In a survival situation the fine line between living and dying is slim and thinking before you take action can and will save your life or chance of serious injury.
What exactly is a survival situation?
Too often your mind races to a Hollywood scene where you are dealing with a roving pack of street thugs with intent to do you bodily injury rob and leave you for the buzzards. Chances are pretty slim unless you venture into the wrong side of town in search of a place to be real stupid.
A realistic survival situation is running off the road and crashing your car on a deserted road at night and you have sustained an injury, breaking down on a major interstate highway and not having the tools or the knowledge to make minor repairs, or worse case dealing with an intruder who has broken into your home with intent to rob you.
The first two incidents can be solved by not freaking out but using your cell phone and calling 911 for assistance. The latter should also be calling for police to report a break-in and not you going after this criminal with your grandfathers shotgun, as this person may also be armed and if willing to break in also willing to exchange gunfire with you.
When we are talking about manmade or natural disasters you can and should be planning for them with a minimum of 14-days emergency food, water and safety supplies for your family.