hold on to the center

After reading The Game by Neil Strauss awhile ago, I didn’t anticipate reading another book by him.  He’s been the ghost writer for several rock star confessionals and tales of porn life.  I confess the guilty pleasure of reading about Motley Crue’s wild days for about 45 minutes in a bookstore several years ago.  I saw a post title that sucked me in recently, it was How to Be Jason Bourne: Multiple Passports, Swiss Banking, and Crossing Borders . If you are male, this is almost a no brain-er.  I did not anticipate where this would lead me or how it would help me re-evaluate priorities.

Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life is the story of Strauss’ attempts to be prepared for any kind of disaster or breakdown of society that would require him protect himself and his loved ones.  An admirable pursuit.  He starts out with fear driven survival training, complicated money strategies, and burying survival supplies off the coast of California.  After getting some intense urban survival training, his view gradually shifts and asks himself whether it would be more satisfying to be able to rush toward a disaster to help his fellow man.   This is not a book review, I won’t spoil the positive ending.

Many of his personal revelations are of a similar flavor.  It made me ask myself the question, “If there was an emergency of any kind, would I really know what to do?”  A couple months ago I watched my niece for the better part of a Saturday afternoon.  If she had trouble breathing, I realized that I didn’t really know how to help her.  I live in the city, but if I was with my family and we were some distance from an EMT, would I know how to treat an injury, or worse yet, apply CPR to one of the older members of my family? I had to admit that I would not.  Leader of Men and Protector of Friends and Family?  FAIL

This past Sunday, I took Adult, Child & Infant CPR and First Aid at the Seattle Red Cross and learned lots of valuable information and techniques.  I admit that spending an entire Sunday inside on a beautiful day is not thrilling.  At times the training is boring and necessarily repetitive.  It was invaluable.  Taught by a volunteer retiree that knew his subject, I learned how to take action if someone needed help. I also felt the satisfaction of eating my personal skill vegetables and being a better person for it.

Those of you who already have the skill, I applaud you and want to keep you around me as much as possible.

Here is a short sermon from the smug and recently converted.   You have been warned.

What is the basic commitment to each other in modern society?  When there is an accident around you, do you become anxious or hesitate to help?  Would you like to know what to do and be of service to your fellow man?  I would put it to you that almost everyone of us has a situation where people trust us to help them.  Let’s put aside whether these are loved ones or strangers.  Imagine situations when you are around loved ones.  Is there always someone in the room that knows how to provide emergency care? Should that be you?  You can’t wait for “someone” and you certainly can’t wait for the harmful event to happen.  It will be too late.  Theoretical knowledge is not good enough.  You have to know when and how to act, and act quickly.

Emergency made me ask myself these questions.  Even if a logical appeal makes sense, it might not inspire one to act.  Think of one person who depends on you in some way and imagine how you would feel if you couldn’t care for them when they need you most.  For me, this was immediate. Is there someone you would give up a sunny day for?   I thought so.  I would appreciate any comments or anything you might want to add to this post.

So who is up for lunch and Bloodborne Pathogens?