August 17, 2009 | 6792 views
"Those who have survived such incidents usually attribute their survival to having mental and emotional strength." Sanford Strong, SWAT team instructor and author of Strong on Defense: Survival Rules to Protect You and Your Family from Crime, seconds the motion: "Developing mental toughness is your best defense. Gadgets don't get it, weapons are often not available, and being passive doesn't get it. Don't nothing only gets you killed, raped, maimed, or all of the above."
3. Find out where you are. If your hostage-takers are taking you else where, work out your location as you move along. Look for telltale sounds or landmarks, or try to reconstruct your route from the direction of the vehicle. Abu Sayyaf hostage Andreas Notter used the stars as a reference point when he escaped from his captors. Senator Richard Gordon explains that thanks to Notter's Red Cross training, he "knows how to navigate by the stars. He knows where the North, South, East, and West were. So he followed that until he came to the road."
4. Five options for anyone in danger of kidnapping. What do you do at the moment you're taken hostage? Security expert Michael Edward Loftus Sr. outlines five different options, with different outcomes for each one. Choose the one that fits your situation and commit to it:
a. Flee: results in the best outcome if successfully performed.
b. Posture: act like you're a "tough target," as kidnappers and hostage takers perfer easy-to-handle prey.
c. Fight: turn the tables on your attackers—a risky strategy.
d. Outsmart: talk your attacker down, verbally defusing the situation and edging you closer to escape.
e. Surrender: hope for the best, assuming the attacker has no intention of killing you.
5. Scream, and then scream some more. In the first few minutes of a hostage situation, you can destabilize the situation for your attarckers by screaming. This can alert bystanders to the situation and bring authorities in sooner. Noise gives you an unfair advantage in a dangerous situation, explains MArtin T. Aguda Jr., ABS-CBN Safety and Events Risk Management Head. "Always carry a whistle or anything that may be readily used to sound the alarm," says Aguda. "Otherwise, scream or shout for help."
