noticing first signs
Revolutions don’t just happen instantly over night,
they develop over long periods of struggle. So keep
your eyes and ears open for signs of a coming
uprising, such as:
• Civil unrest prior to riots in the major cities.
• Politicians and media blatantly lying about the
most obvious developments.
• Censorship of social networks such as Twitter
or Facebook. This may not be entirely obvious
at first but when the sites are blocked completely
the warnings are clear (with excuses like child
pornography).
• Censorship of old media such as newspapers
and television (non-regime critical press).
• Arrests of political oppositon leaders (In Tunisia
the leaders of the Pirate Party were rounded
up and imprisoned without charge. The prison
was subsequently burnt down with many
people dying inside).
• In times of crisis many rumours will spread
around and fear mongering is rampant. Be
calm, think before you act, act rashly.
• The #Hashtag of your country, or name of your
political leader is trending worldwide on Twitter.
• Friends and family members living abroad may
try to contact you to check if you are alright.
Make preparations
Buy food, water and medical supplies. Stores will
be closed and you may not get any supplies when
the riots reach your town. A 20 kg bag of rice can
keep a person alive for 6 months. If there is no rice
available, other dry grains, potatoes, noodles, dried
pasta or lentils, as well as lots of canned food will
also suffice.
You will also need flour and salt. Locate a secure
water supply - do not rely on tap water to be always
available, as damage to pipes may cut you off. Buy
water purification tablets because you may not
always be able to boil the water. Once you have a
supply of food and water you will need a dry, cool,
safe place to store it away from vermin and thieves.
To make sure everyone knows how to respond in
the event of struggles in your neighborhood, you
will want to convene a family or neighborhood
gathering or meeting to discuss this matter.
Topics of discussion should include:
Who - What - Where - Why - When :
• Nominating leaders and contact people.
• Compile a census of the members of your
group, and ensure everyone gets to know each
other (or at least recognize each other).
• What to do about power and water outages.
• How to deal with serious sicknesses and injuries.
• How to turn off water, gas and electricity at
main switches.
• What to do if you must evacuate.
• Where to meet if you get separated.
• How to make a fire for cooking and warmth.
• A water supply is essential.
• If handicapped, aged or young children are
present, decide what assistance is needed and
who will be taking care of them.
• What to do in the event of a flood, fire, attack,
storms, civil upheaval.
• Compile a list of those needing special medical
attention along with all pertinent information
regarding their condition, and any medications
they require.
• Agree on what to do and how to distribute
food and water if you need or decide to share
supplies.
• How to turn off the water, gas and electricity at
main switches.
• What to do if you all have to evacuate.
• Where to meet if you get separated.
In addition, you should:
• Post and hand out emergency telephone numbers
and keep by the telephone.
NOTE: In a full scale revolution the police
will not help you or may even be your enemy
depending on the situation) You will also need
other emergency numbers i.e.: ambulance, fire,
etc. (may not be available or may be blocked by
other callers).
• Compile a written list of contact addresses of
relatives for the people you are with.
• Teach children how and when to call for help.
• Get a Red Cross first aid kit.
• Internet access could be your only way of finding
out what is happening in your country as state
TV may be under tight control so do try to get
online. Projects like: http://cryptoanarchy.org/
wiki/Dialup_For_Egypt and Tor may be able to
help you. More resources here: http://rev11.
info/
• Get a camera to document things, but be
covert because journalists are prone to be
attacked. If you can, get a friend to watch your
back as operating a video/still camera can be
very distracting. Use a small camera so you can
easily conceal or disguise it as something else
e.g. a packet or small box of something, a book, etc.
Food & water
Getting your food supply ready.
Have at least a four week (1 month) sufficient
supply of non-perishable food on hand. Focus on
high-nutritional foods that require no refrigeration,
preparation or cooking and little or no water.
Your food supply might include:
• Ready-to-eat canned meats, beans, fruits, or
vegetables
• Canned juices, condensed or evaporated milk
(avoid fresh milk), honey, canned soups or
vegetables.
• High energy foods, including peanut butter, jelly,
crackers, granola bars, trail mix, dried rolled
oats, wheat, barley and other grains, dried fruit,
nuts (ensure nobody is allergic, however)
• Vitamins and mineral (like salt or magnesium)
supplements if available
• Special foods for infants, diabetics, the elderly
or people on special diets
• Comfort/stress foods, including: cookies, hard
candy, instant coffee, tea, boiled sweets, chocolate
and other non-perishable confectionery
Other essentials include:
• Extra supplies of any essential medications (like
painkillers, antibiotics, disinfectants and some
first aid kits) required as pharmacies and doctor’s
offices may no longer be open or otherwise
unavailable.
• Gasoline for your cars and other vehicles.
• Cash money, as banks will probably close, and
ATMs and EFTPOS may not be available.
• Some things (books, battery, firewood etc.) that
you can trade with others.
• A good torch (or several torches - one for each
person is good) and a good supply of batteries
for each. Torches that can be tied to a belt etc.
are a good idea to ensure nobody loses theirs.
• If you have children you need toys, books, simple
board games, etc. to keep them occupied.
• We recommend against alcohol and drug
consumption as these will impair your ability to
deal with such an emotionally stressful situation.
getting special assistance
Find out about any special assistance that may be
available in your community. Create a network of
neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers to aid
you in an emergency. Discuss with them your needs
and make sure they know how to operate any
necessary equipment.
If you live in an apartment building, ask the management
to clearly mark accessible exits and to
make arrangements to help you evacuate the
building. Identify people with special skills such as
doctors, nurses, bus drivers, etc.
create a “take box”
The take box should have everything you need to
reconstruct your life in the event you evacuate
and everything is lost. Passports; birth, wedding,
adoption, divorce, and armed service separation
certificates; copies of insurance policies; mortgage
information; house and car title; large purchase
receipts. You get the idea. If you have a scanner,
save yourself space and heartbreak by scanning
family albums and images of other keepsakes, burn
those to CD and keep a copy in your take box, or
make a copy of all your pictures, videos, music and
documents on a external hard drive that you can
keep in your take box. But remember that CDs can
malfunction. Make sure you take along the original
documents - if possible, make copies of them and
host them online using Photobucket or Imageshack.
First aid kit
Learn how to use it, and make sure it is well
stocked. Get a first aid manual and a kit that will
allow you to stop bleeding, disinfect and treat cuts
and wounds large and small. In Vietnam soldiers
often used tampons to plug bullet hole wounds
for example. If there is any on hand, most stronger
spirits (vodka, etc.) can be used to clean wounds,
but CLEAN running water will do if there is nothing
else. Scarves and bandanas can be used as bandages,
as can bedsheets.
In general, use common sense and learn what to
do for various injuries. Take stock of other common
items which may have novel uses.
general strategies
• Band together into small squads of known
friends. That way you recognize infiltrators, like
fake civilians, as was seen at the G20 summit in
Canada. (Watch for pieces of police uniforms
like police shoes usually black boots, they tend
to stay in little violent groups.)
• Wear white/green head bands so military
personnel can recognize you - Be visible.
• Do not let children go outdoors unless you are
certain that it is safe and do not let them out of
your sight. A bandana as a head band is a handy
article because it is multi-purpose.
• Stay with any elderly or disabled people or children
who are out in the street, as they may be lost
or disoriented and may need assistance.
• Contact and join forces with groups in other
neighborhoods. Each neighborhood should act
as an independent squad, but should always be
ready to assist others in the area.
• Always be on guard with as many people as
possible. Ask trustworthy members of the
military to help you reinforce your groups by
adding soldiers to each of them or staying
in contact with one of your group members
designated for that purpose.
• Collaborative mapping: Use paper (to draw
a map) or a city map or street directory, and
mark dangerous/safe places on it as well as
places where assistance is available, water taps,
etc. To share this information use Google Earth
(if you are able to connect to the Internet).
Do not use this for sensitive information that
should be detained from government forces,
as anyone can view the map.
• If there is mobile phone service, designate one
person as a contact for anyone who is lost or
who has become separated from the group.
Agree on places to meet up if the group is
separated that are safe, but visible (e.g. a parking
lot or an easily-recognised friend’s house).
• DO NOT USE MOBILE PHONES TO PLAN
OPERATIONS IF THE GOVERNMENT AND
SECURITY FORCES ARE YOUR ENEMIES.
They will be tracked and monitored.
Getting your food supply ready.
Have at least a four week (1 month) sufficient
supply of non-perishable food on hand. Focus on
high-nutritional foods that require no refrigeration,
preparation or cooking and little or no water.
Your food supply might include:
• Ready-to-eat canned meats, beans, fruits, or
vegetables
• Canned juices, condensed or evaporated milk
(avoid fresh milk), honey, canned soups or
vegetables.
• High energy foods, including peanut butter, jelly,
crackers, granola bars, trail mix, dried rolled
oats, wheat, barley and other grains, dried fruit,
nuts (ensure nobody is allergic, however)
• Vitamins and mineral (like salt or magnesium)
supplements if available
• Special foods for infants, diabetics, the elderly
or people on special diets
• Comfort/stress foods, including: cookies, hard
candy, instant coffee, tea, boiled sweets, chocolate
and other non-perishable confectionery
Other essentials include:
• Extra supplies of any essential medications (like
painkillers, antibiotics, disinfectants and some
first aid kits) required as pharmacies and doctor’s
offices may no longer be open or otherwise
unavailable.
• Gasoline for your cars and other vehicles.
• Cash money, as banks will probably close, and
ATMs and EFTPOS may not be available.
• Some things (books, battery, firewood etc.) that
you can trade with others.
• A good torch (or several torches - one for each
person is good) and a good supply of batteries
for each. Torches that can be tied to a belt etc.
are a good idea to ensure nobody loses theirs.
• If you have children you need toys, books, simple
board games, etc. to keep them occupied.
• We recommend against alcohol and drug
consumption as these will impair your ability to
deal with such an emotionally stressful situation.
getting special assistance
Find out about any special assistance that may be
available in your community. Create a network of
neighbors, relatives, friends and co-workers to aid
you in an emergency. Discuss with them your needs
and make sure they know how to operate any
necessary equipment.
If you live in an apartment building, ask the management
to clearly mark accessible exits and to
make arrangements to help you evacuate the
building. Identify people with special skills such as
doctors, nurses, bus drivers, etc.
create a “take box”
The take box should have everything you need to
reconstruct your life in the event you evacuate
and everything is lost. Passports; birth, wedding,
adoption, divorce, and armed service separation
certificates; copies of insurance policies; mortgage
information; house and car title; large purchase
receipts. You get the idea. If you have a scanner,
save yourself space and heartbreak by scanning
family albums and images of other keepsakes, burn
those to CD and keep a copy in your take box, or
make a copy of all your pictures, videos, music and
documents on a external hard drive that you can
keep in your take box. But remember that CDs can
malfunction. Make sure you take along the original
documents - if possible, make copies of them and
host them online using Photobucket or Imageshack.
First aid kit
Learn how to use it, and make sure it is well
stocked. Get a first aid manual and a kit that will
allow you to stop bleeding, disinfect and treat cuts
and wounds large and small. In Vietnam soldiers
often used tampons to plug bullet hole wounds
for example. If there is any on hand, most stronger
spirits (vodka, etc.) can be used to clean wounds,
but CLEAN running water will do if there is nothing
else. Scarves and bandanas can be used as bandages,
as can bedsheets.
In general, use common sense and learn what to
do for various injuries. Take stock of other common
items which may have novel uses.
general strategies
• Band together into small squads of known
friends. That way you recognize infiltrators, like
fake civilians, as was seen at the G20 summit in
Canada. (Watch for pieces of police uniforms
like police shoes usually black boots, they tend
to stay in little violent groups.)
• Wear white/green head bands so military
personnel can recognize you - Be visible.
• Do not let children go outdoors unless you are
certain that it is safe and do not let them out of
your sight. A bandana as a head band is a handy
article because it is multi-purpose.
• Stay with any elderly or disabled people or children
who are out in the street, as they may be lost
or disoriented and may need assistance.
• Contact and join forces with groups in other
neighborhoods. Each neighborhood should act
as an independent squad, but should always be
ready to assist others in the area.
• Always be on guard with as many people as
possible. Ask trustworthy members of the
military to help you reinforce your groups by
adding soldiers to each of them or staying
in contact with one of your group members
designated for that purpose.
• Collaborative mapping: Use paper (to draw
a map) or a city map or street directory, and
mark dangerous/safe places on it as well as
places where assistance is available, water taps,
etc. To share this information use Google Earth
(if you are able to connect to the Internet).
Do not use this for sensitive information that
should be detained from government forces,
as anyone can view the map.
• If there is mobile phone service, designate one
person as a contact for anyone who is lost or
who has become separated from the group.
Agree on places to meet up if the group is
separated that are safe, but visible (e.g. a parking
lot or an easily-recognised friend’s house).
• DO NOT USE MOBILE PHONES TO PLAN
OPERATIONS IF THE GOVERNMENT AND
SECURITY FORCES ARE YOUR ENEMIES.
They will be tracked and monitored.
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