BAM List
KP News Article – BAM List
Curt Scott, Peninsula Emergency Preparedness Coalition General Chair 2018-2019
Prepared 2-6-19
Disasters comply with Murphy’s 1st Law – “Bad things will happen at the worst possible time” – which dictates that you must be ready ALL the time. HOW do you do THAT? Well, break “All” into manageable chunks and then think, plan and prepare while being positive mentally. Your car is a good place to start.
Most folks spend hours each day in their cars driving to and from work, school, play, athletics, the arts, and visiting friends and relatives. Therefore, that vehicle becomes a critical storage site for minimum essential survival items- the BAM List. Here’s why. The greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States - the next Pacific Northwest Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake (the CSZ Big One) - could happen at any moment. Seismic experts predict very powerful, very destructive CSZ Big One earthquakes- Richter scale 8.0 or higher - WILL happen. They just don’t know when. The destruction to surface infrastructure (roads, bridges, rail, sea ports) will be catastrophic. If you’re in your car at that moment, what you have in your car is what will save your own life. If you have not much, good luck. On the other hand, if you have the Bare Minimum (BAM) essentials, those items will help definitely improve your chances of survival.
You’ve probably heard that the last CSZ Big One happened at 9AM, on January 26th, 1700. The best scientific guesstimate for CSZ quakes is that they occur every 300 to 500 years. This year being 2019, folks quick with math will immediately recognize the “CSZ threat window” opened a bit wider when we entered the new Millennium - 20 years ago. The Seismic experts have varying opinions about CSZ frequency - 300 to 500 years comes from measuring times spans of the 20 very largest CSZ quakes over the past 10,000 years. Bottom Line - WE’RE DUE!
By now, the survival logic of the stuff we recommend you keep in your car should be obvious. When the next CSZ Big One hits, you will be stuck right there – wherever “there” is. Thus, your car instantly becomes the starting point of a very difficult survival experience and why BAM is so critically important to your survival. BAM means “BAre Minimums” – the absolute minimum essential things you will need to survive for the next 24 to 36 hours.
The five BAM list items are 1 WATER, 2 TARP, 3 SHOVEL, 4 WARMTH, and 5 LIGHT. With these five items, you can focus on surviving until tomorrow. You have at hand the means to save your own life. But hold on. We emphasize the Bare Minimums. The CSZ Big One will rock and shock your world and not in a good way. Including a few other things will also be a very good idea. Sturdy shoes, sturdy gloves, some durable food, a first aid kit, rope, note pad and pen or pencil, stakes to secure your shelter, a compass, plastic bags, and other things that you may need (medicine, etc.). Whatever you carry in your car, those items will blunt some of the mental trauma you will suffer, and shift focus to surviving until tomorrow.
Water is MOST CRITICAL. Lack of water is a killer. Humans die rapidly without water. At least one gallon of water for each person can prevent death. A Tarp prevents another killer - exposure (wind, rain, dampness, cold, etc.). A Shovel is many things – a means of making shelter, making visual “help” signals, finding food, and for personal defense. Warmth - you need something - a coat, a blanket, a sleeping bag - to retain core body temperature (~980F) because body heat loss is another killer. Western Washington ambient air temperatures summer and winter are below human normal body temperatures of 980F. Those lower ambient temperatures will suck the heat right out of you, so you must preserve and protect your body heat. Light – Light sustains the spirit of survival. Darkness can kill the human spirit. After the Big One hits, no public electricity means lights you’re accustomed to seeing. At night, and especially up here in the overcast cloudy skies of the Pacific Northwest, night will be very, very dark for a large part of the month. No street or house lights, cloud cover that stifles moon and star light. Nights will be very dark and scary. A flashlight, a lantern or a candle provides light and light can help keep you alive. Add in the other items listed above, sturdy shoes, food, a first aid kit, medicine, rope, tent stakes, a compass, Ziploc bags, plastic trash bags paper towels/tissues and other things, all that will help. BUT, first get the BAM items in your car now because the next CSZ Big One could happen in the next minute and your survival could easily depend on what you have in your car today – no kidding.
Curt Scott, Peninsula Emergency Preparedness Coalition General Chair 2018-2019
Prepared 2-6-19
Disasters comply with Murphy’s 1st Law – “Bad things will happen at the worst possible time” – which dictates that you must be ready ALL the time. HOW do you do THAT? Well, break “All” into manageable chunks and then think, plan and prepare while being positive mentally. Your car is a good place to start.
Most folks spend hours each day in their cars driving to and from work, school, play, athletics, the arts, and visiting friends and relatives. Therefore, that vehicle becomes a critical storage site for minimum essential survival items- the BAM List. Here’s why. The greatest natural disaster in the history of the United States - the next Pacific Northwest Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake (the CSZ Big One) - could happen at any moment. Seismic experts predict very powerful, very destructive CSZ Big One earthquakes- Richter scale 8.0 or higher - WILL happen. They just don’t know when. The destruction to surface infrastructure (roads, bridges, rail, sea ports) will be catastrophic. If you’re in your car at that moment, what you have in your car is what will save your own life. If you have not much, good luck. On the other hand, if you have the Bare Minimum (BAM) essentials, those items will help definitely improve your chances of survival.
You’ve probably heard that the last CSZ Big One happened at 9AM, on January 26th, 1700. The best scientific guesstimate for CSZ quakes is that they occur every 300 to 500 years. This year being 2019, folks quick with math will immediately recognize the “CSZ threat window” opened a bit wider when we entered the new Millennium - 20 years ago. The Seismic experts have varying opinions about CSZ frequency - 300 to 500 years comes from measuring times spans of the 20 very largest CSZ quakes over the past 10,000 years. Bottom Line - WE’RE DUE!
By now, the survival logic of the stuff we recommend you keep in your car should be obvious. When the next CSZ Big One hits, you will be stuck right there – wherever “there” is. Thus, your car instantly becomes the starting point of a very difficult survival experience and why BAM is so critically important to your survival. BAM means “BAre Minimums” – the absolute minimum essential things you will need to survive for the next 24 to 36 hours.
The five BAM list items are 1 WATER, 2 TARP, 3 SHOVEL, 4 WARMTH, and 5 LIGHT. With these five items, you can focus on surviving until tomorrow. You have at hand the means to save your own life. But hold on. We emphasize the Bare Minimums. The CSZ Big One will rock and shock your world and not in a good way. Including a few other things will also be a very good idea. Sturdy shoes, sturdy gloves, some durable food, a first aid kit, rope, note pad and pen or pencil, stakes to secure your shelter, a compass, plastic bags, and other things that you may need (medicine, etc.). Whatever you carry in your car, those items will blunt some of the mental trauma you will suffer, and shift focus to surviving until tomorrow.
Water is MOST CRITICAL. Lack of water is a killer. Humans die rapidly without water. At least one gallon of water for each person can prevent death. A Tarp prevents another killer - exposure (wind, rain, dampness, cold, etc.). A Shovel is many things – a means of making shelter, making visual “help” signals, finding food, and for personal defense. Warmth - you need something - a coat, a blanket, a sleeping bag - to retain core body temperature (~980F) because body heat loss is another killer. Western Washington ambient air temperatures summer and winter are below human normal body temperatures of 980F. Those lower ambient temperatures will suck the heat right out of you, so you must preserve and protect your body heat. Light – Light sustains the spirit of survival. Darkness can kill the human spirit. After the Big One hits, no public electricity means lights you’re accustomed to seeing. At night, and especially up here in the overcast cloudy skies of the Pacific Northwest, night will be very, very dark for a large part of the month. No street or house lights, cloud cover that stifles moon and star light. Nights will be very dark and scary. A flashlight, a lantern or a candle provides light and light can help keep you alive. Add in the other items listed above, sturdy shoes, food, a first aid kit, medicine, rope, tent stakes, a compass, Ziploc bags, plastic trash bags paper towels/tissues and other things, all that will help. BUT, first get the BAM items in your car now because the next CSZ Big One could happen in the next minute and your survival could easily depend on what you have in your car today – no kidding.