Stranger Danger: How to be Safe in the Urban Environment

In today's chapter, we'll be covering the number one threat to your life and well-being (besides yourself): other people. Now, don't get me wrong, you're not at all more likely to be a victim of violence than an accident of some sort- it's quite the opposite, in fact. However, were it not for other people driving, we'd lose a significant number of motor vehicle accidents (though most accidents are actually single-vehicle, some driver going down a rural road way above the speed limit trying to make a turn twice as fast as they should have); were it not for others, it's unlikely we'd ever catch the flu and a grudge for that person that didn't understand the concept of sneezing into a tissue or shoulder; were it not for other people, we'd rarely have anything even close to the violence against others that it seems we hear about every day. Back on track, though, we'll be more discussing the potential for interpersonal violence, how to recognize it, how to prevent it (the most effective way of dealing with crime), how to react should all else fail, and how to work with law enforcement officials and other responders after the fact. At the end, we'll review specific crimes, how to recognize the potential for them, how to prevent them, how to respond, and how to work with emergency officials.

What is interpersonal violence? I ask this because we sometimes take things at face value or for granted when there's actually a lot more to the issue to be examined. Interpersonal violence doesn't always have to be confined to physical harm- just the very threat of it, the impact an act or deed has on someone's day-to-day life, can be considered to be a violation inflicted on one's life by another. Take, for example, a breif bit of fiction in which a young woman in an average suburban neighborhood walks past a few low-lifes hanging out on the other side of the street. Now because these couple of guys are up to no good, they start making trouble in the neighborhood- starting by, in this instance, shouting to her that they're going to steal her phone. Even if they never actually make the effort to take her phone, the act of threatening her will probably make her change her routine in the future for the sake of avoiding future trouble because she feels her safety, as well as her phone's, has been violated and does not wish to recieve further violations. More saddening, though, is the reality that people do worse things than threaten with words- they sometimes actually abuse, lash out at, and attack other people's minds with words (verbal abuse).

Violence can be even more abstract than words- as an example, theft. What if someone held you up for your wallet, broke into your house while you were out, or stole your identity? You've just had a horrible thing done to you, and most of the time these days (as in two out of three of the preceeding examples), you never even see your assailant face-to-face. Think about what changes your life would undergo following such a horrible event, how insecure you would feel. Theft is almost a form of mental abuse, when you think about it. The point that I'm driving at is that in looking out for and recognizing interpersonal violence, don't limit your scope to just that which leaves blood, bruises, and broken bones.

Where can violence occur? Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that violence can be a reality for anyone, anywhere, at any time. However, if you know the patterns, you can lessen your chances of being a victim of violence.
-In any area where you're clearly foreign, be it another country, or just another region or ethnic center, your risk is much higher than in your home territory. The reasons abound, but the most important ones are that you're recognized to not be someone who's going to have connections in that area, you're recognized as probably not knowing the area very well, and you're less likely to be sympathized with.

-Any area that's particularly less-traveled, secluded, or abandoned presents an increased risk. Primarily, this is because people don't like criminals in general, and criminals doing their deeds in public means airing their dirty laundry to everyone and their grandma- and, if grandma's feisty enough, getting their laundry washed as well as their clock cleaned.

-Night-time generally presents a higher risk for roughly the same reasons as a secluded area does: cover. Not only are people harder to see in the dark, but there's less people awake to see them, meaning that their chances of uninterrupted success are higher.

-Any area with just a few entrances and exits with little room to hide (such as an alleyway) makes a wonderful ambush point, so be wary of any strangers attempting to lead you through such a place and take pains to avoid these potential traps if you can.

- The vast majority of break-ins occur while nobody's home, since 'professional theives' generally aren't seriel killers, and vice-versa. For the most part, a theif would just as soon bolt for the nearest escape as he would deal with a rightously furious home owner.

- Listen to your gut- it's usually right. If an area gives you a bad feeling, it's probably for a good reason, and you should linger there as little as possible. If someone gives you the heebee-jeebees for no apparent reason, do your best to avoid them- if they're innocent, they'll get over it in no time and probably forget all about it by the end of the day, and if they're not, then you've saved yourself a world of trouble.

- Avoid standing out: They've got to pick someone, and people generally look at neon signs before the standard cardboard window signs, if you get my drift. If you're in unfamiliar or known dangerous territory, remain confident and maintain a driven, solid state of mind, but try to keep a lower profile than you normally would and take no steps to stand out. People who are quick to anger or other emotions, or are very prone to being outgoing are possibly the most common victims in some crimes.

- Helping: Preying on do-gooders is a classic criminal strategy. If someone comes to you desperately asking for a ride in your car or to come with them to help, take them seriously and advise them in a loud enough tone for others around you to hear that you're "dialing 911 for you right now". If you're not in a public place or in your car, remain where you're at and keep the doors locked and windows rolled up while you call for 911. If they're being honest with you, they'll probably appreciate the help, and if they're not, then you've just thrown the biggest monkey wrench possible in their plan.

-You are what you look: If you look calm, collected, and confident, not only will other people believe you are, but you'll begin to believe it too. It's important to maintain a look and act of cool, collected confidence in public, in riskier times and areas, and even in the face of danger because you'll be much harder to view as a prey item. Not only will you deter predators in general, but you might even be able to squash a violent situation in its socks by having the confidence to not get drawn in to the turmoil they're trying to create.

-Isolation: Lone individuals are easier targets to violence than groups of people. Try to always travel with at least one other person that you know well when going through a dangerous or new area. If someone attempts to isolate you with invitations to something, requests that you come over or come help, or tries to get in between you and your buddy to lead you in a new direction either physically or persuasively should be sternly, but politely, resisted.

- Loudmouth or dangerous?: Sometimes it's hard to tell when people are serious or when they're just shooting their mouths off. Someone who's just angry, doesn't necessarily want to fight, and is more putting on a show or display that 'ROAR, I'M MAD' will be red faced, screaming or yelling loudly, and will experience a complete inability to stop waving their hands around. The best policy is to just let them win, give them a way out that allows them to save face instead of getting sucked into their absurd righteous fury right along with them. The people you should genuinely worry about will generally be paler, more deliberate and in control, will say fewer words, and may keep their arms down by their sides with a slight inward bend at the elbows and balled fists or clenched hands.

The First Step: Certainly, violent crimes are some of the worst things that can ever happen to anyone, and the aftershocks of a single violent crime may be felt by many more people than just the victim and for many years after the crime itself. While it's true that there are times in which a firearm or weapon may be a useful tool in responding to an ongoing crime, and it's true that allocating extra funds to better staff and equipment law enforcement departments will help keep crime in check, it's an unfortunate fact that we in America have allowed ourselves to believe that responding is the only effective method of dealing with crime. The truth is that prevention is, at its worst, as effective as response, and infinitely more effective at its best. The truth is that response, at best, will not stop a crime from happening in the present- only stop a future or further crime from occurring. This noted, prevention should be your first step in dealing with the threat of crime. A lot of people have a misconception that they'll have to fork over a lot of cash- a lot more than it costs to keep their skill up with or purchase a new firearm-, but most prevention methods are largely a one-time cost, and some cost nothing at all! Some examples of one-time costs include jam-bars for sliding glass doors, shatter-proofing lamination for windows (handy for both keeping out crooks and darn neighbor kid's baseballs), dead-bolt locks for external and safe-room doors (because they'll much more readily resist a solid kick than your knob lock), solid doors, good jimmy-proof locks on your windows, a bolted-down safe (preferably fire and maybe even water-proof, making an excellent place to store valuables, small firearms, and personal documents that could be used for identity theft. Note that it MUST be bolted down, or any potential thieves will just use it as a convenient carrying case), and a combination-locked key box for your spare (see: Uh-oh) house key. Some examples of 'free' prevention are not leaving a ladder accessible in your yard(s), locking up before going anywhere, having a friend/neighbor/professional give you an honest review of your current level of security, adopting a dog (you don't need an attack dog- even a small yapadoodle can make all the difference because they'll notice people outside when you won't and, if they've lived with you long enough, can have an uncanny ability to know when something's not right), requesting the city install street lamps in front of or near to your house if they're not already there, reporting any unusual or suspicious activity to your local police department or sheriff's office (this is a big one, since a lot of violent crimes can take a surprising amount of preparation), requesting that your neighbors take your newspapers/mail in or house-sit for an hour or two a day if you're going out of town, planting spiney or thorny shrubs near a potential weak-point in your security, locking your car doors when you go in, and keeping most of your plant-life trimmed and well away from doorways.

Another really great thing you can do for prevention is to get active in your community- go and ask your local law enforcement office (or an officer who's got a little bit of time on their hands) what some of the current problems in the community are and what they would recommend for preventing or altogether stopping it. Also, start a neighborhood watch- get together with a few nearby families, set safety goals and parameters with each other (Such as "There shouldn't be ANYONE in my house between 2-4PM unless me or someone else from the family is there" or "We always go out for dinner on friday nights, so that's when our house is the most vulnerable"). Another great thing to do is to, again, designate a safe room and/or work with a neighbor to make a plan in the event of a disaster. Finally, see if there's anything you can do to help local law enforcement with public education, such as hosting or contributing to school events or handing out information fliers.

Last, but certainly not least, in prevention is the technique of active scanning. Active scanning is normally something that's mostly used for motorcycling, but can be adopted and adapted to other areas of life, such as keeping safe from violence. What active scanning means is that while you are in an area, you keep your eyes, ears, and brain functioning constantly- you observe and take note of anything you can and everything you can; pay attention to anything that seems suspicious, a potential threat, or catches your eye while you continue to search for things you didn't notice before. The most crucial part about active scanning is combining what you observe to formulate what's possible, probable, and definite, and how to respond to each scenario. They teach motorcycle riders to constantly be searching for the next best escape/evasion route should traffic suddenly encounter hell, high water, or both. Employing the same policy when out and about could help you greatly in avoiding a violent situation.

Response: Is the last and least effective phase of countering violence. At this point, a violent act has already occured or has started. If you feel you may be subject to violence, now is the time to deploy a set of tactics that you should have, by then, planned out according to the resources available. The key is to stay calm, confident, and in control of yourself, even when you're not in control of your situation. What I recommend for most situations is to follow the same ladder of escalating force that law enforcement and military officers employ:

1. Soft verbal exchange: "Please stop," "don't do that," and other general, inoffensive deterrent words that let people know that you're not interested and not amused. These should be said in a cool or even cold, confident or firm tone of voice, otherwise they may be viewed as a sign of weakness and actually make things worse. Now might also be a good time to employ a bit of verbal judo (NOT VERBAL KARATE- that is slinging insults or returning anger to someone. It's is a surefire way to escalate a problem. Verbal Judo is about redirecting their verbal momentum from a negative to a neutral or positive through maintaining a calm, confident, collected demeanor both in stature, tone, and language- think like a police negotiator, you're trying to resolve the incident, regardless of ego. Empathy is an extremely powerful tool in verbal judo) to try and get an angry person to calm down and cooperate.

2. If the soft verbal exchange doesn't work or it's apparent that you don't have enough time to let it work, then you move to the firm verbal command. "Stop!" is a wonderful example of the firm verbal command. The command should be issued firmly and confidently with an almost parental stature- exactly as if you're telling a three-year-old not to touch the stove or to stop playing with matches. Done right, it exhibits a very high level of confidence that may give your assailant pause, and it should draw on the fact that everyone was, at one time, a child, and was given similar powerful commands by their parents at some point or another. If you know the assailant's name, you can add it to your command for even more efficiency. If you're in a public area, this can be where you start talking in a somewhat louder tone to try and draw people's attention in case things are about to head south. If you're sure that your life will still be in iminent danger, this is the part where, now that they're thrown off-guard, you run and dial 911 or, if they continue, you move to the next level.

3. Light contact: At this point, they've made physical contact with you or have attempted to do so. At this point, all doubts need to be removed and 911 should be dialed if at all possible. Now is the point where you'd react by taking control, either evading further attacks, getting them in a joint lock, pinning them to a wall, or make time for an escape by delivering a swift, spontaneous open palm to their face- enough to stun anyone for a second or two, which should be enough for you to escape, reach for a non-lethal device such as pepper spray, or otherwise take control of the situation (though retreating to a safe area is always recommended). This segment should be skipped if they are armed and retreat is not an option.

4. Heavy contact: At this point, all else has failed and your life is in immediate danger. Because you are under serious risk of death or disablement, all bets are off and all stops should be removed- gouge at their eyes, bite at their ears or nose, deliver a flat-palmed smack to their ear for a ruptured eardrum, kick or knee them in the groin- bite, claw, kick and scream, and if all else has absolutely failed, begin lethal force measures such as a firearm, a knife, or a firm blow to the front of their throat. This stage should be one of absolute last resort, and will only be justified in the eyes of the law if it is seen that you felt your life was in imminent danger with all other options extinguishd. Once the threat has stopped, you must stop as well- anything done to 'teach them a lesson' will be considered use of excessive force or worse, and will not bode well for you in the eyes of the law.

The particulars:

Rape: A horrific crime that can ruin whole lives, no doubt. A good way to greatly reduce risk of rape is to use a buddy system when going through risky areas, to public events, or to bars or clubs. You might also consider carrying pepper spray, a contact taser, or a so-called 'rape whistle' or 'rape alarm' with you as both deterrents and tools in escaping an attacker. Be verbally firm with any suspicious persons from a fair distance and set up a 'don't come any closer' bubble of at least ten feet, avoid secluded areas, unlit areas at night, or isolation. If you find yourself the imminent subject of rape, move straight to heavy contact, make as much noise as possible, and do everything in your power to scar and injure this person because your life is in very real danger. If all else fails and the act is done, while waiting for emergency responders, do NOT clean up. Most rape victims feel a consuming urge to shower and clean off after the rape, but the fact is that this destroys much of the evidence that would have proven valuable in catching the rapist.

Hold-up, stick-up, mugging, robbery, etc: Nobody likes being victimized, especially when you can stare your attacker in the face, but if they've got a weapon drawn on you, fighting back is absolutely the worst thing possible for you to do. Most experts agree that the smart thing to do is just to cooperate, hand over their demands, try to gather as many details as possible, and alert law enforcement as soon as you're safe. Whatever it is you've got that they want, it's not worth your life, and unlike you, it's probably replaceable. Preventing theft can be a bit hit-and-miss, but the best policy is to pay attention and take preventative steps. When you're approaching the ATM, look out for any unusual or suspicious persons, as well as places they could be hiding, especially since drive-through ATMs have become popular focal points for carjackings. Watch anyone approaching you without apparent reason carefully, paying special attention to their hands to see if they're not concealing a knife. If a stranger approaches you suddenly, a good idea would be to tell them "woah, that's close enough," at a distance of five to ten feet or so. If you are the subject of a carjacking, you may be tempted to drive off, but the problem most people encounter when they attempt this is either that they're shot at or, because their attention was on the robber, they almost immediately crash in their hurry- sometimes both! If you've been the subject of a robbery of any kind, particularly a home robbery, ignore the urge to sift through and pick up things, retreat to a known safe area and contact law enforcement as soon as possible.

Kidnapping: This is an especially dangerous crime that isn't unique to small children anymore. You should educate yourself and your children on the latest safety advice to prevent a kidnapping. Again, paying attention is important, as the kidnapper may 'case' or investigate a child several days before actually comitting the act. The most important factor in kidnapping, however, is early reporting. The sooner a kidnapping is reported, the greater the chance is that the child will be located. With today's interstate system, even a few hours of lapsed time between the actual event and the reporting thereof could drastically hinder efforts to find the kidnapped person. You'll need to stay calm and provide law enforcement officials with as much of the information they ask for that you can. If you find yourself being subject to abduction, understand that being captured means putting your life entirely in another person's hands, so fight like the devil to NOT get captured while you can- fight dirty, fight savage, use whatever you can get your hands on and make as much of a scene as you possibly can (even if someone doesn't intervene, it turns everyone there into a witness). Once you are captured, the best time to try and make your escape is as early as possible, since during that primary phase, the kidnapper has you under only less-than favorable temporary conditions. If your life is under immediate threat, however, the best thing to do is just cooperate.

Road Rage/ Belligerent Persons: It's inevitable that you're eventually going to mess up in traffic (The average driver makes 400 observations, 40 decisions and 2 mistakes every 2-mile span), so you should be prepared to handle the reality that some people just stone cold lose their minds over minor errors. If you're in a situation in which a driver can and does exit their vehicle to confront you, stay inside your vehicle, keep your doors locked, windows up, and communicate without the benefit of unmuffled sound. Stay calm, confident, and in control of yourself and your passengers- because you're the driver, make sure they understand that only YOU are to deal with the situation. You should not confront the angered person or return their anger, even if you're not at fault. Consider scribbling 'Sorry!' on a piece of paper and showing it to them through the windshield, as a study found that in the vast majority of cases, this simple tactic defused the angered driver. If they're inconsolable and will not calm down with time, or they begin to start attacking you or your vehicle, dial 911 immediately and follow the dispatcher's instructions.

Preperation: Are you ready?

Right now, wherever you're sitting, what if someone starts pounding on your door. Before you can reach the door, however, the pounding abruptly cuts off, and when you open up, you see someone- maybe you know them, maybe you don't- collapsed in a heap in front of you. Would you know what to do? What would you do? Poke them with a pointy stick? Point and laugh? Get on the ground and start shaking them? Maybe call 911 and try to work through your panic to have the dispatcher walk you through the emergency? How about tell someone to call 911, kneel down beside them, check to see if they're at all responsive- which they're not-, position their head, check their airway to see if you can identify any foreign objects inside- you don't-, give two rescue breaths, check their pulse, and since they don't have one, you deliver 30 chest compressions at a rapid pace. After three cycles of CPR, the person you told to dial 911 tells you that the dispatcher has EMS en route, has asked you to continue CPR until EMS arrives, and is now going to stand outside to help flag down the ambulance.

Now, let's consider where you're at. Is your area especially prone to dry, windy weather and high fire-risk situations? Do you live in a region that regularly has tornadoes or heavy thunderstorms, or are you subject to the possibility of hurricanes? What about earthquakes? Have you ever considered how to manage a man-made threat such as a break-in, a riot, or if the political climate permits the possibility- war? If you've ever gone driving through a region you're unfamiliar with or gone camping, did you go with a plan or with a kit? Would you prefer to awaken in the middle of the night to the sound of tornado sirens and not know where to go or what to do- OR would you rather grab your disaster kit- handily packed in a regular briefcase or something else easily portable- grab your pets/family, and head to your pre-designated safe room (which can be as simple as a bathroom) with time to spare?

The last alternative in both cases certainly sounds more appealing to me, as I hope it does to you, for a number of reasons: First, because you've got a plan to follow, you're not going to lose your mind in the face of such a stressful event. Second, because you're not busy going coocoo for cocoa puffs, you can act swiftly and precisely to resolve or manage the problem with your plan. Third, because you planned ahead, you're much better equipped with the right things- be it knowledge, experience, or actual equipment- than others who didn't to handle the situation at hand, and thus stand a better chance of success than most other people.

Here's some simple steps that anyone can and should take:

- If you're not CPR certified, get certified. If you're certified, keep it up-to-date, since the way CPR is preformed is constantly evolving based on the latest clinical evidence. You can usually find classes at a local technical college, at a local medical center (such as a hospital), and even at your local fire department, ambulance service, police department, or public center. Classes are just a total of 8 hours (two 4 hour sessions or all-at-once, usually) long, and it only costs $5.00 to get your AHA certification. Also, Wii owners should keep an eye out for a downloadable program from the American Heart Association which will use the Wii to teach CPR- the best part is that they're working at making it available for free once it actually is released. CPR is a great skill that everyone should know, and early delivery of CPR to someone who needs it is a critical link in the chain to ensure patient survival.

- Learn the potential disasters in your area- know if you might be subject to blizzards, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, flash floods, avalanches, landslides, even volcanoes and tsunamis- by researching your area's history and then researching the individual disasters and how they can pose problems to you. Then, you should formulate, understand, and (at least once a year) practice those plans with everyone at your household or involved in your family. Don't forget to include pets in the plan too, because I'll bet that you won't forget them when the problem actually occurs. Some plans everyone should know by heart are: House fire, medical emergency (so you know how to manage it- this can be preparing for a family member with failing health, knowing what to do if someone rolls down the stairs, or how to respond if someone falls in the pool. You should also have a plan on how to communicate what hospital EMS is taking them to and how to split up- because you will, I guarantee it- and how to rendezvous with each other later), local disasters (that is, those disasters specific to your area), break-in (if you have a firearm, you can run a scenario in which you utilize it based off of the training you have with it, but you must run a worst-case practice/plan in which you cannot access the weapon), and generalized evacuation.

- A great way to prepare for a disaster or emergency is to make a disaster kit. The kit needs to be relatively small and definitely needs to be portable, though you can make a cache in a designated safe room if you feel like it after you've made your kit. Some good ideas for a disaster kit would be a briefcase, a backpack, or framed hiking pack. This kit should include: A good flashlight (preferably something durable, such as a mag-lite) with spare bulbs and batteries (which should be replaced every year), a glowstick or two, a small or medium-sized medkit, whatever personal supplies you might need, at least a case or a 2 liter bottle of purified water (consider a canteen and some iodine water purification tablets, especially if the pack you're looking at won't fit any water bottles), some energy bars, peanut butter (some of the most nutrient-rich and calorie dense foods on the planet), and/or trail mix for food. Most important of all, you should pack a sturdy multi-tool or fixed blade knife (because I've found 95% of all folding knives I've encountered to be flimsy when faced with a real trial or of completely poor quality. Also, fixed blade doesn't mean machete, you can get a small, reliable fixed blade knife)- and keep in mind that this is one of those areas where the higher price for a more quality tool will almost certainly be worth it, though I would always recommend jotting down the names of whatever models catch your eye and then researching them for reviews on the internet. Finally, you should set aside $100-$200 in cash, if you can, in various sets (ex: $20 in 1's, $20 in 5's, $20 in 10's, $40 in 20's). The reason for this is that post-disaster, the power may be out for quite some time, meaning that cards are useless and ATM's are non-functional, so the only monetary resource you have is the cash on your person until power is restored. It may be a very good idea to make one of these cases for each adult family member, though in a scrape, a single kit will usually get you by much better than no kit at all.

-A Safe Room is a room- preferably on the ground floor or in the basement and as close to the center of your house as possible, with a sturdy door on a solid frame- that you and your family have designated to be the room to move to in the event of an emergency such as someone attempting to break in, a tornado warning in your area, or other similar problems. While the safe room can be just a regular old room the rest of the time, it should be able to give you the shelter you need the moment you need it. It should contain a much better first-aid kit or medical supply than your portable disaster kit- you may consider keeping a small medicine cabinet and a small supply of your prescription medicines (depending on how often you need to take them) in the room. Also, you might try keeping several gallons of purified water in the room at any given time, as well as a stash of food. A great idea, if you can afford it, is to keep a pre-paid cell phone on charge in this room at all times. This gives you guaranteed access to 911, even if the landlines are down, and even if your pre-paid phone doesn't have any minutes on it- though you should always try and have a few minutes on there and test the phone regularly, just to be safe. Your safe room should also be very secure- having a very sturdy door with at least a deadbolt on it and with the hinges on the inside of the door.

- A Home First-Aid Kit should, at minimum, include whatever you need to cover your personal needs, several packages of surgical dressings, a box of 4x4 gauze dressings, a box of 2x2 gauze dressings, some ACE bandages, some gauze roller dressings and bandages, a triangle bandage (can be substituted with a bandana), a box of benadryl (in case of insect bites or stings without life-threatening reactions to it), a bottle of ibuprofin (useful for management of pain and swelling), a bottle of Aspirin (useful for pain management and for taking immediately after you or someone in your family has started experiencing the classic crushing chest pain that is indicative of a heart attack- if you take the aspirin, keep the bottle with you so the medic knows how many milligrams of aspirin you took once EMS arrives), and at least a few cold and warm packs for the easing of soft-tissue injuries. Band-aids are mostly useless, so don't get too concerned about buying them except to keep a box around for the small stuff or for your kids. If you buy a first aid kit from wal-mart, it's bound to have band-aids instead of gauze-- trust me, can the band-aids, add the gauze. As far as antibiotic ointments go, I'd prefer if their use was limited or avoided altogether, as manual washing is still the best way to clean most small wounds. However, the ointments may prove useful in the management of smaller burns or especially dirty cuts (though you should definitely take the opportunity to get these evaluated by a medical professional, and ANY animal bites need to result in the bite getting cleaned right away if it's not torn wide open and should receive immediate evaluation from a medical professional).

- Training should also be a very important part of this whole equation. Anyone can quickly, cheaply, and easily receive CPR training. Any parents, future parents, or guardians should take whatever chance they can to take an NREMT First Responder course- which trains you on the basics of first aid for infants, children, and adults. While anyone, given the opportunity, should take a first responder course, it's far more imperative that parents get this training than most other family members. If you own a firearm for self-defense, you should take whatever safety and specialized classes unique to your type of firearm that you can, and keep the weapon stored in a gun safe that is secured in place and locked at all times. After all, the majority of 'black-market' weapons are actually those stolen out of perfectly legal gun-owner's homes, since most of the burglers that are actually dumb enough to break in while people are home have been shot to death already. Again, while having plans for escaping a house fire is a valuable thing, it's meaningless unless you actually practice.

- Using your local resources can help you out a lot. It's not at all unusual for parents or schools to schedule 'field trips' or 'show and tells' with Fire Department, EMS, and Law Enforcement agencies in their area. Because children are usually fascinated by these personell and the equipment they work with, it can be both educational and entertaining for both you and your child. Some services will even have special educational supplies- such as coloring books unique to their area's fire service- they can give you or your child. Just don't show up uninvited, since that means that they'll be unprepared to set aside time and resources for you and your family, and may even turn you away, undoubtedly a bad experience for both parties. Also, the more you can get other families with children or your child's classmates and their family to agree to join you, the more willing these services will be to set aside time and resources to really strut their stuff for you.

Microbe Meltdown: The truth about bacteria, viruses, superbugs, and other things that go bump in the media

From an insider's perspective looking out, the closest thing I can relate our 'war on microbes' to is a classic greek tragedy, in which the hero (modern medicine) has seen the future (vicious microbes killing people), and in an overzealous attempt to prevent that future, they end up inadvertently fulfilling it. The first world is one that's terrified itself into a stupor over microbes, obsessing itself with being clean, germ-free, sanitary, and therefor healthy. We're surrounded up to our ears in anti-bacterial soaps, sanitizing solutions, antiseptics, UV irradiator vents (harmless to people because the vents block the UV light escaping when installed correctly), more and more antibiotics, antivirals, and many other anti-microbial innovations. What's more is that while the proverbial sea level of sanitation innovation rises, we seem all too ready to drown in it. It's no coincidence that as our collective anti-microbial efforts have reached an all-time high, we're seeing more and more aptly-named 'superbugs'. Of course, whenever the media runs out of terrorists, politicians from the opposing party, or dead celebrities, they fall back on scaring you into more anti-microbial products by sharing ghastly tales of bacteria with a hearty, heaping slathering on of exaggerations of the truth- invisible boogeymen, as they would have it, that strike heartlessly and at complete random to inflict much pain, suffering, and media attention on innocent people.

So does this mean that the media's to blame for the same superbugs it speaks out about? Yes, they can carry some of the blame for this problem, but only some. They were- and still are- really just one of many contributors to the superbug issue. Other sources of the problem can be traced to the medical profession- for practically inundating anyone with anything with enough antibiotics to stock an apocalypse shelter until we figured out that maaaaybe that wasn't the best course of action-, the public- for a general lack of education on the matter, not bothering to investigate any deeper than what the TV told them, and for buying into the whole thing-, and some pharmaceutical/health industry corporations- for promoting the belief that all 'germs' are evil and require elimenation for a healthy lifestyle, allowing them to push their antimicrobial products. Don't get me wrong, they've all got their uses and probably all had good intentions, but it's gone off the rails and started us down a bad path.

Now, you may be wondering, "Just what IS a 'superbug'?" Well, a so-called superbug is a malicious bacteria that's been forced into a sort of evolution by the overuse and inadvertent misuse of antibiotics and, in some cases, antivirals. Anyone who was prescribed antibiotics and only took them until they felt better instead of finishing off their whole course has probably created a superbug and never known it. The reason for this is that because the antibiotics helped kill off most of the bacteria, enough to turn things in your immune system's favor and thus leading to an easing of symptoms, but because you stopped taking the antibiotics, you didn't kill the strongest, more antibiotic-resistant bugs, thus allowing them to make more antibiotic-resistant kids. Eventually, this process repeats itself enough times to create a bacteria that's practically invulnerable to that particular antibiotic and/or related antibiotics. Now, to clarify, this process isn't just limited to medicinal antibiotics- it can also conceivably apply to antibiotic and antiseptic soaps, or any other substance, device, or process designed to kill microorganisms, as they're similar concepts.

So, does this mean that we need to abandon antibiotics completely in order to save ourselves? No, absolutely not. Antibiotics are absolutely a positive force in the medical field, and we've already gotten too far in over our heads to turn back now. What we can do, however, is take some simple, painless steps to avoid creating superbugs. First and foremost, when you or your child/dependent is prescribed antibiotics, make sure that you take all of them exactly as directed until you run out or your doctor/medical warnings (such as those sometimes packed with your prescriptions) tell you to stop. Next, if you're going to use hand sanitizer, make sure that when you apply it, your rub your hands as if washing them until all of the solution has dried up- when you fan your hands or blow on them to make the solution dry faster, you're actually making it ineffective by causing it to dry up too fast and not giving it a chance to kill the tougher bacteria. Also, you should choose washing your hands over using hand sanitizer whenever possible- handwashing is still the most effective method of controlling the spread of pathogens, so use some soap and warm water (as hot as you can tolerate for the duration of the wash), work the soap into a nice lather up to your wrists, make sure to get under your fingernails with the soap because they make wonderful hides for some of the nastiest bugs, then rinse off with the water travelling down towards your fingertips, touch anything that need be touched with your elbow if possible, and use the paper towel you dried your hands with to open the door before canning it on your way out. Finally, if you've got sores, don't pick at them. The reasoning here is that Staphylocaucus and its steroid abusing brother MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus) just LOVE open sores, and tend to get transferred- almost injected- into them whenever you turn a pimple or a scab into an open sore again- brought in from under your fingernails, especially after you've picked at your nose.

Now, next on our list is Viruses; I'm not going to be doing much talking about Swine Flu because the data I've reviewed thus far indicates that H1N1 is even less dangerous than the average seasonal influenza, however I will tell you how to avoid (or at least drastically lower your chances of) getting the flu or whatever other viruses are floating around. Note that I'm talking from experience here- I successfully made it all the way through both halves of last flu season without so much as the sniffles. The first, and quite possibly most effective, step you can take is to start carrying your own pen with you everywhere you go. Most people are caught off guard by this, but seriously think about how many times each day you have to put your signature on something- a contract, a credit card receipt, a document- and now imagine how many people have touched that borrowed pen before you, knowing full well that at least one was probably sick, sneezed, coughed, or snotted into their hands, and then never washed them. The casheir's pen is possibly the filthiest object in any given store, and during the flu season, it surely becomes a virus magnet. In fact, any object, such as a doorknob, handrail, arcade controller, or even a popular book in a bookstore can become a trap waiting to spring. If you couldn't avoid exposure to one of these 'hot spots' by nudging the door open with your foot, shoulder, or elbow, or couldn't resist the urge to grab onto the handrail, then the best course of action to take is to duck into the next bathroom you run across and wash your hands- taking care not to touch your face until after you've washed up, as that's usually the port by which the virus enters. If a bathroom isn't immediately available but some hand sanitizer is, go ahead and use that- just be sure to rub your hands together until it dries up. Finally, encourage yourself and others to sneeze into their shoulders, upper arms, the bends in their elbows, or thick tissues instead of their hands, because sneezing into your hands is little short of just shoving your hands in a big bowl full of virus and then resuming normal activity in society.

Another wonderful tool to fall back on is vaccinations. Every year, the appropriate officials review the data to predict what flu strains are likely to be the dominant strains that year and then create and supply the appropriate vaccines to clinics, hospitals, health departments, and even pharmacies in some cases. If you have regularly contact with the sick, the elderly, the very young (I'd reckon about 8 to 10 and younger), regular smokers, or work in a high-contact or high-traffic area like an airport, a wal-mart, or anywhere that you lend pens to people, you should definitely get vaccinated to help avoid the spread of the flu. The part about vaccinations that people don't usually know is that you should actually get two vaccinations through flu season- one in early season and one in late season- because the flu is a highly mutation-prone virus, and by the time late season rolls around, a different virus may be the dominantly spreading virus, thus allowing you to catch the flu twice or despite a vaccine.

Now, there are people that insist that vaccines are bad for you, and I can assure you that, based on our current understanding, vaccines are perfectly okay and you should get them for you and your kids to prevent quite serious illness. You may have heard an argument that there's no point in getting vaccinated for something that's been declared eradicated in your country, but with international travel now a very common staple of our global society, we're seeing a resurgence of viruses that we had successfully starved to death in our country, but not in others (See: Measles). In other cases, we're facing a more constant threat of viruses or bacteria we haven't eradicated, such as those bacteria/viruses which cause meningitis, the Clostridium Tetani bacteria (AKA, the bug that causes Tetanus, 'Lockjaw', etc.), and the Hepatitis Viruses. Vaccines do not cause 'evolutionary immune system stupidity' (the argument that getting vaccinated instead of getting sick will cause the genetic code for our immune systems to be inadequate for future forms of the virus or other similar scenarios) in later generations simply because getting vaccinated IS getting exposed to the virus, albeit a very weak, inactivated, or dead form of the virus, which is roughly the same thing as what specialized white blood cells will provide your immune system with to make antibodies for in a non-vaccinated scenario. Vaccines are also safer these days, as we've learned our lesson from Guillon-Barre syndrome, though you should be aware that there is no medical treatment that is without risks. Finally, vaccines absolutely do not contain government mind-control solutions, nanomachines, or chips. I should know, being th- GOD BLESS AMERICA or else.

The Beloved Killer

There is something sinister that's taken root in the United States over the last century, and we're not alone- it's infected every industrialized nation in the world, even the third world ones. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control, it kills more than 41,000 Americans every year- 43,000 in 2005- which means it killed well more than 3x more Americans than homicide by firearm, and more than double the number of people killed by total gun deaths in the US (that is, counting suicides and unintentional as well as homicide), and over 10x the number of people killed in the september 11th terrorist attacks. This didn't just happen one year, or for a few years and then we fixed it, it's happening, every year. People die year-round, every day, around the clock from this killer that hides in plain sight. Even more shocking is that people, all the time, accept, and even want, this danger around them as part of life. Most of the time, we don't even think about protecting ourselves from it- and yet, it's easily the most deadly or unsafe presence in almost everyone's day-to-day life.

"Where is this killer?" you may be asking. Well, it's right outside your door. Don't believe me? Quickly now, run to your windows and look out at your driveway, look out on the street to see if you can see it moving past, or look in your garage to see if it's invaded your home. If it's got wheels and an engine, you're looking at our killer- motor vehicles. If you haven't thought about it before, maybe you should consider just how little respect people have for the use of something as life-endangering as a motor vehicle (especially when combined with the heart-stopping excitement of AM radio and additional cupholders). Take, for example, a regular road in a regular urban area: a 35 mph speed limit in both directions seems to be the normal thing. Seems safe, right? Well, when you consider that a head-on impact with another car actually obeying the speed limit means that you're really running into them at 70 mph- that's interstate speeds. Imagine running into a car parked on the shoulder of the interstate at that speed. Not pretty, is it? Urban roads aren't that wide, and it's not too difficult for a distracted driver to end up unintentionally blundering into just such a wreck. Visualize, with the same concept in mind, a head-on impact on a 45 mph zone- a total 90 mph impact assuming you're both, by some miracle, obeying the speed limit. Now imagine a head-on wreck on the interstate. Albeit much rarer, it's that much worse- being an impact at the equivalent of 140 mph.

The moral of this story is pay attention. Driving is dangerous business, no matter how safe you think or feel it is, and if you're not paying attention, you can't react in time to save someone else or yourself. Whatever it is- your cell phone, your dog, your baby, a stray soda bottle, a cigarette (I've watched, many a time, in mixed horror and frustration as a smoker has taken both hands off the steering wheel and took their eyes completely off the highway until they successfully lit their cigarette), IT CAN WAIT. Enforce a little common sense, wait until you reach a red light, until you can pull into a gas station, at a stop sign, and if it simply can't wait, then pull into a driveway or onto the shoulder of the road. The fact that you're probably saving yourself and someone else a traumatic event, at least a 15,000 dollar hospital bill, an insurance rate hike, and life should make it all well worth heeding this advice. To provide you with a good rule to go by, though, is something that I quickly learned when I first took up motorcycling: Assume that all other drivers are out to run you over. It's saved my life at least twice, so I'm sure it will help you.

Now, something that, being a rider myself, I feel obligated to stress to anyone who drives, be it from the front or the back seat, is to watch out for motorcycles. You've probably heard it a thousand times, but traffic studies back up the facts: most drivers simply don't see or even look for motorcycles. Now, the point isn't to call regular drivers stupid incompetents that aren't fit to be operating a hot wheels toy, let alone a car- despite what we all mutter to ourselves on our less than best days- but to remind them that, honestly, that's just the case. Most of the time, you only see other cars, trucks, big trucks, and bigger trucks because that's usually what you're looking for. You're not going to notice something that's maybe 1/4 of the size of a normal vehicle. Studies have also shown that the majority of motorcycle impacts occurred from the cyclist's front-left side and front. What this means is that whenever you're preparing to merge with traffic, move to the right lane, cross traffic, or make a right or left turn, it wouldn't hurt to slow down and take an extra half second to be sure that the way is truly clear. That half second may save someone's life and save you a whole lot of grief.

Now, let's talk traffic laws, saving the legal talk for the lawyers. Most of us consider traffic laws and installments to be a nuisance, right? What's the point of a stop sign if nobody's there, right? Or the point in obeying the speed limit or traffic lights if it's the middle of the night and the roads are abandoned? Why even wear a seatbelt? Most people simply view it as a way for police departments to rake in the cash, but I'd like to make a few points to the contrary. Traffic lights and stop signs all exist because people are selfish, and if they can help it, they're not going to yield to anyone unless they're plainly bigger and badder than they are. You'd end up waiting an hour at a busy intersection as opposed to a few minutes were it not for traffic lights. You'd probably have front-end and side collisions on a regular basis at intersections were it not for stop signs. Just imagine how many people would be more than happy to blast through an urban intersection at top speed without much more than a glance for other traffic or pedestrians. Even at night time or on a deserted highway, you should still obey these installations, as well as the speed limit, because you're not the only person in a hurry, and simply assuming the other guy, or even that you will be able to react in the sliver of time you've limited yourself to by ignoring them is just plainly absurd, and 99 times out of 100, you'll be coming to consciousness with me and a dozen of my buddies huddled around you inside the back of an ambulance. Speed limits exist because they are the safe speed for that road- considering the twists, turns, visibility, wildlife, width, and a number of other factors, that's about the optimum speed for both efficient travel and giving yourself plenty of room to react to any hazards. Your seatbelt is there because it-will-save-your-life. Next time an officer pulls you over to issue a ticket or warning for a vehicle malfunction, remember that he might just be saving your life with that slap on your wrist. Next time an officer issues you a warning or ticket for a driver malfunction, remember that he's enforcing good safety practice to protect both you and those around you.

If you regularly tailgate people- that is, you drive very close to the rear of the car in front of you- I'm shaming in your general direction. Be ashamed. Be very, very ashamed. Tailgating is a dangerous practice for the tailgater and the tailgatee because of a lessened amount of response time for the tailgater, and it leaves the tailgater legally responsible for any resultant accident damages in most places. A good rule of thumb is to pick a landmark- such as a mile marker- that the car in front of you is about to pass up. As soon as the rear end of your lead car passes that landmark, start counting in mississippis. Ideally, you should be able to count to two mississippi before you reach the landmark. If you can't utter the full "one mississippi, two mississipi" before you reach it, you're too close to the vehicle in front of you. For semi trucks, the rule changes to "four mississippi" because they're actually able to stop faster than your regular vehicle can to a shocking extent, as well as because once you get so close, the trucker will be completely incapable of seeing you behind him. Believe me, no matter who was doing what right or wrong, thinking that you'll win in a collision against a semi is like thinking that your head will win in a collision against a ton of bricks- give yourself and the trucker enough room to react.

If you're not fit to drive, don't drive. Get a friend to drive you, get a family member to drive you, get a taxi to drive you, take a nap in your car, or just wait it out over a cup of coffee. By driving when you're unfit to, you put both yourself and others in immediate danger. I don't care what it is- haven't slept in 72 hours, just got a dose of demorol from the ER, or if you're drunk enough to get others drunk by smelling your breath, it's all simple stupidity and outright indifference for the well being of yourself and those around you to be driving if you're not fit to, no matter the circumstances, no matter the excuses. What's more is that if you're not fit to be driving and you get found out, you could be on the business end of serious legal charges- though not nearly as serious or ugly as running from the police to avoid being charged. The worst part, though, is that the myth that impaired drivers often survive the accidents they create, even when their victims don't, leaving them with a crippling, unforgettable guilt- isn't a myth.

Now, it's time for some shorts:
- If you try to beat the train, the train will beat you. Every time. Seriously, there's not much to it: if your vehicle stalls out on the tracks, get out of it and call 911. If you're late, you'll be really late when what's left of you is getting packed into a closed coffin. Trains are about as deadly as it gets, treat them as one would treat a dozen rattlesnakes or a bucket of battery acid.

- If you're in a hurry, it is still absolutely no excuse to drive like an idiot and endanger not only your life, but those of your passengers and fellow drivers. If your relative is hospitalized, they're not going to be feeling any better if you get yourself hospitalized too. If you think you're late now, you're going to be really late when EMS sends you on the detour of a lifetime.

- If you see an emergency vehicle on the side of the road, tending to an accident or preforming a traffic stop, PLEASE try to give them an additional lane of clearance and, if you think you can do it without causing problems, slow down a bit or at least let off the gas pedal. Also, do your best to avoid rubbernecking. I understand that for those of you who don't regularly deal with it, and even for some of us who do, it's interesting, but rubbernecking a scene is a dangerous, not only because you can end up inadvertently drifting right into the middle of the scene and injuring the responders, but because you're not paying attention, and you could end up slamming right into the drivers in front of or to the side of you and take a ride in an ambulance yourself. Be patient, and be safe. Police, fire, and EMS, we're here for when you need us. If you see us and don't need us, respect the fact that someone else does, and you'd want that person to respect your need if you were in their shoes.

- On a related note, if an emergency vehicle (police, fire, ambulance) comes up behind you with lights and sirens going, the appropriate course of action is to -safely- pull to the right, pull onto the shoulder, or partially off the road. Do not slam on the brakes, please. I've nearly been the subject of a dozen accidents because drivers panicked and slammed on their brakes when they saw our ambulance, lit up like a Christmas tree and wailing like a banshee in their rear-view mirror.

- Next to pay attention, the number one rule of the road is to stay calm. If you're about to lose control, stay calm. Panicking can and will kill you, because you will lose your mind, therefore you will lose control. Even if a wreck seems inevitable, stay calm and stay in control. You can do a lot in those last seconds to soften the blow and maybe even avoid the wreck altogether. One more aside- try not to lock up if you expect a wreck. If you stay limp and loose, your body will be better able to survive and roll with any forces put on it by the crash than if you're tensed up. That's why impaired drivers will infamously survive the crashes they create while their victims won't- their reaction time is too poor to tense up before the wreck occurs.

- Follow the advice and instructions of your vehicle's manuals. Putting a baby in the front seat, facing forward, is absolutely dangerous. If you get in an accident and that airbag goes off, it will seriously injure and possibly kill that child. If the warnings say not to let a child younger than 12 ride in the front seat, understand the reason for it is because that child may be exaclty in all the wrong places for the car's airbag and end up getting hurt worse than if they didn't have the airbag there. Of course, respecting the airbag isn't just for children. We're basically talking about a huge balloon of air that's supposed to erupt out of your steering wheel or dashboard in a matter of a split second in order to counteract and soften the forces involved in a car crash, and that means that, ironically enough, that bag puts out a lot of force when it's activated. If you're driving, the best way to hold the steering wheel is at the ten and two-o-clock positions with both hands on the wheel- not only because it gives you better, more deliberate control of the vehicle but it also keeps your hands and body much safer from the airbag, because when they're designed, that's where they consider the driver's hands to be. The safest way to place a baby in a car is in the center of the back seat, as close to the midline of the car as possible, and, of course, secured in a car seat. Children up to as old as five can need car (or 'booster') seats to get the most of a vehicle's safety features.

-If you get in a major accident in which your car rolled over, severely cratered in somewhere, struck multiple times, you or a passenger was ejected from the vehicle, a passenger was killed or severely injured, the best place to go is nowhere at all. Turn your car off, if you can, and stay exactly where you're at (This is of special importance if you can see downed utility lines outside or on the car or if you've struck a phone or utility pole). Immediately dial 911, take a tally of your injuries and those of your passengers, remain calm and clearly relay what you know to the dispatcher so they'll be able to send all the right resources. Some things to take note of are how fast you were going when you crashed, how many passengers there are on your part, how badly a passenger or yourself is injured, and particularly whether or not you're suddenly missing a passenger or two. The only time you want to get out of your vehicle in the event of a major accident is once you're sure it is safe to do so AND if there is an absolute need to do so, such as the car catching fire or becoming submerged. Please allow EMS to 'check you out' and make sure you're stable, preferably while you're still inside your car.

- Finally, take the time to do your regular maintenance. Good tires will keep you on the road, keep you in control, and keep you out of accidents in situations where bad tires won't. A burned out indicator or dysfunctional brake lights can be the reason for a completely avoidable accident.