Situational awareness is the use of the sensory system to scan the environment. The purpose of this is to identify threats in the present or to project those threats into the near future.

Applying Situational Awareness is simple, in real-world, scenarios like being able to make adjustments to what you are doing, like changing your body language, behavior, or location, to be safe.

Color Codes are a great way to remember levels of Situational Awareness. Here are the Alert Conditions:

Condition White: 

This is the baseline in America, people are unaware, “tuned out” – listening to music, texting, talking on a cell phone, they don’t see danger coming. This is not where you want to be.

Condition Yellow: People-watching

You want to be in condition yellow when you’re in a public or unfamiliar place, or in the presence of unknown individuals. You are in a relaxed state being aware of your surroundings. learn to identify exits and possible weapons. This condition allows you to be proactive. this condition is not being on edge or having a hair trigger but allows you to execute a plan of action before a situation.

Condition Orange:

Condition orange is what happens when something has made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It could be something that your subconscious mind has picked up that your conscious mind hasn’t.  This is the time for flight, get out of there if possible. Trust “gut” instincts.

Condition Red:

When something has triggered, you have now gone from orange to red this is when the only thing left to do is FIGHT, you will be in the fight for your life. One of the most important things you can do during this time is BREATHE.

Unfortunately, we can’t stop a predator’s intention to attack, but we can limit his opportunity to fulfill the act. The military prepares for battle before the battle occurs, they prepare in anticipation of an attack. A police officer wears a bulletproof vest for protection in case he is shot. This is a strategic active form of defense; we must prepare to defend ourselves in anticipation of an assault. This is done through situational awareness and active self-defense. If we know who the predator is and how they think and act we can effectively avoid and or defend ourselves from their methods of assault.

It can not be stated enough: Be aware of your surroundings, look for exits in case of an emergency, become a people watcher, learn to read body language, 90% of self-protection is about self-awareness.

Before a situation presents itself self-think about what you might do to protect yourself or your children, you must commit to yourself in your mind that you will fight if need be. If you are faced with a situation DON’T PANIC, quickly analyze the situation and move.