Is Love Blind
One of the constant themes that I read throughout many forums that I surf is the fact that when discussing the topic of self-protection, we speak mostly of “I” (singular) defending against them (either singular or multiple). This posting is to encourage some discussion around the “we” factor, meaning family, when it comes to self-protection.
Although many of us on this forum have applied the 7P principal to personal safety (proper pre planning prevents piss poor performance) to ourselves, have we thought about how we are going to apply it when we are traveling as a family unit. I had an interesting conversation with my wife and asked her what she would do if, as a family, we were attacked and I yelled at her to run, her answer:
- If her and I were alone, without our son, she stated that she would likely engage to assist, but;
- If she had our son with us, her maternal instincts would kick in and would want to protect our son first and foremost leaving me to engage, thus giving her and our son the opportunity to escape
IMO, this is something that needs to be discussed and practiced as a family unit, not unlike a fire drill or an earthquake drill. As a person who is a well-known LEO in our community who works primarily narcotics enforcement, I have had my share of threats to both my family and me. Recently the threat was real enough that I was carrying my firearm 24/7, which is a rarity in Canadian law enforcement. As a result of this clear and present threat, there were many things that both my wife and I discussed and practiced such as:
- The use of a trigger word to signal covertly its time for her and our son to leave
- How and when to bug out with our son (movement and lots of noise)
- How to communicate via 911 if needed, especially if I’m in plain clothes so the cops rolling up can identify me as a good guy so that I’m not the victim of friendly fire
- How to use my firearm if needed (she has been to the range)
- The difference between cover and concealment
- If being fired upon and cover is not readily available, how to use my body as cover for both her and our son (not unlike an Emergency Response Team stack or train) while moving to cover
- If I do go down, not to come to my body, but to keep running with our son thus removing the both of them from danger
- Emergency first aid
- If at home, getting to our “safe room” with our son
The reason I called this posting “Is Love Blind”, is because if I did not review and practice the above noted information with my loved one’s, their love would have blinded them to the point where they too would have placed themselves in dangers way.
REMEMBER:
PROPER PRE PLANNING PREVENTS PISS POOR PERFORMANCE
Darren
PS: what are some other thoughts that you, the reader, may have on this very important topic ?????
January 18, 2009 at 6:10 pm | Uncategorized | No comment