Susan is such a wonderful flirt! (Priorities in Survival)
What to expect from this enigmatic title?
When talking recently with students about how to handle a crisis, we ended up considering extreme circumstances, critical, life-threatening situations, and discussed the case of someone lost in a hostile environment. When I asked them what would be their top priorities if they experienced such a misfortune, the majority answered something like “First, I’ll make sure I get enough food to survive, so I have time to address all other issues...”.
When I told them that this should not even be in their top 5 priorities, I got in return many skeptical pairs of eyes staring at me.
So, I realized that they did not have a clue about the real priorities in survival situations and that diverting from the ordinary course of our lesson, to take few minutes for a 101 about it, would be time well spent.
You are probably well aware of these basics, but as a reminder of general interest, hereafter is a summary.
PRIORITIZING ACTIONS IN SURVIVAL SITUATION
I- Recognizing Priorities: the “Rule of Three”
This is a well-known, long established, nevertheless robust and always useful, method to rank the threats in survival/critical situations, by order of criticality, considered by the time for a threat to become life-threatening. Here is our version of this famous rule:
HUMANS CANNOT LIVE MORE THAN:
3 WEEKS…
…without food
Finding a source of food is often mentioned as a priority in the survival checklist done by untrained people. In fact, in the list of the potential threats on life, the risk of starvation is the one leaving you (relatively) ample time to work on a solution. Of course, the lack of food after few days will seriously diminish your strength, so you should not wait too long before searching for it, but it will not kill you as quickly as other threats.
The associated risk is starvation, and being incapacitated.
3 DAYS…
…without water
This is spontaneously mentioned as important by everybody, and it is, obviously, but it still gives you a little time to face more urgent issues.
The associated risk is dehydration and subsequent loss of consciousness.
3 HOURS…
…without thermoregulation
Here is one very critical threat very frequently omitted, not recognized as it is: the main killer in many situations, e.g. during cold nights, under hot sun, in winter, in mountain, in desert, in water and in any situation where ambiant atmosphere will drain energy out of your body, that needs fighting either to refresh or to warm itself up. Statistics confirm that most of people dying during outdoor activities were killed by adverse weather conditions.
The associated risks are hypothermia and heat strokes. (Note that in case of severe hypothermia shock due to fall in icy water, the lethal time of exposure is closer to 3 minutes.)
3 MINUTES…
…without breathable air
This is not only the death underwater, but also the toxic fumes of fires, the confined space without O2 etc…
The associated risk is a shortage of O2 due to drowning, toxic air or obstruction of airways (anaphylactic shock, swallowed object…).
…without stopping hemorrhages
Many wounds may cause traumatic bleeding and an excessive loss of blood threaten the life. Stopping or controlling the bleeding is critical.
The associated risk is the exsanguination leading to cardiovascular collapse.
3 SECONDS
… without thinking
The most important point, period.
Many things can kill you almost immediately if you do not use your main survival tool: your brain. A wrong knot on a securing rope, a bad position off a cliff, a step on a snake when distracted in jungle, a walk along an highway, an aggressive stance in front of a predator, a jump in unknown waters,…
Associated risks: consequences of stupidity, ignorance or lack of attention… Long list!
This “Rule of Three” is not a Law of Nature, nothing dogmatic in it, and it is a simplification. Durations given are average estimations, and some needs are not mentioned, not fitting well in this model (e.g. sleep deprivation can kill in one week approximately, and what about the lack of social interaction? Does it kill in 3 months, 3 years, never…?)
There is always room for adaptation, even shift of priorities in special cases (remember: “3 sec. without thinking”, so your judgment must prevail).
Just take this Rule of Three as a framework to better prepare and react more rationally, just in case.
II- Taking Actions in Order: S.I.S.A.W.F.
Now you get it:
“Susan Is Such A Wonderful Flirt”
“Situation - Injuries - Shelter - Alert - Water - Food”
I devised it as an easy way to remember this order of priorities (it works with Sam instead of Susan too, to be gender fair…)
Warning: We do not provide here detailed advice, methods or tutorials, as this post is not a survival guide, just an eye-opener. Please see at the end, a list of recommended guides to learn more if interested.
S: Situation
Is there an immediate threat around? Are you on safe ground, at least for a while? Do you need to put a warning flag to signal the danger and prevent a secondary accident? It’s often a painful effort to check around and think about the possible threat still there, especially just after a shock or accident, but if you are not incapacitated, this MUST be your first action.
And this is required all along your survival time: e.g., did you lock well the carabiner that will hold you? Did you realize that your bivouac in a dried riverbed might be flooded by water from a storm far away?… Maintaining your SITUATIONAL AWARENESS about your environment, and lucidity on what you are doing is your best protection.
In 3 seconds, something you didn’t pay attention to, can kill you.
I: Injuries
Check your body for bleeding to control any massive loss of blood, by compression, by improvising a tourniquet (garrot), etc.… Identify other injuries to adapt your moves and know where you’ll require care once safely sheltered.
In 3 minutes, bleeding can be fatal.
S: Shelter
Find shelter. Starting with your first body’s protection: clothes. Adapt your protective layers to the external conditions, reduce sun or wind exposure. Improvise hut with branches, search for caves, dig a hole, build a snow house, whatever… but try to protect you as much as possible from outside temperature (even beautiful days can turn into super cold nights in many places). It might also be useful to hide a little bit in a hostile environment, from humans or animals.
When possible and safe, making a fire at your shelter is an excellent addition to your chances of survival, by heat (to warm body up, cook food, sterilize water…), light (to signal, remain active in dark, protect from animals…), smoke (to signal, repulse insects…) etc…
In 3 hours, a chilly wind can freeze you to death; a scorching sun can shock you beyond recovery.
A: Alert
Now that you have addressed the most urgent issues that could kill you rapidly, you may think of a way to communicate with the outside world, the cavalry, first responders, emergency teams, etc.… to request for rescue and/or inform of an existing threat.
W: Water
Now comes the hydration needs. It is a critical one (just not THE most critical). When you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated a bit. At 5% loss of body water, you start losing mental agility, from 10% you are at risk to lose consciousness and from 15%… it’s lethal.
There are many sources (if I may say so!) of information about the water issue in survival conditions on the Internet. Just keep in mind that clear water is not always pure water and that you need access to DRINKABLE water (by filtration, distillation, chemical treatment, etc…).
Without water intake in a temperate climate, you might be able to remain active, with lower and lower performance, for around 24 hours. Then your brain will be more and more confused, your actions less and less effective, and your mistakes more dangerous for another 24 hours, before organs start to fails.
In 3 days, dehydration will reach the point of no return.
F: Food
Finally, the food concern is on your agenda. Assuming that all other potential risks have been taken care of, you have days before being at life risk, at least one full week in active condition, and two more in weak but reversible condition if rescued. In most of the known cases, either rescue or finding a source of nutrition occurred before death by starvation, which is very rare.
And that’s it: S.I.S.A.W.F ! You just gained surviving time enough to get rescued. Congratulations!
Conclusion
Of course, there are infinite variations of survival circumstances and many other factors involved, e.g., the pre-existing knowledge and health conditions, the number of people involved (dynamic of the group, leadership, or loneliness)… , but the “Rule of Three” and “Susan is such a wonderful flirt” suggest the best sequence of actions to cope with a survival situation. Not always intuitive, but based on experience and statistics, consistent with the priorities deducted from the consideration of the human body needs and the associated risks.
One last word, to insist on something important: As it is not material and cannot be measured, it is often omitted in the rational lists of tips; nevertheless it is a crucial factor of survival: A POSITIVE MINDSET.
It is not a cliché; this VIRTUAL idea gives you many REAL advantages: it motivates you, improves your planning ability and your imagination, it gives you a sensation of energy, increases strength and resistance, keeps you active longer, reduces stress-induced damages, helps to fight pain…
Something useful to cultivate as an absolute priority, even in daily life, don’t you think so?
Le Radeau de la Méduse - Géricault - 1819 (Musée du Louvre)
A classic example of bad management of priorities:
In 1816, the French frigate “La Méduse” ran aground on a sandbank 50 km off the West African coast and the ship broke up. A group of 150 was left behind on an improvised raft, with a bag of sea biscuits and casks of water and wine. After 1 day, all the biscuits had already been eaten and 20 men were killed in fight or suicided. After 2 days, the casks of water were lost in the sea during a fight. After 4 days, only 60 survived and started to eat the flesh of the dead. After 8 days, the strongest decided to kill all the weakest. After 12 days, only 15 men were found alive by the rescuing boat...
E.G.
23 Apr. 2019
P.S.: the topic of this post appeared unexpectedly from a discussion during a lesson. It was not my intention to develop further this subject but it seems quite popular among students. If there is an interest for it, I might present you more related posts in future.
Suggested Books:
“The SAS Survival Handbook”, by John “Lofty” Wiseman - The Bible of survival guides
“The Survival Medicine Handbook” by Joseph and Amy Alton - By reputation, the best medical guide for disaster or remote situation without access to medical aid
“Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage” by Alfred Lansing - The “anti-Radeau de la Méduse”, an extraordinary lesson of survival, thru wit, fortitude, leadership and positive mindset
in French:
“Survivre. Comment vaincre en milieu hostile”, by Dr Xavier Maniguet - The French classic survival book, by a famous medical expert in adventure and exploration