STAY ALERT WHEN USING YOUR SMART PHONE

Technology is great and has become so prevalent in our everyday lives that it is rare if you find someone that does not have a smart phone these days. When we have some downtime, it is the perfect opportunity to check emails, respond to text messages, check you calendar app for appointments or important dates or do a little searching on the web. We have become so dependent on our phones for communication and entertainment that it is really easy to get so engrossed in a text conversation or reading an email or web article that we aren’t aware of what is going on around us. Therein lies the danger—particularly for concealed carriers.

A concealed carrier carries a gun in order to defend themselves from an attack or threat against their person. If you don’t see or hear that threat coming, you can’t defend yourself appropriately. Two easy practices that can help you are using your peripheral view and scanning.

Even while you are looking down at your phone, you still have a peripheral view. Try this next time you are sitting in a waiting room. While looking down at your phone, without moving your head, what can you see in the room? Can you make out the people in the room? Can you see the door? What objects are near you? Make a mental note and then look up and check to see if you got it all.

Before you sit down and pull out your phone, try scanning the room and making a mental note of the people, entrances and exits, objects that could become obstacles in a threat situation.

Situational awareness is your early warning system in the event of a threat and you need to be able to react quickly.

Here are some basic guidelines for staying situationally aware while using your phone. Remember who, what, where, when and how.

• WHO: Scan your surroundings. Have a rough idea of how many people are in the room with you.
• WHAT: Get into the habit of looking at what time it is and keeping track of that time while waiting. It is easy to get lost in your phone, making it easier to lose track of what is going on.
• WHERE: Be observant of where your entrances and exits are located and sit with your back away from them.
• WHEN: Every 10-15 minutes change your position in your seat or move to a different chair in the room to avoid getting too settled in and stay focused on what’s going on around you.
• HOW: Be observant but inconspicuous.

By following these basic situational awareness guidelines, it will help you to proactively stay on alert and out of dangerous situations before they occur.