Immediate Actions When War Starts – What To Do in the First Minutes

LESSON OBJECTIVE

By the end of this lesson, you will know exactly what actions to take in the first five minutes and first three hours when armed conflict or heavy fighting starts or intensifies near your location, significantly improving your chances of survival.

INTRODUCTION: THE FIRST MINUTES CAN DEFINE EVERYTHING

When fighting begins near a civilian area, the first few minutes are often the most chaotic and the most dangerous. People freeze, panic, or make poor decisions driven by shock. Some run to windows to see what is happening. Some rush outside. Some try to gather belongings. All of these reactions increase risk dramatically.

Understanding in advance what to do, so that you do not have to think from scratch in the moment of shock, is one of the most valuable forms of preparation. This lesson gives you a clear, step-by-step guide for the first moments and hours of sudden or escalating fighting, based on the experiences of civilians who have survived modern urban conflict around the world.

WHY THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES MATTER MOST

In the first five minutes of an explosion, airstrike, or outbreak of close gunfire, several deadly hazards emerge simultaneously:

– Flying glass from shattered windows is responsible for a significant portion of blast injuries to civilians indoors.
– Structural walls facing the street or open ground can be penetrated by bullets or blast pressure.
– Fire can start almost instantly from damaged gas lines, overturned cooking equipment, or incendiary munitions.
– Panicked movement outdoors exposes people to direct fire, shrapnel, and vehicle accidents.

Your goal in the first five minutes is simple: get out of the direct path of these hazards. You do not need to understand what is happening, where the fight is coming from, or who is fighting. You only need to move immediately to a position that reduces your exposure to the specific hazards above.

STEP-BY-STEP: FIRST FIVE MINUTES

Step 1: Move away from all windows and glass immediately.
Glass is your first enemy. When a blast occurs nearby, windows can explode inward at extremely high speed, sending razor-sharp fragments across a room. Do not look out of the window to see what is happening. Move away from windows, glass doors, and mirrors instantly. Get to an interior wall, hallway, or room with no direct window facing the outside.

Step 2: Get low and take cover behind solid objects.
Bullets and shrapnel travel horizontally. If you are standing, you present a larger target. Get down low, crouch, or lie flat. Position yourself behind thick, solid objects: a stone or brick wall, a heavy wooden table turned on its side, a bed frame with a mattress, large bookshelves packed with books. Note: thin plywood, glass, hollow doors, and thin partition walls offer almost no protection.

Step 3: Extinguish all open flames immediately.
Turn off the gas stove. Blow out candles. Put out any burning incense. Blast pressure waves travel through gas lines and can ignite unlit gas. Fires in conflict areas spread very rapidly because emergency services cannot respond. A small kitchen fire in a war zone can kill an entire family within minutes.

Step 4: Call everyone in your home to the safest room.
Use a short, clear, pre-agreed code word or phrase. For example: Safe room now. Do not shout repeatedly or use long sentences. One clear call is enough. Children should know in advance where the safe room is and to go there immediately when they hear this signal. Practice this before fighting begins.

Step 5: Stay away from elevators.
If you live in an apartment building, never use elevators when fighting starts. Power cuts, structural damage, or blast pressure can trap you in an elevator. Use stairs for any essential movement between floors. If the stairs face an exterior wall with windows, stay low and move quickly.

STEP-BY-STEP: FIRST ONE TO THREE HOURS

Once you have reached a relatively safer position and the immediate shock of the first minutes has passed, shift your focus to the next set of priorities.

Priority 1: WATER SECURITY

This is often the most critical and most overlooked first action. In many conflicts, water supplies are cut within hours of fighting starting. Municipal water systems depend on electricity and intact infrastructure. Once electricity is cut, pumps stop working. Once supply lines or pipes are damaged, water stops flowing.

Immediately fill every available container with water: bottles, jugs, buckets, cooking pots, washing basins, anything clean that can hold water. Fill your bathtub if you have one. The water you store in the first hour may be the only clean water available for days.

Target: store at least 3 liters of drinking water per person per day, plus extra water for cooking and hygiene. A family of four needs a minimum of 12 liters of drinking water per day. Store as much as you possibly can.

Priority 2: POWER AND COMMUNICATION

Electricity grids are frequently damaged or deliberately shut down in conflict. This ends phone charging and internet. Act before power is cut:

– Plug in and charge all mobile phones, tablets, and power banks immediately.
– Charge any rechargeable torches, radios, or medical equipment.
– Send short status messages to key family members and contacts: We are safe. We are at home. Signal may go soon. Do not waste battery on long calls or social media browsing.
– Switch your phone to low-power mode to extend battery life.
– Note important phone numbers in a paper notebook in case your phone dies.

Priority 3: ESSENTIAL ITEMS

If you have a pre-prepared go-bag (covered in Lesson 2.4), bring it to the safe room. If you do not have one, quickly collect the following and put them in a bag near your exit:

– Identification documents (passports, national IDs, birth certificates).
– Any critical prescription medicines for family members.
– A small amount of cash.
– Warm clothing or a blanket.
– Some non-perishable food (biscuits, crackers, dried fruit, nuts).
– A flashlight with batteries.

Do this quickly. Your time budget for this task is five to ten minutes, not more. If fighting intensifies again, stop and return to shelter.

Priority 4: INFORMATION

Listen to reliable local radio stations or official emergency broadcasts if available. Do not rely on social media for accurate information in the first hours of a conflict. Social media fills rapidly with unverified reports, rumors, and deliberate misinformation. Choose one or two trusted local radio stations or official government emergency channels and monitor only those.

Be very skeptical of:
– Reports that say fighting has already ended (usually premature).
– Reports urging everyone to move to a specific location immediately.
– Messages from unknown sources claiming to represent authorities.

SHELTERING IN YOUR HOME VERSUS LEAVING

One of the most difficult decisions in the first hours is whether to stay at home or attempt to leave. This is covered in detail in the Movement and Evacuation section of this course. For now, the general guidance for the first 24 hours is:

Stay at home and shelter unless:
– Your building is structurally damaged and at risk of collapse.
– Your building is on fire and evacuation is possible.
– Official authorities are ordering evacuation and providing protected corridors.
– Armed parties are actively entering homes in your area.

Do not leave simply because you hear fighting, see smoke in the distance, or because you feel afraid. Leaving into active fighting zones is frequently more dangerous than sheltering in a stable structure. The risk of being caught in the open during active fighting is extremely high.

If you do shelter at home, choose the safest room available: an interior room with few or no windows, as far from the outside walls as possible. Ideally this room should have access to water, food, and basic supplies.

HELPING OTHERS IN THE FIRST HOURS

If you have elderly neighbors, disabled neighbors, or families with very young children in your building, the first hours after the start of conflict are the time to check on them and coordinate. A brief check: Are you safe? Do you have water? is enough. You can share information and combine resources.

However, do not expose yourself to dangerous areas to help others unless the route is safe. Your own survival is the first requirement for being able to help anyone else.

DO AND DON’T SUMMARY

DO:
– Move away from windows and glass immediately when fighting starts.
– Get low and take cover behind solid objects.
– Extinguish all open flames instantly.
– Fill all available containers with water before supplies are cut.
– Charge phones and power banks immediately.
– Bring your go-bag to the safe room.
– Send short status messages to key contacts.

DON’T:
– Do not run to windows or outside to see what is happening.
– Do not use elevators when fighting starts.
– Do not rush outside unless your building is actively collapsing or burning.
– Do not trust unverified social media reports in the first hours.
– Do not wait to fill water until you see that supplies have been cut. Act immediately.

KEY TAKEAWAY

The first five minutes of a conflict escalation near your home are dominated by immediate physical dangers: glass, bullets, fire, and panic. The first one to three hours are dominated by resource security: water, power, communication, and essential supplies. Knowing this in advance and having practiced your response means you act instead of freeze, and that difference can save lives.