Finding or Obtaining Water

There are certain climates and geographic locations where finding water will either be extremely easy or nearly impossible. You’ll have to take your location into account when you read the following. My best suggestion? Buy a guide book tailored for your location, be it desert, jungle, arctic or temperate.

Wherever you live, your best bet for finding a source of water is to scout out suitable locations and stock up necessary equipment before TSHTF. With proper preparedness, you should know not only the location of the nearest streams, springs or other water source but specific locations where it would be easy to fill a container and the safest way to get it home. Also note if your water source dries up during a dry period. Some creeks and even large rivers will dissapear after only a few weeks without rain, so make sure you go back and check your sources during these times and note their level and rate of flow.

Preparedness also means having at hand an easily installable system for collecting rain water. This can range from large tarps or sheets of plastic to a system for collecting water run off from your roof or gutters. Adding a gutter system is an affordable way to easily collect thousands of gallons of water just feet from your house. Compared to a well, a rain catchment system is a relatively cheap and easy DIY project. Make sure you install a roof washing system and find a container large enough to outlast your longest dry spells.

Above ground pools are great ways to hold thousands of gallons of water for pennies per gallon. Just make sure you keep them covered to prevent evaporation and alge growth, treat them weekly with chlorine (stock up on 1″ clorine tabs), and either set the pools up in the shade or keep them covered with a tarp. UV rays from the Sun will eat these pools alive in a matter of years.

Once you have identified a source of water you need to have bottles or other containers ready to transport it to your living space or store it long term. Keep your water as cool as possible and never set it in the sun. Alge will begin to grow in your water in just a few days if you leave it in direct sunlight.

Water Storage Tips

 They say each person uses seventy gallons a day. That includes, cooking, drinking, flushing the toilet, and showers. During an emergency you can get by with ten gallons a day pretty good except when you wash clothes. For your survival preps you should count on two gallons of water per-person per-day as an absolute minimum. My personal in-home stash has enough water for about 40 days for six people (about 2,800 gallons), I don’t live near a stream but I am in an area where it rains frequently so I collect rain water into large pools.

Commercial gallon bottles of filtered/purified spring water often carry expiration dates two years after the bottling date. A good rotation program is necessary to ensure your supply of water remains fresh and drinkable. You can purchases cases of six one-gallon jugs, which frequently go on sale for just under 50 cents per gallon. The heavy-duty cardboard boxes stack easily and protect the jugs from rupturing.

Personally I’ve drank stuff that would make most people puke, but when you’re in the wild you do what you have to. Dark, muddy, Stale tasting water is still water, just make sure you heat it in a pot with a lid until it starts to bubble. This should kill any bacteria or other baddies in your water source.

Sometimes a bit of green alge will start to grow in bottled water. Most people are grossed out by the stuff but it doesn’t bother me one bit. I consider it free protein. I’m no doctor and I can’t tell you if it’s bad for you or not, but I’m not dead yet either.  I do recommend rotating the water in storage tanks every year. If it’s coming right out of the tap then appreciate it while you can and keep your preps fresh.

If you prefer to store your own water, don’t use milk cartons.; it’s practically impossible to remove the milk residue (and taste, ugh!). Plus they split easy and the caps are useless for long term storage. Bleach bottles are recommended by others, but I’ve never used this method and the bleach manufacturers don’t recommend it at all. I stick with PETE bottles myself, but even these leak chemicals in your water over several years (much faster if they get hot). Stainless steel is the best way to store any non-acidic liquid but it is very costly to store large amounts.

If you have a spare refrigerator in the basement or the garage, use PETE water bottles (the kind soda or liters of water come in) to fill any available freezer space. In addition to providing you with fresh, easily transportable drinking water, the ice can be used to cool food in the refigerator in the event of a power failure. I’ve found that these bottles, which are clear and have screw-on caps like soda bottles, will withstand many freeze-thaw cycles without bursting or leaking. (The bottom may distort or pop out when frozen, but this isn’t a big problem.)

For self-storage of large amounts of water, you’re better off with containers of at least 5 gallons. Food-grade plastic storage containers are available commercially in sizes from five gallons to 250 or more. Containers with handles and spouts are usually five to seven gallons, which will weigh between 40 and 56 pounds. Get too far beyond that and you’ll have great difficulty moving a full tank.

15 gallon, 30 gallon and 55 gallon containers used for food service — such as delivery of syrups to soda bottlers and other manufacturers — are often available on craigslist and ebay. After proper cleaning, these are ideal for water storage — as long as a tight seal can be maintained. Make sure you have a good pump on hand for the 55 gallon drums and larger tanks.

For even greater storage capacity you can buy potable water tanks from 500 gallons to 15,000 gallons. These go for about $.50 a gallon on ebay + freight. I store my water outside in large intex easy set pools that have their tops covered and also the entire pool covered with a large tarp to keep UV rays from eating the liners.

I treat the water weekly with 1″ clorine tabs and I keep the pumps running until it freezes in the winter. Obviously these pools are not rated for drinking water but they are  fish safe. They are used to raise fish in every day, especially in the Koi community. Fish are much more sensitive to chemicals in water than we are so it’s enough for me to trust it.

Solutions designed to be added to water to prepare it for long-term storage are commercially available. Tincture of Iodine 2% can be added to water at a rate of 5 drops per quart. Let it sit for about 30 minutes, shaking it every now and then. Remember that you should not use iodine if you have any thyroid problems. 

Bleach can also be used to treat tap water from municipal sources. Add two to four drops per quart. Give it a shake and let it sit for about thirty minutes.  After waiting, dribble a bit of disinfected water on the threads and smell the water. Your water SHOULD smell like chlorine, if not you should add one to two more drops of bleach until you can smell it.

Once you’re in a survival situation where there is a limited amount of water, conservation is an important consideration. While drinking water is critical, water is also necessary for rehydrating and cooking dried foods. Water from boiling pasta, cooking vegetables and similar sources can and should be retained and drunk, after it has cooled. Canned vegetables also contain liquid that can be consumed.

To preserve water, save water from washing your hands, clothes and dishes to flush toilets or water the garden.

Ammunition Acronyms

Below is a list of common acronyms associated with modern firearm ammunition.

Modern Ammunition Acronyms:

+P          Higher powder charge than normal, 10-15% overpressure

+P+         Significantly higher powder charge than normal, 20-25% overpressure

ACP         Auto Colt Pistol

A-MAX       Polymer tipped long range target bullet - Hornady

AP          Armor Piercing

API         Armor Piercing Incendiary

APT         Armor Piercing Tracer

APTI        Armor Piercing Tracer Incendiary

AT-BT       AccuTip Boat Tail - Remington

BBWC        Bevel Base Wad Cutter

BEB         Brass Enclosed Base

BJHP        Brass Jacketed Hollow Point

BP          Bronze Point

BT          Boat Tail

BTBT        Ballistic Tip BoatTail by Nosler

BTHP        Boat Tail Hollow Point

BTM         Boat Tail Match

BTSP        Boat Tail Soft Point

CB          Cast Bullet

CL          Core-Lokt - Remington

CLU         Core-Lokt Ultra by Remington

CMJ         Complete Metal Jacket

CNL         Conical Nose Lead

CP          Cone Point

EFMJ        Expanding Full Metal Jacket - Federal

EP          Expanding Point

FEB         Fully Encased Bullet

FMC         Full Metal Case

FMJ         Full Metal Jacket

FN          Flat Nose

FNEB        Flat Nose Enclosed Base

FNSP        Flat Nose Soft Point

FP          Flat Point

FS          Partition bullet (lead cores wrapped in steel bands) - Winchester

FST         Fail Safe Talon

GAP         Glock Auto Pistol

GC          Gas Check

GD          Gold Dot - Speer

GDHP        Gold Dot Hollow Point

GS          Golden Saber - Remington

GS          Grand Slam - CCI

HBWC        Hollow Base Wad Cutter

HC          Hard Cast

HE          High Energy

HM          Heavy Magnum

HMR         Hornady Magnum Rimfire

HP          Hollow Point

HPBT        Hollow Point Boat Tail

HPJ         High Performance Jacketed

HPWC        Hollow Point Wad Cutter

HS          Hydra Shok - Federal

HS          Hi Shok - Federal

HS2         Hi Shok 2 - Federal

HSP         Hollow Soft Point

I           Interlock - Hornady

IB          Interbond - Hornady

IRT         Indoor Range Training - Federal

J           Jacketed

JFP         Jacketed Flat Point

JHC         Jacketed Hollow Cavity

JHP         Jacketed Hollow Point

JHPBT       Jacketed Hollow Point Boat Tail

JSP         Jacketed Soft Point

JSPF        Jacketed Soft Point Flat

JSZ         Jacketed Stranded Zinc - Federal

LBT         Lead Bullet Technology

LF          Lead Free

LFN         Long Flat Nose

LFN         Lead Flat Nose

LFP         Lead Flat Point

LGC         Lead Gas Check

LHP         Lead Hollow Point

LM          Light Magnum

LRN         Lead Round Nose

LTC         Lead Truncated Cone

LWC         Lead Wad Cutter

MB          Multi Ball / Shot

MC          Metal Cased

MJ          Metal Jacket

MK-BTHP     MatchKing Boat Tail Hollow Point - Remington

MON         Monolithic Solid

MRWC        Mid-Range Wadcutter

MR-X        Improved Triple-Shock - Barnes

NBT         Nosler Ballistic Tip

NOS         Nosler

NOSBT       Nosler Ballistic Tip

NP          Nosler Partition

P           Plated

PB          Parabellum

PG          Partition Gold - Winchester

PL          Power-Lokt

PP          Power Point

PSP         Pointed Soft Point

PSPCL       Pointed Soft Point Core-Lokt - Remington

RN          Round Nose

RNFP        Round Nose Flat Point

RNL         Round Nosed Lead

RNSP        Round Nose Soft Point

RHT         Reduced Hazard Training - Federal/CCI/Speer

SBBT        Soft Point Boat Tail

SCHP        Solid Copper Hollow Point

SFHP        Starfire Hollow Point - PMC

SHP         Speer Hollow Point

SJ          Semi Jacketed, also Short Jacket - Hornady

SJHP        Semi Jacketed Hollow Point

SJHP        Soft Jacket Hollow Point

SJSP        Soft Jacket Soft Point

SLAP        Saboted Light Armor Penetrating

SOL         Solid

SP          Soft Point

SP          Spire Point

SP          Spotter-Tracer - Military

SPSX        Spire Point Super Explosive - Hornady

SPTZ        Spitzer

SSB         Swift Scirocco Bonded - Remington

SSP         Single-Shot Pistol - Hornady

SST         Super Shock Tip - Hornady

ST          Silver Tip HP - Winchester

STHP        SilverTip Hollow Point - Winchester

Sub         Subsonic

SWC         Semi Wad Cutter

SX          Super Explosive

SXT         Supreme Expansion Technology - Winchester

TAP         Tactical Ammunition Police - Hornady

TB          Trophy Bonded

TBS         Trophy Bonded Solid

TC          Truncated Cone

TCMJ        Truncated Cone Metal Jacket

TCSP        Truncated Cone Soft Point

THP         Tubular Hollow Point

TMJ         Total Metal Jacket

TRI         Triad Group - A Square

TRU         Tactical Rifle Urban - Federal

TS          Triple-Shock - Barnes

UHC         Ultra High Coefficient - Hornady

VLD         Very Low Drag

V-MAX       V-Max Polymer Tip Varmint Hunting Bullet - Hornady

V-MAX       BTV-Max Boat Tail - Hornady

WLN         Wide Long Nose - LBT design

WMR         Winchester Magnum Rimfire

WSM         Winchester Short Magnum

WSSM        Winchester Super Short Magnum

XP3         FS without the steel bands - Winchester

XTP         Extreme Terminal Performance - Hornady

The Cost of Ignoring Disaster Preps

After  Hurricane Irene hit the east coast many people wanted to snicker about what they considered overblown hype in the face of the storm. Past hurricanes such as  Camille, Ivan, Frederick, Rita, and Katrina made Irene pale in comparison.  And as a northern friend of mine said to me today, when the  storm finally reached her, it had downgraded to a tropical storm.

You don’t need life-altering devastation to find yourself totally unprepared and facing hunger, water scarcity, and loss of property. All it takes is a small storm. By mid-week, there were still over 563,000 in New York sitting in the dark, over 400,000 people in Virginia without power, and the slow response to power outages  in New Jersey has left thousands of residents disgruntled and  angry.

Five days after Irene nearly 2,000,000 people were STILL without power. Stop right now and think….can I last 5 days without power? How will I cook? Will my water still work? Probably not if your water company is out of power too! What will I eat? How will I see at night? Will I still have gas for my car? How will I know what’s going on?

It’s the smaller upheavals that seem to catch us unaware and leave us  desperate for some port in the storm. Knowing your absolute essential emergency needs, having a survival plan, and preparing beforehand will help you survive whatever comes your way. Which is the message I hope to impart to my readers. 

Residents living in Maryland, found themselves facing the threat of Irene and the probable outcome of loss of power, flood damage, and dwindling food stores. Those who were prepared with generators were able to avoid the inconveniences of living off the power grid for nearly a week.

 

Nerve Gas 101 – Everything You Need To Know About Nerve Gas

Nerve agents are weaponized chemicals engineered to interfere with the nervous system causing the death of the intoxicated individual. They are readily absorbed into the body by inhalation, ingestion, and/or dermal contact and exert their biological effects by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase (pronounced (ə-sēt’l-kō’lə-nĕs’tə-rās’, -rāz’)) enzymes. Nerve agents are the most toxic of all currently known chemical warfare agents.

The majority of nerve agents belong to a class of compounds called organophosphates (OP). Organophosphates are the basis of many insecticides, herbicides, and are widely used as solvents, plasticizers, and extreme pressure (EP) additives.

G-type nerve agents (GA, GB, and GD) are clear, colorless liquids that are volatile at ambient temperatures. VX is an amber-colored, oily liquid with low volatility unless ambient temperatures are high.

A variety of odors have been reported as an indication of exposure to nerve agents, but this appears to be highly subjective and dependent on the presence of chemical impurities. Therefore odor should not be considered in an attempt to identify the presence of specific nerve agents.

Detection

Chemical agent detectors sensitive to nerve agents (CAM, M18A2, M256, etc.) and papers (M8, M9) are utilized for detection.

Detection of nerve agents may also be confirmed by observing key medical symptoms in individuals associated with nerve agent intoxication.

Symptoms & Effects

Depending on the degree of intoxication, symptoms may include:

• • Nervousness and/or restlessness
• • Miosis (contraction of the pupil)
• • Rhinorrhea (runny nose)
• • Excessive salivation
• • Dyspnea (difficulty in breathing due to bronchoconstriction/secretions)
• • Sweating
• • Bradycardia (slow heartbeat)
• • Tachycardia (fast heartbeat)
• • Loss of consciousness
• • Convulsions
• • Flaccid paralysis
• • Loss of bladder and bowel control
• • Apnea (breathing stopped)

The onset of rhinorrhea and difficulty breathing is usually very rapid, occurring within seconds to minutes of exposure to nerve agent vapors, and within half an hour of exposure to liquid agents.

Miosis is a very characteristic symptom of nerve agent intoxication. Victims will often report difficulty in seeing (blurred & dimmed vision).

Medical Treatment

Atropine sulfate: The immediate treatment for nerve agent intoxication is intravenous injection of 2 mg atropine sulfate (pediatric dose calculate based on 0.02 mg/kg with a minimum dose of 0.1 mg) (intramuscular injection should be considered if the patient is hypoxic and ventilation can not be initiated, as there is a risk of ventricular fibrillation). An initial dose of 5 mg atropine sulfate (pediatric dose calculate based on 0.05 mg/kg) should be used for severe intoxication This should be followed by additional injections of atropine at 10-15 minute intervals, continuing until bronchoconstriction has been eliminated and secretions dried. (At this point in the treatment, bradycardia, if it was present, should also have been reversed; miosis will not be reversed by systemic atropine) If breathing has stopped, a mechanical respirator should be used to ventilate the patient. If possible, oxygen or oxygen-enriched air should be used for ventilation. Also if possible, cardiac activity should be monitored. Do NOT attempt mouth-to-mouth resuscitation under any circumstances.

Oximes: Oximes (pralidoxime salts, obidoxime) can help to restore acetylcholinesterase activity, though their effectiveness varies with the agent involved in the intoxication. Obidoxime is the most generally useful oxime, however, it has been known to cause liver damage. In general, absent specific information on the agent, use of pralidoxime salts should be considered, with a slow intravenous infusion of pralidoxime chloride of 500 mg to 2 g (pediatric dose calculate based on 15-25 mg/kg) being given initially. An intramuscular injection of 1 mg in 3 mL sterile saline may be used if an IV cannot be established. Repeat doses at hourly intervals should be considered if the clinical condition does not change or if it worsens.

Diazepam: Diazepam should be administered to control convulsions. It also has value in controlling fear on the part of the patient. An initial dose of 5 mg may be followed by additional doses at 15 minute intervals up to a maximum of 15 mg.

Rescuer Safety & Precautions

Initial care should include terminating patient exposure to the agent by removal of the patient from the contaminated area followed by thorough decontamination. Only rescuers provided with a full ensemble of LEVEL A chemical protective gear should enter a contaminated area in an attempt to rescue individuals unable to assist themselves.

Supportive care involves ensuring an airway, and early intubation (placement of a flexible plastic breathing tube into the trachea) for victims with significant exposures. The use of succinylcholine to assist intubation is contraindicated due to possible interactions with nerve agents.

Individuals treating casualties should avoid any direct skin-to skin contact. LEVEL A chemical protective gear MUST be used. Latex gloves are NOT adequate protection. Patients should be removed from exposure and decontaminated as rapidly as possible (see the section on decontamination below). Patients must not be moved into clean treatment areas where unmasked/ungloved personnel are working until decontamination is complete.

The combustion products produced by the burning of nerve agents are generally less toxic than the agents. If nerve agents are burning and other considerations permit it, the fire should not be extinguished.

Agents absorbed by cloth may be released as a vapor by the cloth for a significant period after exposure. Therefore the handling of discarded cloth items that has been contaminated by agents should only be carried out by personnel wearing LEVEL A chemical protective gear.

Decontamination

Victims

• • Remove victim from contaminated zone
• • Remove contaminated clothing, personal jewelry, etc.
• • Wash with copious amounts of water at a comfortable (tepid) temperature
• • Wash with 0.5% hypochlorite solution (mixture of 1 part household bleach with 9 parts water) or, alternately, soap and water
• • Rinse with copious amounts of tepid water

In general, you will encounter only small amounts of residual liquid contamination among survivors, since exposure to large amounts of liquid nerve agent is rapidly fatal.

Property

Surface decontamination is accomplished using hypochlorite bleach slurries, dilute alkalis, or DS2 decontaminating solution. Note that some agents will generate toxic reaction products when treated with decontaminants. If possible, decontamination of facilities and equipment should be deferred until the specific agent that is the source of contamination has been identified.

Adsorbent powders (talc, flour, etc.) can be utilized to contain liquid agents.

Disclaimer: Responsible use of the information provided here lies with the reader, not with us. Radical Survivalism and the author shall not be held liable for the use or misuse of this information. As always, please be safe and act responsibly.

Aesop Was Right. Prepare Now, Not Later!

Aesop’s fable has been rewritten and retold hundreds of times, each time making an example of the grasshopper’s foolishness and applauding the ant’s forethought. It’s worth retelling again here.

There once was grasshopper and an ant who lived in a beautiful meadow, plentiful with seeds and food. All summer long, the ant toiled, scuttling around the meadow collecting leaves and twigs for her home and food for her pantry. The grasshopper, instead of building his emergency preparedness supply, sang and danced through the meadow, living only in the moment and mocking the ant for worrying too much about the future. The warm sun soon dissipated and the harsh winter weather quickly approached, covering the meadow in snow and burying all of the once-plentiful food. The grasshopper found himself alone, cold and hungry. He sought out the ant, knowing she would have food. He begged the ant to let him in, to allow him to partake of her food and warm himself in her home. The ant scoffed at the grasshopper, reminding him how hard she had worked that summer to prepare her supply, while he had played. The ant slammed her door in the grasshopper’s face, leaving him to face the cold and his consequences.

We humans are not born grasshoppers but our socity turns us into one. It is easier to join the swarm of grasshoppers and with all the modern conviences of life avaliable at the flip of a switch it’s easy to assume that switch will always work and life will always go on as usual. We must WORK to become ants, to prepare. That word, WORK, is why more people do not prepare, second only to the fear of being ostracized by their friends and neighbors. Most of us would rather assume things will contine as they are than pick up a shovel and start a garden.   

Whether a disaster occurs today or 20 years from now, you need prepare your family for natural disasters, financial crisis or other situations by preparing now. One way to do this is by visiting emergency preparedness stores. You can get alot of ideas just by reading their sales magazines and checking their websites. The Ready Store, Shelf Reliance and Emergency Essentials are quintessential emergency preparedness stores where you can purchase food storage and survival equipment for your basic needs.

So what are the basics every person needs?  Let’s look at the Rule Of 3′s. These are the 3 essentials of life and how long you can live without them on average.

• Air – You can live 3 minutes without air
• Water – You can live 3 days without air
• Food – You can live 3 weeks without air

 Assuming you’re not under water and your air is clean and not biologically or chemically polluted due to a terrorists attack or fire you really only have to worry about water and food. Now of course humans require a few more things to live, but these are the major three.

Some other things to consider….Without proper clothing and shelter we can die of extreme tempertures. Without fire to cook our food and boil our water we can become very sick. Without a way to protect ourselves from danger we can be killed. Without proper first aid we cannot heal ourselves.

Store water and food just like the ant, but remember  we need a little more. Preperation is key to survival.

Art Of the Tactical Carbine vol I

This is the trailer for the Art Of The Tactical Carbine vol I DVD by Magpul Dynamics. It’s a really great DVD and is the fastest way I know of to become familiar with the tactical AR-15 and I highly recommend this video to anyone thinking of purchasing an AR-15 rifle.

10 Ways To Improve Your Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness is absolutely vital to survival and success in our near future.

Situational Awareness is the ability to identify, process, and comprehend information about how to survive in an emergency situation. More simply, it’s knowing what is going on around you. It is dynamic, hard to maintain, and easy to lose. Knowing what is going on all the time is very difficult for any one person, especially during a high stress survival situation. Therefore it is important that you know what behavior is effective in maintaining Situational Awareness.

Here are a few ways you can improve your situational awareness today before you need it in a survival situation:

1. Learn to Predict Events

The most effective aspect of Situational Awareness involves the ability to project the future actions of elements around you.

After you have been able to identify elements in your environment and can comprehend the situation, it is time to take your Situational Awareness one step further. Use this information to think ahead and determine how it will affect future actions and events in the environment.

2. Identify Elements Around You

The first step in achieving Situational Awareness is to become aware of the important elements in your environment. Start by noticing the threats that surround you. Then expand your awareness to other non-threatening elements.

This is the most basic level of Situational Awareness where you begin to monitor, detect, and recognize multiple situational elements. These include objects, events, people and environmental factors. Basic Situational Awareness also requires you to notice the locations, conditions and actions of the elements around you.

This may sound overwhelming, but do not worry. These are skills you already use on a daily basis. The first step is designed to help you expand and improve your perception of what is happening around you.

3. Trust Your Feelings

Disorder within your family or a gut feeling that things are not right can cause you to lose proper situational awareness. This clue is one of the most reliable because the body is able to detect stimulus long before we have consciously put it all together.

4. Limit Situational Overload

Overload causes distraction, increased errors, and high stress. Prioritizing and delegating tasks and minimizing surrounding distractions can improve survival during times of overload.

5. Avoid Complacency

Assuming everything is under control will affect your vigilance. When things are slow or tasks are routine complacency can occur. Continue to challenge yourself and those around you to be prepared for contingencies.

6. Be Aware of Time

Time is an important factor in mastering Situational Awareness. The pace of your environment is constantly being changed by the actions of individuals, task characteristics, and outside elements. When unplanned events begin to arise, be sure to make the necessary changes to your schedule and goals to help you survive.

7. Begin to Evaluate and Understand Situations

The next step in involves understanding multiple elements through the processes of pattern recognition, interpretation, and evaluation. Use this information to determine how it will effect your goals or in this case your ultimate survival. This will help you build a comprehensive picture of your immediate surroundings and a better understanding of Situational Awareness.

8. Actively Prevent Fatigue

Fatigue affects your ability to watch for possible danger or difficulties. Try adjusting your work routine and imposing sleep discipline to prevent wake cycles longer than 18 hours. Make sure you get at least 5 and preferably 8 hours per day of sound sleep to minimize sleep deprivation.

9. Continually Assess the Situation

When you are in a survival situation always be prepared for changes around you. Continually assess and reassess the situation to determine if you are giving yourself the best possible chance for survival. Learn what nature, the land, and new tasks are telling you, before you find yourself in a difficult situation.

10. Monitor Performance of Others

Be alert for changes in the performance of those around you caused by work overload, stress, and mistakes. When changes are needed, take action by speaking up and helping out. A weak link in your family could be the difference between success or failure in your survival.