Desperate Circumstances call for Desperate Measures

In emergency situations no one thinks quite like they do normally. I've always been proud of myself for being a "cool head" when things are seriously going wrong but as I have read more and studied more about mental processes and particularly the decision making process under stress, and paid more attention to my own mind, even I know that the way I think under stress is not the way I think when I am calm, comfortable and safe.
Something I think a lot of people are prone to under stress is making decisions that, for a more immediate or easier reward, add a small, temporary, amount of risk to the situation.
At a certain point some additional risks bring about a greater benefit than not taking them - I can remember being 14 and driving 70 down a dirt road it could be dangerous to go 45 on, with my mom in the passenger seat apparently having a heart attack. It was a near-fatal potassium imbalance, as it turned out, but no less dangerous. There was risk to driving that fast, although the road was in good condition it was also un-predictable to a certain extent and not safe at higher speeds. There was also a greater risk if not driving fast - at a normal speed of 35mph its an hours drive to meet the ambulance. At 70, its half an hour. I knew I could handle the vehicle at 70, I wasnt an inexperienced driver. The risk, under the circumstances, was worth the reward.
But some risks arent.
People tend to say "desperate circumstances call for desperate measures" when faced with an emergency situation, as a way to justify driving a little faster or taking other additional risks for perceived gains - but it can be dangerous.
Tonight was the first night of the season we've needed to heat the house. This is a 60+ year old ranch house and is still dependant on wood-fired heat. For fun, and to at least encourage my skills, I built the fire somewhat by-hand, using a knife to break large kindling into splinters and make fuzz sticks and starting a little pile of shavings burning with some flakes off a magnesium block, then adding to it with larger pieces until I had a fire. Nice, cedar and pinon fire that went from a little bit of flame to a great roaring fire.
But, I had to stop myself at one point while I was splitting cedar into fine kindling. I caught myself slipping the knife blade under a large splinter and starting to pull it back towards my hand holding the piece of wood. The first lesson my dad ever taught me about a knife, when I got my first one at 6 years old, was to never cut toward myself. I've proved him right many times, and gone with him to the hospital when he proved himself extremely right one day a few years ago. I never want to cut myself, it sucks. As a knife-maker, I do it a lot, but it still sucks and I still dont like it. I like $1000.01 bills (the exact bill the last time I had stitches) for less than ten stitches even less.
But, it struck me, if I was really stuck somewhere miserable and cold (on a night like tonight, its still early fall but the temp has dropped fast and its snowing but earlier today I was out in short-sleeves), trying to build a fire, how much would I hurt myself to cut my hand, even minorly? How handicapped would I be with my hand cut, bandaged and maybe restricted or completely useless? What if I seriously injured myself, hit the artery in my arm, or slipped even further trying not to cut myself and stuck it in my thigh?
And would it have been worth it? No. It was taking a short-cut to something it would have only taken me a second longer to do right, turn the stick around and whittle the splinter off from a safe direction.
Easily learned lesson - no pain, no suffering. Most good lessons dont come so easily.
Desperate circumstances can call for desperate measures - but not stupid ones. Theres never an excuse for being stupid and dangerous.

Survival Skills

"Could You Survive?" - What an excellent question!
When someone brings up wildnerness survival most peoples minds seem to make an immediate jump to the sensational: a plane crash in the wilds of Alaska, a boat being moved off course by a hurricane and stranding its passengers on an uncharted (or simply uninhabited) island. But the truth is much more mundane that that.
People driving through the mountains break-down, and freeze to death because they dont know how to build a fire. Hikers get lost because they didnt prepare, and dont know how to deal with panic. People get hurt, or die, all the time because of simple things like a flat tire and no spare, taking the wrong trail, a horse falling with them and leaving them alone in the high country with a broken leg and a storm coming.
I have never even seen a plane crash in a remote wilderness, or a ship wreck on a desert island, but I have been broken down on the side of a dirt road 50 miles from the ass-end of nowhere as the temperature crept below Zero. I have been in the high country, stranded for one reason or another, collecting drinking water, building fires to cook and stay warm. I have met people who got lost on a day hike, didnt have any food, had run out of what little water they had and who might still have been stumbling around country they didnt know in the dark if they hadnt...

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16-Hour Survival (or "The Little Events that Become Emergencies") - A Way of Life

The power just came back on a couple hours ago, after having been off for a little over sixteen hours. It went down while we were gathered around the idiot-box last night watching, of all things, Survivor.
Now, this isnt uncommon out here. I live an average (there's two ways out) of 45 miles from a paved road, and about 60 miles from any town of more than 1,000 people. There is one power line that runs out here - it serves about 18 homes, and was put in in 1998 on the condition of a 15 year fixed-rate contract (average of $500 a month) to pay for the installation costs.
The reason the power goes out a lot here is thus two-fold: Its a single line, with no backups or ways to re-route power around a problem like in the city, or even rural areas surrounding a city. So, if something happens, until its fixed we're without power. The second half of the equation is that its 40 miles of line, strung between poles, through some pretty rough and busted up country that can wash like crazy when it does rain. It stands alone as a major attraction for lightning. So, if lightning doesnt hit it, the rain washes something out, and so on. A myriad of problems can happen in 40 miles of isolated, and ignored (until there is a problem) line.
So, what happened this time? A power-pole washed out in the large rains we've had recently, and they couldnt get any trucks into the location (yes too rough for even 4wd) so they had to walk in with their gear to fix or replace the dislodged pole. Sixteen hours later, the power is back.
Most people probably think of that as a long time. Its not, not here. But, part of the reason its not is that we are prepared to deal with it better than most, especially those who dont live like this.
My family has been in this place pretty close to 100 years. My great-grandparents were homesteaders, and eventually expanded the homestead into what is the ranch of today. My grandparents lived here and maintained the ranch for many years until it came under the control of my mother, and she and my dad have maintained it since then. Until the 1980's there was no phone out here - and we didnt have one for many years after that - and until 1998 the only electricity came from generators and most light was provided for by kerosene lamps, the cooking done on gas or wood stoves, and heat from gas heaters or the wood-burning fireplace. We relied heavily on dry-storable foods because of the limited reliability of gas fridges. When the electric line came in, we didnt get rid of any of those things we just phased them out of primary usage.
So now, when the power goes out - we're fine. We have light, we have heat, we have food.

The largest issue created by the power going out is medical - two family members are on full-time oxygen, and use Concentrators (sort of like a "scrubber") as the source for that. The problem is that those machines run on electricity. The solution? Reserves of compressed-gas or liquid oxygen. There's always enough for a few days without power.
In this most recent event the medical issue was compounded by the road conditions thanks to the rain - dirt roads tend to become very hard to pass after a lot of rain. In the case of a medical emergency, you might not make it out or you may spend several more hours driving slow and digging out of mud holes, than the normal hour it takes to drive out in good conditions. A well stocked medical kit, and the skill to use it can go a long way to make anything that happens under these conditions more survivable. And once again, this is one of those things that several generations of living out has guaranteed is available.

If you are not prepared the 16-hour events can become major, even fatal, emergencies or survival situations. If you are prepared, 16 hours or even a few days "stranded" 45 miles from town without power becomes a lot easier. When its just part of a way of life, it really doesnt bother you.
I think the ideal "survival skills" should put you in between the "prepared" and "way of life" mindsets - unless you live like this, it isnt a way of life, but if you put your skills to use, get out and be out, then you should be able to improve your comfort level. If you're more comfortable with a situation you are clearer headed and more rational when actually having to make decisions under less-than-ideal conditions.