PLAN - Begin at the Beginning

This page has a worksheet in the Workbook.  Click this link for the worksheet: WB005.PDF

True to my word, I want to take us step by step in thinking about and developing The Plan.  In the process of that, we're going to be collecting a few additional things that we need and generating some documents that let us coalesce our thoughts into a viable action plan.  Let's start from the beginning.  I know that this is a little dry, but stick with me.  Some of this early stuff is going to be old hat to some folks, but I want the folks who haven't ever thought about this to have a chance to catch up.  It gets better near the end...

Go get some paper and a pen or pencil.  Either that, or open a word processor.  Got it?  No?  OK, here download mine:

60 SECOND PLAN 

If you want to write your own, you can do that too.  In fact, this is my plan, and your plan may deviate from mine because of your particular circumstance.  My only real expectation is that telling you my plan will help you think about yours.  The major exercise of the plan is to help you Have Your Shit Together (HYST). 

Why 60 Seconds?  Well, for one thing, it's one minute, which is a nice round number.  For two, you should be able to do this in 60 seconds.  I know for a fact that I can do it in under 30.  (Best time is 22 seconds.)  For three, sixty seconds is the time it takes from the time a smoke alarm goes off until you lose the entire room where the fire started.  Watch this video:

ONE MINUTE FIRE VIDEO

By 120 seconds, you can lose all adjacent rooms.  If your house is poorly constructed, the entire structure can be engulfed in less than 3 minutes.  60 seconds is the maximum time you should shoot for for a house fire.  Anything past that and you're tempting fate. 

This is the only plan you are going to have to memorize, but it's also the shortest of the plans.  It looks like this:

60 SECOND PLAN

1. Sound the Alarm
2. Communicate
3. Children in danger?
    YES - Rescue & Escape
    NO - Continue
4. Decide if you can safely retrieve your BOB.
    NO - Escape
    YES - BOB Mantra
5. Bug Out Bag Mantra:

BAG
ASSETTS
GUN

6. ESCAPE!

Let's take it one step at a time, and flesh out the important ideas.  The plan has six steps by design.  It should not take you any more than 10 seconds to perform any step.  If you perform any step in less than 10 seconds, then you should escape early and not try to 'use' the time you save.  If you cheat, you could die.  Remember that the primary focus of this drill is a residential house fire.  There are going to be a lot of people who will say that you shouldn't be doing any of this if the house is on fire, that you should just get out.  Well, we'll talk about that as we go along.  This plan is useful for more than just fires.  If nothing else, it will help you to clearly identify how you want to Have Your Shit Together (HYST).

60 SECOND PLAN

60 Seconds, and 60 Seconds ONLY!  The sooner you get out, the better.  If the house isn't actually on fire, you might be able to squeeze a little more time.  Maybe turn it into 120 seconds.  Maybe five minutes.  Let's focus on 60 seconds, though, which is plenty of time to do the things that we need to do.

1. Sound the Alarm

Just that.  If you are home alone, you can skip this step, but if there are others in the house, then you need to Sound the Alarm.  The alarm itself might be an alarm like a smoke alarm, fire alarm, NWS Tornado Warning, or other alarm device.  The alarm may be risen by a human being, in which case it becomes important to:

2. Communicate

It isn't enough to start screaming, "OH MY GOD!  OH MY GOD!" over and over again, or to take to shrieking.  Shrieking has the benefit of being very alarming, but it doesn't communicate anything.  Likewise, screaming obscenities isn't useful.  It might entertain the children, but it isn't useful.  I like to clearly communicate the danger itself, and then the proscribed action.  For instance:

"FIRE!  FIRE!  FIRE!  OUT!  OUT!  OUT!" or "FIRE!  GET OUT!   FIRE!  GET OUT!   FIRE!  GET OUT!"

Whatever your initial alarm communication, it should be repeated three times.  The first time only alerts people to pay attention.  The second time they may be listening but not hearing.  The third time, they will get it.  When they hear it, they should sound the alarm themselves.  That serves two purposes.  It lets you know that they heard you, and it spreads the alarm.  You will need to have certain phrases that your family will recognize.  You should discuss them often enough to keep them fresh in everyone's mind.  Depending on your local circumstance, you may have different alarm phrases:

"TORNADO!  CELLAR!"

"EARTHQUAKE!  GET OUT!"

"JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES!  RUN OUT THE BACK!"

"ATF!  HIDE THE DOG!"

The individual phrases you agree on and the specific actions required can be added to this part of the plan.

3. Children in danger?
    YES - Rescue & Escape
    NO - Continue

Now that I have children, I have more clearly understood the responsibility involving them.  If a child is unable to escape the house on their own, you will need to assist them before any other consideration.  You should communicate with your children as soon as they are able to understand what they are supposed to do in an emergency.  Once the children are old enough, they should be able to self-rescue, and escape the house on their own.  Do not assume that they can do this or that they know it.  You should have a regular emergency drill centered around the 60 second plan at least four times a year.  At least one of these drills should be in the middle of the night while everyone is asleep.  If you really want to test them, cut the power to the house and see what happens when you start yelling, "DRILL!  GET OUT!  DRILL!  GET OUT!" 

4. Decide if you can safely retrieve your BOB.
    NO - Escape
    YES - BOB Mantra

If your bedroom is engulfed in flames, then the BOB plan isn't going to work out.  If you can get your Laptop Bag, go with that.  If you can't even get that, then just get out. 

5. Bug Out Bag (BOB) Mantra:

BAG
ASSETS
GUN

Here's where we get to use the extra space in your BOB.  We use the B.A.G. acronym. 

BAG - Get the bag.  If you've done your homework, it is under the bed on your side of the bed.  You grab the bag and put it on the bed.  Unzip it, and pull it open. 

ASSETS - Grab some wealth, man!  My wife is not into jewelry, but she has a little trinket box that has more sentimental value than monetary value.  I have been tempted to take it down to the pawn shop one day just to watch the guy gag.  Still, in my plan, I grab that and one or two other items of 'value' be that cash value or sentimental value.  I don't really have much in the way of expensive things, so mostly this is going to be the trinket box.  If my spare pistol is not in the safe, then I'll snatch that off the dresser along with my carry pistol and toss that in the bag.  If your pistol does not have a safety, this can be dangerous, so consider that beforehand.  If I am not wearing my pants, then they are hanging just inside the master bath door, and I'll grab those and stuff them in the bag because those pants will contain my wallet, some keys, my knife, a spare magazine, and one or two other things.  I will not stop to actually put them on.  They just go in the bag.  I now zip the bag and proceed to the next step.

GUN - If you don't like guns, then we're going to need to have a talk about this later.  My plan calls for me to take my primary defense gun (in addition to my pistols) with me.  I, and I alone, am responsible for the protection of my Health, Wealth, and Family, and the firearm is a key instrument in that philosophy.  A gun is not only wealth, but the means to defend that wealth.  I am not speaking to you from a theoretical standpoint.  Get one.

6. ESCAPE!

Just that.  Depending on your home, there will be various means of escape.  Out the front door, back door, or out a window.  If you live in an apartment building or condo, you will have various exits.  If you live in an abandoned missile silo, then you're gonna have to climb some stairs.  Whatever the various escape paths are, you should communicate with your family about these as part of your plan.  You should practice the entirety of your plan at least four times a year. 

What you do past the point of actual escape is up to you, but I would recommend some more communication.  Make sure everyone is out, and then perform the next logical step.  In most cases that means calling the fire department, getting into the car and driving away, or standing around in the yard until the earth stops shaking.

Once you have all that in place, written out neatly, and you have had the Family Meeting and reviewed The Plan, there is some bad news which falls under our Philosophy.  If you haven't guessed it already, it's closely related to SURVIVAL IS NOT A KIT!  This one is SURVIVAL IS NOT A PLAN!  To steal something from my friend Jerry, "One of the reasons I dislike rules and the people that insist on them is that it frequently leads to an inability to use your head."  Jerry also says, "You'd be surprised at what you can do when you experience a lack of a viable plan 'B'."  No matter what your plan is, it is not a suicide letter.  Do what you have to do when you have to do it. 

Why make the Plan at all then?  Isn't it enough to think about it and then just be adaptable when the time comes?  No, not really.  You should make the Plan, you should communicate about the Plan, and most importantly you should practice the Plan.  Why?  Because the 60 Second plan is a clever game that serves many purposes. 

1.  It makes you think, and thinking saves lives.
2.  It forces you to HYST at least in a narrow context.
3.  It gets you and your family communicating.  You know all this stuff, but your kids don't.  If they hide in the closet when the house catches fire, that's not going to end well.
4.  When SHTF, you will do what you have practiced.  If you haven't practiced, then you might do nothing or waste valuable time.  Any time you waste is a potential loss of Life or loss of Wealth.

Practicing also helps you arrange your living space in ways that help you when SHTF.  In my particular case, if the hallway is on fire in the middle of the night, I need to exit my bedroom by going out the window.  Virginia cannot open her bedroom window, however.  I will have to destroy it to get her out.  In practice, I know that I can toss my laptop bag out my window, get out of my window and be standing in front of hers in seven seconds.  The problem is that I'm likely to be naked or mostly naked at that moment, and the idea of destroying a window in that state is against my general philosophy of dermal integrity.  To help with this, part of my preparation is that I have a pair of heavy leather gloves in the top dresser drawer.  If I'm going out the window, the gloves are coming with me, because I know that I'm going to have to destroy Virginia's window to get her out.  Another prep that I've provided for is to have a fire extinguisher in the bedroom.  My friend Brian has just convinced me to have a larger one in the bedroom, because it might buy a few seconds - at least in theory.  If nothing else, it would be good to smash a window with...  Hmmm...

So, another purpose of the Plan is

5.  It helps you figure out what you might need and might want when SHTF so that when S does HTF, it will be there like some kind of miracle.

The final purpose is

6.  It prepares you for other, unforeseen circumstances.

Like what?  Well, how about a medical emergency.  Your wife faints, your kid breaks a leg, your mother-in-law drinks poison, or some other accident requires a ride in a helicopter, a ride in an ambulance, or some other immediate transport to a hospital.  When you get to the hospital, the doctors ask you what medications or allergies this person has...and what do you know...you grabbed your laptop bag on the way out the door to jump in the ambulance...and you just happen to have the medical history right here... 

Shane

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