Emergency drill

white_feather

white_feather

Joined
Nov 25, 2005
Messages
412
I was thinking about having an emergency preparedness drill one of these weekends. I would like it to include at least an overnight bug-out. Anyone have any suggestions? How much prep time should I give them before we leave? 30 minutes? Should I give them any hints that it might be coming up? I want to do this exercise, then critique it with them to see where we can improve it.
 
A heads up gives incentive to keep your ducks in a row, gear prepped and ready to rock.
 
lol i did this with my wife and 3y/o and it didn't go near as planned but hey thats what the trials are for. i woke them up at like 12:30 at night and said some shit just went down we gotta roll. you got 30 mins to get what the f you need and we are outta here. fortunately i keep bags packed for both of them so that made it a bit easier. my little girl loved it but the wifey wasn't to happy about it lol. when it was all said and done after 2 days you realize you don't need alot of the bs and there is certain things you do need
 
I'd give a week to 10 days notice that it's going to happen, have them break out their gear and do a checklist critique.
the day of the first bugout, give 30 minutes notice. Make that one short - just enough time for folks to figure out what they missed.
when you get home, do another critique session - let the participants figure out what they messed up on.
2 or so weeks later, do it again - 30 minutes warning, but make that the overnight.
follow it up with another wrap-up discussion.

another option would be to just do a hike and overnight camp using bailout bags, but without the alarm and confusion of a "live" drill, as the first drill -- followed a couple weeks later with the 30 minutes warning, etc....
 
If they're not already of the mindset and don't have their own bobs, help them out with some of 1066vik's ideas. Springing it on them, followed up by an overnighter might be cause for an unpleasant time. Try to make it fun this time and then warn them that in the next year there will be an "unsolicited" improvised drill. That way, they're prepared for the first and have coaching, and for the second they're on their own.
 
I've been on a "team building" hike that turned into a poorly planned overnighter. as in the leader had planned on us being out over night, forgot to count sleeping bags, check weather, bring food. there were about 30 of us, half guys, half gals, and I can tell you there were a couple of ladies very unhappy spending a night without spare...sanitaries... and a few folks with no contact lens cases or saline. Since then I've gotten more careful about what I pack (I had about the only pack and it was mostly first aid, just a little waist pack) I also lost a lot of trust for that particular team leader, and made working with him that much harder.


point is, if you make it uncomfortable, and miserable, you won't gain any friends, if it goes ok, people will be ready to learn how to make it better and have more fun. I'd say do a "grab and go" like 1066 said, and go over what people had, hike a bit, set up camp, critique, come home. Then once people have had a chance to fix/ replace gear (if an expensive pack ends up not fitting, it could take time to replace) then do the real deal, but have a "backup" stash and use an area you know, (don't have to guide, maybe be "injured") so that the variables are minimized. Better learning that way IMHO

personally I could "bail" with my EDC pack, but it wouldn't be pleasant at all, and even 10 min to swap packs and pack the extras would be enough to make it "fun"
 
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