Survival is Your Own Responsibility

Daryl R. Miller, a Retired Mountaineering Ranger at Denali National Park, included some of his thoughts on survival in an article published on the National Park Service web-site (March 5, 2020): 

We have re-posted Ranger Miller's bullet points here, and recommend that you read his thought-provoking article in toto.

* Everyone has a personal responsibility to maintain self-sufficiency in the wilderness and should always base decisions on getting back on their own.
    
* Your best resource is the ability to think in a controlled manner when a life-threatening crisis is happening.
    
* Prevention, not treatment, is what ultimately will save your life in the wilderness. There is a notable difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. A calculated risk considers all the odds, justifies the risk, and then makes an intelligent decision based on conservative judgment. A gamble is something over which you have no control and the outcome is just a roll of the dice.
    
* You cannot make intelligent decisions in the wilderness if you do not understand the risks.
    
* Never give up;the will to live is a valuable asset. Sometimes people perish simply because they fall short on perseverance.
    
* As a rule, if you die in the wilderness you made a mistake;careless judgment has a sharp learning curve.
    
* Wilderness rescues in Alaska are often dangerous to the rescuers and always weather-contingent.
    
* People do not realize the devastating impact that their accidents have on friends and loved ones.
    
* The prerequisite to misadventure is the belief that you are invincible or that the wilderness cares about you.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will There Be Food Shortages in the Coming Year?

Image
According to the USDA : " There are currently no nationwide shortages of food, although in some cases the inventory of certain foods at your grocery store might be temporarily low before stores can restock. Food production and manufacturing are widely dispersed throughout the U.S. and there are currently no wide-spread disruptions reported in the supply chain. " In 2021 , food-at-home prices are expected to increase between 2.5 and 3.5 percent, and food-away-from-home prices are expected to increase between 3.5 and 4.5 percent. In 2022, food-at-home prices are expected to increase between 1.5 and 2.5 percent, and food-away-from-home prices are expected to increase between 3.0 and 4.0 percent. Drug Shortages Drug Shortages can occur for many reasons, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays, and discontinuations. Manufacturers provide FDA most drug shortage information, and the agency works closely with them to prevent or reduce the impact of shortages. The FDA da...
Read more

Emergency Preparedness Cooking

Image
  Disaster preparedness planning recommends that every family have at least two-weeks of supplies set aside in case of emergency. Many people by bulk foods, such as bags of beans, bags of rice, along with various canned foods for their emergency food supply. This is reasonably inexpensive and provides bulk food that can be stored for a long time. But, what happens if you have to use your emergency food in the aftermath of a disaster? Can you prepare nutritious, tasty meals using your storage food? You may read in some preparedness forums that "you'll eat anything if you're hungry enough". While this may or may not be true, we believe that it is bad planning to assume that your family will be best served by having to choke down some bad tasting gruel for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while attempting to recover from a disaster. Having a hot, nutritious, and good tasting meal can improve morale, reduce stress, and prevent illness. We recommend learning to prepare meals f...
Read more