With the world seemingly on fire, understanding your surroundings, no matter where you are, is critical to ensuring the survival of you and your loved ones.
One moment of inattention can land you in hot water and in some cases, in an environment where your chances are reduced dramatically.
State of Mind
Situational awareness is a state of mind. Thus, it must be practiced constantly to become fluent in its use and implementation.
White: Completely unaware of your environment and surroundings. This is clearly the most dangerous condition to be in; you are the most vulnerable in this state. This condition can occur while you are driving, day dreaming, talking on your cell phone, texting, and managing your kids.
Naturally, there are many more instances that could be mentioned, that reflect condition White.
Again, this is the most dangerous condition to be in, the condition that bad guys like to find you in so they have the advantage.
Yellow: Is relaxed but alert and in touch with your surroundings. You are looking around, noting where exits are, watching who is entering the door, determining the lay of the land and considering basic action plans. This can be conducted in a casual manner without anyone knowing what you are doing and not interfering with your current activity. This level of awareness will allow you to notice normal and aberrant events quickly. This is the phase when you will begin to see things you have never noticed before. This is a good thing.
Orange: Your alertness has increased significantly, something is not right, action maybe required, and more formal action planning is required. Examples include people arguing, someone acting inappropriately, someone moving into your personal space, or an actual bad event happening.
This is an action level of awareness; you need to make decisions at this level. It could be leave the area and be non- confrontational. It could be gather your children or group. Seriously, consider your personal protection action. If you have practiced level Yellow well then this phase can be managed without considerable problem. However, if you have not implemented condition Yellow, you and everyone in your group will be caught off guard, confused and disoriented when an untoward event occurs. And you have significantly increased your likelihood of becoming a victim.
Red: Immediate Action is Required. This does not necessarily mean intervention is required. It could mean leaving the location, finding the fastest exit, seeking cover, activating your personal protection plan. It is also a time when, intervention may be needed such as, actively protecting yourself and family members, the use of some form of personal protection device. Delay in implementing your personal protection plan that involves protecting you, your family, or innocent individuals will result in bad outcome. This is the time when fear, reservation, confusion and lack of planning can place you in greater danger. It is imperative you be assertive at this level. If you have managed level Orange well, then this phase can be somewhat seamless.
The final condition is controversial. It is Black. In this condition, you may be in a state of shock or confusion. What just happened? This is the level where you must regain your conscious state of mind, organize your thoughts and settle yourself down. Because you may be completely confused after an event occurs in which you had to intervene. It is important that you take the time to regain your thoughts and what happened. That is why you should not talk to the police after a major intervention event. Naturally, you should be polite and professional and understand that you are going to be detained and maybe even arrested. But you must clearly state that you wish to speak with your attorney before talking to the police. They will understand in most cases. You must have time to get your thoughts together and clearly regain a good picture of how the events transpired.
Understanding your surroundings is vital to making sure you stay safe no matter what survival situation or SHTF moment you are facing.
A single lapse in awareness can mean the difference between staying healthy, avoiding danger and even saving your life.
To learn more about situational awareness, including learning how to practice improving your situational awareness, please check out the SHTF Blog.