Mental
Preparedness and Leadership in Wilderness Survival
Major
James Liffrig, MD, US Army
When
thrust into a survival situation you will experience mental
shock. Realize it now so you wonít be as surprised
by it when it happens to you. It will be marked by indecision,
confusion, fear, and panic. Anticipating it wonít prevent
the problem but will lessen the impact and shorten the period
of time. Remember: It can happen to you!
- Be
confident
- Avoid
denial
- Improvise
- Stay
goal-oriented
- Stay
positive
- Keep
the faith
Having
confidence is critical but can be difficult when experiencing
the mental shock phase. Confidence comes from survival training
and practice. You may not recall many details of your training
but knowing you have done it before can give you that extra
push when you need it.
Avoid
denial. Many disastrous events begin gradually and lull
victims into a calm sense of early denial until it is too
late. Appreciate the seriousness early. Keep your head and
think! Sit down for a few moments and focus on breathing.
This has a calming effect and clears your head.
Take
inventory of your assets including equipment and people.
Improvise! Improvise! Improvise! Donít throw anything away.
View everything you have from a new perspective; how many
ways can I use this object?
Remain
goal oriented and donít focus on personal hardships. Promote
positive, productive actions among the group. Others will
benefit from your confidence and calmness.
Keep
hopes up but donít count on miracles. Success depends more
on your own actions than it does on the situation. Remember
that others have survived far worse.
Keep
faith in self: youíve been through tough spots before. Keep
busy and focus on actions not on woes. Practice your religion:
keep your spiritual connection.
Survival
Leadership
The
leader of any informal group is generally the most experienced
person but should be accepted by all members. The military
uses the senior ranking officer (SRO) regardless of experience
or occupation. The SRO will draw from everyoneís experience
and advice but has the sole responsibility for decision-making.
This is likely not applicable in civilian groups. Civic
and other natural or established leaders may not function
well in disasters or emergencies without the support staff
that theyíve come to rely upon.
Leadership
and structure is essential and fluid. Work priorities and
plans must be constantly re-evaluated and changed to suit
the situation. Decisions should be based on group needs.
Watch for signs of panic in yourself and others. Recall
your survival training and begin to inform and organize
others.
The
need for creativity of thought and decisiveness of action
may never be more critical. Anyone can motivate and lead
people who are well fed, well rested and uninjured. Take
those three elements away and try it!
Jim
is a 1993 graduate of the Uniformed Services University
School of Medicine and is board certified in Family Practice.
He currently serves in the Department of Family Practice,
Womack Army Medical Center , Ft. Bragg, NC where he is the
director of a large multispecialty clinic. He has experience
in Army Special Operations applying Wilderness and Military
Operational Medicine principles in remote areas. He served
as a Senior Instructor for the U.S. Army Special Forces
Anti-Terrorism Division and in the Survival Evasion Resistance
and Escape (SERE) program. Jim frequently speaks a WMS conferences.
He can be reached at j.liffrig@wms.org.
Wilderness
Medicine Letter, Volume 18, Number 2, Spring 2001
