U. S. Air Force Search and Rescue Handbook

Book excerpt: Written for instructor and student use in formal United States Air Force survival training, the U.S. Air Force Search & Rescue Handbook describes the various environmental conditions affecting human survival, and details the activities necessary to enable that survival anywhere in the world.Taking as its premise the possibility that Air Force personnel might at any time be faced with an ejection, bailout, or crash landing, and thus find themselves in unfamiliar territory without long-term supplies, the U.S. Air Force Search & Rescue Handbook comprises a superbly readable and interesting general survival manual for military and civilian use alike. Detailing specific survival threats at sea, in the tropics, in the desert, in Arctic conditions, and even the psychological aspects of imprisonment, this handbook is crammed with fascinating and useful information including: emergency treatment of illness and injury; finding your way with and without maps; building a fire; water travel and fording streams; using rope and tying knots; signaling for help; mountain survival; concealment techniques; nutrition requirements; finding water and food, including capturing fish and game; predicting the weather; building a personal survival kit and much more.Encyclopedic in its presentation of information, and profusely illustrated with photographs and drawings, this priceless handbook covers almost every topic that one could conceivably encounter in a survival situation. With dozens of illustrated figures to clarify instructions, you will be left with no doubt about how to react to hundreds of different survival threats you might face in any terrain in the world. (8 1/2 x 11, 584 pages, b&w photos, illustrations, diagrams, charts)