Imagery as a Tool for Survival Preparation

Now doesn’t “Imagery for Survival” kind of sound a little out there? May be it does but utilization of imagery is a critical, yet often neglected, skill to survival and I will explain why. Many people who plan for survival incidents tend to focus on lists to tell them what they need for a particular situation. Lists are great but do not necessarily include everything that you may need.  When planning for a potential emergency, crisis, or disaster it is critically important to really think things through and put yourself in the situation, at least mentally, before it actually occurs. One way to do this is by using the skill known as imagery. Before we get into the use of imagery I want to clear up a common misconception. Many people confuse imagery with visualization. Technically they are not the same even though they are often used interchangeably. Visualization refers to using “sight” only. An example would be Michael Jordan standing at the free throw line as he mentally watches himself through balls through the net. He is only using one of the five senses. Imagery, on the other hand, uses all five senses when relevant. The five senses include sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. In addition to these senses humans also have awareness of balance, pressure, temperature, pain, and motion all of which may involve the coordinated use of multiple sensory organs.  Imagery is the ability to place yourself in a situation utilizing all of your senses while performing well as a means of virtually rehearsing the scenario to improve performance. Therefore, utilization of imagery is a technique that is used as a means to improve performance. This is best accomplished once you learned the essential fundamentals of the skill you are attempting to improve. If you fail to understand how something is to be performed then the use of imagery will not benefit skill enhancement as you do not understand the basic rudiments of the skill in the first place. Again, Michael Jordan knows how to throw a free throw. Using imagery will allow him to mentally hear the crowd, feel the ball, visualize the basket, smell the arena, etc. Now let’s look at survival preparation.

There are different types of imagery but for this article I am going to keep things relatively simple. In order to use imagery to increase your survival chances in an emergency situation you need to already have an understanding of the basic skills necessary to survive. The use of imagery will allow you a virtual rehearsal in your mind using all five senses. Essentially, you are mentally practicing what you should already know. The benefit of using imagery is that many people have a diverse skillset yet never put it all together to see how each skill integrates with all other skills. Imagery will allow you to mentally go through this process and in doing so you may realize there are considerations that you failed to plan for. Utilizing imagery should be extremely detailed so that you mentally research all possible actions that you may be required to take in an emergency survival situation. Do not leave out the minutest of details. One way to practice imagery is to give yourself 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted time. Turn off cell phone, TV, radio, etc. I like to get comfortable sitting on a recliner or lying on a couch but it doesn’t really matter. Then come up with a scenario to mental rehearse from the beginning to include all actions that you will take until final resolution.

Following is a brief example:

It is 10:00PM on a quiet Thursday night. You are alone in your 3 bedroom apartment which is located on the 10^th floor of an apartment complex in Los Angeles, CA. You are sitting in the living room on a recliner wearing shorts and a t-shirt as you watch the basketball scores on ESPN before you go to bed for the evening. Without warning the building begins to violently shake. You immediately realize that it is an earthquake. Within 5 seconds of the earthquake beginning all power goes out and you are completely engulfed in the dark. The weather outside is cloudy and overcast. There is no moonlight and even the outside is dark and gloomy. You immediately grab a flashlight that is the side pocket of the recliner and turn it on. The shaking is so violent that you can barely hold on to the light. You realize that you need a lanyard on the flashlight to secure around your wrist.  Approximately one minute has gone by with no relieve from the relentless shaking. You hear things all around you falling although it is still difficult to see even with the flashlight due to the continued shaking. Car alarms are going off all around you. Glass is breaking but you cannot tell from wear. The noise level is very loud. Although you have been in an earthquake before this one seems longer and much more violent. You begin to wonder if you are in the epicenter of the earthquake. You make a decision to get your bug out bag in case you feel the need to evacuate. You crawl on the floor in an attempt to reach the hallway closet that has all of your gear ready to go. You attempt to light the way with your flashlight but it is difficult due to the shaking of your building. As you are crawling on the rug you feel like you are getting cuts on your legs, stomach, and arms. It hurts but not enough to stop you. You reach the closet which is now in disarray as items have fallen off the top shelf. The shaking stops but everything is still dark because the power is out. You use your flashlight to get your bug out bag out of the closet which is buried under other items. You grab clothes that you have set aside for just an emergency along with heavy duty boots. You decide to put the clothes on. As you do you realize that you are bleeding from numerous cuts on your legs, arms, and body. Nothing life threatening that you can tell but you do need to address some of the wounds which are bleeding at a steady rate. It is now 30 seconds since the violent shaking has stopped. You mind is racing a thousand miles per hour. You have bleeding to stop, you smell gas coming from somewhere, people in your building are screaming for help, car alarms are going crazy. You mentally instruct yourself to regroup and focus on stopping your bleeding. You get out your first aid kit and attend to your wounds. You realize that it is much more difficult in the dark with only a flashlight. You bandage the wounds and put your clothes on. You grab your bug out bag and tighten the shoulder straps. All of a sudden you feel a sharp pain in the front of your right shoulder. Your packs shoulder strap is putting pressure on a shard of glass that is lodged into your skin. You take the pack off, get the piece of glass out, and put the pack on. You go to your front door with all of the gear you anticipated you would need in an emergency.

As you stand in front of the door you listen for noises outside your door and feel the door to see if it is hot. All looks good so you open the door. You use your flashlight to scan the area which has some damage on the walls and light fixtures that have come loose. With steady deliberation you head toward the staircase. You open the door and begin your journey down 10 flights of stairs. As you get to the 8^th floor you see other people in the staircase going very slow because they have not flashlight and cannot see where they are going. All of a sudden your flashlight begins to dimmer. Mr. Murphy has decided to pay you a visit! In your head you think to yourself, “damn it.” But, no time to feel sorry for yourself. You take off your pack and find new batteries which are located in a special pocket on the top of your pack. In the dark you change the batteries. You continue to head down the stairs but now you have about 8 people who are following you and depending on you because you are the only person with a flashlight. As you reach the second floor you find an older gentleman on the stairs who is unconscious. You have seen him around the building but you don’t know him. You do not see any obvious signs of trauma or injury. You check for a pulse and respirations. None. You decide to keep moving to get out of the building as there is nothing you can do for this person.  You reach the first floor of the building but can’t get through the door because it will not open. You kick it, pull on it, and try to force it but it will not budge. Mr. Murphy is still by your side. You decide to go up to the second floor to get to the other stairwell. As you are moving on the second floor you hear a lady screaming that her daughter is stuck under some furniture that fell on her. You have to make a rapid decision. Do I help the girl or keep going? You decide to help the girl. You enter the apartment which is cluttered with debris all over the place. You find the girl and lift a bookcase off of her. Clearly, she has an open fracture to her right tibia and fibula. She isn’t walking out on her own. She is about 18 years old, crying and yelling because the pain is unbearable. You and another man lift her up and decide to carry her out of the building by the beam of your flashlight. As you enter the stairwell you smell a faint odor of natural gas mixed with the blood of the girls wounded leg. You think to yourself, “Murphy, go away!” You make it out of the building without further incident. Outside the building is a group of people who have also make it out. Some are yelling for help, others are lying on the ground injured, car alarms are going off, there is a smell of gas in the air, no power is on, and only a few people have flashlights. You decide to implement your evacuation plan that you have practiced before. You begin to head out on foot when all of a sudden the earth begins to shake once again. You say out loud, “Lets go Murphy, move out.” Your evacuation plan is just beginning…

This is a very brief example of your imagery session. Only you can determine the factors that will come into play. In this situation you begin to take notes and go through an informal after action review:

• Get a lanyard on the flashlight
• Wear a headlamp
• Keep your first aid kit readily available
• Keep an extra set of batteries in your pants pocket so you don’t need to get into your pack
• Be prepared to address injuries that you receive
• Accept Mr. Murphy as an unwanted guest

The key is to come up with situations that you may not have thought of before this imagery exercise. Remember, integrate all of your skills into the scenario to see what works, what does not work, what modifications are necessary, etc. Be as detailed as possible and plan for things to go wrong as they always do and always will.

Good luck.

//TC

© Copyright