Winter Driving Tip - Self Preservation

I've been hitting a lot of winter topics and I've gone over some driving topics for the winter, except one. What happens if you break down during a snowstorm? Will you be able to get help? Can you tell someone, such as the police, where exactly you are? Will you be dead when they finally get to you because you let the engine run for heat, or you froze from the cold? Your probably chuckling right now, I know I probably would be if I were reading this instead of writing it. They're valid points however. What would you do and how would you do it? Let's take it by the numbers, shall we? The first thing you want to do is prepare for the worst for the ENTIRE winter! Keep an emergency pack in your trunk as a 'just in case' provision. It doesn't have to be a suitcase, just a package. The contents should include a blanket or two(two is better, you may not be alone), a few water bottles inside the car (frozen water is hard to swallow), food (crackers are shelf stable), flashlight (with a strobe is best), hat and gloves(mittens are better), cell phone car cigarette lighter charge cable as well as an emergency cell phone charger (Eveready makes a good one) in case the car battery is dead. One other item I really do recommend, if you can afford it, is a GPS unit. These are great year round but if you get stuck somewhere your not familiar with the GPS can give you enough information to relay to the police to find you faster. Secondly, if your car is stuck and won't be getting out on it's own, bundle up while the car is still warm. Warm clothing is better than cold since it doesn't have to use your body heat to get warm. Keep water where it will not start to get frozen like a coat pocket or even sit on them. Ration food wisely, you don't know how long you may be stuck. Third thing- Do Not Get Out Of The Car and Walk Around! If you are stuck in a major way you will not be able to dig out before you lose too much body heat. The dig out method should only be done when you didn't take any of the other precautions, in which case you better make sure you at least have a strong shovel in the trunk. Walking around looking for a car or truck to help out can be fatal. During a snowstorm visibility is bad at best and you'll probably get hit by a car, truck or snowplow before they even knew you were there. Stay in the car and try to retain the interior heat. If the engine has stalled try not to let the lights run when they don't need to. Turn them on if you see lights coming at you or see emergency lights coming. Killing your battery could mean being found or missed when it counts the most. If the lights fail, hopefully you have that flashlight to use!