Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business

by Juval Aviv

Book Overview

In Staying Safe, Juval Aviv, a counterterrorism expert and international security consultant, outlines the essential tools for becoming personally responsible for the security and safety of yourself... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060735201
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

5 Stars because it will help people reduce risk and stay safe.

Juval Aviv is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and his book "Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, & Your Business" is full of practical advice and strategies to keep yourself and those you care about safe. The book focuses on staying safe from terrorism a bit more than for crime, but many of the strategies work for either situation. The book is divided into three main parts. Part One focuses on protecting yourself and your family. Chapters include becoming security-minded, survival and escape strategies, cyberterrorism and internet security, and mail handling guidelines. I think the introduction and first chapter are so important. I agree that a person chooses to stay safe, and by implementing the tips and suggestions in this text, one can increase their safety by quite a bit. The second part of the book focuses on travel safety and includes chapters on travel guidelines and concerns and airline safety. There are sections on avoiding danger, carjacking survival, kidnapping survival, tips for women, flying smart, and much more. The third part is on safeguarding your identity and protecting your business. One chapter is on protecting against fraud and identity theft with some very good advice on keeping your identity more secure. The final chapter is on protecting your business and buildings and may not be as relevant to the small storeowner as it is to the larger corporation that may be the target for bomb threats and other terrorist activity. There is also a very useful appendix with many resources listed. All through the book there are big check marks besides important points. There are also a bunch of points that you should not do. I found much of the book to be very good. There are a few things I might disagree a bit on, but that is more because of the back ground I have. This book was not necessarily written for someone with a military, martial art, survival, firearm background. I also believe that everyone must analyze their own threat level, as Aviv suggests right in the beginning, and then implement the safety strategies more relevant to their own situation and circumstances. That does not mean don't do something because it is inconvenient, but to be honest about yourself, your circumstances, threat and risk levels, and how you can then remain safe. I do believe it is up to each and every one of us to account for our and our loved ones safety. Minimizing risks and avoiding dangerous situations is always preferable to having to fight back or deal with an emergency. The information in this book can definitely help a person minimize risks against today's threats and stay safe. Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer. Alain

Tremendous source of info

An easy read. A wealth of information. A necessary read for all Americans. I will be buying this book for my whole family, and my friends. Become aware of evil. It surrounds us. Chris

practical safety

very practical advice in a changing world with newer threats. Some is basic common sense but most is the need to be aware,to anticipate, to plan, & to be ready to change what you're doing at very short notice. Not a survivalist manual, tho it would likely promote survival in a catastrophe..

How to be safe in all kinds of scenarios

While I am not an international business person, I do enjoy saving my skin. I saw this book in a store one day and immediately added it to my list. It was certainly worth reading. Juval Aviv first addresses what he feels to be the most important battleground in staying safe -- your very own thinking. Settling for more dangerous behavior because it saves you time, money, or the "hassle" of paying attention to your surroundings is what Aviv would most passionately warn against. From there Aviv discusses almost all aspects of staying safe: survival and escape strategies for all kinds of events, travel safety in foreign countries and on airplanes, identity theft, and those pesky carjackings. Here are a couple favorite strategies -- when yelling for help, yell "Fire" instead of "Help!" People are more likely to come to your aid. And if you're in your car and a carjacker hops in the passenger seat, take your keys and throw them out of your door as far as you can. Now what's he going to do? In actuality, of course, most of us do not need to incorporate EVERY recommendation of Aviv into our own lifestyles. Most of us do not need to open our mail in an isolated area, nor will we likely remember many of Aviv's tips if we actually find ourselves in the middle of a terrorist incident. Many of Aviv's concepts, however, can be very helpful, if only in a more general sense. And, for the international executive, government official, or prominent public figure, Staying Safe is a fantastic resource. I would also suggest J.J. Luna's book, How to be Invisible for these individuals. If these ideas interest you, then you will enjoy this book.

Great Advice!

I travel abroad on business frequently, finally there is a book that gives me real advice on how to protect myself. Thanks Mr. Aviv. I recommend it to everyone. I only wish employers would give it out to their employees.