Surviving Disaster (TV series)

Last updated
Surviving Disaster
Created byCade Courtley
StarringCade Courtley
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producersAlex Graham
Jonathan Hewes
Running timeapprox. 43 min
Release
Original network SPIKE TV
Original releaseSeptember 1 (2009-09-01) 
November 10, 2009 (2009-11-10)

Surviving Disaster is a simulation of real life disaster situations produced by Spike. Hosted by former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley, each episode retells situations in a worst-case scenario and what viewers can do to survive them. There have been ten episodes aired to date. The series was not picked up for a second season. [ citation needed ]

Contents

Plot summary

Each episode features Cade Courtley with a group of usually five individuals set into the disaster situation. The disasters feature worst-case scenarios, with Courtley giving the individuals advice on how to survive based on the situation, also giving tips to the audience on survival. This always includes interviews with experts and survivors of similar disasters. On occasion the show may describe two or more different scenarios within the same disaster (being caught at different distances from a nuclear blast, being held under different circumstances during a home invasion/hostage situation or escaping different pandemics). In these cases, Courtley still participates as a member of both scenario groups simultaneously. Sometimes an individual in a group can make rash choices that would lead to consequences in which they don't listen to Cade's warnings, making surviving a disaster more difficult.

Episodes aired

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business continuity planning</span> Prevention and recovery from threats that might affect a company

Business continuity may be defined as "the capability of an organization to continue the delivery of products or services at pre-defined acceptable levels following a disruptive incident", and business continuity planning is the process of creating systems of prevention and recovery to deal with potential threats to a company. In addition to prevention, the goal is to enable ongoing operations before and during execution of disaster recovery. Business continuity is the intended outcome of proper execution of both business continuity planning and disaster recovery.

Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order caused by political or economic crises. Preparations may anticipate short-term scenarios or long-term, on scales ranging from personal adversity, to local disruption of services, to international or global catastrophe. There is no bright line dividing general emergency preparedness from prepping in the form of survivalism, but a qualitative distinction is often recognized whereby preppers/survivalists prepare especially extensively because they have higher estimations of the risk (odds) of catastrophes happening. Nonetheless, prepping can be as limited as preparing for a personal emergency, or it can be as extensive as a personal identity or collective identity with a devoted lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military exercise</span> Employment of military resources in training for military operations

A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the combat readiness of garrisoned or deployable forces prior to deployment from a home base. While both war games and military exercises aim to simulate real conditions and scenarios for the purpose of preparing and analyzing those scenarios, the distinction between a war game and a military exercise is determined, primarily, by the involvement of actual military forces within the simulation, or lack thereof. Military exercises focus on the simulation of real, full-scale military operations in controlled hostile conditions in attempts to reproduce war time decisions and activities for training purposes or to analyze the outcome of possible war time decisions. War games, however, can be much smaller than full-scale military operations, do not typically include the use of functional military equipment, and decisions and actions are carried out by artificial players to simulate possible decisions and actions within an artificial scenario which usually represents a model of a real-world scenario. Additionally, mathematical modeling is used in the simulation of war games to provide a quantifiable method of deduction. However, it is rare that a war game is depended upon for quantitative results, and the use of war games is more often found in situations where qualitative factors of the simulated scenario are needed to be determined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency evacuation</span> Urgent removal of people from an area of imminent or ongoing threat

Emergency evacuation is the urgent immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthropogenic hazard</span> Hazard caused by human action or inaction

Anthropogenic hazards are hazards caused by human action or inaction. They are contrasted with natural hazards. Anthropogenic hazards may adversely affect humans, other organisms, biomes, and ecosystems. They can even cause an omnicide. The frequency and severity of hazards are key elements in some risk analysis methodologies. Hazards may also be described in relation to the impact that they have. A hazard only exists if there is a pathway to exposure. As an example, the center of the earth consists of molten material at very high temperatures which would be a severe hazard if contact was made with the core. However, there is no feasible way of making contact with the core, therefore the center of the earth currently poses no hazard.

<i>First Wave</i> (TV series) Television show filmed in Vancouver

First Wave is a Canadian science fiction drama television series, filmed in Vancouver, that aired from 1998 to 2001 on the Space Channel in Canada. The show was created and written by Chris Brancato. Francis Ford Coppola was executive producer on the show. In an unusual move, the Sci-Fi Channel, which picked up the show in late 1998, later expanded their pickup of the series to a 66-episode order. The show was subsequently cancelled once the 66-episode order was filled at the end of the third season due to disappointing ratings.

Normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a cognitive bias which leads people to disbelieve or minimize threat warnings. Consequently, individuals underestimate the likelihood of a disaster, when it might affect them, and its potential adverse effects. The normalcy bias causes many people to not adequately prepare for natural disasters, market crashes, and calamities caused by human error. About 70% of people reportedly display normalcy bias during a disaster.

Worst-Case Scenario is the name of a series of merchandise based on a 1999 book written by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht and published by Chronicle Books. The series first entry, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook, sold over 10 million copies worldwide and prompted a series of related books, games, calendars, and two television series. Later works have been published via Quirk Books and has been credited with giving the company enough funding to expand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Price–Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act</span>

The Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act is a United States federal law, first passed in 1957 and since renewed several times, which governs liability-related issues for all non-military nuclear facilities constructed in the United States before 2026. The main purpose of the Act is to partially compensate the nuclear industry against liability claims arising from nuclear incidents while still ensuring compensation coverage for the general public. The Act establishes a no fault insurance-type system in which the first approximately $15 billion is industry-funded as described in the Act. Any claims above the $12.6 billion would be covered by a Congressional mandate to retroactively increase nuclear utility liability or would be covered by the federal government. At the time of the Act's passing, it was considered necessary as an incentive for the private production of nuclear power — this was because electric utilities viewed the available liability coverage as inadequate.

Perfect Disaster is a one-hour American documentary television mini-series that ran from March 19 until April 9, 2006 on the Discovery Channel. The program depicted the worst-case scenario that major cities could expect in the near future if hit by extreme disaster. A large part of each episode was recounted the lives of citizens from each city, with the remainder of the program showing many real-world scientists discussing the very high probabilities of these disasters. The trademark tagline of the show was "When the conditions are right, it will all go wrong."

<i>Mega Disasters</i> American television series

Mega Disasters is an American documentary television series that originally aired from May 23, 2006 to July 2008 on The History Channel. Produced by Creative Differences, the program explores potential catastrophic threats to individual cities, countries, and the entire globe.

<i>Man vs. Wild</i> American reality television series

Man vs. Wild, also called Born Survivor: Bear Grylls, Ultimate Survival, Survival Game, or colloquially as simply Bear Grylls in the United Kingdom, is a survival television series hosted by Bear Grylls on the Discovery Channel. In the United Kingdom, the series was originally shown on Channel 4, but the show's later seasons were broadcast on Discovery Channel U.K. The series was produced by British television production company Diverse Bristol. The show was premiered on November 10, 2006, after airing a pilot episode titled "The Rockies" on March 10, 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Situational judgement test</span>

A situational judgement test (SJT), or situational stress test (SStT) or inventory (SSI) is a type of psychological test which presents the test-taker with realistic, hypothetical scenarios and ask them to identify the most appropriate response or to rank the responses in the order they feel is most effective. SJTs can be presented to test-takers through a variety of modalities, such as booklets, films, or audio recordings. SJTs represent a distinct psychometric approach from the common knowledge-based multiple choice item. They are often used in industrial-organizational psychology applications such as personnel selection. Situational judgement tests tend to determine behavioral tendencies, assessing how an individual will behave in a certain situation, and knowledge instruction, which evaluates the effectiveness of possible responses. Situational judgement tests could also reinforce the status quo with an organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irwin Redlener</span>

Irwin Redlener is an American pediatrician and public health activist who specializes in health care for underserved children and disaster planning, response, and recovery. He is the author of The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for 21st Century America (2017) and the author of Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now (2006).

Portrayals of survivalism, and survivalist themes and elements such as survival retreats have been fictionalised in print, film, and electronic media. This genre was especially influenced by the advent of nuclear weapons, and the potential for societal collapse in light of a Cold War nuclear conflagration.

<i>Deadliest Warrior</i> American television series

Deadliest Warrior is an American television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode. The show was characterized by its use of data compiled in creating a dramatization of the warriors' battle to the death. The show ran for three seasons.

An electric utility is a company in the electric power industry that engages in electricity generation and distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. The electrical utility industry is a major provider of energy in most countries.

Christopher "Cade" Courtley is a retired American television host and a former Navy SEAL. He was the host of Spike TV's and Discovery Channel's show Surviving Disaster and Sportsman Channel's America Unplugged. He was also the author of a book, entitled SEAL Survival Guide: A Navy SEAL's Secrets to Surviving Any Disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Response Scenario Number One</span> US government protocol against a nuclear attack

National Response Scenario Number One is the United States federal government's planned response to a nuclear attack. It is one of the National Response Scenarios developed by the United States Department of Homeland Security, considered the most likely of fifteen emergency scenarios to impact the United States. The Scenarios are related to the National Response Framework (NRF), which describes the structures and mechanisms of a response and the National Incident Management System (NIMS) that gives a framework to orchestrate emergency management.

Worst-case scenario Concept in risk management to consider the most severe outcome that can reasonably be projected

A worst-case scenario is a concept in risk management wherein the planner, in planning for potential disasters, considers the most severe possible outcome that can reasonably be projected to occur in a given situation. Conceiving of worst-case scenarios is a common form of strategic planning, specifically scenario planning, to prepare for and minimize contingencies that could result in accidents, quality problems, or other issues.