Why Prepare Now?
98% of Americans were not prepared for a
pandemic.
Preparation for a pandemic was covered when
The Green Beret Preparation and Survival
Guide was first published, over a decade
before COVID-19.
Were you prepared?

Why Prepare Now?
A record breaking hurricane season.
A record breaking wildfire season.
Record breaking drought.
Record breaking heatwaves.
A once in a century pandemic.
Rising temperatures.
Rising sea levels.
These, and more, are realities of our
present.
It’s not going to be better in the immediate
future.
Are you prepared?

Why Prepare Now?
80% of Americans live in a county that has
been struck by a weather related disaster since
2007.
There are many types of dangers, disasters
and emergencies.
But 60% of Americans have not practiced what
to do in a disaster.

Only 39% of Americans have an
emergency plan.
55% think they can rely on local
authorities to rescue them.
Why Prepare Now?

44% have no first aid kit.
48% have no emergency
supplies.
53% do not have a 3 day supply
of food and water which is the
bare minimum.
Why Prepare Now?

52% have not designated an Emergency
Rally Point.
42% do not know the phone numbers of
immediate family members.
98% of people agree that first aid saves lives,
but 64% don’t know basic first aid.
Why Prepare Now?

Why I Wrote These Books
Because of my family, particularly my grandsons.
They had moved to San Diego and I started
discussing earthquake and wildfire preparedness with
my son. I knew from my Special Operations training
and experience that there is a lot more to
preparedness than most people realize and the
available sources are confusing.
It’s hard to figure out how to even get started, so I
wrote the Area Study and Preparation and Survival
books with that person in mind. From page one, a
person is more prepared, and then the books build on
that.

Everyone’s situation is different.
We’re different individuals.
We have different households/situations.
We live in an array of places with varying
climate, terrain, and possible natural and
man-made disasters.
Thus, before we begin to ‘prepare’, we
must know what we’re preparing for and
what we’re working with.

By doing a good Area Study, you save time
and money because you’ve focused on
your priorities.
You need to know your assets and your
threats.
You also have to get the right supplies,
training, and gear for your specific situation.

In Special Forces, what made us elite was
our planning and preparation. The first
thing we did when we received a mission
packet was conduct an Area Study of the
Area of Operations (AO).
In the same way, you need to conduct an
Area Study of yourself, your home, work,
and school Areas of Operation.

YOURSELF AND YOUR TEAM
What special skills and background do you have?
The people on your team?
What special considerations?

How close are you to the nearest
military base? Nearest police
station? Firehouse? Hospital? Do
you know where the closest
emergency room is? How long it
will take to get there? Could you
drive the route in the dark? How
quickly can an ambulance respond
to your location?

Where is your closest source of
drinkable water if your drinking
supply is contaminated?
This often occurs during natural
disasters especially floods.
Are you prepared to a base level
with emergency water?

You want to examine your environment
for a lot of things.
What can harm you?
What can help you?
What can hide you?
What are your enabling factors?
What are your disabling factors?

Data indicates the following in terms of lethality:
Heat/drought 19.6%
Severe weather (storms, fog, hail, wind) 18.8%
Winter Weather 18.1%
Flooding 14.0%
Tornado 12.6%
Lightning 11.3%
Coastal (storm surge, rip current) 2.3%
Hurricane 1.5%
Geophysical (earthquake, tsunami, volcano) 1.5%
Mass movement (landslide, avalanche) .9%
Wildfire .4%

You want to examine your environment
for a lot of things.
What is the terrain and how can it help you
or hamper you in movement?
What are the roads, trails, rail, etc.
What effect does your environment have
on you?
What are choke points, particularly river
crossings (bridges and tunnels)?

There are also man-made disasters.
Here is a partial list: Car accident,
boat/ferry accident, train/subway
accident, tall building evacuation, fire,
power outage, burglary, robbery,
carjacking, civil unrests/riots, terrorist
attack, active shooter, firearms
accidents, nuclear power plant accident,
nuclear weapons, biological weapons
and infectious diseases, chemical
weapons/accident, industrial accident.

The Flow
The book is broken down in two parts:
the first half is focused on the
preparation you can do now, in a step
by step manner.
There are numbered tasks and
checklists.
Also links to free apps, web sites and
suggested equipment.
The second half is focused on survival.
The Pocket-Sized Guide is just the
survival portion.

The Flow
PREPARATION
Prepare the Five Key Elements for Survival
Water Food First Aid Shelter Fire
The Places For Which To Plan
Home Work/School Car/Traveling
The Grab-n-Go bags you need
Mild Grab-N-Go Mod/Ex Grab-N-Go

The Flow
First Five Things To Do In An Emergency
Key Phrase To Remember: Survival
First Aid
Breathing Bleeding Broken—Bone and Joint
Injuries
Water and Heat First Aid Cold Weather Injuries
Bites and Stings Personal Hygiene
Water Procurement
Food Procurement
Building Shelter & Starting a Fire
Navigating and Tracking
Specific Environments
Cold Weather Desert Tropical Water

The Flow
Urban Environments
Burglary, Robbery, Civil Unrest and Riots Terrorist Attack
Active Shooter Power Outage
Specific Man-Made Threats
Car Plane Crash Train Crash Boat, Ferry, Cruise
Ship, etc.
Tall Building Fire Firearms Nuclear Weapons and
Accidents, Infectious Diseases, Pandemic and Biological and
Chemical Weapons and Accident.
Specific Natural Threats
Tornado Hurricane Heat Wave and Drought Wildfire
Blizzard Earthquake Tsunami Volcano
Mud Slide/Land Slide Dams Flood Solar Flare

The Flow
Bugging Out and the Hide Site and Caching
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
The Bug Out Hide Site (BOHS)
Caching
Stockpile, Scavenge, Sustain
What Can Cause the Collapse of Civilization?
Scavenging
Appendixes
Appendix A: All Tasks/Checklists
Appendix B: Useful APPs
Appendix C: Useful Web Sites

There are numbered tasks,
laying out what needs to be
done and in what order.
Also, levels of preparation from
a mild, base level, to a more
advanced level are delineated.

A key to preparation is, of course, that
you can’t prepare after the fact.
But, as importantly, is the peace of mind
that comes with knowing you have done
this.

New York Times bestselling author, is a graduate of West Point and
former Green Beret. He’s had over 80 books published, including the
#1 bestselling series Green Berets, Time Patrol, Area 51, and Atlantis.
He’s sold over 5 million books. He was born in the Bronx and has
traveled the world. He’s lived on an island off the east coast, an island
off the west coast, in the Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains and
other places, including time in East Asia studying martial arts.
He was an instructor and course developer/writer for years at the
JFK Special Warfare Center and School which trains Green Berets and
also runs the SERE school:
Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape.
www.bobmayer.com