Emergency Survival Skills
Purpose
Learn and practice emergency preparedness skills so you can meet your own basic needs and help others in an emergency.
Description
Invite an expert to teach you skills you might need during a disaster common to your area. This could include applying first aid during various disasters, finding and purifying water, storing food, and building a shelter with materials you’d have during a disaster. Get some hands-on experience and test your skills.
As you plan this activity, please follow the counsel given in chapter 13 of Handbook 2: Administering the Church (2010) and review “Safety Recommendations for Church Activities.”
More Ideas
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Learn to tie knots—Learn and practice square knots, bowline knots, figure-eight knots, and sheet bend knots. Talk about when you might use each one of these knots.
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Triangular bandage challenge—Provide a triangular bandage or bandana for each member of the group. Learn about a variety of uses for this type of bandage. For example, you can wrap a sprained ankle, make a sling for arm injuries, and bandage head injuries.
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Emergency skills—Invite an expert to teach your group skills you are likely to need in an emergency: for example, how to use a fire extinguisher, how to turn off gas or water, how to stay safe around power lines or electrical equipment, and so forth.
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Food storage meal—Cook a meal using only utensils, appliances, and food storage that would be available during a disaster.
Discussion
Encourage participants to talk about what they are learning. Discussions can take place before, during, or after the activity. You could ask questions like the following:
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Why do you think it is important to learn emergency survival skills?
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When have you or someone you know benefited from using emergency survival skills?
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What feelings or impressions do you have about emergency preparedness?
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How can you apply what you are learning in your life?
Related Resources
Sabbath Day Lessons
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What does it mean to be self-reliant? (Aaronic Priesthood)