[h=1]Are You Carrying the Right Gear?[/h] By Kevin Michalowski // 12/15/2017


By now you’ve heard of the pipe bomb attack in Manhattan. I’m sure more details will be coming in between the time I sit to type these words and when they are published, but this incident begs the question: What is your plan?


Do you even have a plan? If you have thought about such a plan, do you have the right gear, training and mindset to implement said plan in the face of such a high-stress incident?


Terrorism and sudden assault are not clearly defined. That is to say, there are no rules. In fact, truly effective terrorism is more likely than not to be an attack outside the scope of anything you have heard of before. Terrorists will keep trying different things, because law enforcement continues to find ways to interfere with terrorists’ plans. The same is true of sudden assault. Violent predatory robbers continue to dream up new ways to strike at the innocent and it is our job to try to keep ahead of them.


So, what is your plan? If you travel the subway every day, do you have a flashlight? It gets dark underground if a terror attack knocks out the lights. Do you know where all the emergency exits are? Do you know how to use those exits?


I always make it a point to know how to get out of any room I enter. As soon as I can upon entering a room, I start looking for exits. That could be why I don’t like the subway. I feel pretty much trapped down there. And that whole “third rail” thing just creeps me out. Even if you got out of a disabled subway train, there is still plenty of danger in trying to navigate those underground tunnels until you find the surface.


I am also amazed by how few people carry first-aid supplies. It is 100 percent true that you are more likely to use first-aid supplies before you will be forced to use your defensive handgun. There is any number of reasons you might be required to use your first-aid kit: car crashes, accidental personal injuries, even the aforementioned terrorist attack. You will be pulling your gun only in the face of an imminent deadly threat.


The bare minimum for first-aid gear is a tourniquet. Applying a tourniquet is the best way to stop bleeding to the extremities. Tourniquets are inexpensive, very easy to apply and can certainly mean the difference between life and death. And once again, the chances of you using your medical gear are far greater than the chances of you using your pistol in self-defense.


So, getting back to that question at the end of the first paragraph, it is important to start with a plan, to follow that plan with training and practice and then to make sure you are carrying the right gear to implement that plan. If you are caught up in a situation similar to what happened recently in Manhattan, chances are pretty good you will survive the initial attack. But the next part of your plan is equally important. Make sure you are ready to respond.