Situational Awareness
Situational awareness means being aware of your surroundings and knowing what's going on around you at all times. It's the reason why some people are prepared to survive in an emergency and some aren't. People who turn a blind eye to the dangers of the world aren't situationally aware and will be the first to expire in the event of an actual emergency.
Picture the following scenario.
You see fighter jets with strange markings on them flying overhead toward the nearest big city. A few moments later you hear thunderous explosions off in the distance.
What do you do?
Do you rush into the house and turn the TV on to see what's going on? Do you stand there and stare off into the distance waiting for more planes to fly by? Do you call the police? Or do you assume it was a training exercise and go about your daily business?
Situational awareness (and a little common sense) would tell you there's just been a hostile attack on a nearby city. You don't know where the attack came from or what's being done to prevent the next attack. For all you know, the next bombing run could be in your neighborhood. It's time to gather up your bug out bags and get out of dodge. You can listen to the radio on the way to your bug out location of choice to determine whether it's safe to go back home or not.
By acting on the situation instead of waiting for instruction on what to do, you've done a couple things. You've placed yourself ahead of the rest of the pack of people who may try to get away if there are further attacks. You've also placed yourself out of harm's way in the event there actually are further attacks.
Situational awareness doesn't just apply in extreme situations. You can use it in everyday life as well.
Say you're walking down the street one evening and you notice a man a few blocks ahead who looks like he may be a shady character. He turns and sees you approaching and slides out of sight into a dark alley.
Having seen him, you turn around and head in the opposite direction or cross the street and pass the alley on the other side. This will give you time to react if he crosses the street to come after you. Sure, he may not have intended to do you harm, but the world is a dangerous place. There's no good reason to place yourself in a situation where you could be harmed.
Situational awareness means being aware of what's going on around you, so you can take action to prevent dangerous situations before they become overtly dangerous.
There are two key things you need to pay attention to in order to practice situational awareness:
1. What's going on around you.
2. Who is with you.
Your reaction to certain situations is going to be different if you have your wife and kids with you than it would be if you were alone or were travelling with a group of friends. You need to consider your response to potential situations in light of who is present when those situations present themselves.
Your actions are determined by how fast the people with you can move, their ability to defend themselves and how likely a dangerous situation is to occur.
People tend to tune out warning signs when they're in familiar places.
Just ask Chris, who was sitting at an intersection he'd sat at thousands of times waiting for a stop light he'd waited for thousands of times on his way to work. He was listening to music and thinking about the long day he had ahead of him when he got to work. He was completely unaware of the situation playing itself out behind him.
A man ran up to the car behind him and yelled for the woman driving the car to get out. He tried to pull open her door, but it was locked and she pulled around Chris and sped off down the street. That's when the man turned his attention to Chris' vehicle. He walked up to the car, opened the driver's side door and proceeded to punch Chris in the face until he lost consciousness. He then threw Chris' limp body out into the street, hopped in the driver's seat and took off in his new vehicle.
All of this could have been prevented through situational awareness. Had Chris of been paying attention and watching his rearview and side view mirrors, he would have seen the man approach the woman's car and try to get it. If he missed that, he would have probably seen the man walking up to his car and been able to react appropriately. At the very least, he would have had his door locked so it would give him time to react if someone made a move on him.
Instead, Chris was completely unaware of his surroundings. This state of complete unawareness is the worst state to be in.
You need to be in a constant state of relaxed awareness. You don't need to be a bundle of raw nerves all the time; just be aware the world is a dangerous place and keep an eye out for signs of danger. Keep it casual, but keep an eye on everything going on around you.
When you notice something out of place or that doesn't quite make sense, move your awareness up to the next level. You need to be cautiously aware now. Sometimes something as simple as a sense that the situation isn't quite right can be enough to get you out of trouble. React according to the situation at hand. Start planning an appropriate response if something does go down. Look for potential exit routes and ways out of the situation. Also plan what you're going to do if things reach a crisis point.
As the situation nears a head, you need to make a decision. You might decide to get yourself and your family away from the situation. This is a good idea when it looks like trouble is brewing between other people. If you see a group of people arguing and it looks like it's about to turn ugly, you can simply remove yourself from the situation to avoid danger.
Sometime the danger may be directed toward you or a loved one.
If you're at a party and you notice a group of people acting aggressively toward a friend or family member, you need to decide how you're going to react if the situation goes bad. There still may be time to defuse the situation or leave. If not, more aggressive action will have to be taken. It's up to you to figure out the best course of action to take. Once you take action, be assertive and show no fear.
You need to practice situational awareness all day, every day. It's especially important to practice it in crisis situations like those requiring you to bug out, but if you haven't been working at it in your day-to-day life, it's going to be tough to turn it on at a moment's notice.
Situational awareness is often the difference between survival and living to tell the tale. People who don't practice it don't survive deadly situations unless they get lucky. I can't be any blunter than that.