How to Handle Fires, Search and Rescue, and Other Emergency-Response Situations on Your Own
by George R. Bradford

When a disaster or civil disturbance occurs, firefighters, police officers and paramedics quickly become overburdened with requests to handle simple emergencies -- emergencies that every one of us should be able to handle as they occur. This book will give you the knowledge to handle nine basic crises that typically follow a disaster and motivate you to assist your family and neighbors should a large-scale catastrophe strike your community.

This is not just another book on stockpiling food and water. It is a crash course in the types of tasks normally handled by professional emergency-response personnel, written by a retired fire department captain with decades of experience training citizens in these skills. It is packed with hundreds of hands-on techniques and tips for disaster firefighting on your own, civilian search and rescue with light tools, vehicle rescue and firefighting, controlling utilities to prevent new problems, salvage and decontamination for home and business owners, and evacuation do's and don'ts.

Just some of the specific skills you will learn include how to rescue people from building rubble and wrecked vehicles using only common tools, fight fires with an ordinary garden hose, shut off gas and electricity quickly and safely, set up emergency sanitation systems, seek refuge from an out-of-control fire, make contact with family and friends when standard communications are disrupted and much, much more. Throughout the book, the author shows you how to evaluate each situation rationally and confidently and decide when to handle the emergency yourself and when to call the authorities for help.