Reality Check

Bridge Disaster (or any disaster) and You - Trans-Asian Axis

This bridge collapse is exactly the sort of thing I preach about. Be prepared. Be ready for anything.

From my initial assessment, it appears that several things happened.

1) The bridge collapsed.

2) Several vehicles went into the drink. Some were crushed. There were several small fires. There was a lot of dust in the air from the videos I’ve reviewed this morning (and some are posted)

3) Emergency services were slow to respond - and as of now, I have heard reports that it was up to an HOUR.

4) People involved, and nearby bystanders went to the aid of those in trouble.

This brings several things to mind for me. Americans will run to the aid of their fellow Americans in time of need. They always do.

I tell people in a disaster, run the other way. Your first job is to survive. IF you can safely help people then you should, if you’re in danger, then saving yourself might sound selfish, and perhaps it is, but if you’re dead you’re one more victim.

If people did NOT help, assuming it was really nearly an hour before first responders arrived, then many more people likely would be dead now.

I can’t see any “underlying cause” immediately jumping out of any of the pictures, other than perhaps catastrophic structural collapse, but everyone knows that “fires can’t melt steel” so, gosh it had to have been a deliberate act of terrorism, and a conspiracy…. since it happened right at 6PM on a major highway. (Sorry, that was sarcasm, in case you didn’t get the remarks). I figured I’d get in the conspiracy theory before they start in on them…..

What I can say from my personal point of view, is that people helped rescue others. Good on them. No matter what I say about “running away”, life is important. Once it is gone, it is gone and never coming back.

But, people being prepared for this sort of thing, and knowing what to do in an emergency is the ONE thing YOU can do to help yourself and others. As you can see from this incident, you can now understand that people really can’t “predict” when something is going to happen, and sometimes happen quickly. In other words, no matter how much you prepare, you will never know PRECISELY what random circumstances will be prevalent around you in the midst of a disaster.

So… you can approach this as a “hope and pray” situation, or you can think constantly about what you would do in various situations. Mentally practice things. I’m not kiding, think it through. You will KNOW what to do when the time comes.

I’ll give you an example. A bad one.

You’re driving to work in the morning, along a stretch of road that is mostly open fields, hills and fences. Suddenly you see some cars that have driven off the road into fences, or hit one another. No easy explanation as you approach. You slow your speed prepared to stop if necessary. There appears to be no one standing around, cars are still running, and in fact you see several people laying on the ground. Suddenly the windshield on your car explodes into a million pieces of glass.

What do you do?

—

The scenario is a low probability in happening, but it’s one that some of us have discussed in the past.

But, we’re looking at a sniper situation. He/she has taken out several people on the road and is hiding on a hill nearby. He missed you, but apparently hasn’t missed the other people. They are wounded or dead at this point and your windshield is now gone.

If he is shooting a high powered rifle from a distance, he is most likely taking aim at you again, after your window vanished in front of you. You need to get down, and OUT of there FAST.

How you do it, will depend on which direction he shot from, which direction you can go, what you can do to prevent anyone else from being hit, do you have a cell phone (or ham radio like I have) and can you save yourself quickly.

This is just one thing to think about. There are many scenarios like this that could involve you. But, this is a kind of mental exercise. Why do it? It keeps you sharp, thinking and understanding.

People who’ve taken a martial art of some sort can repeat certain moves over and over again, until they become part of them, part of their nature. If they are involved in a “fight” or some attack, those “second nature” movements take over, they don’t have to THINK about what they are going to do to stop the attack.

The same thing can apply to emergency situations.

Alright, I guess that’s all I have to say about this for now.

Think. It keeps you young… and alive.