ORGANIZING THE SURVIVAL CAMP:
In many survival situations there will already be someone in a position of responsibility who will head the organization of the camp and lead the development of survival plans. Experience MUST BE pooled & immediate steps taken to discover
what skills individuals can contribute. A roster is ESSENTIAL for such daily chores as collecting firewood & water, foraging, cooking, latrine digging and maintenance tasks, and for hunting and trapping.
If no established command structure exists among a group of survivors, an organized committee should be established and individuals nominated & elected with particular responsibilities perhaps on a rational basis if it is a large group and rescue does not come quickly. In any group of survivors there may be all kinds of people of different ages and experience. People will have varied skills and enjoy doing different tasks. However, everyone who is fit and able should take their turn at the unpleasant tasks, unless their skills are so much in demand that it would be a waste of their abilities. Keeping busy
eliminates boredom and keeps up morale.
Anyone who is sick or injured gets the lightest jobs and is best employed around camp until they have recovered. There should ALWAYS be someone in camp, and they should be able enough to operate the rescue signals should a search
aircraft appear. If you have sufficient numbers do NOT venture from the camp in less than pairs.
Music can be a great morale booster. If no instruments were carried or survived, simple ones such as percussion or pan-pipes can be easily improvised, and everyone can sing after a fashion. Sing-songs, dancing, charades, quizzes and story-telling and even praying all have their place and you may have talents that can create more elaborate entertainment. You can make pieces for board games such as draughts and chess, using stones for counters or carving simple playing pieces.
Even the lone survivor requires discipline and order. A regular routine will help morale and exactly the same care MUST BE taken to ensure that the camp is kept in good order.
CAMP LAYOUT:
Select sites for all camp activities so that they do not interfere with each other or pollute the living and cooking areas. If you are camped by a river or stream, fix specific sections for activities & keep to them. Latrines should be dug downhill and downstream from the camp so that there is NO possible risk of polluting either.
ACTIVITY AREAS:
Establish a water point from which drinking water will be collected and ensure that no one wash, cleans pots, scrubs
clothes or otherwise uses the stream upstream of this point. Choose a downstream (from camp) wash point for personal ablutions and clothes washing and farther downstream of that select a place to be used for cleaning cooking utensils. Never urinate or defecate in or near your water supply.
LATRINES AND RUBBISH DISPOSAL:
Latrines and rubbish disposal should be well away from the camp and preferably downwind. Rubbish, after checking that it really has no USEFUL value, should be burned, and what cannot be burned should be buried. The latrine point should not be so far away that is inconvenient and people are tempted to go elsewhere. If necessary cut a track to it to make access easier.
It is important that proper latrines be established, even for the lone survivor. With a group separate latrines for the sexes may make a mixed group feel more comfortable and as much privacy as possible should be provided. Even if you have it, do not use disinfectant in a latrine. Lime or disinfectant would kill the USEFUL bacteria that break down and then it will start smelling! After defecating cover the feces with earth. Add small amounts of water that will promote the bacterial breakdown. Make a latrine cover to keep out flies and REMEMBER ALWAYS to replace it, or flies that have walked all over feces may walk all over your food, & start a cycle of infection. If, after a time, a latrine starts to smell, dig a new one. Fill in the old latrine. Build a new seat and burn old timbers & covers.
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