Outtakes from the Class -Part two

The world can shift in a weekend, and the hard part is not buying gear. The hard part is knowing what you can actually do when you’re tired, scared, and responsible for other people. We take a practical, step-by-step look at emergency preparedness and personal protection training, using the same approach we teach in class: build capability in small pieces, and make choices you can live with.

We start with a personal inventory that goes beyond wishful thinking. Health, mobility, medications, and medical needs like insulin or an EpiPen shape every evacuation and shelter plan. We also talk about emotional preparation and family emergency planning, because the worst time to negotiate roles and responsibilities is when the ground is shaking or the smoke is already in the air. Money matters too, so we dig into budgeting and prioritizing, including why backup power and a solar generator can be worth considering when the grid goes down first.

From there, we get real about human nature after a disaster. Adrenaline crashes can leave you drowsy and vulnerable, and opportunistic crime can appear fast. You’ll hear what a “blitz attack” looks like, why situational awareness is your best time buffer, and how scams can show up in plain sight. We round it out with preparedness food planning, comparing freeze-dried food storage and portability with the downsides of MREs, then shift into first aid readiness, including why I recommend Stop the Bleed training and the basics of gloves and biohazard handling.

If you want a calm, realistic path to disaster readiness, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the training.

Class Information: Refuse to be a Victim Personal ProtectionTraining

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Transcript

Welcome And Class Format

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Just like when you eat a pizza, it's easier a bite at a time. Let's continue looking at some of the class information I shared in the last in-person session. Come on in. Let's take care. Hi everybody, I'm Bill Bateman, part of the team here Refuse to be a Victim Personal Protection Training. And as I mentioned last time, if you if you heard the last episode, I did a uh six-week class in person at OLI and uh it was very well received. Thank you for your support and your help out there. I've had suggestions in the past, and I've finally acted on them to break the class recordings into smaller little hunks uh for ease of consumption. You can listen to it on your way from home to work or riding around in the in the backcountry, whatever you're up to. So I have done that. I did one last week, and we're going to do another one this time. So let's jump right into it, and we'll see you at the other side. We were on uh just finishing up a look at uh the bug out bags and the games. As I said, the game is changing very quickly. And even over the weekend, as you watch the news, things are happening, things are changing. Like them, don't like them, whatever, that's not the issue. The issue is things are in motion, and you need to be ready for it. I hope you by now have done your personal inventory. You sit down and talk to yourself, turn off the TV, put the dog next to you, or the cat, or both. And a personal inventory, things like strength, health, and mobility. What can you really do? I know I'm probably one of the worst ones to say, oh, I used to be able to do that. Yes, and usually you have dark hair, Bill. You used to weigh 300 pounds, so not anymore. Let's work on in your head health, mobility, and what do you need to maintain health? If you are on a special medication, insulin, an epipen, anything like that. Have you had an opportunity in the last three weeks to address that with your doctor, your health care provider? These are important things that I'm hoping each of you has had an opportunity to do or will put on your to-do list before the class is over. Experiences. I've been in several earthquakes. I've been in fires. My first experience was a fire, it was the panorama fire in 1981 that burned my parents' home. That's the one where they drug my mother kicking and screaming from the house, threw her in the car as the roof of the house caught fire. Uh I've had personal experiences of many different varieties. Some people have never even had to call the fire department. That's okay. Put that in your head. That goes in your memory bank. Also, your definition of camping. For me, I'm camping if room service is stopped. I like my creature comforts. At this age, I no longer like getting up and down on the ground at four in the morning to wander off to find a tree. It's just uh no. Thank you. What emotional preparation have you done? This is part of your inventory. The emotional preparation for you and for those involved with you, and this is very critical. Your significant other, your partner, husband, wife, whatever. Your children, grandchildren. The worst case scenario for many people is mom and dad are on vacation, the grandkids are staying with you. Here comes the fun. What are you gonna do? You better talk about it now, because when the glass is still rattling from an earthquake is not the time to initiate that conversation. Financial status. Well, nobody has, I'm sure there's a few people with financial status. I'm not one of them. This stuff is expensive. So do you get the tool with the cool toys, or you're gonna go with a stick? And those are exam, you know, extreme examples. We have spent a lot of time talking, and some of the things I'll show you today were spendy. They were expensive. The uh solar generator was uh$1,500. We did a lot of research, we did a lot of discussion, and we watched the news, and power is the first thing that goes out. Finally, what are you prepared to do? My favorite example of that statement is Sean Connery and the Untouchables, as he's lying on the floor dying, having been shot by Capone's hitman. Elliot Ness comes in, finds him. He's just ready to go, and he reaches up and it's a powerful scene, incredible scene. Reaches up, grabs Costner, pulls him down, pulls himself up as much as he can, and says, What are you prepared to do to resolve the problem? Uh, it's a powerful scene, it applies to us. I can't do that. Well, maybe I can. I don't want to do that. Well, maybe I can. There's a lot of things that we have within us that we can or we cannot do. You don't know what you can do until you're challenged, until that's someone you know on the floor, and they're bleeding. Now is the time to look into classes. What does all these different bags mean? Well, basically, we're you're assembling a road kit one bag at a time. You're assembling a survival kit one bag at a time. The bag from the car, the bag from the house, the bag uh that you have at the office that you brought home with you, the one you've got stored at a friend's house just in case. You're gathering supplies. Not everybody has a lot of room in their home. A large item can really impact your storage space. Look at what we've been doing. We're building a strong base at home and then setting up potential resupply stations with friends or with a storage unit that you can get into with any sort of luck at all. Remember how I talked about the adrenaline burn? When you get a big shot of adrenaline, you're probably going to need to fall asleep after it. It's very, very common. If you're out on the road, you'd best be with someone who's going to be awake. Or put a big sign that says cash in left rear pocket. Because you will, this is a biological thing. This is not you're a slacker. This is you're going to be tired. You're going to be dazed, you're going to be drowsy, you're going to be frightened, and you're going to be sleepy. So you've got to be on top of things because, from our own experience and talent, we had looters in the park within 24 hours. Didn't take a minute. Now, our our structures did not burn. We were in creekside. They did not burn. They missed us, missed us by that much. But what a great thing to have. Hundreds of homes with nobody in them. Well, we made it obvious that there was security and there were people on patrol, and that prevented any problems in our park. Other people posted rather graphic signs. Shooters, looters will be shot. If it's like this in the city, I can imagine there's some fascinating tales. And after fire settles down, supposed to be secured, but uh only the homeowners could not get in. Apparently, it was very funny. We met the military and they wouldn't let us in. But uh there were people by the time we snuck around the back wing that got in, and uh our manager came out, she stayed, and she said, We need some help. There's people popping the fences and everything. So, human nature. Now, today's criminal, don't think about the zombie apocalypse. Think about don't think about the boogens or whatever you want to call them coming out of the woods to get you. These are the people they prefer a blitz attack or any number of tricks. Teens or young children are especially are especially valuable as tools. Lady, can you help me? I can't find my mom. Okay. I've never seen her in our in this neighborhood. I wonder who this is. Uh blitz attack means they're like that. Fact. The average attack, be it a stabbing, a mugging, a shooting, whatever, is over in three seconds. Three seconds. One, two, three, done. That means you have to react effectively within two and a half seconds, which means you have to be aware, situational awareness. And when you're tired and when the adrenaline burns going, and when you're scared, and when you got a kid on each leg screaming and yelling and tugging, and I want a cookie, and all that kind of stuff, you have to work with the family. You have some difficult decisions to make when you're looking at uh the situations. So sheltering at work is a part of the chain of things you're building up. I want to get back to my main uh my main menu here. The comment was it's very depressing to think that people are so willing to take advantage of us in our uh when we are down. The most egregious thing I saw standing outside of a supermarket, I want to say safe way, two guys and a woman in white, all in white with red cross symbols on them. And they had a container with the Red Cross symbol on it, and they said, Hi, we're collecting for the Red Cross for victims of the uh Northridge earthquake. And something didn't quite look right. And I looked at the Red Cross, said Mediquit under it. They'd cut it off a Medicaid. They were no more from the Red Cross than I was. Let's talk about food, because food is really important, and people get into some strange thoughts about food. Uh, protein bars, granola bars, quickie bars, snacky bars, always good, depending on unless you can't eat them for some strange reason. Eat your existing food first. I've seen a lot of people, an earthquake happens, a fire happens, they break out the survival food. Add water mix, mmm, chili. It's good. It is good. But eat the ground beef you got in the freezer first. Cook up what you've got. Now, the freeze-dried food I was talking about, and here's a link for that. Again, our friends at Mountain House, this stuff is amazing. I have it, we have a closet full of this stuff. I have some in my trunk, a couple. Uh, and it's well, here you go, cheesy pepperoni bowl, breakfast skillet, beef stroganoff with noodles. And by golly, I have cooked this up myself. It is not bad. You need a cup to measure water, and I have one of those in my trunk. You add a pre-measured amount of boiling water. This is a very sturdy container. You unwrap it, you fold down the top to make kind of a bowl, you add the water, you stir, stir, stir, stir, let it sit 10-15 minutes. Bang! You have some pretty good stuff. You got to be careful because some of these things, like a lot of sales going on. Some of the 10-day kits go heavy onto granola and oatmeal. Not bad, but to me, that is not as filling as lasagna or beef stew or chili. So this is the expensive, okay. It's uh$12.50 for serving. Now that's about what it costs to go to McDonald's, right? Sadly, anymore. So these are I recommend these products highly. You can buy one package, you can buy one box for a week, you can buy a case for a month, you can buy a big box for a family of five. It's just, and it'll mix and you can match. They even have, and I we have some at home, and I haven't had the courage to open it. It's supposed to be ice cream sandwiches. I don't know, I don't see how that's gonna work, adding boiling water. Now, the freeze-dried food will last for 20 years. A lot of people don't believe it. It does last that long as long as it is sealed and stored correctly, which means you can put it in the garage and forget it, or carry it around to the trunk of your car for a year, and it's still usable in an emergency. That's good. It can be constipating. This can be difficult when you're going from here to there. The preservatives they use in the freeze-dried foods can be constipating. You might want to carry something as part of your kit if that's an issue that will impact you. Also, MREs. If I live another hundred years, I never wanted to eat another MRE. You can still get them. They actually have World War II MREs. I think these are for physician-assisted suicide. I don't know why anyone would want these things. Suspanical. Meals ready to eat. It's a military thing. These contain no less than 50% salt. No less if you get a good one. 51% salt. Salt, how many of you have had a colonoscopy? You don't have to shout it out, but put that image in your head. The stuff they give you before the colonoscopy is a big shot of salt. Enough said. You have two potential difficulties: one being diarrhea, the other being constipation. Uh, the others, meals ready to eat. No, I do not recommend them. I much prefer the freeze-dried food. Yes, they are more expensive. Kids will eat the freeze-dried stuff because it's chili, it's uh it's noodles. Kids will eat that stuff. How transportable is it? And how do you cook it? How long will it keep? And what are the portions? And will people eat this stuff? I brought out an MRE to a group and they just looked at me and said, uh, start chasing squirrels. MREs have a really bad reputation. Uh that said, if it's that or don't eat, you might want to bite off a hunk and give it your best shot because you need the energy, you need the calories if you're active and moving around. Okay, first aid, the supplies we're going to talk about a little more detail. Ability, can you do it and will you do it? This is important. We mentioned this in a previous lesson. If a person's down, or if a person is in trouble, or dealing with a concussion, or dealing with panic, or dealing with shock, you have to do something. That something may be nothing if you're not able to do it. Give them pen and paper to write their last will. I have taken a lot of classes. My wife has taken a lot of classes. We're not running up and down the road with our first aid pack looking for accidents to help people. If something happens, we can and we will. Because of my involvement in shooting, I've taken blood loss classes, trauma classes, uh, first aid, stop the bleed, that type of thing. I cannot recommend highly enough Ashland Fire Department Stop the Bleed class. Best class I ever took. I mentioned it earlier. In the class, they have a foam leg, size of an actual leg, with a slit in it, and you just take gauze and pack, they should add a pack of bleeding wound with gauze. There's a technique. And I'm working on it, and the person next, people on both sides, and there's a housewife age woman here, and there's this young, forest ranger looking guy. He's about halfway through, whoop, and he passes out. And one of the other guys started dogging him. We said, mm-mm. No, he now knows what is out of his range. In a situation, he can get the first aid supplies, someone else can do the packing. They're no, you're learning what you can do. Uh, again, that stop the bleed class was very, very good, and I recommend it. Latex gloves. Here is the wad of latex gloves that was in the box this morning. I get these, and as you go on to I go to Amazon because they have extra large sizes. Most gloves you're going to get come in medium. I use 2x to 3x if I can find them. But these things come all wrinkled up, all wobbly. Gloves, latex. Some people like to open them with a shot of air. Kind of fun. I used to put these on over my head like Howie Mandel when my son and I were waiting in the doctor's office to be seen on draw little faces or make chickens and turkeys. It's a lot of fun. They don't appreciate it at the doctor's office. Putting on a glove is just an exercise in patience. Your object is to keep bodily fluids that are inside or leaking off of you, not and you don't want anything you've been doing to contaminate the wound. I used to do a thing where I'd give everybody a glove and put ketchup on it and show you how to take it off. I was asked by several facilities not to because some folks got a little zany with the ketchup, and one person had a ketchup packet and went sprayed. So I'm not going to do that out of respect. But quite simply, when you're done, stand up, kind of lean in. You're going to have whatever on your glove. You're going to use your thumb from the other hand. You're going to put it under the edge of the glove. You're going to pull carefully. And what you're doing, and I'm exaggerating for visual demonstration, you're making a little pouch. You're making a little pouch, and you're pulling the glove up like this. So you have a little baggie. Any of you have a dog, you understand how this works. You pull this, bada bing. Then you go to the other hand, you remove the glove, put this inside that as you pull it. Now there are many YouTubes on this. I just want to let you know there is a process. Now, this can be put in the bag you brought with you, the zip tie plastic bag, or even a zip lock bag for bio waste. This becomes a biohazard. You don't want to bury it out in the woods. Uh, you want to get it in some sort of can or receptacle. So if you have not ever done this, part of your first day training, how to glove up, how to glove off. It's important. And that brings us to a good point to stop for this week. I'll be back in uh another couple of weeks with uh further edits and outtakes and some suggestions. We'll also be sharing some ideas as we head into the warmer summer months. So thank you for listening. We look forward to seeing you out at the range. We've got all kinds of things going there. Do visit the website. Notice how we've got the classes uh broken out into kind of little convenient, easy-to-buy packets so you can get a complete serving of training in one easy plan. So be safe, be good for each other, and we'll see you next time.