The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Work

by Joshua Piven

Overview

Danger! It lurks at every corner. Volcanoes. Sharks. Mountain lions. Quicksand. Terrorists. The pilot of the plane blacks out and it's up to you to land the jet. What do you do? The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is here to help survive the most harrowing predicaments: jam-packed with how-to, hands-on, step-by-step, instructions on everything you need to know fast--from detecting a bomb to delivering a baby in the back of a cab.

Providing frightening and funny real information, this indispensable guide is the definitive handbook for those times when life takes a sudden turn for the worse. The essential companion for a perilous age. Because you never know...

About the Authors:
Joshua Piven, a resident of Philadelphia, is a computer journalist and freelance writer, and is a former editor at Ziff-Davis Publishing. He has been chased by knife-weilding motorcycle bandits, stuck in subway tunnels, been robbed and mugged, has had to break down doors and pick locks, and his computer crashes regularly.

David Borgenicht, a resident of Philadelphia, is a writer and editor who has written several nonfiction books. He has ridden in heavily-armored vehicles in Pakistan, stowed away on Amtrak, been conned by a grifter, broken into several houses (each for good reason), and has "borrowed" mini-bottles from the drink cart on Delta.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781593160081
Publisher:	Listen & Live Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	06/15/2003
Series:	The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Series
Edition description:	Audio CD
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 5.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	15 Years

About the Author

Joshua Piven, a writer and former cubicle dweller, enjoys working in his pajamas until noon. Coauthor of the Worst-Case Scenario series, he lives in Philadelphia.

David Borgenicht lives in Philadelphia and is co-author of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook series (Chronicle Books).

Read an Excerpt

HOW TO SURVIVE A POISONOUS SNAKE ATTACK
Because poisonous snakes can be difficult to identifyand because some nonpoisonous snakes have markings very similar to venomous ones-the best way to avoid getting bitten is to leave all snakes alone. Assume that a snake is venomous unless you know for certain that it is not.

HOW TO TREAT A BITE
1)Wash the bite with soap and water as soon as you can.
2)Immobilize the bitten area and keep it lower than the heart. This will slow the flow of the venom.
3)Get medical help as soon as possible. A doctor should treat all snakebites unless you are willing to bet your life that the offending snake is nonpoisonous. Of about eight thousand venomous bites a year in the U.S., nine to fifteen victims are killed. A bite from any type of poisonous snake should always be considered a medical emergency. Even bites from nonpoisonous snakes should be treated professionally, as severe allergic reactions can occur. Some Mojave rattlesnakes carry a neurotoxic venom that can affect the brain or spinal cord, causing paralysis.
4)Immediately wrap a bandage tightly two to four inches above the bite to help slow the venom if you are unable to reach medical care within thirty minutes. The bandage should not cut off blood flow from a vein or artery. Make the bandage loose enough for a finger to slip underneath.
5)If you have a first aid kit equipped with a suction device, follow the instructions for helping to draw venom out of the wound without making an incision. Generally, you will need to place the rubber suction cup over the wound and attempt to draw the venom out from the bite marks.

WHAT NOT TO DO

• Do not place any ice or cooling element on the bite; this will make removing the venom with suction more difficult.
• Do not tie a bandage or a tourniquet too tightly. If used incorrectly, a tourniquet can cut blood flow completely and damage the limb.
• Do not make any incision on or around the wound in an attempt to remove the venom-there is danger of infection.
• Do not attempt to suck out the venom. You do not want it in your mouth, where it might enter your bloodstream.

HOW TO ESCAPE FROM A PYTHON
Unlike poisonous snakes, pythons and boas kill their prey not through the injection but by constriction; hence these snakes are known as constrictors. A constrictor coils its body around its prey, squeezing it until the pressure is great enough to kill.
Since pythons and boas can grow to be nearly twenty feet long, they are fully capable of killing a grown person, and small are even more vulnerable. The good new is that most pythons will strike and then try to get away, rather than consume a full-grown human.
1) Remain still. This will minimize constriction strength, but a python usually continues constricting well after the prey is dead and not moving.
2) Try to control the python's head and try to unwrap the coils, starting from whichever end is available.

HOW TO AVOID AN ATTACK

• Do not try to get a closer look, prod the snake to make it move, or try to kill it.
• If you come across a snake, back away slowly an give it a wide berth: snakes can easily strike half their body length in an instant, and some species are six feet or longer.
• When hiking in an area with poisonous snakes, always wear thick leather boots and long pants.
• Keep to marked trails.
• Snakes are cold-blooded and need the sun to help regulate their body temperature. They are often found lying on warm rocks or in other sunny places.

Table of Contents

Forward, by "Mountain" Mel Deweese

Preface

Great Escapes and Entrances

How to Escape from Quicksand

How to Break Down a Door

How to Hot

wire a Car

How to Perform a Fast 180

Degree Turn with Your Car

How to Ram a Car

How to Escape from a Sinking Car

How to Deal with a Downed Power Line

The Best Defense

How to Survive a Poisonous Snake Attack

How to Fend Off a Shark

How to Escape a from a Bear

How to Escape from a Mountain Lion

How to Wrestle Free from an Alligator

How to Escape from Killer Bees

How to Deal with a Charging Bull

How to Win a Sword Fight

How to Take a Punch

Leaps of Faith

How to Jump from a Bridge or Cliff into a River

How to Jump froma Building into a Dumpster

How to Maneuver on Top of a Moving Train and Get Inside

How to Jump from a Moving Car

How to Leap from a Motorcycle to a Car

Emergencies

How to Perform a Tracheotomy

How to Use a Defibrillator to Restore a Heartbeat

How to Identify a Bomb

How to Deliver a Baby in a Taxicab

How to Treat Frostbite

How to Treat a Leg Fracture

How to Treat a Bullet or Knife Wound

Adventure Survival

How to Land a Plane

How to Survive an Earthquake

How to Survive Adrift at Sea

How to Survive When Lost in the Desert

How to Survive If Your Parachute Fails to Open

How to Survive an Avalanche

How to Survive If you Are in the Line of Gunfire

How to Survive When Lost in the Mountains

How to Make Fire Without Matches

How to Avoid Being Stuck by Lightning

How to Get tot the Surface If Your Scuba Tank Runs of Air

The Experts

About the Authors

What People are Saying About This

Jean Heine

The book is somewhat tongue-in-cheek but includes some helpful advice you hope you'll never need.

Editorial Reviews

The authors promise a bevy of valuable information, which for the most part has limited application. How often does one really have to restore a shredded document, sneak out of a meeting (somehow crawling under the conference table and scooting out, unnoticed by all), or avoid a stockroom avalanche? The authors make no apologies for wrapping the meat of this recording in a lot of Wonder Bread, but it’s ultimately filling, if a little thin. Though it’s highly amusing to hear how one can avoid a lion attack on the job or thwart a lunch thief (think hidden jalapeños), this is certainly a gag gift more than a guide. But it’s good fun. D.J.B. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 03 - AudioFile

If you've never had to escape from a sinking car, fend off a shark, or deal with a charging bull, you should thank your lucky stars. And then you should pick up The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. The book provides tongue-in-cheek instructions on how to free oneself from the grip of an alligator, jump from a building into a dumpster, and survive a host of other dangerous, albeit unlikely, situations. For some, The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook will simply be outrageous, humorous entertainment. But for those who are accident-prone or who constantly find themselves in the wrong place (like the mouth of an alligator) at the wrong time (dinnertime), it may actually be a lifesaver. Whether you're looking for laughs or advice, The Worst-Case Scenario Handbook should be required reading.

bn.com

Those with deep-seated fears about killer bees, quicksand, mountain lions and sharks will enjoy The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht , a handy little book for the extremely prepared that is climbing the best-seller list.

Just so you know right away, the first rule of survival is Do Not Panic. The last rule is Learn to Return. There are a lot of rules in between. This handbook tells how to get out of 40 bad situations, "pretty much a scary scenario for everyone," Piven says. Experts were consulted. The longest scenario (six pages) tells how to land a small passenger plane in case the pilot can't.

Everything signals seriousness. The cover (yellow-orange like traffic signs, school buses, No. 2 pencils) conveys caution, safety. The language is plain (scant adjectives) and formal (no contractions). The black-and-white drawings were inspired by that survival bible, The Boy Scout Handbook. This book is serious right down to the warning in the beginning: "DO NOT ATTEMPT TO UNDERTAKE ANY OF THE ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED IN THIS BOOK YOURSELF."

This is a no-nonsense, no-fooling-around guide with straightforward information. But fear not: The authors have enough perspective to acknowledge the campy appeal of an armchair guide for the anxious. "We thought it would be funny to people," Borgenicht says.

They were, he says, "inspired by pop culture as much as by paranoia - most of the scenarios we talk about were a TV or a movie scene."

Sharks, the authors say, scared both of them to pieces in childhood.

Blame it on Jaws.

USA Today

How many book jackets have you seen bearing the words, "This book can save your life!"? Finally a book that really, no kidding, could.

Forbes

Chances are you'll never have to extract your arm from the jaws of an alligator. But if you do, remember this: wacking the beast in the nose is the best way to get him to open up. Hence the appeal of this guide, which gives step-by-step instructions on crucial, if seldom encountered, challenges ranging from treating frostbite to landing a pilotless plane.

Magazine Editors People