Emergency Preparedness and Off-Grid Communication

Emergency Preparedness and Off-Grid Communication

Praying Medic

© Copyright 2023 – Praying Medic

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Contents

Introduction

1 ​Mental Preparedness

2 ​What Should I Prepare For?

3 ​Without the Rule of Law

4 ​Loss of Power

5 ​How Reliable is the Internet?

6 ​Traveling During a Crisis

7 ​Financial Risk

8 ​Water

9 ​Food

10 ​Shelter

11 ​Firearms

12 ​Where to Live

13 ​Hygiene and Sanitation

14 ​Emergency First Aid

15 ​Surviving Nuclear War

16 ​Satellite Communication

17 ​Radio Basics

18 ​Listening Only

21 ​Handheld Radios

22 ​VHF and UHF Antennas

23 ​HF Radio

24 ​HF Antennas

26 ​Data Modes

27 ​AREDN Mesh Network

28 ​Communication Windows

29 ​Radio Reference Guide

30 ​Getting on the Air

31 ​Communication Security

32 ​How God’s Kingdom Responds to Crisis

Introduction

In 2023, news outlets have frequently published stories warning about the possibility of catastrophic events happening around the globe. Some articles warn of cyber attacks. Others warn of disastrous solar storms. Many speculate about the threat of power outages and nuclear war. Here are just a few headlines from November and December of 2023. Are citizens of our modern world prepared for these possibilities?

As the Israel-Hamas War Governs the World’s Attention, Iran Is Quietly Marching Towards Nuclear Breakout

~Time (12/9/23)

China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services

~Washington Post (12/11/23)

Iran-linked cyberattacks threaten U.S. water, heath care and energy sectors

~NPR (12/2/23)

Don’t panic but... Brits should stock up on candles and battery-powered radios in case a power meltdown cripples digital gadgets, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden warns

~Daily Mail (12/4/23)

UK at high risk of ‘catastrophic ransomware attack,’ report says

~The Guardian (12/12/23)

Earth will be bombarded by intense solar storms next year: Scientists predict we’ll reach ‘solar maximum’ in 2024 - with flares strong enough to cripple the world’s internet for weeks

~Daily Mail (11/29/23)

Doomsday clock warns world of catastrophe in 2024

~Jerusalem Post (12/4/23)

My personal interest in emergency preparedness began in 1995, when I moved to Washington State and took a job as a firefighter paramedic with a small municipal fire department. Due to its close proximity to many geologic faults, Western Washington experiences frequent earthquakes. One fault in particular has worried geologists. The Cascadia subduction zone fault that runs along the Washington and Oregon coastline is not your garden-variety crack in the earth’s crust. The fault is formed where the Pacific and North American tectonic plates meet. Historical records show that every few hundred years, this fault is the site of earthquakes that suddenly lower the entire western coast of North America by several feet. Geologists generally believe another such earthquake is overdue.

Western Washington also sees frequent windstorms that knock down power lines, which can leave people without electricity for weeks until the lines are repaired. My work with the fire department offered me an opportunity to teach community preparedness with a focus on preparing for large earthquakes and power outages.

Note that my preparedness focused on two threats. One of those threats—a massive earthquake—was a rare occurrence, but it was potentially life-altering if it happened. The other risk—a power outage—was not life-threatening, but it was a common, well-known issue. I did not prepare for hurricanes or tornadoes because they were extremely unlikely to happen where I lived. I prepared for the kind of events that would be reasonably expected to occur in Western Washington.

Minor earthquakes are common in Western Washington, but a quake of 8.0 magnitude could leave millions of people homeless. To prepare for that possibility, I put together a bug-out bag for each member of my family, which included a tent, sleeping bag, cook stove, bottled water, flashlight, matches, food, and a few other items. The bug-out bag was to be used to get each of us by for a few days if an earthquake destroyed our house. I also bought a generator and some extension cords and stored a couple of cans of gasoline in my garage to prepare for the power outages. The bug-out bags were never needed, but I used the generator regularly. These simple measures addressed the two main threats my family faced when I lived in Washington.

And that is the main goal of preparedness. We can’t prepare for every possible emergency—and we don’t have to. The first step in preparedness is identifying the specific threats you ought to prepare for, keeping in mind that we only need to prepare for the most serious and the most likely scenarios that could cause us hardship. It’s foolish to prepare for hurricanes if you live in Montana. For the most part, threats to our way of life are specific to where we live. Having said that, we should also prepare for threats that are national or global in scope. This book discusses ways to prepare for such threats.

Some people avoid preparing for disasters because they don’t know what to prepare for. Feeling overwhelmed, they choose to avoid the issue altogether. The information provided in this book will show you that you don’t need to prepare for every possible crisis. You only need to prepare for the one that is the most likely to happen to you and the one that has the most potential to alter your way of life. We’ll examine the risk profiles of potential disasters and ask questions to help determine if each is a realistic threat to you.

Some people avoid the issue of preparedness because they don’t have the money required to buy the things they believe they might need. If this describes you, take heart. There are some things you can do to prepare that cost little or nothing except some basic skills and creative thinking.

For twelve years, God has warned me about a variety of potential future crises. (I use the word potential because it is difficult to speak with absolute certainty when dealing with prophetic revelation—matters to do with the future.) I’ve received dreams warning of widespread power outages, communication disruptions, food shortages, economic collapse, and one dream hinting at nuclear war. It would be negligent of me not to share these warnings with others, along with tips about preparing for them. My goal with this book is to provide common-sense preparations that can be made for specific events that I believe we may see in the near future.

1

​Mental Preparedness

For preparedness to be successful, it must become a lifestyle and not just an occasional thing you think about a few times a year. It’s a mindset that should affect the decisions you make on a daily basis. How well-prepared you are for a crisis will depend on the decisions you’ve made and the habits you’ve developed over the previous years. Habits that will help you in a crisis are developed during times of peace.

Half the battle of getting ready for the unexpected is mental preparedness. Many people first consider preparing for a crisis after being made aware of a potential future problem. Concerned that they might be caught off guard, they wonder if they should take steps to deal with the potential problem. Concern can motivate us, but excessive worry can interfere with rational thought. Preparedness is best done with a clear mind and a sober, realistic outlook. A primary goal is to recognize and address legitimate problems while discarding unrealistic concerns that do not require preparedness.

Ask any member of a military special operations team what the key is to surviving adverse conditions and achieving difficult goals, and they’ll tell you that nothing they do is possible without proper mental preparedness. You can have the best gear and years of training in how to use it, but without the right mindset, you will not use your equipment effectively.

With our minds focused on the issues of daily life, many of us are unaware of the dangers that surround us. When faced with a sudden threat, we go from a mental state of unawareness to a state of panic in a matter of seconds. When our mind is filled with fear, we can’t think rationally. We make errors in judgment or freeze when we should be reacting to a threat. Situational awareness is our ability to recognize and respond to threats.

Jeff Cooper developed a system that describes the different levels of situational awareness based on color codes. Cooper’s color codes are divided into five categories: white, yellow, orange, red, and black. Level white is when you’re not aware of what is going on around you. You’re unaware of potential threats and unprepared for an assault. In condition yellow, you’re aware of your surroundings—prepared but relaxed. In level orange, you’ve recognized a possible threat and are prepared to act on it. In level red, you’ve engaged a threat, and your focus is on dealing with it. While focusing on the immediate threat, a secondary focus is on other possible dangers and potential help from strangers, friends, or law enforcement. In condition black, you panic, freeze, and shut down. This is the worst possible state. Condition yellow is where we should be most of the time. Our eyes are scanning the environment, looking for potential threats, but we’re physically relaxed. Maintaining proper awareness is helpful during times of peace, but it’s critical during a crisis.

Adverse environments and difficult tasks present physical and mental problems that can overwhelm us. No one thinks of giving up when life is easy, but when adversity comes, we face the temptation to quit. When times are hard, the thought of giving up must be opposed by a reason to keep going. If the reason to persevere is stronger than the reason to quit, one will generally continue fighting. Before beginning a difficult pursuit, it helps to find a compelling reason to see the task through to its completion.

What is your reason for reading this book? Why do you want to prepare for a potential disaster?

Your motivation may be as simple as wanting to be prepared for a power outage caused by a hurricane. Some have pragmatic reasons for prepping, but others have ideological reasons. Perhaps you value liberty above all else and feel a need to fight against the forces of tyranny. Maybe you desire to pass along to your grandchildren the values and lessons you’ve learned in life. Whatever your motivation is, think about it every day during a crisis. Continually reminding yourself why you are doing what you are doing will drive out the temptation to quit when times are hard. Mental preparedness is the most important asset you have. Nothing can force you to quit if you’re mentally prepared for adversity.

2

​What Should I Prepare For?

It’s a waste of time and resources to prepare for an event that will never happen to you. Likewise, there’s little point in preparing for an event that will have little impact on your way of life. To prepare for potential disasters, you need to identify the ones that are the most likely to happen and the ones that will have the greatest impact. In this chapter, we’ll assess the likelihood that certain disasters might occur to you and their probable impact. This will help determine which ones are worth preparing for. In assessing risk, we need to look at what facts are known to experts in these areas. Most of the facts that experts rely on come from analyzing historical trends. Weather and geologic trends tend to be predictable. Past patterns can help predict future events. So, we’ll look at past disasters and discuss their likelihood of happening again.

Gathering / Analyzing Data

When evaluating the kinds of threats we’re likely to face, we should consider the fact that not every possible threat that comes to our attention is a real threat. Likewise, there may be real threats that we’re unaware of. We can take steps to learn which threats are real and which are not. Gathering and discerning the reliability of information is critical to making good decisions.

There are two common mistakes people make when assessing threats. The first is failing to gather enough information. The lazy person doesn’t do their homework. Thus, they have no reliable information that can be used to evaluate threats, and they don’t know what to prepare for.

The second is information overload. Some people read every article and watch every video they can find on a subject and consider all of it to be valid, when in fact, much of it should be ignored because it’s flawed in some way. This person lacks discernment and tends to make decisions that are poorly informed.

If you don’t critically evaluate the many pieces of information available, you’re likely to become either apathetic or overwhelmed by what you find. A lot of what is available on the internet can be disregarded as hype or fear-mongering.

When I hear about a potential threat, I research the subject using material from different viewpoints. I evaluate the arguments on both sides of the issue and look for logical fallacies and inconsistencies. I note the tone of the presenters. If a presenter is excessively emotional, it can indicate that they’re reacting to the issue from their own irrational fear. If the information is presented in a convincing way without contradictions, logical fallacies, and excessive fear, I’ll ask God to give me further insights. Generally, when He wants to draw my attention to a particular issue, He’ll give me dreams about it. God speaks in many ways. He may choose to inform you through something other than a dream. The key is to be still, and pay attention after asking. Sometimes the answer will come days later.

One factor to consider is the severity of the impact that a threat has. By severity, I mean how much damage a threat poses to your way of life. A windstorm that takes out power lines in a neighborhood for a few days has a much lower severity than one that uproots thousands of trees and leaves a million people without power. Another factor to consider is the frequency of a threat. A storm that happens once every hundred years is less likely to impact us than one that happens every few years. When you combine the severity and frequency of a threat, you begin to build a risk profile, which helps gauge whether it should be included in your preparedness plans.

Wind Storms

Some locations are prone to frequent wind storms. The Puget Sound is one such area and it has a unique set of risks. The region sees frequent storms with wind gusts over 40 MPH, along with heavy rains. Many of the coniferous trees in the area have shallow roots. This leads to large trees being toppled that damage homes and power lines. If home damage and power outages are a concern for you, consider living in an area where these storms seldom happen. If you must live in a region where windstorms are common, preparedness involves having the tools and supplies needed to make home repairs and providing for emergency backup power. (This will be discussed in the Loss of Power chapter.)

Tornadoes

Among natural disasters, tornadoes present a unique risk profile. Even though they only last a few minutes, and generally strike rural areas, if you happen to be in the path of one, the devastation can be incredible. While a large tornado can level a small community, they don’t cause damage outside of the immediate area where they occur. While the impact of an earthquake or hurricane can be felt for thousands of miles, tornadoes pose a threat to a small geographic area and a few people.

The risk of being caught in a tornado can be calculated with reasonable accuracy. I’m not referring to the actual probability of a particular person being hit by a specific tornado. I’m referring to the overall exposure to the risk of a tornado during a person’s lifetime, based on where they live. There are some locations where tornadoes are common, others where they are less common, and many places where they are seldom (or never) seen. You can determine your risk by looking at weather maps showing the historical frequency and severity of tornadoes in your area.

If tornadoes are a concern for you, consider living in a place where they seldom occur. If you must live in a place where tornadoes occur frequently, preparedness is aimed at not getting yourself killed. Preventing crop and property damage from a tornado is practically impossible. Serious preppers usually avoid living in these danger zones. People who live in tornado country usually have cellars and basements for shelter. If you need to build a shelter as a safe place to hide from a tornado, make it large