As you move into Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival, it is time to shift your focus from individual or family survival to a larger group survival. In long-term emergencies, you may find yourself responsible not just for your immediate household but for a larger group, whether it’s neighbors, extended family, or a small community.
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Preparing for group survival involves thinking about scaling your resources and systems to accommodate more people. This month, your goal is to ensure that everyone in the group has access to the basics while building a network of defense, communication, and transportation to keep everyone safe and connected.
The first step in Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival is calculating the water needs of a larger group.
Water: Storing and Preparing Water for Multiple People
When you’re responsible for more than just yourself, water needs multiply rapidly. At this stage, you should focus on storing water in bulk and ensuring that you can safely prepare water for a group.
One option is to invest in larger water storage tanks or interconnected rain barrels that can store hundreds or even thousands of gallons of water. You’ll also need to have the means to distribute and purify this water efficiently.
Consider setting up a gravity-fed filtration system, which can handle larger volumes of water and provide clean drinking water for an entire group without the need for electricity.
This is an ideal solution in situations where multiple people need access to safe water at once. Also, plan for water rationing to ensure your supply lasts as long as needed, calculate the daily water consumption for each person (about a gallon per day), and develop a schedule for distribution.
While considering the water needs of your group, do not forget the water needs of pets or other kinds of animals in your group. Many people will have pets with them those pets will, of course, need a daily water ration as well.
If you have already set up an animal husbandry plan, the farm animals will also need a daily water ration in order for chickens to make eggs and cows to make milk.
Avoid assuming that your current water storage plan can accommodate a group. Scaling up your system and having clear protocols in place will ensure everyone stays hydrated and healthy.
The next consideration in Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival is how to feed more people.
Food: Stockpiling Food for a Small Group and Developing Ration Plans
Stockpiling enough food for multiple people is a much larger task than preparing for just yourself or a small family. Focus on buying food in bulk and storing it in large quantities to ensure you have enough to feed a group for an extended period.
Staples like rice, beans, pasta, flour, and oats are ideal for long-term storage and can be purchased in large quantities. Additionally, supplement your bulk supplies with freeze-dried or canned goods that provide variety and nutrients.
Creating a ration plan is essential when managing food for a group. Divide your supplies into daily or weekly portions, ensuring that each person gets the necessary calories and nutrients.
In group settings, it’s critical to account for people of different ages, activity levels, and health conditions when planning meals. Practice cooking large meals with minimal ingredients now so that you can efficiently manage your resources when it matters most.
Avoid waiting until food supplies run low to implement rationing. Set up a plan in advance and stick to it to avoid unnecessary waste and ensure everyone is properly nourished.
Again, in Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival, you will need to calculate and plan for the medical needs of a large group.
First Aid: Learning Basic Group Medical Care Skills
When you’re responsible for a group, your first aid knowledge needs to expand to include group medical care skills. In addition to knowing how to treat individual injuries, you’ll need to know how to assess and manage multiple casualties in a crisis situation.
Take a basic triage course or learn about mass casualty management to understand how to prioritize care in an emergency. For example, knowing how to stabilize multiple injuries and make critical decisions about who needs treatment first can save lives.
Familiarize yourself with CPR techniques for groups, wound management, and infection control. You should also ensure that your first aid kit has enough supplies to care for several people, including extra bandages, medications, and tools for treating a variety of injuries and illnesses.
Avoid relying on your current medical skills alone. Managing a group requires a different mindset, and you’ll need to be prepared to care for more than just one or two people at a time.
Finding and securing shelter for a group is next in Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival.
Shelter: Identifying and Securing Group Shelter Options
In a group survival scenario, you may need to secure a larger shelter or make sure your current home can accommodate additional people. If your home isn’t large enough, start by identifying alternative group shelters like community centers, churches, or unused buildings that could house several families.
You’ll need to ensure that these places can be secured, heated, and stocked with enough supplies to keep everyone comfortable. If you plan to host a group in your own home, consider how to maximize your living space.
Set up bunk beds, partition off rooms, and organize common areas to ensure there’s enough room for everyone to sleep, cook, and store supplies. Additionally, make sure you have the resources to heat or cool a larger space as needed, and have a plan for managing sanitation with more people using the same facilities.
Avoid assuming that your current shelter will be enough for an entire group. Preparing for more people ensures that your group can live comfortably and safely together for an extended period.
In Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival, you will also need to consider a more extensive defense plan.
Defense: Setting Up a Neighborhood or Community Defense Plan
Defending a group requires more than just securing your own home. You’ll need to establish a community defense plan that involves coordinating with neighbors and creating a collective strategy for protecting your area.
Start by forming a neighborhood watch or community defense team, where each household takes responsibility for different aspects of security. This can include setting up patrols, monitoring entry points, and communicating regularly about potential threats.
Consider installing group defense barriers like gates, fences, or even blockades at key entry points to your neighborhood or compound. Organize regular security drills with your group to ensure everyone knows their role in defending the area if necessary. Make sure to equip each household with basic defensive tools and create a signal system for alerting the group in case of danger.
Avoid relying solely on individual defense methods. A coordinated community defense plan is far more effective at protecting everyone and preventing threats before they escalate.
Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival will also deal with the greater need for communication between larger groups of people.
Communication: Creating a Community Communication Network
In a group survival scenario, communication becomes even more critical. You’ll need to create a community communication network to ensure everyone stays informed and connected.
This could involve setting up two-way radios or even CB radios for each household, with designated channels for group communication. Establish a schedule for regular check-ins and updates, ensuring that everyone is aware of any changes in the situation or potential threats.
You may also want to assign communication roles within the group, where one person is responsible for monitoring outside news, another person handles internal communication, and others are in charge of relaying messages between different group members or neighboring communities.
This system helps ensure that important information flows smoothly and no one is left out of the loop. Avoid leaving communication up to chance. A structured and reliable network ensures that everyone stays on the same page, even in high-pressure situations.
For Month 8: Preparing for Group Survival, a different plan will be needed to move a larger group of people.
Transportation: Securing Group Transportation Methods
If an evacuation becomes necessary, you’ll need to secure transportation for the entire group. A standard family car may not be enough, so consider larger vehicles like vans, buses, or even trailers that can carry multiple people along with supplies.
Make sure these vehicles are in good working order and have enough seating and storage space to accommodate everyone in your group. In addition to vehicles, plan for alternative transportation methods like bicycles or ATVs that can help you navigate rough terrain or congested roads.
Make sure each person has a designated seat and that you’ve planned for fuel, routes, and emergency repairs. Practice loading and unloading supplies quickly to ensure you can evacuate efficiently in a crisis.
Avoid waiting until the last minute to secure group transportation. Preparing now ensures that you can evacuate quickly and safely, no matter the size of your group. This month, your focus shifts to group survival.
We have put together A Strategic Supply Plan Checklist to help you on this journey. This is a general checklist and tips that you may need to tweak to fit your exact needs. Keep in mind every situation will be different so the needs may be a bit different as well. Feel free to download the PDF, print out, and use these pages for yourself.
This is a three-page A Strategic Supply Plan Checklist.
By expanding your water and food resources, developing a community defense plan, and establishing reliable communication and transportation for multiple people, you’re preparing for scenarios where you’ll need to lead and protect a larger group. These steps ensure that you can effectively manage the needs of many, keeping everyone safe, secure, and well-coordinated during long-term emergencies.
If you are interested in other talks similar to this, please check out the ones below.
Growing Microgreens and Sprouts for Fresh Food
Month 6: Focus on Health and Self-Sustainability
Month 7: Fortifying Your Lifestyle
Keep on Hand Snack Recipe, Peanut Butter, Quick Oats, Healthy, Snack Bites
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