Master effective ways to find safe drinking water and avoid dehydration. Ensure access to clean water and have enough to cook, drink, and, in some cases, wash clothes.
Finding clean water can be difficult, if not impossible when stuck in the wild. That’s why you have to know the best ways to treat it.
So, always carry water purification tablets with you if you need them for emergencies.
Know how many tablets you need and what amount of water you need.
Another option is to use a water filter and other purification methods.
Some of the best water filters are the LifeStraw Personal Water Filter, Sawyer Mini Water Filtration System, and Katadyn Pocket Water Filter.
You need treated water for cooking, drinking, showering, and brushing your teeth. So, make sure you know and use the best water purification methods.
SELF-DEFENSE SKILLS
Attacks are highly likely to occur when you are stranded in the outdoors. So, learn self-defense skills to protect yourself from any form of attack. In some cases, you may have a few seconds to respond.
So, if you know what to do, you’ll face any attack and protect yourself, whether an animal or a human.
Carry a pocket knife for defense.
If you find yourself in a survival situation and don’t have a knife, make one from flint or other similar stones and ensure survival.
Flintknapping is difficult, but the good part is that all you need are sharp edges. Make sure the stone has razor-sharp edges to help you survive.
The goal is to create a knife or an ax head you can use to defend yourself or hunt for food.
