Getting Started in Rappelling

My first experience,

Just like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane, also known as Skydiving, some people might wonder why a person would walk off the most dangerous side of a perfectly good mountain using a rope you hope is long enough and some metal you hope is strong enough. I’m referring to the art of rappelling. Rappelling, like skydiving, is the process of utilizing gravity to find the quickest way back to the ground while hoping to lessen the final impact through the proper use of ropes, harnesses, and a few metal pieces.

Ok, so maybe that’s not the exact definition of rappelling, or skydiving. I hear Webster and Wikipedia disagree… slightly. But today was my first lesson in rappelling, and as I started to inch toward the edge of the 50,000-ft cliff drop off, I couldn’t help screaming to myself “Why the (expletive) did I ever think this was a good idea?!”

It was a typical sunny August morning in the Nevada desert. I was at Red Rock National Park in Las Vegas, NV where the sun was slowly creeping higher into the sky, promising another scorcher. I was fortunate to be with Mark Flinn and Glenn Justice from ATAC TV, a couple of guys possessing a lot of knowledge and experience about climbing and rappelling. A few days prior to my first lesson, Mark suggested I watch some of the rappelling programs on the survival channel at www.atactv.com where there is a lot of good information on ropes, knots, rappelling gear, and safety.

Glenn spent some time reviewing equipment and safety with me. He also showed me how to properly read and use the equipment (carabiners, descenders, ropes, etc.) to ensure my greatest safety, as well as hopefully instill my confidence. (Again, you can check out http://survival.atactv.com for instructional videos.) Initially I was to use the Rescue-8 descender, but throughout the day I would get experience with several other descenders, which might also be called a rappel device, friction device, or friction hitch. Anxiously waiting to give it a go, I attached my carabiner and the Rescue-8 descender to my harness and let it hang heavy and low between my legs. Certainly a man designed this set up!

I was feeling confident! So, without getting into too much detail about the anchors, the rope knots, and back-up anchors, I can say Glenn made it clear all safety precautions were taken and clear before we were finally ready to descend. I threaded my rope, adjusted my attractive helmet, and I was ready to go! “On belay! On rappel!”

Nothing can prepare you for that moment when it’s time to take that first step over the edge and trust not only all the equipment (ropes, anchors, harnesses…), but more importantly to trust your own ability to rappel backward – or “spine first” as I like to dramatically refer to it – off a cliff and not freak out or panic. Thanks to Glenn’s initial instructions, I didn’t even think about the equipment’s ability; I just had to focus my mind on my breaking hand, my footing, my positioning, and my breathing. DO NOT FORGET TO BREATH.

I crept closer and closer to the edge. I could see Glenn hanging a few feet down from me, gently urging me on: “Come on. Come on. Keep going. Lean back. Come on.” So patient, so confident… My brain on the other hand was screaming at me to step forward and back to safety: “YOU CAN GO BACK TO THE CAR AND GO HAVE A NICE BREAKFAST SOMEWHERE! YOU DON’T NEED TO BE HERE RISKING LIFE AND LIMB!!” And then there’s Glenn’s voice again: “Come on. I got you. Almost there…” Mark stood ready with the camera to record all my graceful moves (or maybe it was for documentation to rule out foul-play in the event I plummet to my death). Anyway, he had encouraging words to say too: “Get on with it already! Sissy-Girl!”

In all fairness, that last comment might have been coming from inside my head too…

I took a deep breath, then slowly let the air out. I closed my lips tightly to prevent words from coming out of my mouth my mother wouldn’t appreciate. I took my final step over the side, clutching the rope in a death grip and ignoring the signs of a hand cramp coming on. I moved slowly. Before I knew it, I was halfway down the side of the cliff. I relaxed into my harness, loosened my death grip, and became comfortable with my gear and my ability. (“What do you know? This is pretty cool!!”) Once I reached the ground, still trembling a little bit, I couldn’t wait to get back up to the top to do it again!

Having skydived before, and now having rappelled off a cliff, I can safely say I do it simply because it’s fun. I don’t want to get philosophically poetic here, but it is empowering to face a fear and push through it. For some people that fear could be riding a bike, or it can be scuba diving with sharks. Maybe it’s bungee jumping, or shooting a firearm for the first time. Or maybe it’s shopping for sales the day after Thanksgiving (people have been trampled you know!). I’m grateful to Glenn and Mark for giving me this opportunity. I had a blast! Next time: Aussie Style Descent!! (wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rappel ) I’ll let you know how that goes. If I survive…

Melanie Fedraw

ATAC TV, TOM CLARKE, MARK FLINN, LENNY BOLTON, GLENN JUSTICE, JIM FULLER, PETZL, VENOM TACTICAL, RIFLE DYNAMICS, MELANIE FEDRAW, ROPE & REPEL,

We recently decided to get a lathe and take on machining as a hobby so we could keep the team’s match rifles up and running, and we also liked the prospect of eventually building new rifles for ourselves.  The idea was to get to a point of being self sufficient and able to re-barrel/build team rifles when we needed them.

We started looking into metal lathes and were extremely taken back by the cost of a South Bend or Bridgeport. So, after more searching around we found Grizzly and began looking over the different models that they had available.  We found a lot of good feedback and reviews on Gizzly’s products and the cost fit within a budget we could manage.  Once we got things figured out Dane ordered up a Grizzly G4003G metal lathe with the generous help of Mr. Shiraz Balolia himself, the owner of Grizzly Imports.

Before the lathe even arrived, Dane and I were reading everything we could on the subject, we bought books and spent many hours in front of the computer watching YouTube videos by Suarez Tactical Rifles and Tubalcain.  We began learning a great deal but were just getting our feet wet. We knew it was going to take a lot of work and practice for us to develop our machining abilities to the point of being able to cut a match barrel or build an accurate rifle.

The Grizzly G4003G was a stand out to us not only because of its cost, but because of its ability to accommodate rifle barrels and features included in with the machine.  The lathe came with both a 3 jaw self centering chuck and a 4 jaw independently adjustable turning chuck.  The machine also already included a quick change tool post and 4 screw spider at the rear of the spindle.  We were on pins and needles waiting for the lathe to arrive!

The lathe itself is a fairly big machine that takes up a good amount of space, especially keeping in mind you’ll be working around it.  The lathe is also very heavy, so transporting it and positioning it into your shop can prove to be challenging.  We were fortunate in that Dane has access to a fork lift, and our team mate Bill has a crane!  Other than having very limited machining experience, dating back to high school we were ready to go!

Dane and Bill were able to handle the arrival of the lathe and get it into Dane’s garage without damaging anything; Bill’s crane was a god send and sure made life a whole lot easier.  Shortly after getting everything unloaded, we did the little assembly that was required, wired it up and filled it with oil.  Once it was in position we took some time with a machinist level to make sure the lathe was level and the bed ways were parallel and after that was sorted out we made sure the head stock and tail stock lined up.

Another reason we chose the G4003G was because it was a single phase lathe and so we could wire it to Dane’s house without having to do much modification or upgrading.  One of the down sides of it is that the slowest speed we can run the lathe is 70 rpm.  That is slow enough for most things we are doing but we have had a couple moments where we wish we had a 35 rpm speed.

We began our learning curve by starting the machine up and making sure everything worked, while carefully checking out what controls worked what function on the lathe.  We were fortunate that Bill’s cousin was still awake because we had to ask him for help(Didn’t have the manual printed up yet) and he was able to walk us through a few things.

there we had it a Grizzly G4003G Gunsmithing lathe, wired, oiled and ready to go.  Our next step was gathering tooling and figuring out what we were doing…

~Joe C.

~Beau J.

ATAC TV FIREARMS, TOM CLARKE, MARK FLINN, LENNY BOLTON, JIM FULLER, GLENN JUSTICE, VENOM TACTICAL, RIFLE DYNAMICS, SNIPER RIFLE, SNIPER, BOLT GUN, .308, SIN CITY PRECISION

ATAC TV FIREARMS, JIM FULLER, RIFLE DYNAMICS, TOM CLARKE, MARK FLINN, LENNY BOLTON, GLENN JUSTICE,

http://www.redjacketfirearms.com/

Posted by Tactical-Life.com. Author Archive »

August marked the first month since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that no American forces have died, according to an Associated Press tally.

Figures compiled by the AP show that no American forces died in Iraq in August either in combat or non-combat related situations, a significant achievement in a conflict that has claimed the lives of 4,474 American service members since it began.

All American forces are supposed to leave Iraq by December of this year, but U.S. and Iraqi officials have been discussing whether to have a long-term American military presence in the country.

There have been previous months during which there were no combat related deaths, but during which some people died in non-combat related situations.

Source: The Associated Press

TACTICAL-LIFE.COM

ATAC TV FIREARMS, TOM CLARKE, MARK FLINN, LENNY BOLTON, JIM FULLER, VENOM TACTICAL, RIFLE DYNAMICS

Parents play a key role in developing safe practices and are ultimately responsible for the behavior and safety of their children. Because isolated lessons and concepts can be quickly forgotten, repetition will help children remember standard safety procedures.Parents can teach their children the Eddie Eagle program at home. Simply call the Eddie Eagle Program at 800-231-0752 and request a sample kit. Each kit includes a copy of the student workbook, instructor’s guide, program statistics, a description of materials, an order form, and the Parents’ Guide to Gun Safety brochure.

PARENTS’ GUIDE TO GUN SAFETY

This text is also available as a brochure. To receive a copy of the “Parents’ Guide to Gun Safety” brochure, email eddie@nrahq.org or call (800) 231-0752.

The Parents’ Responsibility

In a home where guns are kept, the degree of safety a child has rests squarely on the child’s parents.

Parents who accept the responsibility to learn, practice and teach gun safety rules will ensure their child’s safety to a much greater extent than those who do not. Parental responsibility does not end, however, when the child leaves the home.

According to federal statistics, there are guns in approximately half of all U.S. households. Even if no one in your family owns a gun, chances are that someone you know does. Your child could come in contact with a gun at a neighbor’s house, when playing with friends, or under other circumstances outside your home.

It is critical for your child to know what to do if he or she encounters a firearm anywhere, and it is the parents’ responsibility to provide that training.

Talking With Your Child About Gun Safety

There is no particular age to talk with your child about gun safety. A good time to introduce the subject is the first time he or she shows an interest in firearms, even toy pistols or rifles. Talking openly and honestly about gun safety with your child is usually more effective than just ordering him or her to “Stay out of the gun closet,” and leaving it at that. Such statements may just stimulate a child’s natural curiosity to investigate further.

As with any safety lesson, explaining the rules and answering a child’s questions help remove the mystery surrounding guns. Any rules set for your own child should also apply to friends who visit the home. This will help keep your child from being pressured into showing a gun to a friend.

Toy Guns vs. Real Guns

It is also advisable, particularly with very young children, to discuss gun use on television as opposed to gun use in real life. Firearms are often handled carelessly in movies and on TV. Additionally, children see TV and movie characters shot and “killed” with well-documented frequency. When a young child sees that same actor appear in another movie or TV show, confusion between entertainment and real life may result. It may be a mistake to assume that your child knows the difference between being “killed” on TV and in reality.

If your child has toy guns, you may want to use them to demonstrate safe gun handling and to explain how they differ from genuine firearms. Even though an unsupervised child should not have access to a gun, there should be no chance that he or she could mistake a real gun for a toy.

What Should You Teach Your Child About Gun Safety?

If you have decided that your child is not ready to be trained in a gun’s handling and use, teach him or her to follow the instructions of NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe^® Program. If you find a gun:

STOP!Don’t Touch.

Leave the Area.

Tell an Adult.

The initial steps of “Stop” and “Don’t Touch” are the most important. To counter the natural impulse to touch a gun, it is imperative that you impress these steps of the safety message upon your child.

In today’s society, where adult supervision is not always possible, the direction to “Leave the Area” is also essential. Under some circumstances, area may be understood to be a room if your child cannot physically leave the apartment or house.

“Tell an Adult” emphasizes that children should seek a trustworthy adult, neighbor, relative or teacher — if a parent or guardian is not available.

The NRA’s Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program includes an instructor guide, activity books, poster, and an animated video to explain its four-step safety message. For more information about the program, visit www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie or call (800) 231-0752.

Basic Gun Safety Rules

Although the NRA has complete gun safety rules available for specific types of firearm use (hunting and competition, for example), the following three rules are fundamental in any situation. Whether or not you own a gun, it is important to know these rules so that you may insist that others follow them.

• Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Whether you are shooting or simply handling a gun, never point it at yourself or others.Common sense will tell you which direction is the safest. Outdoors, it is generally safe to point the gun toward the ground, or, if you are at a shooting range, toward the target. Indoors, be mindful of the fact that a bullet can penetrate ceilings, floors, walls, windows, and doors.
• Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot. When holding a gun, rest your trigger finger outside the trigger guard alongside the gun. Until you are actually ready to fire, do not touch the trigger.
• Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use. If you do not know how to check to see if a gun is unloaded, leave it alone. Carefully secure it, being certain to point it safely and to keep your finger off the trigger, and seek competent assistance.

Where to Get Training

The time may come when you or your family members want to learn how to handle and shoot a gun safely. In the case of a child, his or her attitude, learning ability, and physical and emotional maturity are some of the factors to be weighed before allowing formal instruction to begin.

When a parent decides a young person is ready, many training opportunities are available. For more information on Youth Programs, call (703) 267-1505.

Providing instruction in the safe handling, use, and storage of firearms is one of the NRA’s most important functions. Basic Firearm Training Courses, taught by over 54,000 NRA Certified Instructors, are offered in every state. A program called “FIRST Steps” (Firearm Instruction, Responsibility, and Safety Training) provides a three-hour orientation to your specific firearm. For more information about taking any of these courses, call (703) 267-1430.

Gun Owners’ Responsibilities

Most states impose some form of legal duty on adults to take reasonable steps to deny access by children to dangerous substances or instruments. It is the individual gun owner’s responsibility to understand and follow all laws regarding gun purchase, ownership, storage, transport, etc. Contact your state police and/or local police for information regarding such laws. If you own a gun and do not know how to operate it, do not experiment with it. Point it in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger, and store it securely. Seek competent assistance and instruction at once. An untrained adult can be as dangerous as a curious child.

Store guns so that they are inaccessible to children and other unauthorized users. Gun shops sell a wide variety of safes, cases, and other security devices. While specific security measures may vary, a parent must, in every case, assess the exposure of the firearm and absolutely ensure that it is inaccessible to a child.

Robert Williams of Mihand Aircraft near England, Ark., places the engine cover back on his agricultural airplane after removing the battery cable. Federal officials allowed crop-spraying planes to return to the skies as long as they stayed away from commercial airports, one day after they were grounded because of security concerns after the previous week’s terrorist attacks. On Friday, Sept. 2, 2011, the FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks. (AP Photo/Spencer Tirey, File)

The FBI and Homeland Security have issued a nationwide warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes, just days before the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Authorities say there is no specific or credible terrorist threat for the 10-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. But they have stepped up security nationwide as a precaution.

According to a five-page law enforcement bulletin issued Friday, as recently as early this year, al-Qaida was considering ways to attack airplanes.

The alert, issued ahead of the summer’s last busy travel weekend, said terrorists have considered renting private planes and loading them with explosives.

“Al-Qaida and its affiliates have maintained an interest in obtaining aviation training, particularly on small aircraft, and in recruiting Western individuals for training in Europe or the United States, although we do not have current, credible information or intelligence of an imminent attack being planned,” according to the bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.

The bulletin also says al-Qaida would like to use sympathetic Westerners to get flight training, then get them to become flight instructors.

Matthew Chandler, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, described the bulletin as routine.
“We shared this information with our partners to highlight the need for continued awareness and vigilance,” he said.

Aviation security is much tighter than it was a decade ago, but al-Qaida remains keenly interested in launching attacks on airplanes, believing large attacks with high body counts are more likely to grab headlines.

Threats to small airplanes are nothing new. After the 2001 attacks, the government grounded thousands of crop dusters amid fears the planes could be used in an attack.

In 2002, U.S. officials said they uncovered an al-Qaida plot to fly a small plane into a U.S. warship in the Persian Gulf. And in 2003, U.S. officials uncovered an al-Qaida plot to crash an explosives-laden small aircraft into the American consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.
___
Associated Press writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report.

Posted by Narcotics Firearms Explosives Investigations at 7:07 PM

ATAC TV FIREARMS, ATAC TV, MARK FLINN, TOM CLARKE, LENNY BOLTON, JIM FULLER, GLENN JUSTICE,

Hojutsu is the ancient Japanese word for “the Art of Gunnery.” As practiced today, Hojutsu is the combination of the Modern Technique and traditional Japanese budo.

Hojutsu trains in handgun, rifle, shotgun, submachine gun, and precision rifle; we also train in unarmed defense, various impact weapons, edged weapons, and ground fighting. However, Hojutsu is primarily a shooting art.

Traditional reigi (protocol) is followed. Legitimate black belt rank through ninth dan (kudan) can be achieved.

Force Options - Hojutsu

ATAC TV FIREARMS, MARK FLINN, TOM CLARKE, JIM FULLER, LENNY BOLTON, GLENN JUSTICE

Historically the fighting shotgun has more often than not been merely a converted sporting gun modified slightly for duty use.   There have been exceptions, of course, the SPAS-12 and the USAS-12 come immediately to mind as does the Striker from South Africa.  Despite mechanical and capacity advantages over converted fowling pieces, none of the above ever caught on with the American law enforcement community.

Kel-Tec KSG

Once known only for inexpensive, polymer framed pistols, Kel-Tec has given their image a facelift during the last few years.  The .308 Winchester RFB turned the gun world on its head by offering a .308 semi-automatic rifle that was as compact as an M4.   This year they turned the shotgun world on its head by introducing the KSG (Kel-Tec ShotGun).

Capitalizing on his bull-pup success, George Kelgren designed a bull-pup shotgun unlike any that had been introduced previously.   The traditional bull-pup template has been merely to remove the traditional stock and replace it with a stubby shoulder pad.  The action of the rifle or shotgun is generally unchanged.  Consider all the bull-pup guns you’ve seen before, most all of them placed the gun’s ejection port right next to the shooters face.   Old bull-pup designs were essentially right-hand only designs.   A lefty would have gas and brass ejecting into their face.

Features

There are so many unique features on the KSG that it’s difficult to decide where to begin. Let’s start with the ambidextrous design.  The KSG is ambidextrous from a feeding and ejecting standpoint. Twelve gauge shotgun shells are fed up into the twin magazine tubes from underneath and ejected from the same point.  The slide release lever is located at the forward edge of the triggerguard and can be operated with either hand.  I suppose the only control on the gun that is not ambi is the crossbolt safety button.  When the button protrudes from the left side the gun is on “safe”, from the right it is on “fire”.

The barrel and twin magazines tubes form a stacked triangle, with the barrel on top.  Each tube holds seven 2 and ¾ inch shotshells and you can top off the chamber to bring your total load to 15.  At the base of the gun in the ejection/loading port there is a magazine tube selector lever.  Switching it to the left or right changes the tube from which the gun is fed.  The only drawback to this entire design is that the tubes do not automatically switch from one to another when they’ve run dry.  However, with practice you can rapidly switch tubes by using your support hand.

Regarding specifics, the KSG employs an 18 inch cylinder bore barrel and the overall length is 26.1 inches.  Empty weight is right around 6.9 pounds.  A 2 and ¾ inch chamber is used.  The action is a pump/slide action mechanism.  Polymer, aluminum and steel are all found in the construction of the KSG and the stock color is black.

*Public Safety Announcement

I’ve already heard suggestions about loading magazine tube ‘A’ with buckshot and ‘B’ with less-than-lethal shotshells.  The fact that someone actually brought that up is pretty scary.  Under the intense physical and psychological stress of personal combat I can easily see the end user getting mixed up and switching from one tube to another in error.

For whatever reason, American shooters love to salt and pepper their shotgun loads.  When I was a young cop I knew of police officers that deliberately mixed slugs and buckshot in the magazine tubes of their guns.  Granted, these are both lethal but expecting to remember which round is coming next during a life and death fight is extremely optimistic to say the least.

Rails, rails, rails.

Yes, the KSG has rails, top and bottom.  The gun arrives sans any sights and this really isn’t all that big of a deal.  Half of the folks will but iron sights on them and the other half will install a red dot optic of some sort.  Of course you can co-witness both an optic and back-up iron sights.

For this review I decided to but an EO-Tech EXPS Holographic Weaponsight on the shotgun.   I’ve been using them for a while now but recently I was truly sold on the holographic capabilities during a nocturnal training scenario.  Armed with an M4 that was topped with an EXPS and a white weapon light I had to clear a building in complete darkness.  The targets were full-color bad guys on paper.

After the scenario was complete the controller and I went back through to score the hits.  I was apprehensive because the targets were engaged rapidly at hard angles from awkward shooting positions.  Never once was I able to assume a solid shoulder mount on the rifle.  The holes in the targets turned out to be miraculously well placed.  Even though I was shooting fast from awkward angles the shots all impacted in the preferred zone.  That was a true epiphany for me.

The rail at the base of the forearm might seem a bit superfluous but with a vertical fore-grip affixed to it, you can run the action like nobody’s business.   I attached a GripPod to the KSG before departing for the range.

Range Time

I filled my shell bag with Federal’s Personal Defense 00 buckshot and their Gold Medal #8 Target loads and headed to the range.   Step number one was pattern the gun at seven yards using the 00 buckshot.   The first shot was a harbinger of things to come.   Historically, I have found that most cylinder bore fighting shotguns will spread 00 buckshot from ½ to 1 inch for every yard traveled.

Looking down range at the target I could not distinguish any 00 pellet holes.   All nine 00 buck pellets impacted so closely with each other that they simple tore a large ragged hole in the target paper.   Moving back to 20 yards I took aim and fired another round of Federal buckshot.  The pattern looked tight but I wanted to see close up.  A close examination of the target proved impressive. To the naked eye it seemed to be less than five inches.

Just to be sure it wasn’t a fluke I patterned a second shot at 20 yards.  The shot pattern was nearly identical to the first.   Pulling out the ruler I found that pattern #1 was 4 inches across and pattern #2 was even tighter at 3.85 inches.  Folks, that is phenomenal consistency for an 18 inch cylinder bore gun.

With the patterning chores complete it was time to have some fun.  The KSG was stuffed completely full and fifteen rounds fired as fast as I could get on target.   My range partner, Mark, and I switched off running the shotgun.  We’d fire eight shots in rapid fashion until tube ‘A’ was empty then quickly flip the lever and run tube ‘B’ dry.

Parting Thoughts

The Kel-Tec KSG has a lot of attributes; the most obvious being high capacity, light-weight and compact size.  After my range session I was aware of one more very impressive attribute, a tight consistent bore.  The pump action was smooth and sure and with the addition of the vertical fore-grip ran as fast as you could ask for.

Being a bull-pup design the majority of the gun’s weight is toward the rear, not the front so the gun balances tremendously well and handles like no fighting shotgun I’ve even used.  During the testing period no malfunctions or failures to feed were encountered.  Every shell chambered and ejected clearly.

The only hurdle Kel-Tec has to clear is production.  They have historically been slow in producing popular models; the RFB is a good example.  I am personally convinced that they will sell every KSG they can make.  The question for them is how many can they build and deliver?

Will American Law Enforcement embrace the KSG?  Only time will tell.  One thing is certain.  The Kel-Tec 12 gauge KSG is not a reworked hunting gun.  It’s a dedicated fighting tool with a tremendous amount of potential.

ATAC TV

Tom Clarke, Mark Flinn, Lenny Bolton, Jim Fuller, Venom Tactical, Rifle Dynamics

What to Do After an Earthquake

• Expect aftershocks. These secondary shockwaves are usually less violent than the main quake but can be strong enough to do additional damage to weakened structures and can occur in the first hours, days, weeks, or even months after the quake.
• Listen for the latest emergency information. on your battery or crank powered radio or television.
• Seek safe shelter. If your home or other structure has been badly damaged you must vacate the premises and find other shelter.
• Be aware of possible tsunamis if you live on or near water. Tsunamis are a real potential danger after earthquakes. Listen to your emergency broadcast stations for any possible tsunami warnings.
• Phones may not work after an earthquake. If they are working, use it for emergency purposes only.
• Help injured or trapped persons. Remember to help your neighbors who may require special assistance such as infants, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Give first aid where appropriate. Do not move seriously injured people unless they are in immediate danger of further injury. Call for help.
• Be aware of hazardous chemicals or liquid spills. Clean up all flammable and toxic substances immediately. If you smell fumes, leave the area.
• Inspect utilities
• Check for gas leaks. If you smell gas or hear blowing or hissing noise, open a window and quickly leave the home or building. Turn off the gas at the outside main valve if you can and call the gas company once you are a safe distance from the structure. If you turn off the gas for any reason, do not turn it back on. Let a trained inspector come and do it.
• Look for electrical damage. If your main fuse box looks burnt from the outside, call immediately for assistance. If you see sparks or broken or frayed wires, or if you smell hot insulation, turn off the electricity at the main fuse box or circuit breaker. If you have to step in water to get to the fuse box or circuit breaker, call a licensed electrician first.
• Sewage and water lines damage. If you suspect sewage lines are damaged, avoid using the toilets and call a plumber. If water pipes are damaged, contact the water company and avoid using water from the tap. Use your emergency drinking water. Local stores will likely open and you may be able to buy bottled water. If you had ice cubes in your freezer prior to the quake, you can let them melt for potable drinking water.
• Inspect chimneys for damage. Unchecked damage could be a fire hazard.

SEE MORE SURVIVAL - ATAC TV

What to Do During an Earthquake

Safety is paramount during an earthquake. Maintain your composure so that you can properly instruct your family. Be aware that what you think is the earthquake may only be the foreshock and tremors that precede a larger quake. Minimize your movements and stay in a safe place but be aware that what you pre-determined in your disaster plan to be a “safe place” can change in an instant depending upon the circumstances at that moment. So be ready to mobilize the family at any moment. Stay indoors until all the shaking has stopped completely. When you do decide to exit the structure, be very aware of your footing and the landscape as it may have changed as a result of the earthquake.

If indoors

• DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and squat down in an inside corner of the building.
• Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.
• Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.
• Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is strongly designed.
• Stay inside until all shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that the most injuries occur during earthquakes when people panic and move about without forethought going outside only to be struck by falling debris.
• Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.
• DO NOT use elevators.

If outdoors

• Stay there.
• Move only when you have to.
• Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.
• Stay there until all shaking stops. Again, the greatest danger is being outside and in close proximity to buildings, glass and other potential shattering or falling debris.

If in a moving vehicle

• Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.
• Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.

If trapped under debris

• Do not move about or kick up dust.
• Cover your mouth with your clothing or anything you have.
• Do not attempt to light any matches.
• If possible, use your hand or anything in close proximity you can grab as a tool to tap on piping, or other structures so the rescue team can get a fix on your position. If you have a whistle, use it. Try to avoid screaming and shouting as you may inhale dust which could be dangerous.

SEE MORE - ATAC TV