Holiday Situational Awareness Tips

The holidays are almost upon us, and this is a great time to review some basic situational awareness tips to help avoid potentially problematic situations and life-threatening events.

The basic principle of situational awareness is the ability to recognize normal behavior and activities and to focus on any changes to the environment that indicate a change in the norm – i.e., some anomaly has occurred.?The earlier you recognize a potential problem, the more options you have for resolution and the greater the opportunity for you to avoid the situation.?

It’s better to detect problematic intentions before an incident than to have to respond later and possibly with violence.?On the street, knowledge of threat characteristics must precede situational awareness.?If you don’t know what to look for – you certainly won’t see it coming!

With this in mind, please take some time to review the likely threats in your area and then use these personal safety suggestions so that you can plan and act accordingly minimizing risk and giving yourself the ability to recognize and react to anomalies that may occur.

?SITUATIONAL AWARENESS SKILLS: 5 x 5

5 Second Scan:?Elevate your awareness level for 5 seconds every time you enter or exit a “known” area or building and move into the unknown. Scan the environment (turning your head left to right, right to left) covering almost 180 degrees around you. When you enter a new environment, you need to do another 5 second scan to specifically focus on the following basic bits of information within your environment.

-??????Exits and Entrances: primary, secondary, and field expedient (windows).

-??????Cover and Concealment: elements that will protect you from gunfire (cover) and other elements that will hide you from view (concealment).

-??????Fire Safety Equipment: fire exit, fire alarm boxes, and fire extinguishers.

-??????First Aid and Security elements: AEDs, First Aid kits, Security Guards, etc.

-??????Defensive capabilities: locking doors, field expedient weapons, etc.

This is nothing more dramatic than what you do when you go through an uncontrolled intersection when you are driving, you look both ways, carefully gauging the traffic, then you make your move.

While you are conducting your 5 second scan do the following 5 pre-incident preparations:

-??????Mentally review your emergency action plan possibilities (run, hide, fight).

-??????Take a second to “plan your escape” using the primary or secondary exits.

-??????Position yourself so that you can see and use your primary and secondary exits and emergency action plan.

-??????Relax back into your “basic awareness” level and

-??????Trust your gut, erring on the side of caution – if it does not look right it isn’t!

?WEATHER AND OTHER DISASTERS

Weather: In some sections of the world, the holiday season also includes bad weather, snow, sleet, and freezing rain. Plan accordingly and pack appropriate clothing in case you become stranded from your vehicle. The same goes for other natural disasters like tsunamis’ and earthquakes.

?Fire: While fires have become less of a risk, they can be a serious threat.?Learn the locations of fire exits, fire alarms, and fire extinguishers. Having the ability to make your way to a fire exit in total darkness could be the difference between life and death so pay attention to the evacuation route placards.

GENERAL ACTIVITIES

Walking:?travel in pairs or groups as much as possible as it has been clearly established that we are much more vulnerable when we are alone and the enemies specifically looks for this.?It’s also more fun to travel as a group and much safer especially when you are in areas with increased risk (shopping areas, higher crime neighborhoods, etc.).

Driving: the holidays are a great time to see friends and family and sometimes we have to travel longer distances to see them. More time on the road means more risk as, statistically, traffic accidents are one of the most likely dangers in our lives.

When approaching your destination, scan the area looking for a parking area that provides you with a good view of the surrounding. Factor in lighting especially if you will be going back to your vehicle after dark.

?Shopping: Let’s face it – we do more shopping and often spend more money during the holidays than most other parts of the year and the “bad” people know it. This is when they plan on capitalizing on the increase in higher value items that may be in their reach. Leaving valuables in our vehicles and dropping off packages and then returning to the stores make the thieves lives easier and more lucrative. Shopping bags with logos from high end shops act like a neon sign saying “I got valuables”! Opt out of these promotional bags if possible or carry a separate bag that you can put these items in to reduce your “perceived value”.?When in doubt, ask a security guard to escort you to your vehicle.

?Alcohol and other mind-altering substances: If you plan to imbibe in legal substances that affect your driving ability, make arrangements for a designated driver or take a “App-based” transportation service (Uber, Lyft, Grab, etc.). They are dirt cheap when you compare them to the hassles associated with parking in crowded downtown areas, navigating unfamiliar cities, as well as vehicle theft and the jail time that comes with a DUI/DWI!

?LOCATIONAL ELEMENTS

Home Security: the holidays are a joyous time for us and for the less scrupulous individuals who prey on us. We should continue to do the basics – lock your doors, secure your windows, keep your outside areas well lit, and use your alarm system. But recognize that when we leave our residence for holiday parties or longer trips to visit family and friends, we need to avoid leaving clear evidence of our absence. Ask your neighbors to keep an eye on your place, park their car in your driveway, pickup your mail, packages, or other items that may be left by your doors. Set up automated lighting systems that will turn your lights on and off at different times to give the appearance that someone is home. All of these methods are effective in discouraging would be burglars.

Hotel Security: If possible, stick with reputable hotel chains as you are most likely to experience better security, safety, and comfort. Upon arrival, ensure that you get a room of your choosing – not on the ground floor and not any higher than the 6th floor as that is the limit for firefighting ladders.?Move all valuables out of your vehicle and into your hotel room or put them in your trunk.?The saying “Never Tempt Them” is a great reminder to keep things that you value out of sight from potential thieves. Don’t trust your hotel safes to store critical items (important documents, medications, electronics) – better to carry them with you if they do not add to your own personal safety risk.?

Best to look at hotel room “locks” as access control devices that prevent the general public out of your room.?This is why you need to engage a secondary lock when you are actually in your room.?As added insurance that you will not end up with an uninvited guest, it recommended that you employ a door stop.?This is a simple triangular device, made of rubber, plastic, or wood which is placed slim side forward under the lock side of an inward swinging door.?You then give it a good kick to seat it firmly under the door.?This is especially important for women who are traveling alone.?

When you move from the lobby to your room, look for the posted fire safety plan/exit map taking note of your route from the lobby to your room and any signs showing the evacuation route and emergency stairwells. Take one minute and memorize where the nearest emergency exit is located as well as the number of doors from your room to this exit. In a fire or other emergency, you may have to find your exit in a low visibility situation (the dark or in a smoke-filled environment).?Also keep a flashlight by your bed – at least 50 % of all emergencies occur after dark and if the power goes out you will need a light.?Also in some locations, there is no natural light sources, even in the daytime.

?Basic Concepts: these are just some of the basic concepts that can help keep us safe during the holidays. A few minutes of effort and some awareness can make all the difference between a great time and a disaster. If you are interested in learning more about Situational Awareness contact us at Arcuri Group (https://arcurigroupllc.us/index.html) where we conduct the Situation Awareness Specialist? (SAS) professional certificate training program which was designed to educate an individual in the?craft?of situational awareness - to help build and enhance the capacity to?better?understand and deal with the dynamics of random and potentially threatening events.?