Personal and Family Defense Plan – What to Expect

This is the second in a series of Guest Posts by James Moffitt

As I write this series of blog posts/articles about personal and family defense plans, I want to make something crystal clear.  The intent and purpose of writing about this, is to get you, the individual or family member, to think about personal and family safety in case of an emergency. 

I need to define what an emergency is.  I am primarily focusing on the physical safety of you or a loved one.  I want you to think about what you are going to do in the event that someone places you, or a loved one, in a position where you feel that you are in threat of serious bodily injury or death. Your personal and family defense plan should include threats from natural disasters such as floods, fire, earthquakes as well.  More than likely you have already formulated a plan for that eventuality.

This series on personal and family defense is an introductory series that will probably bore most hard-core personal defense or survivalist gurus. If you fall in that category, you are possibly looking for tactically oriented discussion.  I am creating a Google Circle in which everyone is invited to discuss these blog posts, and learn from them. No matter what group you fall under, you are welcome to read and share your thoughts and assistance to those who are new to these topics.

As we go through this series I feel a need to repeat some things in order to keep us focused and on track.  Our goal is that we want to be safe as individuals and as families.  We want to know that in case of an emergency, where our safety is threatened, we can act in such a way as to escape the threat, or repel that threat.

Ok, now that we have the preamble out of the way lets dive right in.  Why is it important to have a personal and family defense plan? Do you have a living will or power of attorney in case of medical emergency?  If not, you seriously need to put one in place.  Just as it is important to have a living will or power of attorney, it is important to have a personal and family defense plan.

Here is a news flash for all of us.  Emergencies happen and rarely announce themselves.  Before you know it, you or your family could be in the middle of a crisis.  Your ability to survive a crisis depends on how effective your personal and family defense plan is. 

Let’s flash back to the famous movie called Apollo 13, where Tom Hanks is starring in this movie.  The famous words were “Houston, we have a problem”.  He says this in the midst of multiple warning lamps going off in the background and audible alerts.  They were losing their oxygen supply fast and their lives were in danger. One of the command module team members cycled one of the air controls during a routine procedure. When he did this an explosion occurred and caused one of the air lines to rupture and start venting air out into space. The members of Apollo 13 were in a real crisis. They depended on their support team in the NASA control center to formulate a plan that would save their lives.

Now, let’s make this personal for us.  The chances, of us being in orbit 3 miles over the earth, with a busted air line is slim to none.

Let’s imagine we are not filthy rich and can’t afford the fanciest of alarm systems, do not have a pack of trained attack dogs, or heavily armed body guards.  We are asleep in our beds at 2:30 am and we hear the sound of your downstairs door, being forced open.  You can hear the sounds of the door jamb coming apart, and the door hitting the floor.  You hear muffled voices downstairs, and your mind starts to race, adrenaline starts to shoot through your veins causing your hands to start shaking.  What are you going to do?  How are you going to survive this crisis?  If you are a family member, how will they survive this crisis?

If you are reading this thinking “OH CRAP” I have NO idea what I would do, then you are not alone. Most people seem to think that this will never happen to them.  This only happens to someone in a neighborhood that is not their own.  It only happens to other people, not themselves.  Because they have never experienced this sort of crisis they assume that it can never happen to them.  A dear friend of mine told me one day, that him and his family have never owned a firearm, nor have ever had the need to use one.  Why would he find the need to own one now?  I will come back to this question at a later part of this series.

Under Siege Dark Territory is an action thriller starring Steven Segal, where he is on a hijacked train. A mad scientist is using a satellite uplink, to control a space satellite to destroy things on the ground. In one of the scenes, the hired mercenaries assumed that the rogue cook (Steven Segal) was safely off the train and not going to kill any more of their men.

I loved this quote, that the head mercenary told his men when he asked if they found Steven Segal’s body.  Assumption is the mother of all FUC* Ups!  Yes, I could have used the word “mistakes” instead, so I will just apologize for using the original word.  I wanted to use it because it drills the point home.  If you assume something, that assumption can get you or a family member killed. Let me put it a different way. The safety of your life, or your family, should NEVER rest on the basis of an ill formed assumption.  There is always a chance that a crisis can and will occur.

My desire at this point, is for you to consider what you would do in case of a crisis that places you or a loved one in a position of serious bodily injury or death.  I want you to contemplate the reality of that and let it sink in.  Do you feel that if you are prepared and have a personal and family defense plan in place that you will become a different person that you will not like?  Do you feel that your family, wife or friends will think you have gone off the ranch and lost your mind?  A dear friend of mine told me one day that I am “paranoid”.  I told him, no, I am not paranoid; I am prepared as I can be, for whatever crisis that might threaten my personal safety or that of my family.

What preparations do you have for you and your family?  Let us know in the comments.

 

James Moffitt is employed as an I.T. Manager and lives West of the Ashley in Charleston South Carolina. He operates the Palmetto CC, blog where he provides the tools needed in order to be responsible concealed carry citizens.