How to focus your mind on survival. Psychological foundations of survival in emergency situations

Gomel engineering institute Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus

Life safety

Survival Basics

Prepared

Aniskovich I.I.

Gomel 2009

Basic Survival Concepts

Human life has always been fraught with danger. It is no coincidence that our distant ancestors, taking their first steps along the path of evolution, learned to use stone not only as a tool, but also as a weapon.

The struggle for existence forced people to cling to life by hook or by crook, to adapt to any adversity, no matter how difficult they were, to boldly go towards dangers. The desire to achieve the seemingly impossible, which permeates the entire history of mankind, helps to understand the incredible efforts made by people in various parts of the world in order to adapt to harsh conditions. natural conditions. Man has always had the ability to adapt to the natural and artificial environment - from primitive hunters who went out to hunt animals with a stone ax in their hands, to space travelers of the second half of our century, who spent a long time in a state of weightlessness, mobilizing all their physical and mental capabilities. Survival is active, expedient actions aimed at preserving life, health and performance in conditions of autonomous existence. It is for people whose lives are constantly fraught with danger that preliminary preparation, both physical and psychological, is very important. Rescuers, military personnel of many branches of the military, tourists going on long routes, many scientists and researchers must first undergo a complete adaptation process, as a result of which the body gradually acquires previously absent resistance to certain factors environment and thus gains the opportunity to “live in conditions previously incompatible with life,” which means complete adaptation to the conditions of polar cold, hot deserts or lack of oxygen at mountain heights, fresh water in the salty sea. People who have undergone full adaptation have a chance not only to preserve life itself, but also to solve problems that were previously unsolvable.

The adaptation process is very complex and multi-stage. At its first stage, the stage of adaptation to any new factor, the body is close to the maximum of its capabilities, but it does not solve the problem that has arisen completely. However, after some time, if the person (or animal) does not die, and the factor requiring adaptation continues to operate, the capabilities of the living system increase - the extreme, or urgent, stage of the process is replaced by the stage of effective and sustainable adaptation. This transformation is the key link in the entire process, and its consequences are often astounding. Extreme conditions are an event (or sequence of events) in which a person, through his own preparedness, the use of equipment and equipment, as well as the involvement of additional, pre-prepared resources, has the opportunity to prevent an emergency, and, if necessary, provide assistance to himself and others after an emergency. An extreme situation is an event beyond the limits of personal human experience, when a person is forced to act (or not act) in the complete absence of equipment, equipment and initial training. (Basic information about ways to overcome emergency situations cannot be formalized in principle, based on the very definition of an extreme situation). Most people and animals placed in extreme situations from which there is no way out do not die, but acquire one or another degree of adaptation to them and preserve their lives until better times. Such stressful situations - long periods of hunger, cold, natural Disasters, interspecific and intraspecific conflicts - are always widely represented in the natural habitat of animals. IN social environment The same pattern applies to human habitation. During a relatively short period of its history, humanity went through periods of slavery, serfdom, world wars, but did not degrade, demonstrating high efficiency in adaptation to extreme situations. Of course, the cost of such adaptation is unjustifiably high, but these indisputable facts inevitably lead to the conclusion that the body must have fairly effective specialized mechanisms that limit the stress response and prevent stress damage and, most importantly, allow one to preserve life and health. In general, all this corresponds to the well-known everyday observation - people who have gone through severe life trials acquire a certain resistance to damaging environmental factors, i.e. resilient in any extreme situation. Imagine that a miracle happened, and today’s man suddenly found himself in the primitive conditions of human existence. Making his way along the wet walls of the cave, to the ringing chatter of his own teeth, our hero remembers the fire with unexpected joy. Just what to chop wood with? Well, okay, you can break the branches. He habitually hits himself in the pocket. Oh, horror, there are no matches! At first, our time traveler does not realize the full depth of the catastrophe that has befallen him. But after a minute he breaks out in a cold sweat. He can’t imagine how to make a fire without matches! Feverish attempts to make fire by rubbing wooden sticks against each other and striking sparks lead nowhere - the kindling stubbornly refuses to flare up. Further, with inexorable consistency, it becomes clear that a representative of our time cannot hunt without a gun, fish without lines and hooks, cannot build even the most primitive shelter, and has no idea how to protect his mortal body from hundreds of dangers lurking on all sides. Looking around hauntedly, he rushes through the ancient forest, occasionally pouncing on berries that do not satisfy him at all. Our contemporary is doomed. He will have to survive in conditions of autonomous existence. Autonomous existence is the activity of a person (a group of people) without outside assistance. The only chance to prolong its existence is to turn to the local aborigines for help. It's nothing you can do! And then he meets the real masters of that era: the genius of getting food, the genius of making fire. With enormous effort, starting from the very basics, the unlucky traveler comprehends the science of “survival,” barely catching up to the level of development of primitive man. There is nothing exaggerated in this fantasy. Even astronauts, before taking their place in spaceship, travel hundreds of kilometers along survival paths - forest wilds, hot desert sands. A modern person, and even more so a professional rescuer, regardless of the planned actions and route of movement in earthly and unearthly space, timing and geographical location, must be ready to act in an emergency situation, without communication with the outside world, when you can only rely on yourself. For a person who finds himself in an extreme situation due to unforeseen circumstances, such as an airplane crash, a shipwreck, military personnel, or lost tourists, survival is mainly a psychological issue, with the most important factor in this case being the desire to survive. Regardless of whether a person is left alone or as part of a group, emotional factors may manifest themselves - experiences due to fear, despair, loneliness and boredom. In addition to these mental factors, the desire to survive is influenced by injuries, pain, fatigue, hunger and thirst. How long will a person in trouble have to live autonomously in extreme conditions? This depends on a number of reasons determining the duration of autonomous existence.

Reasons determining the duration of autonomous existence:

Remoteness of the search and rescue operations area from populated areas;

Disruption or complete absence of radio communications and other types of communication;

Unfavorable geographical, climatic and meteorological conditions of the search and rescue operations area;

Availability of food supplies (or lack thereof);

Availability of additional search and rescue forces and equipment in the search and rescue area.

Goals and objectives of survival rescuers

The purpose of training rescuers in survival is to develop in them sustainable skills to act in different conditions situation, instilling high moral and business qualities, self-confidence, reliability of rescue equipment and equipment, and the effectiveness of search and rescue support.

The basis of survival is solid knowledge in a variety of fields, from astronomy and medicine to recipes for preparing dishes from caterpillars and tree bark.

Survival techniques are different in each climatic and geographical region. What can and should be done in the taiga is unacceptable in the desert and vice versa.

A person must know how to navigate without a compass, give a distress signal, go to a populated area, obtain food through gathering, hunting, fishing (including without a gun and the necessary equipment), provide himself with water, be able to protect himself from natural disasters, and much more. other.

Practical development of survival skills is extremely important. You must not only know how to behave in a given situation, but also be able to do it. When the situation becomes threatening, it is too late to start learning. Before trips involving increased risk, it is necessary to conduct several emergency field exercises that are as close as possible to the real situation of future routes. It is necessary to theoretically calculate in advance and, if possible, check almost all possible emergencies.

The main tasks of training rescuers in survival are to provide the necessary volume theoretical knowledge and teach practical skills in:

Orientation in various physical and geographical conditions;

Providing self- and mutual assistance;

Construction of temporary shelters and use of improvised means of protection from the effects of adverse factors external environment;

Obtaining food and water;

The use of communications and signaling equipment to bring additional forces and resources into the search and rescue area;

Organization of crossings over water barriers and swamps;

Use of emergency rescue craft;

Preparation of sites for helicopter landing;

Evacuation of victims from the disaster area.

Factors influencing survival

Learning to survive is the main factor that determines the favorable outcome of autonomous existence.

Risk factors

Climate. Adverse weather conditions: cold, heat, strong wind, rain, snow can reduce the limit of human survival many times over.

Thirst. The lack of water entails physical and mental suffering, general overheating of the body, rapidly developing heat and sunstroke, dehydration of the body in the desert - inevitable death.

Hunger. A long-term lack of food depresses a person morally, weakens him physically, and increases the impact of unfavorable environmental factors on the body.

Fear. Reduces the body's resistance to thirst, hunger, and climatic factors, leads to making wrong decisions, provokes panic, and mental breakdowns.

Overwork. Appears as a result of strenuous physical activity, insufficient food supply, difficult climatic and geographical conditions, due to lack of proper rest.

Natural disasters: hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, sandstorms, fires, avalanches, mudslides, floods, thunderstorms.

Diseases. The greatest threat comes from injuries, illnesses associated with exposure to climatic conditions, and poisoning. But we should not forget that in an emergency, any neglected callus or microtrauma can lead to a tragic outcome.

Factors that ensure survival

Will to live. For short-term external threat a person acts on a sensory level, obeying the instinct of self-preservation. Bounces off a falling tree, clings to stationary objects as it falls. Long-term survival is another matter. Sooner or later, a critical moment comes when excessive physical and mental stress and the seeming pointlessness of further resistance suppress the will. Passivity and indifference take possession of a person. He is no longer afraid of the possible tragic consequences of ill-conceived overnight stays and risky crossings. He does not believe in the possibility of salvation and therefore dies without fully exhausting his reserves of strength.

Survival based only on the biological laws of self-preservation is short-lived. It is characterized by rapidly developing mental disorders and hysterical behavioral reactions. The desire to survive must be conscious and purposeful. You can call it the will to live. Any skill and knowledge become meaningless if a person resigns himself to fate. Long-term survival is ensured not by the spontaneous desire “I don’t want to die,” but by the set goal – “I must survive!” The desire to survive is not an instinct, but a conscious necessity! Survival tools - various standard and homemade emergency kits and emergency supplies (for example, a survival knife). If you are going on a dangerous journey, you need to complete emergency kits in advance, based on the specific conditions of the trip, terrain, time of year, and number of participants. All items must be tested in practice, checked many times, and duplicated if necessary. General physical training does not require comment. Psychological preparation consists of the sum of such concepts as the psychological balance of each group member, the psychological compatibility of the participants, the similarity of the group, a realistic representation of the conditions of the future route, training trips that are close in loads and climatic-geographical conditions to those actually coming (or better yet, twice as large). Quite a lot important has the correct organization of rescue work in the group, a clear distribution of responsibilities in travel and emergency modes. Everyone should know what to do in the event of a threatened emergency.

Naturally, the above list does not exhaust all the factors that ensure long-term survival. If you find yourself in an emergency situation, first of all you need to decide what tactics to follow - active (going out to people on your own) or passive (waiting for help). In case of passive survival, when there is absolute confidence that the missing person or group is being searched for, that the rescuers know their location, and if there is a non-transportable victim among you, you need to immediately begin building a capital camp, installing emergency signals around the camp, and providing food on site.

Life support. Assessing the situation and making an informed decision

How to behave in extreme cases? Let's start with the basics and remember the key word for this situation: “SURVIVAL”:

S - assess the situation, recognize dangers, look for ways out of a hopeless situation.

U - excessive haste is harmful, but make decisions quickly.

R - remember where you are, determine your location.

V - conquer fear and panic, constantly control yourself, be persistent, but if necessary, submit.

I - improvise, be inventive.

V - value your means of existence, recognize the limits of your capabilities.

A - behave like a local resident, know how to evaluate people.

L - learn to do everything yourself, be independent and independent.

A group of people. First of all, it is necessary to choose a senior person, a person who knows and is able to undertake everything necessary measures aimed at survival. If your group takes the following tips into account, your chances of being rescued and returning home will increase significantly. You should:

Decisions can be made only by the senior group, regardless of the situation;

Follow orders only from the group leader;

Develop a sense of mutual assistance in the group.

All this will help organize the group’s actions so that the best way ensure survival.

First of all, it is necessary to assess the current situation, which in turn consists of an assessment of the factors influencing survival.

Health status of group members, physical and mental condition;

Impact of the external environment (air temperature and atmospheric conditions in general, terrain, vegetation, presence and proximity of water sources, etc.).

Availability of emergency supplies of food, water and emergency equipment.

Provide self- and mutual assistance (if necessary) and draw up an action plan based on specific conditions, which should include:

Conducting terrain orientation and determining your location;

Organization of a temporary camp. Choice suitable place for the construction of a shelter taking into account the terrain, vegetation, water sources, etc. Determining the place of food preparation, food storage, placement of latrines, location of signal fires;

Providing communications and signaling, preparing radio equipment, operating and maintaining them;

Distribution of responsibilities between group members;

Establishing duty, tasks of duty officers and determining the order of duty;

Preparation of visual signaling means;

As a result, an optimal mode of behavior in the current situation should be developed.

Help from local residents.

In most areas where a person or group of people may be injured in a disaster, there are always local residents. If you find yourself in a civilized country, local residents will always come to your aid and do everything necessary to get you home as quickly as possible.

To gain local support, consider the following:

It is better if the locals make contact first;

Deal on all matters with a recognized leader or leader; - Be friendly, polite and patient. Don't show that you are afraid;

Treat them humanely;

Respect their local customs and habits;

Respect the personal property of local residents; treat women especially with respect;

Learn from the locals how to hunt and obtain food and water. Listen to their advice regarding dangers;

Avoid physical contact with them, but in such a way that it is not noticeable to them;

Leave about yourself good impression. Other people after you may need the same help.

When conducting RPS, rescuers often have to perform tasks far from populated areas, spend several days in “field conditions”, and face a variety of extreme situations, which places additional demands on their ability to work in these conditions. Solid knowledge in various fields and the ability to use them in any conditions are the basis of survival. When going to the PSR, rescuers must, along with tools and protective equipment, have the following set of necessary items that can be useful in any climatic and geographical zone: a signal mirror, with which you can send a distress signal at a distance of up to 30-40 km; hunting matches, a candle or dry fuel tablets for starting a fire or heating a shelter; alarm whistle; big knife(machete) in a sheath, which can be used as a knife, axe, shovel, spear; a compass, a piece of thick foil and polyethylene, fishing accessories, signal cartridges, an emergency kit of medicine, a supply of water and food.

Signaling

Rescuers must know and be able to apply special signals in practice. Rescuers can use smoke from a fire during the day and bright light at night to indicate their location. If you throw rubber, pieces of insulation, or oily rags into a fire, black smoke will be released, which is clearly visible in cloudy weather. To obtain white smoke, which is clearly visible in clear weather, green leaves, fresh grass, and raw moss should be thrown into the fire.

To send a signal from the ground to an air vehicle (airplane), you can use a special signal mirror (Fig. 1). It is necessary to hold it at a distance of 25-30 cm from the face and look through the sighting hole at the plane; turning the mirror, align the light spot with the sighting hole. If a signal mirror is not available, objects with shiny surfaces can be used. To sight, you need to make a hole in the center of the object. The light beam must be sent along the entire horizon line even in cases where the noise of the aircraft engine is not heard.

Rice. 1 Special signal mirror.

At night, the light of a hand-held electric flashlight, a torch, or a fire can be used for signaling.

A fire lit on a raft is one of the distress signals.

Good facilities alarms - brightly colored objects and special coloring powder (fluorescein, uranine), which are scattered on snow, ground, water, ice when an aircraft (helicopter) approaches.

In some cases, sound signals (scream, shot, knock), signal flares, and smoke bombs can be used.

One of the latest advances in targeting design is a small rubber balloon with a nylon shell, covered with four luminous colors, under which a light bulb flashes at night; the light from it is clearly visible at a distance of 4-5 km. Before launch, the balloon is filled with helium from a small capsule and held at a height of 90 m by a nylon rope. The weight of the set is 1.5 kg.

In order to facilitate the search, it is advisable to use the International Code Table of Airborne Signals “Ground – Air” (Fig. 2). Its signs can be laid out using available means (equipment, clothing, stones, trees), directly by people who must lie on the ground, snow, ice, trampled on the snow.

Fig.2. International code table of air signals

"Earth - Air"

1 - Need a doctor - serious bodily injury;

2 - Need medications;

3 - Unable to move;

4 - Need food and water;

5 - Weapons and ammunition required,

6 - Map and compass required:

7 - You need a warning lamp with a battery and a radio station;

8 - Specify the direction to follow;

9 - I am moving in this direction;

10 - Let's try to take off;

11 - The ship is seriously damaged;

12 - It is safe to land here;

13 - Fuel and oil required;

14 - Everything is fine;

15 - No or negative;

16 - Yes or positive;

17 - I don’t understand;

18 - Mechanic required;

19 - Operations completed;

20 - Nothing was found, we continue searching;

21 - Information has been received that the aircraft is in this direction;

22 - We found all the people;

23 - We found only a few people:

24 - We are unable to continue, we return to base;

25 - Divided into two groups, each following in the indicated direction.

Along with the ability to give signals, rescuers must be able to work and live in field conditions, taking into account meteorological (weather) factors. Weather conditions and forecasts are monitored by special weather services. Weather information is transmitted via communications, in special reports, and plotted on maps using symbols.

In the absence of information about the weather, rescuers must be able to determine and predict it based on local signs. To obtain reliable information, it is advisable to make a weather forecast for several of them simultaneously.

Signs of persistent good weather

It is quiet at night, the wind picks up during the day, and subsides in the evening. Direction

the wind near the ground coincides with the direction of movement of the clouds.

When the Sun sets, the dawn is yellow, golden or pink with a greenish tint in the distance.

At night, fog accumulates in the lowlands.

After sunset, dew appears on the grass; with sunrise it disappears.

In the mountains, haze covers the peaks.

Cloudless at night, clouds appear in the morning, increase in size by midday and disappear in the evening.

Ants do not close the passages in the anthill.

Hot during the day, cool in the evening.

Signs of approaching bad weather

The wind intensifies, becomes more even, blows with equal force both during the day and at night, and suddenly changes direction.

Cloudiness is increasing. Cumulus clouds do not disappear in the evening, but increase in number.

Evening and morning dawns are red.

In the evening it seems warmer than during the day. In the mountains the temperature drops in the morning.

At night there is no dew or it is very weak.

Near the ground, fog appears after sunset and dissipates towards sunrise.

During the day the sky becomes cloudy and whitish.

The crowns around the Moon are getting smaller.

The stars twinkle strongly.

Chickens and sparrows bathe in dust.

Smoke begins to spread across the ground.

Signs of persistent bad weather

Light continuous rain.

There is fog and dew on the ground.

It is moderately warm both at night and during the day.

There is dampness in the air day and night, even in the absence of rain.

Small crowns close to the Moon.

When stars twinkle, they cast a red or bluish light.

The ants are closing the passages.

The bees do not leave the hive.

The crows scream heart-rendingly.

Small birds huddle in the middle of the tree crowns.

Signs of the weather changing for the better

The rain stops or falls intermittently, in the evening a creeping fog appears and dew falls.

The difference between day and night temperatures increases.

It's getting sharply cold.

The air becomes drier.

The sky is clear in the gaps.

The crowns around the Moon are increasing.

The twinkling of stars decreases.

The evening dawn is yellow.

Smoke from the chimneys and from the fire rises vertically.

The bees in the hives are noisy. Swifts and swallows rise higher.

Mosquitoes swarm

The coals in the fire quickly become covered with ash.

Signs of persistent partly cloudy weather

Predominance of north or northeast wind.

The wind speed is low.

Creeping fog at night.

Abundant frost on dry grass or tree branches.

Rainbow pillars on the sides of the Sun or a reddish pillar across the solar disk. Sunset with a yellowish tint.

Signs of change to cloudy, snowy weather

Wind direction changes to southeast, then southwest. A change in wind from south to north and its intensification means a blizzard. Increase in cloudiness. Light snow begins. The frost is weakening.

Blue spots appear over the forest.

Dark forests are reflected in low dense clouds.

Signs of persistent cloudy, snowy weather without major frosts

Light frost or, with a south-west wind, a thaw.

As the thaw approaches, the blue spots over the forest intensify.

Steady southeast or northeast wind.

The direction of cloud movement does not coincide with the direction of the wind near the ground.

Light continuous snow.

Signs of a change to frosty weather without precipitation

The wind moves from the southwest to the west or north-west, and the frost intensifies.

Cloudiness is decreasing.

Frost appears on dry grass and trees.

The blue spots over the forest weaken and soon disappear completely.

The weather places certain demands on the organization of a bivouac, temporary housing, life and recreation during multi-day RPS. Taking this into account, rescuers organize a bivouac. It should be located in avalanche- and rockfall-proof areas, close to the source drinking water, have a supply of dead wood or firewood. You cannot set up a bivouac in dry beds of mountain rivers, near shallows, in dense bushes, coniferous thickets, near dry, hollow, rotten trees, or in thickets of flowering rhododendron. After removing stones, branches, debris from the site and leveling it, rescuers can begin setting up the tent. (Fig. 3)

Tents differ in design features, capacity, and material. Despite this, all of them are designed to protect people from cold, rain, wind, dampness, and insects.

The procedure for setting up a tent is as follows:

Unfold the tent;

Stretch and secure the bottom;

Install the racks and tighten the guy wires;

Fasten the exit and tighten the roof braces;

Eliminate folds on the roof by tensioning (loosening) the guys;

Dig a ditch around the tent 8-10 cm wide and deep to drain water in case of rain.

Dry leaves, grass, ferns, reeds, and moss can be placed under the bottom of the tent. When setting up a tent on snow (ice), empty backpacks, ropes, windbreakers, blankets, and foam rubber should be placed on the floor.

The pegs are driven at an angle of 45° to the ground to a depth of 20-25 cm. Trees, stones, and ledges can be used to secure the tent. The back wall of the tent should be positioned towards the prevailing winds.

If you don’t have a tent, you can spend the night under a piece of tarpaulin, polyethylene, or build a hut from scrap materials (branches, logs, spruce branches, leaves, reeds). It is installed on a flat and dry place, in a clearing or the edge of a forest.

In winter, the overnight site must be cleared of snow and ice.

Fig.3 Options for installing tents.

In snowy winter conditions, rescuers must be able to arrange shelters in the snow. The simplest of them is a hole dug around a tree, the size of which depends on the number of people. The top of the hole must be covered with branches, thick fabric, cover with snow for better thermal insulation. You can build a snow cave, a snow dugout, a snow trench. When entering a snow shelter, you should clear your clothing of snow and dirt, and take with you a shovel or knife that can be used to make ventilation holes and passage in the event of a snow collapse.

For cooking, heating, drying clothes, signaling, rescuers use fires of the following types: “hut”, “well” (“log house”), “taiga”, “Nodya”, “fireplace”, “Polynesian”, “star”, “ pyramid". The “hut” is convenient for quickly making tea and lighting the camp. This fire is very “gluttonous” and burns hot. The “well” (“log house”) is lit if you need to cook food in a large bowl or dry wet clothes. In the “well” the fuel burns more slowly than in the “hut”; a lot of coals are formed, which create high temperature. In the “taiga” you can cook food in several pots at the same time. On one thick log (about 20 cm thick) place several thinner dry logs, which are brought together at an angle of 30°. necessarily on the leeward side. The fuel burns for a long time. You can camp for the night near such a fire. “Nodya” is good for cooking food, heating during an overnight stay, drying clothes and shoes. Two dry logs up to 3 m long are placed close to each other, flammable fuel (thin dry twigs, birch bark) is lit in the gap between them, after which a third dry log of the same length and thickness of 20-25 cm is placed on top. To prevent the logs from rolling out, with On two sides of them, flyers are driven into the ground. They will simultaneously serve as stands for the stick on which the pots are hung. The “nodya” flares up slowly, but burns with an even flame for several hours. Any fire must be lit only after careful preparation of the site: collecting dry grass and dead wood, making a hole in the ground, fencing the place where it will be lit with stones. The fuel for the fire is dry wood, grass, reeds, and shrubs. It has been noticed that burning spruce, pine, cedar, chestnut, and larch produce a lot of sparks. Oak, maple, elm, and beech burn calmly. To quickly light a fire, you need kindling (birch bark, small dry branches and firewood, a piece of rubber, paper, dry fuel). It is packed tightly into a “hut” or “well.” To make the kindling ignite better, place a piece of candle in it or add dry alcohol. Thicker dry branches are placed around the kindling, then thicker firewood. In damp weather or during rain, the fire must be covered with a tarpaulin, backpack, thick cloth. You can light a fire with matches, a lighter, sunlight and magnifying glass, friction, flint, shot. In the latter case it is necessary:

Open the cartridge and leave only gunpowder in it;

Place dry cotton wool on top of the gunpowder;

Shoot at the ground, while observing safety precautions;

The smoldering cotton wool will light the fire.

To make a fire in winter time it is necessary to clear the snow to the ground or build a deck of thick logs on the snow, otherwise the melted snow will extinguish the fire. To prevent a fire from causing a fire, it should not be lit under low-lying tree branches, near flammable objects, on the leeward side of the bivouac, on peat bogs, near reed and reed thickets, dry grass, moss, in spruce and pine small forests. In these places, fire spreads at high speed and is difficult to extinguish. In order to prevent the spread of fire, the fire must be surrounded by a ditch or stones. The safe distance from the fire to the tent is 10m. To dry clothes, shoes, and equipment by the fire, they should be hung on poles or ropes located on the leeward side at a sufficient distance from the fire. A mandatory rule is to extinguish the fire (with water, earth, snow) when leaving the bivouac. Successful completion of the tasks assigned to them by rescuers is possible only if they restore and maintain high mental and physical performance of the body throughout the entire period of work. The basis for this is a balanced diet. It is important not only the correct ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in food, but also the mandatory presence of vitamins and other biologically active substances in it. The daily diet of a rescuer must include at least 1.5 g of protein per kilogram of body weight, almost the same amount of fat and 4 times more carbohydrates, and also about 30-35 g table salt, vitamins, water, etc.

LITERATURE

1. Search and rescue works - M., Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, 2000.

2. Disasters and people - M., Publishing House AST-LTD, 1997.

3. Accidents and catastrophes - M., Publishing House of the Association of Construction Universities, 1998.

4. Survival - Mn., “Lazurak”, 1996.

5. Self-rescue without equipment - M., “Russian Journal”, 2000.

6. Military topography - M., Voenizdat, 1980.

7. Manual on the aviation search and rescue service of the USSR. – M., Voenizdat, 1990.

8. Instructions for the crew of the Mi-8MT helicopter. - Voenizdat, 1984.

9. Instructions for the crew of the Mi-26 helicopter. - Voenizdat, 1984.

10. Instructions to the crew of the An-2 aircraft. - Voenizdat, 1985.

11. Textbook “Fundamentals of Military Topography” Svetlaya Roshcha, Institute of Pedagogical Training of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus, 2001.

12. First aid for injuries and other life-threatening situations - St. Petersburg, DNA Publishing House LLC, 2001.

The centuries-old experience of mankind shows that psychologically prepared people are able to quickly and without panic cope with fear, excitement, anxiety in emergency situations and resist danger. Those who do not know how to control their psyche most often find themselves helpless in the face of impending disaster. Fear and panic paralyze the will and consciousness of a person, causing chaotic, disorganized behavior. In panic, a person is like a hunted animal that destroys itself with its unconscious actions.

Psychologically prepared people- these are those who constantly work to increase their attention, develop their senses (especially visual and auditory), improve their memory, thinking, control over emotions and will. The science of psychology, which you met in biology lessons, can offer many exercises to develop all of the listed qualities in a person. However, it is important not only to know and want, but also to practice Psychological improvement, Because your ability to survive in various dangerous situations depends on this.

The basis of human character is his temperament. Psychologists under Temperament Understand the characteristics of a person by intensity, speed, tempo and rhythm of his mental processes and states.

Highlight 4 main types of people by temperament.

sanguine- a balanced, active, agile person who easily experiences troubles and failures, practical;

Phlegmatic person- a person with slow reactions, calm, constant in his feelings, measured in actions and speech;

Choleric- an excitable, impetuous person, unrestrained in emotions, with frequent mood swings, speaking quickly;

Melancholic- a person with a weak type of nervous system, very impressionable, touchy, deeply worried about everything, but capable of subtly feeling and perceiving more information than others, which is why he gets tired faster.

The images of musketeers from the famous novel by A. Dumas “The Three Musketeers” have long become classic in practical psychology. Therefore, in order to determine the 1st type of temperament, decide which of the 4 Musketeers you like the most, if you are eccentric and romantic d'Artagnanlo, you are most likely choleric: if Athos is silent, withdrawn and mysterious, then melancholic: friendly, self-sufficient and balanced Porthos - phlegmatic: reserved, purposeful and reasonable Aramis - sanguine

In emergency situations, people may behave differently depending on their temperament. For example, in dangerous situations Choleric He will begin to rush around feverishly, get nervous and, if he cannot control himself, he will most likely succumb to panic. Melancholic He falls into deep despondency and begins to imagine possible terrible pictures of what could happen. This. as a rule, prevents him from making the right decision. Phlegmatic person Due to his inhibition, he most often underestimates the danger. Sanguine Most likely, he will be able to quickly overcome his fear and even find the strength to make fun of what is happening. But at the same time he will not have enough sensitivity to his neighbors.

But if temperament is given to us by nature, then character is that. what we create within ourselves. The older a person is, the more life experience he has, the more the formation of his character depends on himself. Therefore, if, in the event of any, even the most insignificant danger, you are accustomed to avoiding responsibility, constantly hiding behind someone’s back, then it means that you are developing a non-independent character. And in case of danger, when no one is nearby, he can let you down. Learn to make decisions and act competently on your own in emergency situations!

Any emergency situation of a natural or man-made nature is scary, first of all. that they are usually sudden. You cannot get used to emergency situations and completely protect yourself from them. Almost all people who survived them. have severe psychological trauma. But nonetheless, Remember:You can help yourself survive if you counter the emergency situation with your knowledge, skills, willpower, character and abilities! A way out of an emergency situation, if it does arise, must be found. The main thing is to have confidence in this. But she cannot be educated by a book, a film, or a conversation, although both will be beneficial. It takes experimentation and experience.

From funds mass media, from this and other books you gain knowledge about certain emergency situations, about the rules of safe behavior in the event of a threat of their occurrence and during their operation. If a person anticipates in advance the possibility of a particular emergency situation occurring and thinks through the course of action, then when such a situation arises, this person feels more confident and calm.

However, sometimes the destructive power of natural disasters and the consequences of emergency situations are so great that even experienced, seasoned, psychologically trained people sometimes find it difficult to cope with their emotions and feelings. Therefore, when there is a threat to life and health, a person, regardless of the nature and type of temperament, can experience panic attacks to one degree or another. During a panic in fear, people can commit ridiculous and sometimes dangerous actions for themselves and others, and cannot consciously take measures for self-rescue and mutual assistance.

Panic It has both physiological and psychological manifestations. TO Physical manifestations of panic Relate:

Palpitations:

Profuse sweating:

Vomiting and stomach upset (so-called “bear sickness”);

Chest tightness, inability to breathe deeply;

Trembling throughout the body;

Numbness of the limbs and tingling in the body;

Poor sleep or insomnia;

Muscle tension and pain;

Fast fatiguability. Psychological manifestations panics are:

Brain fog, feeling like you are going crazy;

Unreal perception of what is happening; the body becomes as if it is not yours;

The feeling that you are dying or about to die;

Emotionality; the person is on the verge of a psychological breakdown;

Shyness;

A person cannot concentrate or even disconnect from what is happening.

Remember:Panic can be dealt with! Learn to do the following exercises:

Relax the muscles of the face, limbs, and whole body;

Breathe calmly and deeply:

Instill in yourself the desired state (there are other exercises that you will learn about in biology lessons).

The mental state of people in emergency situations is characterized as stressful. Stress- this is a state of the body that occurs under the influence of adverse effects of significant strength or duration (the so-called “stressors”).

To adverse effects of various kinds, causing strong negative emotions, experiences, worries (fear, humiliation, pain, illness - one’s own and those of loved ones, loss, death of loved ones, social upheavals, epidemics, disasters), the body responds with an appropriate reaction. Stress is a phenomenon in which both psychological and physiological mechanisms are intertwined. The creator of the theory of stress, Canadian scientist G. Selye, defines it as a set of genetically programmed nonspecific reactions of the body that primarily prepare the individual for physical activity(resistance or flight).

With weak negative effects on the body that do not cause a negative reaction, a person can cope quite well with the help of ordinary protective actions. Stress occurs when the influence of an irritant (stressor) exceeds the adaptive capabilities of the body and psyche.

Physiological mechanism of stress The point is. that under the influence of a strong stimulus, certain hormones are released into the blood. Under their influence, the mode of operation of the heart changes, blood pressure and pulse rate increase, and the protective properties of the body change (for example, blood clotting increases). Psychological mechanism of stress It manifests itself in the need to make a particularly responsible decision, a sharp change in behavior strategy, etc.

There are 3 stages in the development of stress:

1. Anxiety stage. Lasts from several hours to 20 days. Includes Shock phases AND Counterflow. During

The last phase involves the mobilization of the body's defenses and capabilities.

2. Resistance stage. It is characterized by increased resistance of the body to various influences.

3. Stage of stabilization (recovery). If the level of stress exceeds the protective reserve capabilities, then the body’s condition can deteriorate until it dies.

Unfortunately, stress is integral part our life. Sometimes it is simply impossible to avoid its occurrence. However, the degree of reaction to it varies from person to person. Some people react to stress actively, the effectiveness of their activities continues to increase to a certain limit (the so-called “lion stress”), while others have a predominantly passive reaction, and the level of activity decreases sharply (the “rabbit stress”).

Often the process of waiting for danger turns out to be much more unpleasant, exhausting, and requiring a lot of stress than the danger itself. It has been proven that when there is a lot of stress in a person’s life, the reserves and protective capabilities of his body are gradually reduced. As a result, a number of so-called psychosomatic diseases develop (hypertension, peptic ulcers, cardiovascular diseases, cardiac arrhythmia, up to heart attack and stroke).

Special studies have allowed psychologists to describe various forms of stress manifestations in people after emergency situations they have experienced.

Hysterics It manifests itself in sudden motor agitation: a person moves quickly or even runs without any visible goal; makes incomprehensible sounds, shouts something, exclaims; laughs or cries bitterly for every insignificant reason; becomes aggressive, overexcited; gets excited quickly.

Stupor - the second, no less common form of behavior of people in emergency situations. This reaction to stress manifests itself in the form of immobility and numbness. A person who is in a stupor is often silent, standing or sitting motionless, hunched over, crouched. The gaze is directed into nowhere.

Apathy Or Depression It manifests itself in a person in lethargy, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite, increased irritability, and complete indifference to everything that happens. A person in a state of apathy suffers from dizziness and often faints.

If there are no professional psychologists nearby who can help people return to normal well-being and behavior, then they must do it themselves. In addition, in an extreme situation, the human body reveals its hidden capabilities - unusual physical endurance, strength, endurance. This is a kind of protective reaction of the body to a stressful situation.

It is known, for example, that a person in ordinary life uses the intellectual and physical capabilities of his body only by 10-20%. There are cases in history when, at critical moments in life, the human body showed remarkable capabilities: a young mother lifted huge floor slabs with her bare hands in order to remove her child from under the rubble; During the Great Patriotic War, an artillery soldier alone dragged an artillery gun up a high mountain, whereas in normal situations this gun was difficult to move by a special tractor; An elderly woman was taking out a chest of drawers from a burning house, which two men had difficulty lifting after the fire.

To make it easier to cope with your mental state in an emergency and not give in to panic, you must follow the following rules."

Don't despair if you are alone or surrounded by people in the same mental state;

Provide all possible assistance to adults in eliminating the consequences of emergency situations (in clearing rubble, providing first aid, etc.), this will distract you, especially if people close to you were injured as a result of the emergency. Remember:Caring for someone- Here is salvation in a difficult psychological situation!

Spend more time in the company of those who have more easily endured danger, engage in joint work with them;

Organize your daily routine;

Avoid someone who sows panic, talks about the hopelessness of the situation, try to isolate the alarmist;

If you still find yourself alone, then voice everything that is happening around you, express your thoughts out loud (the so-called “Chukchi method”); if you can’t speak, write; Speak out yourself and let someone who also finds themselves in a similar situation speak out;

Engage in psychological training to improve your will and ability to manage your emotions.

Try to understand your own and forgive others’ mistakes;

Decide on your life values and priorities Assess your strengths and weaknesses, set ambitious but realistic goals. Sometimes incredible efforts are wasted on incorrectly chosen goals,

Be more tolerant and generous to the actions of other people Avoid uncomfortable life situations and people with whom you find it unpleasant to communicate Life is too short to waste time on them1

Enjoy communicating with active people, feeling the energy they radiate1

Trust yourself, appreciate your successes in life, even if they are very few.

5.1. The concept of the human environment. Normal and extreme conditions

habitats. Survival

5.1.1. The concept of the human environment

During his life, a person is surrounded by objects of the material world that make up the human environment, or human habitat (living environment). It consists of inanimate (earth, water, plants, buildings, tools, etc.) and animate (people, animals and etc.) objects.

The maintenance of the human habitat depends on place, time and conditions. The human environment in the southern regions of the country differs from that in the northern regions due to differences in climatic conditions. At the same time, the climate itself changes over time, the temperature of the atmospheric air changes throughout the year and day. The differences between the living environment at home and at work are especially significant.

The everyday environment of a person is determined by the conditions of a person’s stay in his home, in the lap of nature (rest, work at personal plot etc.), in in public places, on the street, in transport, if this is not related to the person’s performance of his official duties.

The industrial environment of a person is determined by the working conditions of a person in production, in an organization, or an institution. In most cases, the conditions of the working environment are less favorable for humans than the domestic environment. However, in some cases, the impact on a person of some factors of these environments may be close. For example, the exposure to solar radiation for a person relaxing in the sun is close to that for a worker doing work outdoors at the same latitudes and under the same weather conditions.

In the process of human life, the environment has a certain influence on him. For example, atmospheric air can heat or cool the human body, and a falling object can cause injury. Long-term environmental influences of the same nature ultimately cause certain changes in the human body, and under their influence a person adapts to the environment, changing physiologically and psychologically.

From the point of view of the impact on humans, the environment can be represented as consisting of factors that are divided into natural (natural) and anthropogenic, or artificial, generated by human activity. In the historical aspect, at first there were only natural factors. Later, anthropogenic factors began to join them.

A number of factors in a person’s environment can have an adverse effect on him.

Natural adverse factors are of significant importance in the everyday environment. For everyday life, for example, the climatic factor is important, largely determining the living conditions indoors and outdoor recreation. Great importance It has water environment, which supplies people with drinking water and irrigates gardens, but at the same time can bring with it great destruction and casualties (floods, storms at sea, etc.). Equally important in everyday life are the effects of harmful natural substances (dust, poisonous gases, etc.), temperature factors (burns, frostbite), etc.

With the development of human society, the role of anthropogenic unfavorable factors increases. Nowadays they are as important as natural factors. Suffice it to recall electric shock injuries, people falling from structures they had erected, gas poisoning, including carbon monoxide, and many other examples. In the mining industry, for example, the main hazards are rock collapses in the workings as a result of human activity in the depths of the earth, as well as vehicles in mines: they account for approximately half of the fatal accidents that occur in coal mines.

What environmental factors are unfavorable for the human body? When answering this question, you must proceed from the following.

The development of the human body has adapted (adapted) it to certain average values ​​of environmental factors and to a certain range of their changes relative to the average values. But during the life of an organism, it is also possible for the values ​​of environmental factors to go beyond their usual limits. The body is not accustomed to such values. The greater the deviation of the factor values ​​from the usual limits, the more unfavorable it is. We come to the conclusion: an environmental factor is unfavorable, the values ​​of which periodically, but not often, go beyond the range of its values ​​​​usual for a given organism. For example, for inhabitants of the middle latitudes of Russia, the outside temperature is usually from +20°C to –20°C. Their body has adapted to this diagnosis of temperatures and, on average, functions normally in such temperature conditions, the person feels comfort (convenience). A temperature of + 30°C or - 25°C is already perceived as uncomfortable, and with large deviations from the usual temperature range, a person may experience adverse consequences. Therefore, in this example, temperatures above +25°C and below -20°C can be considered unfavorable values ​​for the temperature factor. If deviations in the range from +25°C to -20°C are regular but small (for example, a deviation from the upper limit of usual temperatures by +5°C and from the lower limit by -5°C), a person gets used to them and they will expand the range comfortable temperatures. Hence the conclusion follows: in principle, any environmental factor can be unfavorable. For example, oxygen in atmospheric air necessary for human life. Its content in the air is about 21%, and the human body is adapted to this content. With a significant decrease (increase) in the oxygen content in the air, a person begins to experience changes in the functions of a number of organs, which can lead to serious disorders and even death. Thus, oxygen is a favorable factor for human life if its content is within 21%; with a significant deficiency or excess, it becomes an unfavorable factor. A similar example can be given with atmospheric pressure: normal atmospheric pressure is favorable for humans; its values, significantly different from normal, make atmospheric pressure an unfavorable factor.

Therefore, we should talk not about favorable environmental factors, but about the unfavorable values ​​of the factors. The nature and degree of influence of a particular environmental factor on a living organism depends on the quantitative value of this factor. The further the value of the factor under consideration is from the zone of its comfortable values, the more unfavorable the effect of the factor on a living organism.

5.1.2. Normal and extreme living conditions. Survival

Comfortable or close to them values ​​of human environmental factors occur, as a rule, in normal human life, in peacetime. They are often called normal living conditions.

Normal conditions of life promise provide for the life support of the population for a normal life, life in peacetime. Almost every Russian lives in these conditions.

In the event of an emergency, people in the emergency zone may find themselves without shelter, water, food and medical care. Solve the most important issues of life support for the affected population in these extreme conditions quickly and in required volumes in most cases it is extremely difficult, because the support system will be destroyed or its capabilities to fully satisfy all the needs of the victims will be insufficient.

In such cases, it turns out to be important to establish priority life support for people, initially providing for the satisfaction of only the physiological needs of a person, primarily for food.

In addition, in some emergency situations, during the initial period of their occurrence, even the physiological needs of a person for energy cannot be satisfied. Difficulties arise with housing, water, cooking, medical care, etc. Similar difficulties can occur in other circumstances, when a person, regardless of planned actions and route of movement, geographical location, finds himself cut off from the outside world and must rely only on himself. These are the extreme conditions of human life. For a person in extreme conditions, it is natural to want to survive, i.e. save your life.

The behavior of a person left to himself in extreme conditions, whose goal is to preserve his life, is survival.

Extreme conditions in which a person struggles for survival are characterized by: absence or shortage of food (food); lack or insufficiency of drinking water; exposure to low or high temperatures on the human body.

Food Provides the body's energy needs and the functioning of all human organs and systems.

The food should include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins.

Proteins form the basis of every living cell and every tissue of the body. Therefore, a continuous supply of protein is absolutely necessary for tissue growth and repair, as well as the formation of new cells. The most valuable proteins are meat, milk, eggs and vegetables, primarily potatoes and cabbage and some cereals - oatmeal, rice, buckwheat.

Fats and carbohydrates are the main sources of energy and mainly determine the calorie content of food. Animal fats are considered more complete than vegetable fats. The most useful fats are those contained in milk, cream, and sour cream. Cereals, vegetables, and fruits are especially rich in carbohydrates; milk contains some carbohydrates.

Vitamins are necessary for the proper growth and development of the body, for the normal functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, neuromuscular system, vision, etc. The most important vitamins for the body are vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamins A, D, E.

In addition, the food should include minerals(calcium, magnesium, phosphorus), necessary for the skeletal system, as well as cardiac and skeletal muscles. The need for them is fully covered if the food consists of a variety of products of animal and plant origin.

In the human body, processes of oxidation (combination with oxygen) of physical nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) continuously occur, accompanied by the formation and release of heat. This heat is necessary for all life processes, it is spent on heating the released air, maintaining body temperature, thermal energy ensures the activity of the muscular system. The more muscle movements a person makes, the more oxygen he consumes, and, consequently, the more expenses he produces, and more food is needed to cover them.

The need for a certain amount of food is usually expressed in heat units - calories. The minimum amount of food that is necessary to maintain the human body in in good condition, is determined by its needs at rest. These are human physiological needs.

The World Health Organization has found that human physiological energy needs are about 1600 kcal per day. The real energy needs are much higher; depending on the intensity of work, they exceed the specified norm by 1.4-2.5 times.

Fasting is a state of the body in which there is a complete absence or insufficient supply of nutrients.

There are absolute, complete and incomplete fasting.

Absolute fasting is characterized by a complete lack of intake of nutrients into the body - food and water.

Complete fasting is fasting when a person is deprived of all food, but is not limited in water consumption.

Partial fasting occurs when, with sufficient quantitative nutrition, a person does not receive some food from food. nutrients–vitamins, proteins, fats, carbohydrates, etc.

With complete starvation, the body is forced to switch to internal self-sufficiency, using up reserves of fatty tissue, muscle protein, etc. It is estimated that an average weight person has energy reserves of approximately 160 thousand kcal, 40-45% of which he can spend on internal self-sufficiency without a direct threat to his existence. This amounts to 65-70 thousand kcal. Thus, spending 1600 kcal per day, a person is able to live for about 40 days in conditions of complete immobility and lack of food, and taking into account the implementation motor functions– about 30 days. Although there are cases where people did not eat food for 40, 50 or even 60 days and survived.

During the initial period of fasting, which usually lasts 2-4 days, a strong feeling of hunger arises, and the person constantly thinks about food. Appetite increases sharply, sometimes a burning sensation, pain in the pancreas, and nausea are felt. Dizziness, headaches, and stomach cramps are possible. When drinking water, salivation increases. In the first four days, a person’s weight decreases by an average of one kilogram daily, and in areas with a hot climate - up to 1.5 kg. Then daily losses decrease.

Subsequently, the feeling of hunger weakens. The appetite disappears, sometimes the person even experiences some cheerfulness. The tongue is often covered with a whitish coating, and the smell of acetone may be felt in the mouth. Salivation does not increase, even at the sight of food. There is poor sleep, prolonged headaches, and increased irritability. A person falls into apathy, lethargy, drowsiness, and weakens.

Hunger undermines a person’s strength from within and reduces the body’s resistance to the effects of external factors. A hungry person freezes several times faster than a well-fed one. He gets sick more often and suffers a more difficult course of the disease. His mental activity weakens and his efficiency drops sharply.

Water. Lack of water leads to a decrease in body weight, a significant loss of strength, thickening of the blood and, as a result, overstrain of the heart, which expends additional effort to push the thickened blood through the vessels. At the same time, the concentration of salts in the blood increases, which serves as an ominous signal of the onset of dehydration. Dehydration of 15% or more can lead to irreversible consequences, to death. If a person deprived of food can lose almost the entire supply of tissue, almost 50% of proteins, and only then approach the dangerous line, then the loss of 15% of fluid is fatal. Fasting can last several weeks, and a person deprived of water dies in a matter of days, and in hot climates, even hours.

The human body's need for water in favorable climatic conditions does not exceed 2.5-3 liters per day.

It is important to distinguish true water hunger from apparent one. Very often, the feeling of thirst arises not because of an objective lack of water, but because of improperly organized water consumption. Therefore, it is not recommended to drink a lot of water in one gulp - this will not quench your thirst, but can lead to swelling and weakness. Sometimes it is enough to rinse your mouth with cold water.

In case of intense sweating, leading to the leaching of salts from the body, it is advisable to drink lightly salted water - 0.5-1.0 g of salt per 1 liter of water.

Cold. According to statistics, from 10 to 15% of people who died in various extreme conditions were victims of hypothermia.

Wind plays a decisive role in human survival in low temperatures. At an actual air temperature of -3 0 C and a wind speed of 10 m/s, the total cooling caused by the combined influence of the actual air temperature and the wind is equivalent to the effect of a temperature of -20 0 C. And a wind of 18 m/s turns a frost of 45 0 C into a frost of 90 0 C in the absence of wind.

In areas devoid of natural shelters (forests, folds of relief), low temperatures combined with strong winds can reduce human survival to several hours.

Long-term survival sub-zero temperatures also depends largely on the condition of clothing and shoes, the quality of the shelter built, fuel and food supplies, and the moral and physical condition of the person.

In extreme conditions, clothing can protect a person from the cold only for a short period of time, but it is still sufficient to build a shelter (even a snow shelter). The heat-protective properties of clothing depend primarily on the type of fabric. Finely porous fabric retains heat best - the more microscopic air bubbles are enclosed between the fibers of the fabric, the closer they are located to each other, the less such fabric allows heat to pass through from the inside and cold from the outside. There are a lot of air pores in woolen fabrics - the total pore volume in them reaches 92%; and in smooth, linen ones - about 50%.

By the way, the heat-protective properties of fur clothing are explained by the same effect of air pores. Each strand of fur is a small hollow cylinder with an air bubble “sealed” inside it. Hundreds of thousands of these elastic microcones make up a fur coat.

IN Lately Clothes made of synthetic materials and fillers such as synthetic padding polyester, nitron, etc. are widely used. Here, air capsules are enclosed in a thin shell of artificial fibers. Synthetic clothing is slightly inferior to fur in terms of warmth, but it is very light, does not impede movement, and is almost not felt on the body. It is not blown by the wind, snow does not stick to it, and it gets little wet.

The best option for clothing is multi-layer clothing made from different fabrics - preferably 4-5 layers.

Shoes play a very important role in winter emergency situations, because 90% of all frostbites occur on the lower extremities.

Everyone accessible ways We must strive to keep shoes, socks, and foot wraps dry. To do this, you can make shoe covers from improvised material, wrap your legs with a piece of loose fabric, etc.

Shelter. Clothing, no matter how warm it is, can protect a person from the cold only for hours, rarely for days. No clothing can protect a person from death if a warm shelter is not built in time.

Fabric tents, shelters made from the wreckage of vehicles, wood, metal in the absence of a stove will not save you from the cold. After all, when constructing shelters from traditional materials, it is almost impossible to achieve hermetic sealing of seams and joints. Shelters are “blown through” by the wind. Warm air evaporates through numerous cracks, therefore, in the absence of stoves, stoves and other highly efficient heating devices, the air temperature inside the shelter is almost always equal to the outside one.

An excellent winter shelter can be built from snow, and very quickly - in 1.5-2 hours. In a properly constructed snow shelter, the air temperature only due to the heat generated by a person rises to minus 5-10 0 C at 30-40 degrees below zero outside. With the help of a candle, the temperature in the shelter can be raised from 0 to 4-5 0 C and higher. Many polar explorers, having installed a couple of primus stoves inside, heated the air to +30 0 C!

The main advantage of snow shelters is the ease of construction - they can be built by anyone who has never held a tool in their hands.

5.2. Basic human factors, promoting survival

Will to live. In the event of a short-term external threat, a person acts on a subconscious level, obeying the instinct of self-preservation. In extreme conditions, with long-term survival, the instinct of self-preservation is gradually lost, and sooner or later a critical moment comes when excessive physical and mental stress, the seeming pointlessness of further resistance, suppress the will. Passivity and indifference take possession of a person; he is no longer afraid of the possible tragic consequences of ill-conceived overnight stays and risky crossings. He does not believe in the possibility of salvation and therefore dies without fully exhausting his reserves of strength, without using up his food reserves. 90% of people who find themselves on life-saving craft after a shipwreck die within three days from moral factors. More than once, rescuers removed from boats or rafts found in the ocean, dead people if food and water bottles are available.

Survival based only on the biological laws of self-survival is short-lived. It is characterized by rapidly developing mental disorders and hysterical reactions - a psychogenic damaging factor operates. The desire to survive must be conscious and purposeful. This is the will to live, when the desire to survive should be dictated not by instinct, but by conscious necessity. The will to live implies, first of all, action. Lack of will is inaction. You cannot passively expect help from the outside; you must take action to protect yourself from unfavorable factors and help others.

General physical training, hardening. The usefulness of general physical training for a person who finds himself in an extreme situation does not need to be proven. In an extreme situation, you need strength, endurance, and toughness. These physical properties under conditions of extreme preparation it is impossible to acquire. This takes months. Military rescuers acquire them during physical exercises, tactical and special training, as well as during individual training in certain sports in their free time.

Knowledge of self-rescue techniques. The basis for long-term survival is a solid knowledge of the very knowledge of recipes for preparing dishes from caterpillars and tree bark.

A box of matches will not save a person from freezing if he does not know how to properly make a fire in winter or in the rain. Incorrectly provided first aid only aggravates the victim’s condition. It is tempting to have comprehensive knowledge of self-rescue in any climatic zone of the country, in any extreme situations. But this involves assimilation of a large amount of information. Therefore, in practice it is often enough to limit ourselves to studying a specific climate zone and possible extreme situations in it. However, it is important to study in advance those self-rescue techniques that are suitable for any climate zone, typical extreme situations: terrain orientation, timing, making fire using primitive methods, organizing a camp, preserving food, “extracting” water, first aid, overcoming water obstacles and so on. We must remember the motto: “To know is to be able, to be able is to survive!”

Survival skills. Knowledge of survival techniques must be supported by survival skills. Survival skills are learned through practice. Having, for example, a weapon, but not possessing hunting skills, you can die of hunger when there is an abundance of game. When mastering survival skills, you should not “throw yourself away”, trying to immediately master the entire volume of information on a particular issue of interest. Doing less is better. It is not necessary to practically master the construction of all types of shelters from snow (there are about 20 of them); it is quite enough to be able to build three or four shelters of various designs.

Proper organization of rescue operations. The survival of a group finding itself in an extreme situation largely depends on the organization of rescue operations. It is unacceptable for each group member to do only what he considers necessary for himself at a given moment in time. Collective survival allows you to save the life of each member of the group, individual survival leads to the death of everyone.

Work within the camp should be distributed by the group leader in accordance with the strengths and capabilities of each person. Physically strong people, primarily men, are entrusted with the most labor-intensive work - collecting firewood, building shelters, etc. Give the weak, women and children jobs that require a significant amount of time, but do not require much physical effort - maintaining a fire, drying and repairing clothes, collecting food, etc. At the same time, the importance of each work should be emphasized, regardless of the labor invested in it.

Any work should, as far as possible, be carried out at a calm pace with an even expenditure of energy. Sudden overloads followed by long rests and irregular work lead to rapid exhaustion of strength and irrational use of the body's energy reserves.

With proper organization of work, the energy consumption of each group member will be approximately the same, which is extremely important with rations, that is, equal for everyone, food rations.

5.3. Survival in natural environment

5.3.1. Basics and tactics of survival in the natural environment

The basics of survival in the natural environment consist of solid knowledge in a variety of areas, from the basics of astronomy and medicine, to recipes for cooking from non-traditional “products” that may be found in the place of survival - tree bark, plant roots, frogs, insects, etc. d. You must be able to navigate without a compass, give distress signals, be able to build a shelter from bad weather, light a fire, provide yourself with water, protect yourself from wild animals and insects, etc.

The choice of survival tactics in the natural environment is of great importance.

In conditions of survival, three types of human behavior are possible, three survival tactics - passive survival, active survival, a combination of passive and active survival.

Passive Survival Tactics- this is waiting for help from rescuers at the scene of the accident or in the immediate vicinity of it, building structures for housing, equipping landing sites, obtaining food, etc.

The tactics of passive waiting are justified in cases of accidents, forced landings of vehicles, the disappearance of which requires the organization of rescue operations to locate and rescue victims. It is used in situations where there is absolute confidence that the missing will be searched for and when it is known for certain that rescue units know the approximate location of the victims.

Passive survival tactics are also chosen when among the victims there is a non-transportable patient or several seriously ill patients; when the group of victims is dominated by women, children and people unprepared for active actions, poorly equipped; under particularly difficult climatic conditions that exclude the possibility of active movement.

Active Survival Tactics– this is an independent exit for accident victims or rescuers to the nearest populated area, to people. It can be used in cases where hope for quick help is excluded; when it is possible to establish your location and there is confidence in reaching the nearest populated areas. Active survival is also used in cases where there is a need to urgently leave the original place due to severe weather and other factors and search for an area suitable for passive survival. Active survival is also used in the event of evacuating victims from a disaster area.

In some cases, a combined survival tactic, that is, including an active and passive form, is possible. In this case, through the joint efforts of the victims, a long-term camp (bivouac) is organized, after which a route group is created from among the most prepared. The goal of the route group is to reach the nearest populated area as soon as possible and, with the help of local search and rescue services, organize the evacuation of the remnants of the group.

5.3.2. Location orientation. Orientation by the sun and stars

A. Determining the sides of the horizon during the day

If you don’t have a compass, you can use the sun to determine the approximate direction north (and knowing where north is, all other sides of the horizon). Below is a method by which you can determine the sides of the horizon by the shadow of a pole at any time when the sun is shining brightly enough (Fig. 5.1).

Find a straight pole one meter long and do the following:

1. Stick a pole into the ground on a flat, vegetation-free area where shadows are clearly visible. The pole does not have to be vertical. Tilting it to get the best shadow (in size and direction) does not affect the accuracy of this method.

2. Mark the end of the shadow with a small peg, stick, stone, branch, your finger, a depression in the snow, or any other method. Wait until the end of the shadow moves a few centimeters. With a pole length of one meter, you need to wait 10-15 minutes.

3. Mark the end of the shadow again.

4. Draw a straight line from the first mark to the second and extend it approximately 30 cm beyond the second mark.

5. Stand so that the toe of your left foot is at the first mark, and the toe of your right foot is at the end of the drawn line.

6. You are now facing north. Determine the other sides of the horizon. To mark directions on the ground (to guide others), draw a line intersecting the first one in the form of a cross (+) and mark the sides of the horizon. The basic rule when determining the sides of the horizon. If you are not yet sure whether to place your left foot or your right foot on the first mark (see point 5), remember the basic rule that distinguishes east from west.

The sun always rises on the eastern side and sets on the western side (but rarely exactly in the east and exactly in the west). The shadow moves in the opposite direction. Therefore, anywhere on the globe, the first mark of the shadow will always be in the western direction, and the second - in the eastern direction.

To approximately determine north, you can use a regular watch (Fig. 5.2).

In the northern temperate zone, clocks are set so that the hour hand points to the sun. The north-south line lies between the hour hand and the number 12. This refers to standard time. If the hour hand is moved forward an hour, then the line from north to south runs between the hour hand and number 1. In summer, when the clock hands are moved forward another hour, instead of number 1, number 2 should be taken into account. If you are in doubt which side the line is north, remember that the sun in the Northern Hemisphere is in the eastern part of the sky before noon, and in the western part after noon. The clock can also be used to determine the sides of the horizon in the southern temperate zone, but somewhat differently than in the northern zone. Here the number 12 should be directed towards the sun, and then line N-S will pass halfway between the number 12 and the hour hand. When moving the clock hand forward an hour, the N-S line lies between the hour hand and the number 1 or 2. In both hemispheres, the temperate zones are between 23 and 66 ° north or south latitude. In cloudy weather, place a stick at the center of the clock and hold it so that its shadow falls clockwise. In the middle between the shadow and the number 12 there will be a direction to the north.

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Rice. 5.1. Determining the direction north by the shadow of a pole.

Rice. 5.2. Determining the direction north using a watch.

You can also navigate by the constellation Cassiopeia. This constellation of five bright stars is shaped like a tilted M (or W when low). Polaris is right in the center, almost in a straight line from the central star of this constellation, about the same distance from it. as well as from Ursa Major. Cassiopeia also slowly rotates around the North Star and is always almost opposite the Big Dipper. This position of this constellation is of great help for orientation in the case when Ursa Major is located low and may not be visible due to vegetation or high local objects.

In the Southern Hemisphere, the direction to the south and from here all other directions can be determined by the constellation Southern Cross. This group of four bright stars is shaped like a cross, tilted to one side. The two stars that form the long axis or core of the cross are called “pointers.” From the base of the cross, mentally extend the distance five times the length of the cross itself and find an imaginary point; it will serve as the direction to the south (Fig. 5.4.). From this point look straight at the horizon and choose a landmark.

Plants can also help in determining the cardinal directions. The bark of trees, individual stones, rocks, and the walls of old wooden buildings are usually more densely covered with moss and lichen on the northern side (Fig. 5.5). The bark of trees on the north side is rougher and darker than on the south. In wet weather, a wet dark stripe forms on trees (this is especially noticeable in pine trees). On the north side of the trunk it persists longer and rises higher. Birch trees on the southern side of the trunk usually have lighter and more elastic bark. In pine, the secondary (brown, cracked) bark on the north side rises higher along the trunk.

In spring, the grass cover is more developed and dense on the northern outskirts of the meadows, warmed by the sun; in the hot period of summer, on the contrary, on the southern, shaded ones. The anthill has a flatter side facing south.

In spring, on the southern slopes the snow seems to “bristle”, forming protrusions (spikes) directed to the south, separated by depressions. The forest boundary on the southern slopes rises higher than on the northern ones.

Rice. 5.5. Determining the direction to the north by anthills, annual rings and moss on stones.

The most accurate astronomical methods for determining the cardinal directions. Therefore, they should be used first. Use all others only as a last resort - in conditions of poor visibility or inclement weather.

5.3.3. Definition of time

The method of determining the direction north by shadow (Fig. 5.6) can be used to determine the approximate time of day. This is done as follows:

1. Move the pole to the point where the east-west and north-south lines intersect and place it vertically on the ground. Anywhere on the globe, the western part of the line corresponds to 6.00 o’clock, and East End -18.00.

2. The N-S line now becomes the noon line. The shadow from the pole is like the hour hand on a sundial and with its help you can determine the time. Depending on your location and time of year, the shadow may move either clockwise or counterclockwise, but this does not interfere with telling the time.

3. A sundial is not a clock in the usual sense. The length of the “hour” varies throughout the year, but it is usually accepted that 6.00 always corresponds to sunrise, and 18.00 to sunset. However, a sundial is quite suitable for determining the time in the absence of a real clock or for setting the clock correctly.

Determining the time of day is very important for setting up a meeting, carrying out a planned concerted action by individuals or groups, determining the remaining length of the day before dark, etc. 12:00 on the sundial will always truly correspond to noon, but the other hour hand readings compared to normal time differ slightly depending on location and date.

4. The method of determining the sides of the horizon using a watch can give erroneous readings, especially at low latitudes, which can lead to “spin.” To avoid this, set your watch to the sun, and then determine the sides of the horizon using it. This method eliminates 10- a minute's wait is required to determine the sides of the horizon by the movement of the shadow, and during this time you can get as many indicators as necessary in order to avoid “whirling”.

Rice. 5.6. Determining the time of day by shadow.

Determining the sides of the horizon in this modified way will correspond to determining the direction to the north by the shadow of the pole. The degree of accuracy of both methods is the same.

The human species has settled in almost every corner of the Earth. Even in areas too inhospitable to provide permanent habitation, mankind has found ways to exploit their resources, either by hunting or by obtaining what they need directly from the land, and often employ their methods of exploiting nature simply for the pleasure of employing them.

Almost everywhere in nature there is what is necessary for survival. In some places food is abundant, in others food resources are very scarce and it will take common sense, knowledge and ingenuity to take advantage of the available opportunities. But even more important is the will to live. Men and women have proven that they can survive in the most hostile environments, but they have done so only through their determination to win - without this, all knowledge will do little if you find yourself in a difficult situation.

Survival is the art of staying alive. All pieces of equipment that you have should be considered only as a head start, which may not exist. You must know how to take everything possible from nature and use it one hundred percent, how to attract attention to yourself so that rescuers can find you, how to move through unfamiliar territory towards civilization (if there is no hope of rescue from the outside) without a map and compass. You must know how to stay in good physical shape or heal yourself and others if you are sick or injured. You must be able to maintain a strong morale both in yourself and in others who share with you the adversity of the situation.

But survival methods are relevant not only in extreme situations of a disaster on the top of a mountain, a shipwreck in the tropics or in the middle of the desert. Every time you wear a seat belt in your car, you increase your chances of survival. Whether you look around when crossing the street or make sure the fireplace is functioning properly before going to bed, you instinctively use survival techniques. It is this mindset that you must develop along with skills and abilities.

The basic elements of survival are food, fire, shelter, water, location and medicine. The abbreviation is used to determine their priority. Regardless of where on Earth we are, the priority does not change - be it in the Arctic, in the desert, in the jungle, in the open ocean or on the shore.

P — patronage (protection)

You must ensure that you are protected from possible subsequent hazards, i.e. aftershocks with landslides, forest fire or fuel explosion. Always remain at the scene for as long as is safe and then protect yourself from the elements. This means setting up shelter and often lighting a fire. There are several reasons why you should not leave the scene of an accident.

• You can use the wreckage to create shelter, alarms, etc.
• The place itself is a big “sign”, a “signal” that is easier to detect.
• There may be wounded people who cannot be moved.
• By staying in place, you conserve strength.
• If you are registered somewhere (at a hotel, at work at a business trip, etc.) and remain on the established route, then minimal time will be required for rescue.

L — localization (location determination)

The next step after creating a shelter or shelter is to set up signals that localize your location. You must draw attention to your location. Do this as quickly as possible to help your rescuers.

A — adaptation (search for food and water)

While waiting for help, look for water and food to replenish your emergency supplies.

N — navigation (route selection)

Good navigation—figuring out where you're going in the right direction—can get you out of a dangerous situation. But if you are limited in this, stay where you are.

Medicine

You must become your own doctor and constantly monitor your condition. Treat scratches, calluses, and blisters immediately, without allowing them to become infected or inflamed. Monitor the condition of your comrades and solve problems as they arise. If they are limping, lagging behind, or acting strangely, stop and take immediate action.

The basics of survival need to be known not only by a reasonable man, but by all people, regardless of status. There are a lot of situations as a result of which a person can be left alone with nature. You can simply get lost in the forest while picking mushrooms, you can fall behind a tourist group, you can survive after a plane or car accident, and so on...

Survival Basics: Where to start?

The conditions in which a random tourist may find himself can be very different. Therefore, the algorithm of actions and method of survival in each specific case are unique. Much will depend on air temperature, precipitation, the presence or absence of shelter and water sources, landscape, and the number of people. Plus many other factors that make it easier, or vice versa, aggravate the situation.

Based on all this, survivors will have to build and, possibly, adjust actions in each individual situation for the most reasonable survival. The basics of this harsh science are vitally important to follow, regardless of the influencing factors and threats.

Briefly about threatening factors

• Thirst . It must be remembered that a person can last no more than three days without water. Thus, water extraction always becomes one of the primary tasks.
• Temperature . Whether it is cold or heat, in any case they can lead to negative consequences in the body. Heatstroke, hypothermia and the like.
• Mental problems(loneliness, despondency, fear). They can be detrimental to the individual if they develop into a severe form (panic, apathy, hysteria).
• Hunger . At first, the lack of food does not have a very negative effect. But according to survival basics, after a week or so, exhaustion can become a serious threat.
• Injuries and pain . Injuries or illnesses significantly reduce a survivor's chances of a successful outcome.
• Aggressive environment . Includes all kinds of nuances of the situation: wild animals, poisonous plants, swamps and other delights of the habitat.
• Overwork . Excessive fatigue and physical exhaustion will sooner or later play a cruel joke on any person.

Based on these factors, the survivor needs to build for himself in his head survival plan. Whatever the reason that the victim remained cut off from civilization, first of all, he should always try to determine his whereabouts. The ideal option would be to have a map and compass, which is unlikely in case of a sudden emergency.

If there are natural shelters or broken vehicles, a crashed plane, etc. nearby, then the victim is advised to stay in that place. It’s worth moving on only in 2 cases:

1) they will not look for the missing person in the near future;

2) the missing person knows exactly how to get to a populated area or camp.

If it is impossible to determine your location on the ground, you need to look around from the most convenient and high point (hill, tree). Having discovered signs of civilization or a body of water, you should move towards the goal.

If the terrain around you is too homogeneous, then it is better to stay where you are and try other means of survival. First you need to understand what is more profitable to do first. If sunset is soon, then it’s worth starting to build a shelter. At low temperatures It makes sense to start your actions by starting a fire. If this is the case in the morning and in the summer, then you can start providing water (search, purification, disinfection). Each action must be logical and consistent.

Universal Survival Plan

It is necessary to understand that, by and large, in conditions of a threat to life, nothing universal can exist. However, there are some fundamental truths.

The elements of survival include the following concepts: food, shelter, fire, water, location and medicine. To prioritize them, a certain abbreviation with a self-explanatory name is used: PLAN. No matter where on the planet the survivor is, the priority remains the same - be it the Gobi Desert, the Amazon jungle, the Pacific Ocean or the expanses of the Arctic.

P – protection (protection)

It is in the interests of a person in distress to ensure his own protection from an aggressive environment. To do this, you need to use all available means, but without the need to make “unnecessary movements.” You should always remember the expediency of your efforts. Preference should be given to organizing shelter and starting a fire.

L – localization (location)

Next on the list of priorities will be locating and equipping distress signals. The survivor must use all means to attract attention and indicate his presence.

A – adaptation (provisions)

While waiting for help, you should constantly search for new sources of food and water; emergency supplies should be used only when absolutely necessary. This method of survival can be characterized as follows: “preserve and increase.”

N – navigation (route)

If it is pointless to rely on someone for a long time, you can try the last option. In order to set out on a journey, you need to accumulate a sufficient amount of resources and supplies. A person who has dared to take such a step needs to correctly assess his strength and make an informed decision, otherwise this campaign may be his last.

In addition to the above, you need to be extremely attentive to your own health and constantly monitor your well-being. Wounds must be treated promptly, avoiding infection and inflammation. Cleaned and boiled water- recipe for success.

Additional materials

The basic methods of survival that need to be taken at the very beginning of “unity” with nature remain unchanged. Only their order changes depending on related factors. Every aspect of life in wildlife has its own nuances and features that deserve separate materials and articles.

A completely logical question arises: what topics should be mastered first when starting to study the basics of survival?

You need to start with a clear understanding that any autonomous existence consists of individual elements, skills, and factors. Due to its extensive nature, the following free materials are recommended for initial reading:

After studying these articles, it is advisable to proceed to more specific methods of survival, the necessary skills and abilities. Books in this regard are an irreplaceable source of knowledge.