Survival Tip #110

Fire Drills

All through school we had fire drills. Some of the places I have worked have even run severe weather drills, and as a Lifeguard we often practice our emergency action plan.

Now, I am not condoning looting stores, or boosting cars for practice, but you should know your exit strategy for getting out of your house. This is how you will find flaws in your plan, and ways to save time. Find a goal time and continually work on ways to realistically improve your time.

Through trail and error you will find ways to trim your time down.

A simple example:

On the first attempt I had to find two water bottles in the cabinet and fill them. The second time I kept the water bottles next to the sink. The Third time I realized if I kept the water bottles filled and in the fridge at all times this would save the most time.

The other thing you will come to learn from practicing is the value of putting your stuff away properly. I had broken down one of my packs a while back because I was going to use the bag for air travel. What I didn’t realize is that I hadn’t put everything back in that I had taken out. Trying to figure where everything had gotten to took more time than I should have taken to run through the exit strategy.

So, run the drills so you know how to get out efficiently and effectively, but remember do not rush and do not panic. You don’t want to forget a vital item.