To stitch, or not to stitch, that is the question. Stitching a cut does not seem like a particularly difficult thing to do, but suturing deep cuts, that should be closed in two or three distinct layers, without local anaesthetic and proper surgical needles (which are curved and make the job much easier), is not as straightforward as it might seem.
If a wound is already suppurating, producing pus, or had debris in it that cannot be removed it should be left open. In addition, animal and human bites should not be sutured. Closure of these wounds will cause more harm than good and can lead to septicaemia, gangrene and even death.
Firstly, suturing a wound that is still bleeding is likely to cause a haematoma, a blood clot that could quite easily put so much pressure on other vessels that blood flow ceases and tissue damage, gangrene occurs, this is especially true of the extremities. Some bleeding is good, the blood often brings with it debris that would otherwise contaminate the wound. What it will not get out is pathogens, germs from the object that caused the wound, or from the area directly surrounding the wound, people, animals, road surface, whatever.
Basic Suturing Technique in 7 Steps Using a non-surgical needles
1.Elevate the wound if possible, or use a tourniquet to stop the blood flow, a rubber glove stretched and tied around an arm to leg works well. When use of a tourniquet is impossible, use a pressure dressing. Whatever you use it should be wider than an inch to prevent it cutting into the skin.
2.Bleeding stopped, though oozing is acceptable, you need to look at the wound to see the extent of it, roughly how deep it is. Clean the wound with antiseptic solution if you have it, saltwater if you do not. Wait five more minutes, whilst your sewing needle and thread are boiled to sterilize them, and then release the tourniquet, if used, as slowly as you can. Blood rushing back into a limb, especially a leg, can cause a sudden and profound drop in blood pressure, something to be avoided. Releasing it slowly also assists in not knocking off any small clots that have started to form at the end of the damaged vessels. If it bleeds profusely, reapply the tourniquet or pressure dressing and wait twenty minutes (ten for fingers and toes) rinse the wound again to prevent collected blood clotting and obscuring your view. You may have to do this several times.
3.A deep wound is more than likely contaminated, if you have antibiotic capsules, open one up and mix with a little sterile water, just enough to turn it into solution, and put it in the wound. Wounds heal by granulation, from the bottom up. Suturing is not actually required to ensure a wound heals, what it does is speed up the process and helps keep the wound clean. A deep gash will take weeks, sometimes months to heal if it is not sutured. Suturing brings the two halves of the wound together so that when granulation occurs the new grown cells mesh together forming a strong join, just suturing the skin would be worse than leaving it to granulate, you are creating pockets, a perfect place for germs to grow and flourish.
4.Okay, the sewing bit. Staying a little back from the wound edge put the needle in just off the vertical, like this \ go down to as near the bottom of the wound as you can and pull the thread through leaving a 2-inch tail. Insert the needle directly opposite where you removed it and back up through the skin on the opposite side of the wound, at an angle just off the vertical, like this / cut the thread leaving a 2″ tail and repeat this process along the length of the wound.
5.Now they need tying off. Starting IN THE MIDDLE of the wound, gently pull both sides of one suture upwards and across each towards each other. Be gentle, tissue is delicate and tugging too hard will rip through the tissues. When the edges of the wound come together, or as near as together as you can get them to tie a knot, then two more. Now move to one end of the wound and do the same again. Now the other end of the wound and so on working towards the tied suture in the middle. The sutures should be placed about half an inch apart on long wounds, and about half that on short wounds. This spacing and working alternate ends prevents puckering of the skin which is very sore and can delay healing.
6.Dab the area gently with a decent antiseptic solution. Do not use cotton wool, the fibers get into the wound. Cover with a sterile dressing and leave for 12 hours. Twice a day for the first five days dab with antiseptic and cover with a fresh dressing. It is normal for the needle holes to look very red and to be sore. If pus leaks from the wound check every few hours, if it does to subside, or become thinner, or clearer within 48 hours remove the sutures, clean the wound and re-suture. Adding antibiotics to the wound prior to suturing usually prevents this, and it is standard practice in hospitals for grossly contaminated wounds.
7.The sutures need to stay in for between 14 and 21 days. To check if the wound is sound apply gentle opposing pressure with your thumb and fore finger between two of the sutures, If the wound does not hold together leave the sutures in and do the same test daily. To remove them, wet them with sterile salt water, cut the knots and tease them out. Do not cut all of the knots at the same time, check that the wound holds together by removing the center one first and checking as previously stated. If it is not quite there, leave the rest in and check daily. If the wound is sound, remove the rest of the sutures.
This wound will not have the best scar in the world but it will be much more pleasing than a granulation scar, also, granulated tissue is often quite sensitive to knocks, bumps and sometimes even fabrics. Suture scars tend to be far less sensitive and are less prone to abrasive damage than is granulation tissue.
Disclosure: The information in this article is for informational purposes only. Nothing contained on this web site should be construed nor is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. Consult your physician or other qualified health care providers with any questions regarding medical care.
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Thursday, 21 June 2012
Radiation 101
There is a great deal of conflicting information about radiation and it's effects around at the moment. This ranges from overly complacent to hysterical with not much of anything in between. This article is not about Three Mile Island, or Chernobyl or Fukushima, it is just about radiation in general, the different types, how it causes damage, what you can do to mitigate some of the issues it creates and the signs and symptoms of radiation poisoning. The reason for this is simple...conflicting information. It is impossible to comment on specifics without having seen the readings, without knowing exactly what went, or what is going on at the site, and without reading the medical reports detailing the issues those people close to these incidents have had. The doses of radiation required to cause injury seems to vary from country to country, which is nonsense of course, a small amount of radiation can be deadly, and for that reason these supposed 'safe doses' have been omitted.
TYPES OF RADIATION
Essentially there are two types of radiation, non-ionising and ionising. Background radiation, that we are all exposed to on a daily basis is non-ionising. It comes from sources both natural and man-made such as naturally occurring radio waves, light and microwaves. In general it causes very low level damage that the body responds to and repairs on an on going basis.
Ionising radiation is more of a problem. It usually involves larger doses at one time, and is responsible for more cellular damage than non-ionising radiation. It comes from medical imaging primarily, but can come from industrial sources, nuclear accidents and nuclear weaponry. Gamma ray bursts and lightening are two forms of naturally occurring sources of ionising radiation.
It is of course possible, especially in the case of nuclear accident where a population at some distance from the source is exposed to low level but sustained dosing of ionised radiation rather than the initial large dose experienced by those close to the incident. The duration and severity of exposure is also determined by the type of release. An explosive release will give rise to the possibility of radioactive particles travelling on the winds that circle the globe, passive release is far less likely to distribute radioactive particles in this manner.
Even having a massive explosion of radioactive material does not mean it will definitely have effects on health half a world away. The effects of radiation at a distance depends on many factors, the atomic weight of the particles, the heavier they are the quicker they will 'fallout'. This fallout can be affected by debris present that's mixed with the particles. Hiroshima and Nagasaki seen covered in ash is what most people understand by the term fallout. Material destroyed by the explosive power of the bomb was sucked up and mingled with the radioactive particles caused by detonation of the nuclear warhead, this fell to earth as radioactive ash. The type of particle emitted will alter the effects felt by populations, and finally, the half life of the element that has been ejected needs to be taken into consideration. Half-life is the term used to describe the time it takes half of the radioactive nuclei to undergo radioactive decay. After two half lives 1/4 of the original amount remains, after three half lives 1/8 of the original amount remains and so on.
IONISING RADIATION PARTICLES
Alpha. (particulate)
Alpha particles are the lowest energy ionising particles. In a passive release they only travel a few inches from the source. In an explosive release it is impossible to say how far they will travel, but either way they do little damage at the cellular level provided they are not ingested or get into the body via an open wound. They are not powerful enough to get through unbroken skin. When they do hit a penetrable object they dissipate their energy quickly and cause damage immediately at the entry point rather than travelling through the object causing damage as they go. Ingestion of these particles is dangerous. Ingested Alpha particles can lead to lung cancer at a later stage. Examples of Alpha particles are Radon,Radium, Uranium and Thorium. All of these particles are stopped by paper, clothing and even a layer of dust.
Beta (particulate)
Beta particles are high energy, high speed electrons. They travel further than Alpha particles after a passive release, two or three feet, and can penetrate human skin up to just under an inch. They dissipate their energy quickly and can cause damage over a wider area than Alpha particles due to the level of penetration. Babies and young children suffer more damage than adults from Beta radiation simply due to the fact that they are smaller and proportionally more of their body is affected by each particle that penetrates the skin. Beta particles hitting the body can cause a wide variety of illnesses ranging from skin burns to bone cancer. Low level but long term exposure can cause general malaise for many years without the cause being readily apparent. The endocrine system and glands are particularly susceptible beta particle damage. Some examples of Beta particles are Strontium 90, Iodine 131, Iodine 132 and iodine 133. These particles can be stopped by most solid objects. They cannot for example penetrate glass.
Gamma (electromagnetic waves)
Gamma radiation is the most biologically destructive. These waves can travel many feet in air and can penetrate through skin and several inches of tissue exposing most if not all organs to radiation damage. Cellular damage is guaranteed and cancers of almost any organ may appear years after the event. Babies and children are severely affected from Gamma radiation and will suffer direct effects faster than adults. An example of Gamma radiation is potassium 40. Gamma radiation can penetrate solid objects with ease. A full inch of lead is the minimum thickness required for non therapeutic radiation, of known dose such as x-rays. Several feet of concrete would be needed to protect from Gamma radiation.
The mode of action of these particles on the body is complicated. Some behave like calcium and concentrate in the bones. Others behave like potassium and can affect kidney function. There are major variations in the way radiation affects one person and not another, even if those people are in the same house and belong to the same family. Doctors and scientists have not worked out why this is and research continues to find the answers to the many questions radiation poses. What is known is that radiation of all kinds weakens the immunity of the vast majority of people who are contaminated by it and that cells with a high turnover, such as white blood cells which fight infection, and crypt cells that line the intestine are often the first cells to be affected. Bone marrow where red blood cells are actually produced is particularly prone to radiation damage.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of radiation poisoning are many and varied. It is possible to suffer from radiation sickness at a level that does not produce more than one or two of the most minor known symptoms it is all dependant on the dose received and the duration it is received over. For this reason radiation poisoning can be medically considered to be either acute or chronic. The classic symptoms of acute radiation poisoning are:
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Fatigue
These would be followed by:
Headache
Shortness of breath
Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
Inflammation of the mouth and throat
Tooth and gum disease
Hair loss
Dry unproductive cough
Reddening/burning of the skin
Chest pain and heart inflammation
Permanent darkening of the skin
Spot bleeding under the skin
Haemorrhage
Anaemia
It should be noted that not all symptoms will appear in all victims. Where large exposures have occurred-usually above 10 gray death often occurs in 2-4 weeks. Those who survive this dose for six weeks will generally recover but are highly likely to present with serious radiation induced illness at some point in the future.
There is little you can do to mitigate the effects of radiation after exposure. It goes without saying it is far better to avoid exposure in the first place.
Doubling your distance from the source reduces your exposure by 16 times, this is known as the inverse square law.
Being underground, in a custom built or other type of shelter, providing the shelter is thick enough or buried deep enough will protect you from radiation.
Potassium iodide, a stable salt of iodine can prevent the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine.
Bentonite clay (fullers earth) is edible and has been shown to draw some radioactive particles out of the intestine, and to reduce the amount of these particles in water if used as a filter medium.
A word about MOX
MOX refers to mixed oxide fuel. There are two isotopes of uranium, uranium 235 and uranium 238. There are four isotopes of plutonium, plutonium 239, 240, 241, and 242. Neutron capture changes the basic components, uranium 235 into 238 and the same with plutonium, plutonium 239 becoming one of the other isotopes due to neutron capture, the amount of capture decides the isotope formed. The use of this fissile material the mixed oxides reprocessed from spent fuel rods increases the amount of electricity it is possible to produce by up to 22% more than a standard reactor.
The half life of plutonium 239 is 24,000 years. Based on half life calculations 1/4 of the original amount of plutonium released will still exist 48,000 years after the event.
By way of comparison, iodine 131 has a half life of eight days. Using the same calculation, 1/4 of the original amount would remain 16 days after the event.
Finally....
Reports are circulating of babies born in the United States, with birth defects due to the effects of radiation from Japan. This seems unlikely. I am not saying those babies do not exist, and I am not saying it is not an environmental issue that caused the defects they were born with, but it is highly unlikely radiation was the cause. For a woman to become irradiated to that point she would have been visibly sickened herself, with some of the symptoms of radiation sickness being present. These women would have to have suffered high dose radiation exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy when cell division in the foetus is still forming the structures of the body. This does not seem to be the case. It is interesting to note that although I have access to an large amount of medical literature I cannot find a reference to human birth defects in the United States or Europe being medically attributed to radiation from the Fukushima disaster. Birth defects in the future from a low level long term exposure to ionising radiation is a very plausible possibility due to structural changes in the DNA caused by the earlier radiation exposure.
There is a massive amount of information about radiation available to the general public and this article barely scratches the surface of this very complex subject. If you decide to explore the subject further it is advisable to gather information from reliable scientific sources.
Take care
Lizzie
TYPES OF RADIATION
Essentially there are two types of radiation, non-ionising and ionising. Background radiation, that we are all exposed to on a daily basis is non-ionising. It comes from sources both natural and man-made such as naturally occurring radio waves, light and microwaves. In general it causes very low level damage that the body responds to and repairs on an on going basis.
Ionising radiation is more of a problem. It usually involves larger doses at one time, and is responsible for more cellular damage than non-ionising radiation. It comes from medical imaging primarily, but can come from industrial sources, nuclear accidents and nuclear weaponry. Gamma ray bursts and lightening are two forms of naturally occurring sources of ionising radiation.
It is of course possible, especially in the case of nuclear accident where a population at some distance from the source is exposed to low level but sustained dosing of ionised radiation rather than the initial large dose experienced by those close to the incident. The duration and severity of exposure is also determined by the type of release. An explosive release will give rise to the possibility of radioactive particles travelling on the winds that circle the globe, passive release is far less likely to distribute radioactive particles in this manner.
Even having a massive explosion of radioactive material does not mean it will definitely have effects on health half a world away. The effects of radiation at a distance depends on many factors, the atomic weight of the particles, the heavier they are the quicker they will 'fallout'. This fallout can be affected by debris present that's mixed with the particles. Hiroshima and Nagasaki seen covered in ash is what most people understand by the term fallout. Material destroyed by the explosive power of the bomb was sucked up and mingled with the radioactive particles caused by detonation of the nuclear warhead, this fell to earth as radioactive ash. The type of particle emitted will alter the effects felt by populations, and finally, the half life of the element that has been ejected needs to be taken into consideration. Half-life is the term used to describe the time it takes half of the radioactive nuclei to undergo radioactive decay. After two half lives 1/4 of the original amount remains, after three half lives 1/8 of the original amount remains and so on.
IONISING RADIATION PARTICLES
Alpha. (particulate)
Alpha particles are the lowest energy ionising particles. In a passive release they only travel a few inches from the source. In an explosive release it is impossible to say how far they will travel, but either way they do little damage at the cellular level provided they are not ingested or get into the body via an open wound. They are not powerful enough to get through unbroken skin. When they do hit a penetrable object they dissipate their energy quickly and cause damage immediately at the entry point rather than travelling through the object causing damage as they go. Ingestion of these particles is dangerous. Ingested Alpha particles can lead to lung cancer at a later stage. Examples of Alpha particles are Radon,Radium, Uranium and Thorium. All of these particles are stopped by paper, clothing and even a layer of dust.
Beta (particulate)
Beta particles are high energy, high speed electrons. They travel further than Alpha particles after a passive release, two or three feet, and can penetrate human skin up to just under an inch. They dissipate their energy quickly and can cause damage over a wider area than Alpha particles due to the level of penetration. Babies and young children suffer more damage than adults from Beta radiation simply due to the fact that they are smaller and proportionally more of their body is affected by each particle that penetrates the skin. Beta particles hitting the body can cause a wide variety of illnesses ranging from skin burns to bone cancer. Low level but long term exposure can cause general malaise for many years without the cause being readily apparent. The endocrine system and glands are particularly susceptible beta particle damage. Some examples of Beta particles are Strontium 90, Iodine 131, Iodine 132 and iodine 133. These particles can be stopped by most solid objects. They cannot for example penetrate glass.
Gamma (electromagnetic waves)
Gamma radiation is the most biologically destructive. These waves can travel many feet in air and can penetrate through skin and several inches of tissue exposing most if not all organs to radiation damage. Cellular damage is guaranteed and cancers of almost any organ may appear years after the event. Babies and children are severely affected from Gamma radiation and will suffer direct effects faster than adults. An example of Gamma radiation is potassium 40. Gamma radiation can penetrate solid objects with ease. A full inch of lead is the minimum thickness required for non therapeutic radiation, of known dose such as x-rays. Several feet of concrete would be needed to protect from Gamma radiation.
The mode of action of these particles on the body is complicated. Some behave like calcium and concentrate in the bones. Others behave like potassium and can affect kidney function. There are major variations in the way radiation affects one person and not another, even if those people are in the same house and belong to the same family. Doctors and scientists have not worked out why this is and research continues to find the answers to the many questions radiation poses. What is known is that radiation of all kinds weakens the immunity of the vast majority of people who are contaminated by it and that cells with a high turnover, such as white blood cells which fight infection, and crypt cells that line the intestine are often the first cells to be affected. Bone marrow where red blood cells are actually produced is particularly prone to radiation damage.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of radiation poisoning are many and varied. It is possible to suffer from radiation sickness at a level that does not produce more than one or two of the most minor known symptoms it is all dependant on the dose received and the duration it is received over. For this reason radiation poisoning can be medically considered to be either acute or chronic. The classic symptoms of acute radiation poisoning are:
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Fatigue
These would be followed by:
Headache
Shortness of breath
Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
Inflammation of the mouth and throat
Tooth and gum disease
Hair loss
Dry unproductive cough
Reddening/burning of the skin
Chest pain and heart inflammation
Permanent darkening of the skin
Spot bleeding under the skin
Haemorrhage
Anaemia
It should be noted that not all symptoms will appear in all victims. Where large exposures have occurred-usually above 10 gray death often occurs in 2-4 weeks. Those who survive this dose for six weeks will generally recover but are highly likely to present with serious radiation induced illness at some point in the future.
There is little you can do to mitigate the effects of radiation after exposure. It goes without saying it is far better to avoid exposure in the first place.
Doubling your distance from the source reduces your exposure by 16 times, this is known as the inverse square law.
Being underground, in a custom built or other type of shelter, providing the shelter is thick enough or buried deep enough will protect you from radiation.
Potassium iodide, a stable salt of iodine can prevent the thyroid gland from absorbing radioactive iodine.
Bentonite clay (fullers earth) is edible and has been shown to draw some radioactive particles out of the intestine, and to reduce the amount of these particles in water if used as a filter medium.
A word about MOX
MOX refers to mixed oxide fuel. There are two isotopes of uranium, uranium 235 and uranium 238. There are four isotopes of plutonium, plutonium 239, 240, 241, and 242. Neutron capture changes the basic components, uranium 235 into 238 and the same with plutonium, plutonium 239 becoming one of the other isotopes due to neutron capture, the amount of capture decides the isotope formed. The use of this fissile material the mixed oxides reprocessed from spent fuel rods increases the amount of electricity it is possible to produce by up to 22% more than a standard reactor.
The half life of plutonium 239 is 24,000 years. Based on half life calculations 1/4 of the original amount of plutonium released will still exist 48,000 years after the event.
By way of comparison, iodine 131 has a half life of eight days. Using the same calculation, 1/4 of the original amount would remain 16 days after the event.
Finally....
Reports are circulating of babies born in the United States, with birth defects due to the effects of radiation from Japan. This seems unlikely. I am not saying those babies do not exist, and I am not saying it is not an environmental issue that caused the defects they were born with, but it is highly unlikely radiation was the cause. For a woman to become irradiated to that point she would have been visibly sickened herself, with some of the symptoms of radiation sickness being present. These women would have to have suffered high dose radiation exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy when cell division in the foetus is still forming the structures of the body. This does not seem to be the case. It is interesting to note that although I have access to an large amount of medical literature I cannot find a reference to human birth defects in the United States or Europe being medically attributed to radiation from the Fukushima disaster. Birth defects in the future from a low level long term exposure to ionising radiation is a very plausible possibility due to structural changes in the DNA caused by the earlier radiation exposure.
There is a massive amount of information about radiation available to the general public and this article barely scratches the surface of this very complex subject. If you decide to explore the subject further it is advisable to gather information from reliable scientific sources.
Take care
Lizzie
Monday, 18 June 2012
Waste disposal post-collapse
Every day, between us, we produce millions of tons of rubbish that needs to be disposed of. We produce millions of tons of human waste that needs to be disposed of, and sadly, tens of thousands of bodies that need to be dealt with.
What happens if the rubbish is uncollected, the toilets don't flush and we have no way of dealing with corpses? Think for a moment how many bags of garbage are collected from outside of your house each year. How many recycling boxes you put out, how many times the toilet in your house is used, and flushed. Now imagine all of that not being disposed of. What do you intend doing with it all?
Okay some people will be blessed with living in an area where they have enough space to dispose of their waste, both general and human, at a distance from where they live, maybe a burial plot would not be out of the question either in those circumstances. Some people will have outhouses that will deal with at least one of the problems, but what about the rest of us? What do those of us who live in towns and cities, or those in situations where siting an outhouse is impossible do with our waste in a crisis situation? Even accounting for those who leave the cities waste will be a nightmare for those who remain and you need to think of how you are going to get around this. Not finding a solution will lead to massive vermin infestations and an increase in the diseases that go along with that, as well as the likely pollution of what water courses are available in your area. Sweet smelling sanitisers and disinfectants will only keep the smell at bay for a short while, and will do little in the long term to keep disease at bay.
Here is a list of possible ways of disposing of household rubbish, human excrement and lastly, corpses. No offence is meant in the dispassionate treatment of the latter, obviously many will wish to pray or follow practices relating to their religion and culture. I cannot even begin to cover the myriad of differences that relate to the treatment of the dead, this is merely a guide as to how the safe disposal of a body is possible.
Tin cans should be well scraped out, wiped or rinsed in bleach water and dried. Scoop a little cat litter into them and leave in a plastic, lidded box until they are totally dry. Tip the litter back into the box and crush the cans. They can stay in the box for storage. At some point, tin, like all metals will become valuable and may be suitable for trade and/barter. It is worth keeping in my opinion.
Plastic bottles and containers have a number of uses from storage to fire starters but they take up a fair bit of space. Crush the air out of them and replace the lids to decrease the area they occupy. Although noxious these plastics burn long and hot and are good to use for burning things that need a high temperature to ensure they are fully consumed. Human waste of all kinds needs higher than average temperatures to aid adequate combustion of the materials.
Glass jars and bottles can again be used for storage but there are limits to just how many one family or group need. Obviously they do not burn, but with flammable liquids inside they make good defensive items, smashing on impact and spreading their contents. Along the same lines but somewhat less destructive is using them in conjunction with left over cooking oil as lamps. Breaking the glass takes up far less space if they are not needed and this broken glass can be placed along the top of walls and fences to aid security.
Cardboard and paper can be reused by the kids as drawing and modelling material, damped down squeezed into balls, allowed to dry and used as 'paper logs' or used as kindling, though the flame produced by paper kindling is rarely hot enough to ignite anything but totally dry and small pieces of wood. Sheets of newspaper and card can also be used as toilet paper or it can be laid over soil to prevent weed infestation prior to planting. Both have decent insulation properties and if moistened can be used to plug gaps in window frames etc, setting hard as they dry. They can also be used as emergency bedding for small domestic animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs, providing decent insulation in colder weather. Shredded newspaper and card is ideal for using in the bottom of a home made toilet to soak up excess liquid.
Food waste should be non-existent. If you do have leftovers they should be eaten at the next meal, or at the latest the next day if refrigeration is not available.
Disposable baby nappies/feminine hygiene products should be tied into a plastic bag with as little air as possible inside it. This should be placed into another plastic bag, and when that is full it should be tied up and put into a strong garbage bag. These products will burn on a hot, outdoor fire when dry but the nappies/diapers will leave behind a small pile of silicon gel particles from the centre of the nappy.
Human waste is going to become a major issue in a very short space of time in the event that a crisis affects the municipal water supply. If you bury waste it should be at ideally be 200 ft from your home, and should not be in a location where heavy rain could cause run off to get into a water course, or cause contamination to you home. Ideally solid and liquid human waste should be kept separate, but this is not always going to be possible. Heavy duty garbage bags can be put into the toilet pan, cat litter, dried grass, leaves or even shredded newspaper should be placed in the bottom of the bag to soak up liquid, more dried material should be added if required over time. Using this method means the toilet seat can be used and the lid closed helping to prevent smells.
The bag should be tied up, with as much air as possible excluded and put inside another heavy duty bag and left to dry out before incineration.
Deaths are going to occur, of that there is no doubt whatever. The problem is it may not just be people in your family or group that you have to deal with post shtf. Although nobody would be under any obligation to deal with the dead, not doing so is going to give rise to stench, vermin, flies and disease. Burying of the dead has to be done with consideration to contamination of water supplies and should be done at the greatest possible distance from housing to cut down on the risk of contamination. This is going to be difficult if not impossible to achieve in some areas.
Cremation is by far the most hygienic method of disposal in these circumstances, and some cultures still use non mechanised cremation to dispose of their dead. To successfully cremate a body requires that a pyre be built, a body will unlikely be totally consumed, if laid on the floor, just damp from the ground will lower the temperature of the fire resulting in incomplete combustion. The base of the pyre needs to allow air to entrain underneath the body so that the temperature remains high. This may be stones or bricks or other debris that you have to hand. Some of the plastic containers previously mentioned will help to get the fire going, and as mentioned they burn hot and long. Other combustible material should be placed under, and around the body, and the addition of an accelerant may assist the process, and low flash point, used cooking fat an be used if nothing else is available. It is far better to build the pyre, and have enough combustable material there at the beginning than to have to deal with half cremated remains after the event. Consideration should be given to the wind direction to ensure smoke and smells are removed from the area as efficiently as possible.
If you have to deal with multiple corpses, a larger pyre should be built rather than individual cremation one after the other as again this is more likely to result in incomplete combustion. If there is no choice but to add more corpses, this should be done prior to the pyre being reduced to embers, the same heat and air considerations should be applied as to an individual cremation.
If fuel is in short supply a variation of the Dakota fire can be used. Dig a pit of the required size and then dig four small holes at the compass points around the pit, 'burrows' through into the main pit from the small holes ensures air flow. This makes for a very hot fire. Add combustible materials to the bottom of the main pit and continue as outlined above. The heat from this type of fire is intense and will allow far less fuel to be used, digging the pit and holes however is time consuming and it is hard work and therefore may be physically beyond the capabilities of some people.
Once the fires have died down, dried sanitary items and human waste can be disposed of in the pit. Whilst I acknowledge that this is a difficult thing to contemplate, and that the disposal of rubbish in general is not the most enthralling subject it is something we are all going to have to face if regular services are no longer available. If it is not dealt with decay and decomposition, and the diseases that those things lead to will compromise even the most well prepared amongst us.
So many illness, many of them fatal, are caused by unsanitary conditions. Disposal of waste has to be planned for if we are to have any hope of long term survival.
Take care
Lizzie
What happens if the rubbish is uncollected, the toilets don't flush and we have no way of dealing with corpses? Think for a moment how many bags of garbage are collected from outside of your house each year. How many recycling boxes you put out, how many times the toilet in your house is used, and flushed. Now imagine all of that not being disposed of. What do you intend doing with it all?
Okay some people will be blessed with living in an area where they have enough space to dispose of their waste, both general and human, at a distance from where they live, maybe a burial plot would not be out of the question either in those circumstances. Some people will have outhouses that will deal with at least one of the problems, but what about the rest of us? What do those of us who live in towns and cities, or those in situations where siting an outhouse is impossible do with our waste in a crisis situation? Even accounting for those who leave the cities waste will be a nightmare for those who remain and you need to think of how you are going to get around this. Not finding a solution will lead to massive vermin infestations and an increase in the diseases that go along with that, as well as the likely pollution of what water courses are available in your area. Sweet smelling sanitisers and disinfectants will only keep the smell at bay for a short while, and will do little in the long term to keep disease at bay.
Here is a list of possible ways of disposing of household rubbish, human excrement and lastly, corpses. No offence is meant in the dispassionate treatment of the latter, obviously many will wish to pray or follow practices relating to their religion and culture. I cannot even begin to cover the myriad of differences that relate to the treatment of the dead, this is merely a guide as to how the safe disposal of a body is possible.
Tin cans should be well scraped out, wiped or rinsed in bleach water and dried. Scoop a little cat litter into them and leave in a plastic, lidded box until they are totally dry. Tip the litter back into the box and crush the cans. They can stay in the box for storage. At some point, tin, like all metals will become valuable and may be suitable for trade and/barter. It is worth keeping in my opinion.
Plastic bottles and containers have a number of uses from storage to fire starters but they take up a fair bit of space. Crush the air out of them and replace the lids to decrease the area they occupy. Although noxious these plastics burn long and hot and are good to use for burning things that need a high temperature to ensure they are fully consumed. Human waste of all kinds needs higher than average temperatures to aid adequate combustion of the materials.
Glass jars and bottles can again be used for storage but there are limits to just how many one family or group need. Obviously they do not burn, but with flammable liquids inside they make good defensive items, smashing on impact and spreading their contents. Along the same lines but somewhat less destructive is using them in conjunction with left over cooking oil as lamps. Breaking the glass takes up far less space if they are not needed and this broken glass can be placed along the top of walls and fences to aid security.
Cardboard and paper can be reused by the kids as drawing and modelling material, damped down squeezed into balls, allowed to dry and used as 'paper logs' or used as kindling, though the flame produced by paper kindling is rarely hot enough to ignite anything but totally dry and small pieces of wood. Sheets of newspaper and card can also be used as toilet paper or it can be laid over soil to prevent weed infestation prior to planting. Both have decent insulation properties and if moistened can be used to plug gaps in window frames etc, setting hard as they dry. They can also be used as emergency bedding for small domestic animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs, providing decent insulation in colder weather. Shredded newspaper and card is ideal for using in the bottom of a home made toilet to soak up excess liquid.
Food waste should be non-existent. If you do have leftovers they should be eaten at the next meal, or at the latest the next day if refrigeration is not available.
Disposable baby nappies/feminine hygiene products should be tied into a plastic bag with as little air as possible inside it. This should be placed into another plastic bag, and when that is full it should be tied up and put into a strong garbage bag. These products will burn on a hot, outdoor fire when dry but the nappies/diapers will leave behind a small pile of silicon gel particles from the centre of the nappy.
Human waste is going to become a major issue in a very short space of time in the event that a crisis affects the municipal water supply. If you bury waste it should be at ideally be 200 ft from your home, and should not be in a location where heavy rain could cause run off to get into a water course, or cause contamination to you home. Ideally solid and liquid human waste should be kept separate, but this is not always going to be possible. Heavy duty garbage bags can be put into the toilet pan, cat litter, dried grass, leaves or even shredded newspaper should be placed in the bottom of the bag to soak up liquid, more dried material should be added if required over time. Using this method means the toilet seat can be used and the lid closed helping to prevent smells.
The bag should be tied up, with as much air as possible excluded and put inside another heavy duty bag and left to dry out before incineration.
Deaths are going to occur, of that there is no doubt whatever. The problem is it may not just be people in your family or group that you have to deal with post shtf. Although nobody would be under any obligation to deal with the dead, not doing so is going to give rise to stench, vermin, flies and disease. Burying of the dead has to be done with consideration to contamination of water supplies and should be done at the greatest possible distance from housing to cut down on the risk of contamination. This is going to be difficult if not impossible to achieve in some areas.
Cremation is by far the most hygienic method of disposal in these circumstances, and some cultures still use non mechanised cremation to dispose of their dead. To successfully cremate a body requires that a pyre be built, a body will unlikely be totally consumed, if laid on the floor, just damp from the ground will lower the temperature of the fire resulting in incomplete combustion. The base of the pyre needs to allow air to entrain underneath the body so that the temperature remains high. This may be stones or bricks or other debris that you have to hand. Some of the plastic containers previously mentioned will help to get the fire going, and as mentioned they burn hot and long. Other combustible material should be placed under, and around the body, and the addition of an accelerant may assist the process, and low flash point, used cooking fat an be used if nothing else is available. It is far better to build the pyre, and have enough combustable material there at the beginning than to have to deal with half cremated remains after the event. Consideration should be given to the wind direction to ensure smoke and smells are removed from the area as efficiently as possible.
If you have to deal with multiple corpses, a larger pyre should be built rather than individual cremation one after the other as again this is more likely to result in incomplete combustion. If there is no choice but to add more corpses, this should be done prior to the pyre being reduced to embers, the same heat and air considerations should be applied as to an individual cremation.
If fuel is in short supply a variation of the Dakota fire can be used. Dig a pit of the required size and then dig four small holes at the compass points around the pit, 'burrows' through into the main pit from the small holes ensures air flow. This makes for a very hot fire. Add combustible materials to the bottom of the main pit and continue as outlined above. The heat from this type of fire is intense and will allow far less fuel to be used, digging the pit and holes however is time consuming and it is hard work and therefore may be physically beyond the capabilities of some people.
Once the fires have died down, dried sanitary items and human waste can be disposed of in the pit. Whilst I acknowledge that this is a difficult thing to contemplate, and that the disposal of rubbish in general is not the most enthralling subject it is something we are all going to have to face if regular services are no longer available. If it is not dealt with decay and decomposition, and the diseases that those things lead to will compromise even the most well prepared amongst us.
So many illness, many of them fatal, are caused by unsanitary conditions. Disposal of waste has to be planned for if we are to have any hope of long term survival.
Take care
Lizzie
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Want to avoid Typhus? Do your laundry.....
| Pediculus humanus |
First of all typhus should not be confused with typhoid, they are two entirely different things. Also, there are quite a few types of typhus in circulation, this article deals with the most serious, epidemic typhus which is spread by the body louse - Pediculus corporis. (Pediculus Humanus)
This little louse is closely related to the head lice- Pediculus capitus but unlike its cousin it lives in clothing and moves onto the human to feed, returning to clothing after feeding. It is also different in that it can spread bacterial infection which the head louse cannot.
The body louse seems to appear out of nowhere in troubled times, wars, economic crises, any situation that causes a return to the unsanitary conditions of yesteryear. Scientists have tried for years to find out how they suddenly appear during hard times, what can cause such a huge surge in these tiny six-legged critters that an epidemic is the result, well now they know. They are here all the time.
History books will tell you all about typhus epidemics, how tens of thousands of soldiers died in 1812, how millions have died across the globe from sporadic outbreaks of this disease. Yet even having said that typhus infections dropped well before the introduction of the only known treatment, antibiotics. This drop correlates exactly with an increase in public health legislation, improvement in housing and the introduction of running water in cities.
There are few cases of typhus recorded each year in the developed world. The United States sees no more than a couple of hundred cases a year, mostly amongst the long-term homeless who have not got the facilities to maintain a high level of cleanliness, in particular regarding their clothes.
As the economic situation worsens and more and more people become homeless it is not unrealistic to assume that we will get to a point where typhus once again starts to make its presence felt. If you extend this line of thinking to those who have no connection to mains water supply due to unpaid bills, the scenario gets worse still. If you move on from that to a societal breakdown, where nobody has water to spare for laundering clothes you have the stage set for a return of typhus at epidemic levels. You must also factor in, that in a full breakdown treatment for the disease will not be available.
The bite of the body louse in itself does not cause typhus. It is the excrement that causes the problem. This is deposited on the skin as the louse feeds. A short while after the louse returns to its home in your clothing you start to itch at the feed site. When you scratch you transfer the droppings that are now on your finger tips and under your nails into the open feed site and thus allow the bacteria entry into your system.
What is typhus?
It's an infection caused by the faeces of the body louse, Pediculus corporis.The bacterium that causes the disease is Rickettsiae prowazekii. The bacteria invades the endothelial cells of blood vessels causing multi-system vasculitis.
Where does it strike?
Outbreaks will occur where poverty, homelessness, close human contact and lack of washing and laundry facilities co-exist. Some of the recent outbreaks occurred in Peru, Burundi and Russia.
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| Tent city Reno Nevada |
General malaise
Abrupt onset severe headache
Fever
Myalgia (muscle pain)
Blanching rash turning to unblanching rash within 2days. It will not be present on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet,or face.
Cough/wheeze
Abdominal pain
Nausea
Complications
Organ damage
Hypovolaemia (decrease in circulating blood volume)
Electrolyte Imbalance
Gangrene
Secondary infection such as pneumonia
Reactivation as the infection stays for life though the patient will be asymptomatic after treatment.
Treatment
Doxycycline or tetracycline is the current treatment of choice though chloramphenicol has had a good success rate. Penicillin based drugs can be used but there has been issues regarding resistance of the bacterium to these drugs.
SEE NOTE BELOW REGARDING STORAGE OF CYCLINE DRUGS
Many labs tests are required to confirm the diagnosis but antibiotics will be started without waiting for the results of the tests if typhus is suspected.
Prevention
Infested clothing should be exposed to water of 158*F (70*C) for a minimum of an hour. A washing machine cycle is preferable.
Where water and or fuel is in short supply insecticide may be used to kill the lice.0.5% Permethrin is recommended.
Avoid unsanitary and overcrowded places
If you cannot accomplish any of the above preventative measures leave worn clothing in a 'hard' environment, such as a bucket for 7 days. The lice can survive no longer that 5 days without food. Infested or possibly infested clothes should be kept away from other clothing.
Rotate worn clothing leaving it 7 days before wearing it again. This will ensure if you have picked up a louse from somewhere it will be dead before you wear the clothes again.
Change your clothes as soon as possible after being in a 'louse likely' situation.
Apply bite treatment before you scratch, if you can avoid scratching until you have washed/wiped the whole area around the itch you may avoid transferring the bacterium to the bite site. You cannot distinguish one bite from another so avoiding scratching is a sensible precaution. Wipe the area around the bite carefully, do not go back and forth across the bite until you have cleaned the area around it thoroughly.
If you have water to wash clothes, but cannot maintain the high temperature, leave the clothes unworn for 7 days and then wash them, bashing them as you do so. The reason you see women bashing clothes off rocks is not always to keep their whites dazzling. Bashing the clothes dislodges the lice.
The lice prefer nooks and crannies and like seams, hems and pocket linings to hide in so turning clothes inside out makes them easier to dislodge.
NOTE ABOUT DEOXYCYCLINE AND TETRACYCLINE
These antibiotics should NOT be stored for long term use. Be guided by the expiry date on the box. These drugs become toxic as you move past the expiry date. They become more toxic the further past the expiry date you go. Taking these drugs when they are out of date is highly dangerous and depending on the age of the drug can lead to death.
Take care
Lizzie
Scurvy..coming to a town near you post collapse
I am sure most of you know why us Brits are called Limeys. For those that don't allow me to enlighten you. Way back in the early 1800s James Lind, a doctor, discovered that citrus fruit prevented sailors on long voyages dying of scurvy. Some time later, the British Navy started carrying thousands of lemons and limes for the sailors to consume during the voyage, hence the nickname Limey. All I can say is I am glad whoever coined the phrase preferred green to yellow, I could have spent my life being called a lemon and that just doesn't do it for me.
Moving on, scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, a vitamin that is not readily stored in the body and needs to be topped up on a daily basis. Lack of it causes a whole shed load of problems, from bleeding gums and tooth loss, spots, sores, ulcers, fatigue, muscle loss, heart problems and death.
Scurvy is almost unheard of these days, there was one case in the UK in 2008, in a child who was a fussy eater and lived on bread and jam. (jelly)
Vitamin C is required to build collagen in the body.Collagen is a type of protein and it needs to be replaced regularly, without vitamin C this is impossible. Scurvy has never been eradicated, it is not that kind of disease, it is a condition that's caused by a diet consistently short of this essential vitamin. It does not occur over night, but a period of a three weeks without adequate vitamin C will start to see the symptoms appearing.
Small red dots appear often on the shins where the hairs grow from the skin, they continue to appear until patches of dots are formed. The hairs on the shins, break easily and have a twisted appearance. Sometimes the patches of red dots join up forming large dark areas that ulcerate readily. Muscle pains in the legs start and fatigue sets in. The patient will experience severe shortness of breath particularly after exercise, blurring of vision and a damp sticky feeling around the eyes. The muscle pains get worse and the pain may become more generalised before it reaches the heart. If it does reach the heart, the muscles of the heart enlarge and bleed which leads to death.
There is no treatment for scurvy other than taking vitamin C, either from fruit and vegetables or in a supplement. Adults and children are equally susceptible and nursing infants more so due to the fact that they take nothing but milk from their mother. If the mother is lacking in the vitamin, her body will use up available supplies leaving none for the infant. Baby formula usually has vitamins added to make it as similar to breast milk as possible, it is advisable to check the ingredients list on formula you are storing to make sure.
Even a poor stored food diet, that has no access to canned fruits etc will contain some vitamin C, but not enough to prevent scurvy on an on-going basis. Many dried fruits, particularly berries, contain more than enough vitamin C to keep a person healthy and storing them is highly recommended. In addition supplemental vitamin C should be stored in quantity. Like all preparations it loses efficiency over time, but doubling up the dose of older tablets would not cause any harm as the excess is excreted without issues.
Knowing where to find berries in the wild or planting a few bushes can ensure your and your families health on an on-going basis, allowing you to hold onto your stored dried fruits until you have absolutely no choice but to use them.
Scurvy should present few problems to those who have prepared, even at a low level, for a crisis situation. Should that crisis continue for a period of years however, and access to fresh fruit and vegetables has not been secured, then it is more likely than not that there will be a resurgence of cases of this debilitating, and if untreated, fatal condition.
Take care
Lizzie
Moving on, scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, a vitamin that is not readily stored in the body and needs to be topped up on a daily basis. Lack of it causes a whole shed load of problems, from bleeding gums and tooth loss, spots, sores, ulcers, fatigue, muscle loss, heart problems and death.
Scurvy is almost unheard of these days, there was one case in the UK in 2008, in a child who was a fussy eater and lived on bread and jam. (jelly)
Vitamin C is required to build collagen in the body.Collagen is a type of protein and it needs to be replaced regularly, without vitamin C this is impossible. Scurvy has never been eradicated, it is not that kind of disease, it is a condition that's caused by a diet consistently short of this essential vitamin. It does not occur over night, but a period of a three weeks without adequate vitamin C will start to see the symptoms appearing.
Small red dots appear often on the shins where the hairs grow from the skin, they continue to appear until patches of dots are formed. The hairs on the shins, break easily and have a twisted appearance. Sometimes the patches of red dots join up forming large dark areas that ulcerate readily. Muscle pains in the legs start and fatigue sets in. The patient will experience severe shortness of breath particularly after exercise, blurring of vision and a damp sticky feeling around the eyes. The muscle pains get worse and the pain may become more generalised before it reaches the heart. If it does reach the heart, the muscles of the heart enlarge and bleed which leads to death.
There is no treatment for scurvy other than taking vitamin C, either from fruit and vegetables or in a supplement. Adults and children are equally susceptible and nursing infants more so due to the fact that they take nothing but milk from their mother. If the mother is lacking in the vitamin, her body will use up available supplies leaving none for the infant. Baby formula usually has vitamins added to make it as similar to breast milk as possible, it is advisable to check the ingredients list on formula you are storing to make sure.
Even a poor stored food diet, that has no access to canned fruits etc will contain some vitamin C, but not enough to prevent scurvy on an on-going basis. Many dried fruits, particularly berries, contain more than enough vitamin C to keep a person healthy and storing them is highly recommended. In addition supplemental vitamin C should be stored in quantity. Like all preparations it loses efficiency over time, but doubling up the dose of older tablets would not cause any harm as the excess is excreted without issues.
Knowing where to find berries in the wild or planting a few bushes can ensure your and your families health on an on-going basis, allowing you to hold onto your stored dried fruits until you have absolutely no choice but to use them.
Scurvy should present few problems to those who have prepared, even at a low level, for a crisis situation. Should that crisis continue for a period of years however, and access to fresh fruit and vegetables has not been secured, then it is more likely than not that there will be a resurgence of cases of this debilitating, and if untreated, fatal condition.
Take care
Lizzie
Monday, 11 June 2012
The Terminal Event
We all have our own ideas about what the terminal event will be. The event that above all others, tips mankind over the edge, throws us into a level of turmoil that the human race has never experienced before.
After doing a great deal of reading, and visiting dozens of websites devoted to our survival after such an event it seems that failure of the power grid, and a total economic collapse, are the two things that are at the forefront of most peoples mind.
It's easy to see why these things should feature so prominently, they both affect the fabric of the society we live in. If one of them happens it could without too much imagination lead to the other.
Obviously there are many other things that could go wrong, Yellowstone could blow its top, a coronal mass ejection could hit, or a new ice age could begin. The list is almost endless. Some people will survive, of that there is little doubt, but surviving well is a different thing entirely. To me, prepping is something I do to help me live after such an event. I want to do more than exist, merely existing is something that should be reserved for those who have put no effort into preparing. Those of us who have prepared deserve to benefit from those preparations.
Regardless of what most say, that us urbanites will perish in the first zombie wave, I refuse to accept this. I refuse to give up, it is not part of my character. Many other city dwellers feel as I do, though the dream version of my life sees me with a charming log cabin and a gun in my hand, and in my dream these things would enable me to live happily ever after. The reality is I would probably freeze to death the first winter or shoot myself in the foot and die of infection. The reality of the situation rarely measures up to the dream and often comes as a huge shock. Regardless of our location, our needs are in essence the same. Food, water, shelter, heat, health and a way to defend ourselves. Removing any one of these will most likely lead to our demise. Having them all however will not mean we will make it.
State of mind plays a massive part in survival situations. I am not just talking about the will to survive though obviously that is essential. Depression will be a constant bedfellow in dire circumstances. Everyone will experience days when they wonder if it's worth it, if they can go on. Living in a constant state of high alert causes stress and high blood pressure, both of which can lead to heart attack and stroke, both of which are a threat to survival. Depression leads to fatigue and loss of focus, both of which could be a threat to survival.
Everyone has different coping mechanisms that they employ in their daily lives and if at all possible these mechanisms should continue to be a part of our lives after the arrival of the crisis. Routine and ritual gives us a sense of continuity, a taste of normality, that can help keep us calm in adverse circumstances. Try to incorporate something that uses little of your resources into your daily routine before the event, so that you can continue to employ it afterwards. This can be anything, five minutes with a crossword puzzle, meditation, prayer, singing whatever allows you to detach for a few moments from the stress of the situation you find yourself in.
Many will decry this as psycho-babble, it is not. Depression and constant high alertness actually alters the chemistry of the brain which affects both focus and function in a relatively short space of time, this is something you cannot afford to have happen to you in a shtf situation. Constant high alert stress can lead to incidents we read about, where a soldier snaps and turns his weapon on those around him, or where a model but under pressure worker can take no more and blows his brains out. Depression leads to the opposite, you go through the motions but nothing gets done, you fail to see you are neglecting important tasks, and even if you notice, or it is pointed out, it will make little difference. Both of these situations are possible, but you may suffer from neither, you may suffer from one or the other, or from both at different times either under the same or different conditions.
We have no idea what the situation will be and therefore we can have no idea how we will react to it. We all make plans to deal with whatever comes our way, we make plans for how we will occupy our children, care for our elderly, even how we will feed our pets, but little is said about taking care of our own emotional health. The demands that a crisis situation will make on us are varied and many and as it will be a situation of a magnitude none of us have faced before we cannot assume we will manage to make it through without issues. Taking time to think about this, how you will cope with the demands made upon you, both physically and emotionally can at least allow you assess your emotional health as it stands now and how it changes as you move through the crisis.
Delegation of certain duties and responsibilities in times of crisis is beneficial to the entire group, not least to the person charged with the role of team leader, or head of the group. Even quite young children can be part of the team, being assigned some minor responsibility will make them feel part of what's going on and will teach them skills that will be valuable to them later in life. Even those seniors in the family or group that are no longer capable of hard physical work should be given responsibility for something in order that they do not feel a burden. If you know in advance who will be a part of your group thinking about which tasks will be allocated to whom will make the transition far smoother than leaving it until disaster has struck to start discussing it.
This is the basic principle behind major catastrophe teams operating all over the world. By everyone having a pre-designated list of tasks the team works works well together without wasting time and energy, both of which are extremely valuable in a crisis situation.
Whatever we face in the future being aware of the negative side effects of stress can help us plan accordingly, allowing us to maximise the potential of our survival group. A strong leader is one who provides solid foundations that the group can build on both emotionally and physically. Having this firm basis will make the challenging conditions that we all know are coming our way far easier to bear.
Take care
Lizzie
After doing a great deal of reading, and visiting dozens of websites devoted to our survival after such an event it seems that failure of the power grid, and a total economic collapse, are the two things that are at the forefront of most peoples mind.
It's easy to see why these things should feature so prominently, they both affect the fabric of the society we live in. If one of them happens it could without too much imagination lead to the other.
Obviously there are many other things that could go wrong, Yellowstone could blow its top, a coronal mass ejection could hit, or a new ice age could begin. The list is almost endless. Some people will survive, of that there is little doubt, but surviving well is a different thing entirely. To me, prepping is something I do to help me live after such an event. I want to do more than exist, merely existing is something that should be reserved for those who have put no effort into preparing. Those of us who have prepared deserve to benefit from those preparations.
Regardless of what most say, that us urbanites will perish in the first zombie wave, I refuse to accept this. I refuse to give up, it is not part of my character. Many other city dwellers feel as I do, though the dream version of my life sees me with a charming log cabin and a gun in my hand, and in my dream these things would enable me to live happily ever after. The reality is I would probably freeze to death the first winter or shoot myself in the foot and die of infection. The reality of the situation rarely measures up to the dream and often comes as a huge shock. Regardless of our location, our needs are in essence the same. Food, water, shelter, heat, health and a way to defend ourselves. Removing any one of these will most likely lead to our demise. Having them all however will not mean we will make it.
State of mind plays a massive part in survival situations. I am not just talking about the will to survive though obviously that is essential. Depression will be a constant bedfellow in dire circumstances. Everyone will experience days when they wonder if it's worth it, if they can go on. Living in a constant state of high alert causes stress and high blood pressure, both of which can lead to heart attack and stroke, both of which are a threat to survival. Depression leads to fatigue and loss of focus, both of which could be a threat to survival.
Everyone has different coping mechanisms that they employ in their daily lives and if at all possible these mechanisms should continue to be a part of our lives after the arrival of the crisis. Routine and ritual gives us a sense of continuity, a taste of normality, that can help keep us calm in adverse circumstances. Try to incorporate something that uses little of your resources into your daily routine before the event, so that you can continue to employ it afterwards. This can be anything, five minutes with a crossword puzzle, meditation, prayer, singing whatever allows you to detach for a few moments from the stress of the situation you find yourself in.
Many will decry this as psycho-babble, it is not. Depression and constant high alertness actually alters the chemistry of the brain which affects both focus and function in a relatively short space of time, this is something you cannot afford to have happen to you in a shtf situation. Constant high alert stress can lead to incidents we read about, where a soldier snaps and turns his weapon on those around him, or where a model but under pressure worker can take no more and blows his brains out. Depression leads to the opposite, you go through the motions but nothing gets done, you fail to see you are neglecting important tasks, and even if you notice, or it is pointed out, it will make little difference. Both of these situations are possible, but you may suffer from neither, you may suffer from one or the other, or from both at different times either under the same or different conditions.
We have no idea what the situation will be and therefore we can have no idea how we will react to it. We all make plans to deal with whatever comes our way, we make plans for how we will occupy our children, care for our elderly, even how we will feed our pets, but little is said about taking care of our own emotional health. The demands that a crisis situation will make on us are varied and many and as it will be a situation of a magnitude none of us have faced before we cannot assume we will manage to make it through without issues. Taking time to think about this, how you will cope with the demands made upon you, both physically and emotionally can at least allow you assess your emotional health as it stands now and how it changes as you move through the crisis.
Delegation of certain duties and responsibilities in times of crisis is beneficial to the entire group, not least to the person charged with the role of team leader, or head of the group. Even quite young children can be part of the team, being assigned some minor responsibility will make them feel part of what's going on and will teach them skills that will be valuable to them later in life. Even those seniors in the family or group that are no longer capable of hard physical work should be given responsibility for something in order that they do not feel a burden. If you know in advance who will be a part of your group thinking about which tasks will be allocated to whom will make the transition far smoother than leaving it until disaster has struck to start discussing it.
This is the basic principle behind major catastrophe teams operating all over the world. By everyone having a pre-designated list of tasks the team works works well together without wasting time and energy, both of which are extremely valuable in a crisis situation.
Whatever we face in the future being aware of the negative side effects of stress can help us plan accordingly, allowing us to maximise the potential of our survival group. A strong leader is one who provides solid foundations that the group can build on both emotionally and physically. Having this firm basis will make the challenging conditions that we all know are coming our way far easier to bear.
Take care
Lizzie
Friday, 8 June 2012
Your sense of smell could well save your life post shtf
Roast beef, flowers, perfume, fresh mown grass...we mostly take our sense of smell for granted. Some people have a condition called anosmia, they have no sense of smell. This affects their sense of taste, and sufferers report that it has a major negative effect on their lives.
The inability to smell smoke could easily mean the difference between escape and death, but smell can do more than just save your life should fire break out.
Animals use their sense of smell to avoid other animals, and people. Hunters stay downwind so as their quarry does not get their scent, and dogs are used to find everything from cadavers to drugs so good is their sense of smell.
Much is written by preppers about the smell of woodsmoke giving away a position, or the smell of cooking attracting undesirables to our homes, so smell is already on the preppers radar, but smell has more implications than you might imagine.
Many people today have no idea what really bad personal hygiene smells like. If you imagine a gym locker room that has not been ventilated or cleaned for some time, and add that to half a dozen pairs of track shoes left festering in a bag, and add that to a faint smell of urine you are beginning to get close to a body unwashed for a couple of weeks. Fresh sweat does not smell, it is the bacteria that arises from the breakdown of sweat that causes the thing we know as body odour. The odd whiff that you get from someone you pass when out shopping does not even come close to the smell of a two week or more unwashed body.
Think of a time when water is in short supply generally. It's a sad but true fact that if everyone in your vicinity, including you, stinks, you will not notice it after a very short while. Whilst this means that the unpleasantness of body odour is reduced within a few days, it also means that one warning system is removed from your arsenal. You will not be able to smell other people who are in your vicinity who should not be there. Even if its a sponge bath or the use of baby wipes keeping yourself clean so you can smell everyone else is a very prudent thing to do.
To many people who have not planned ahead, the hunt for food and water will take precedence over personal hygiene. Many will be living a scant existence having no idea where their next meal is coming from, where they will get water to drink. Washing with that precious liquid will be far from their minds, and it is obvious as to why. Their failure to plan, and to keep themselves clean, can assist greatly in your security. If you own a dog, they will smell unwanted visitors coming at quite a distance. Even without a dog, the odour will be noticeable simply by opening a window, long before they get close to it, and the more people there are, the stronger the smell will be. If you are outside you will often be able to tell the direction of the smell....and go the other way.
This can of course work the other way as well. Leaving your home smelling of perfume and soap will make you stand out in the very smelly crowd, and will allow people to work out where you are and the direction you are travelling in. Smelling good means you have soap, and water, and if you have those things you maybe have other stuff as well, and that means you have just become a target. If you need to leave your home you need to be smell neutral. Do not wash the day you are going out, even un-perfumed soap has a 'clean' smell to it when compared to unwashed bodies. It is best to use as few perfumed products as possible post shtf as these smells linger, even if you do not notice them others will. Keep a set of clothes worn several times to wear when you need to go out, it will help you fit in, but will not smell bad enough to mask the body odours of others.
On the plus side, smells within the home can improve life for the family enormously. Having familiar smells around calms children, in particular young children and babies respond well to the familiar scents of their parents, they will often settle better having something with them that smells of mommy, or in the case of my youngest, daddy.
One spray of perfume sprayed into the air, or a perfumed candle that was enjoyed before the shtf can help provide a sense of calm around the home. Pleasant smells are known to enhance mood and anything that can do that in dire situations should be considered. Mental well being in a crisis is well documented as being a key to survival. Smells are evocative and can remind us of better times, the memories they induce can start conversations, giving a sense of cohesion at a time when doubts and fears are more than likely going to be a huge part of our lives.
Consider the smells around your home, those you enjoy, that calm you, or make you smile, and add a few items that provide these smells to your preps. The idea of prepping to me, means living, not just existing, after a crisis. Being aware of smells can enhance our lives in more ways than one, and in some cases it can even save our lives, and that's not something to be sniffed at!
The inability to smell smoke could easily mean the difference between escape and death, but smell can do more than just save your life should fire break out.
Animals use their sense of smell to avoid other animals, and people. Hunters stay downwind so as their quarry does not get their scent, and dogs are used to find everything from cadavers to drugs so good is their sense of smell.
Much is written by preppers about the smell of woodsmoke giving away a position, or the smell of cooking attracting undesirables to our homes, so smell is already on the preppers radar, but smell has more implications than you might imagine.
Many people today have no idea what really bad personal hygiene smells like. If you imagine a gym locker room that has not been ventilated or cleaned for some time, and add that to half a dozen pairs of track shoes left festering in a bag, and add that to a faint smell of urine you are beginning to get close to a body unwashed for a couple of weeks. Fresh sweat does not smell, it is the bacteria that arises from the breakdown of sweat that causes the thing we know as body odour. The odd whiff that you get from someone you pass when out shopping does not even come close to the smell of a two week or more unwashed body.
Think of a time when water is in short supply generally. It's a sad but true fact that if everyone in your vicinity, including you, stinks, you will not notice it after a very short while. Whilst this means that the unpleasantness of body odour is reduced within a few days, it also means that one warning system is removed from your arsenal. You will not be able to smell other people who are in your vicinity who should not be there. Even if its a sponge bath or the use of baby wipes keeping yourself clean so you can smell everyone else is a very prudent thing to do.
To many people who have not planned ahead, the hunt for food and water will take precedence over personal hygiene. Many will be living a scant existence having no idea where their next meal is coming from, where they will get water to drink. Washing with that precious liquid will be far from their minds, and it is obvious as to why. Their failure to plan, and to keep themselves clean, can assist greatly in your security. If you own a dog, they will smell unwanted visitors coming at quite a distance. Even without a dog, the odour will be noticeable simply by opening a window, long before they get close to it, and the more people there are, the stronger the smell will be. If you are outside you will often be able to tell the direction of the smell....and go the other way.
This can of course work the other way as well. Leaving your home smelling of perfume and soap will make you stand out in the very smelly crowd, and will allow people to work out where you are and the direction you are travelling in. Smelling good means you have soap, and water, and if you have those things you maybe have other stuff as well, and that means you have just become a target. If you need to leave your home you need to be smell neutral. Do not wash the day you are going out, even un-perfumed soap has a 'clean' smell to it when compared to unwashed bodies. It is best to use as few perfumed products as possible post shtf as these smells linger, even if you do not notice them others will. Keep a set of clothes worn several times to wear when you need to go out, it will help you fit in, but will not smell bad enough to mask the body odours of others.
On the plus side, smells within the home can improve life for the family enormously. Having familiar smells around calms children, in particular young children and babies respond well to the familiar scents of their parents, they will often settle better having something with them that smells of mommy, or in the case of my youngest, daddy.
One spray of perfume sprayed into the air, or a perfumed candle that was enjoyed before the shtf can help provide a sense of calm around the home. Pleasant smells are known to enhance mood and anything that can do that in dire situations should be considered. Mental well being in a crisis is well documented as being a key to survival. Smells are evocative and can remind us of better times, the memories they induce can start conversations, giving a sense of cohesion at a time when doubts and fears are more than likely going to be a huge part of our lives.
Consider the smells around your home, those you enjoy, that calm you, or make you smile, and add a few items that provide these smells to your preps. The idea of prepping to me, means living, not just existing, after a crisis. Being aware of smells can enhance our lives in more ways than one, and in some cases it can even save our lives, and that's not something to be sniffed at!
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Why there will be WAY more zombies than you anticipated
Electricity hasn't been around all that long. For most of our history mankind has managed very well without it. Large numbers of people around the world still live without an electricity supply. If the grid goes down does it really mean the end of the human race?
On June 3rd I did a post about pandemics. I said in the introduction, that in my opinion only two things could be serious enough to put an end to humans. Pandemic and grid failure. Looking at the figures for the 1918-1920 pandemic, and using those percentages with current population, it seems I may have been wrong in my assumptions about pandemics.
So, onto grid failure, which to cover all the things that would be affected, and the speed at which they would be affected would need a large book, it is way too big a subject for an article. This article is based the things we have all heard, that 99% of the population of the United States would be dead within a year and that the world population will plummet. Let's see.
I have chosen 2010 as the year all of the figures relate to, as that is the closest year that has a full set of statistics available. Figures are taken from World Health Organisation records, love them or hate them they are very good pen pushers and compile statistics about anything and everything.
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| Burnt transformer Narla Tataro power station |
Okay, we all know that if the grid goes down, so does everything else in short order. Food supply chain, large scale agriculture,hospitals, traffic lights, everything that we regard as part of the very fabric of our lives. We have come to rely on electricity to such an extent that should it vanish from our lives it really would mean the end of the world as we know it. The question is though, would it be an extinction level event?
In 2010 there were 133,000,000 million births and 57,000,000 deaths from all causes. The WHO records the following for 2010:
34,000,000 known type 1 diabetics world wide.
64,234,000 known COPD (chronic obstructive airways disease sufferers)world wide.
22,800,000 known cancer sufferers world wide.
These conditions are considered to be those that contribute most to the mean global death rates. Now I am not a statistician, and it is impossible to know the life expectancy of the people suffering from these conditions, so, for the purposes of the exercise I am going to assume they all die in the first year.
This would add 120,000,000 deaths to the 57,000,0000 'usual' deaths giving us 177,000,000 deaths for the first year. On top of this there would be a rise in the murder rate, the death rate from heart attacks would soar, mainly due to unfit people having to engage in hard physical labour, and deaths from lack of medication and medical intervention would skyrocket, as would deaths from malnutrition and disease.
This is where things get difficult, There are no statistics regarding lives saved each year by medical intervention, with no intervention, how many more deaths would this ammount to? 10% more? 20%, 50%? Let's say the global death rate doubles to account for this, and the rise in murders, malnutrition and disease, a 100% increase, this is distinctly possible when you consider the circumstances. So the first year the death rate is 177,000,000 plus another 57,000,000 from doubling the base rate in the first year, giving us an estimated death rate in the first year of 234,000,000 people. If all of those deaths occurred in the United States and nowhere else, there would still be 102,000,000 Americans left. Whilst absolutely disastrous this is nowhere near an extinction level event.
12,650%
Obviously birth rates need to be considered. This was left at 133,000,000 for the first year. Most births take place in the developing world, the highest rates of all being found in regions that currently do not have a grid supplied electricity system. The first year would see a reduction in terminations of pregnancy of some 42,000,000 (the Foundation for Bio-ethical reform) which would increase the birth rate, but deaths of newborns would increase dramatically so the WHO figure was used. All of this boils down to the following:
A 12650% rise in the global yearly death rate would still leave a population of some 2,250,000 people populating the planet. Not all of these people are going to be in areas where disease and starvation will wipe them out. Many people in remote areas will be untouched by a total grid down event, it is feasible that some tribal people may not even know what has happened in the first world.
| Masho-piro tribe Peruvian jungle |
A total grid down event is highly unlikely to put an end to the human race, even though it will most definitely be for us in the first world, the end of the world as we know it. I am surprised by these findings but it shows very clearly, that to live through an event like this, as opposed to just existing after an event like this, we need to look towards simplifying our lives. We need to wean ourselves off of the electricity that we depend on. We need to have the skills that our grandparents and their grandparents had.
Life without electricity will be different, very, very different, but it will not be the lack of electricity that will make life hellish. We know from our forefathers that although more manually taxing and far less convenient that we can survive and we can do it well. What will make life hellish when the grid fails is those who have no clue how to cope, those who will refuse to work at growing vegetables, those who will see their future in terms of what they can steal from those who have had the foresight to prepare.
Unless we can find a way of getting preparedness accepted by the masses, unless we can make them see that being prepared for such an event is the wise thing to do we will be living with far more zombies than we anticipated.
It goes without saying that this is not good news, drastic as it sounds, those of us who are awake, particularly those living in cities, would do far better with less people around. Resources would be more readily available, land for food growing would be more readily available, as would non-perishable goods, from blankets to pots and pans, that could be scavenged from homes that no longer had inhabitants that needed them.
In my opinion a total grid down event is not the end of everything, but it may well be the tipping point that sets off a hell on earth scenario that lasts for decades.
Take care
Lizzie
Sunday, 3 June 2012
End of the human race ?
Much has been written, and continues to be written about the die off rates after a societal collapse. The truth is there is no possible way of knowing, and stating figures is pure conjecture. It's the facts that need looking at.
There are many things that can happen to cause a collapse, but only two of those things, in my opinion, will have the remotest possibility of causing a mass die off of the human race. Total failure of the grid and a pandemic of a killer disease. Both of these things could have origins that are the result of natural occurrences, or that are man made. The origin of the cause is not important from the medical point of view, what is important is the effects it will have and how those effects can be dealt with.
PANDEMIC
A pandemic is an epidemic that has spread around the globe. The damage caused to the population depends on the disease, it's mode of action and it's morbidity and mortality rates. It is not automatic that a pandemic will kill millions, there are many variables that come into play that can alter the course of a pandemic, making it far less, or far more severe than was first thought. Novel H1n1-swine flu, highlights this point. It hit young healthy people the hardest, as did the 1918-1920 pandemic which was very similar in structure but was far more severe in nature than the 2009 pandemic.
Flu pandemics often come in three waves, sinusoidal waves corresponding with the flu season in a particular part of the world. For some reason, as yet unknown, the second wave, the second flu season is often worse than the first. The third wave sees far less deaths and by year four, there have been enough people who have survived it for there to be passive herd immunity and the flu subset becomes integrated into the range of flu viruses in circulation at any given time.
In order for a localised outbreak of a disease to turn into an epidemic, and for that epidemic to turn into a pandemic, the disease needs to be able to be passed from individual to individual with relative ease. The population, or the herd as it is referred to need to be close together, like in a city, in order for the disease to have enough hosts to spread into. The basis of vaccination is to provide herd immunity and therefore deny the disease a supply of suitable hosts, thus preventing an epidemic, and by default a pandemic. This is referred to as active immunity. Active immunity is not foolproof. Janet Parker, from Birmingham, West Midlands UK died of smallpox on September 11th 1978, she had been vaccinated against the disease in 1966. The Abid strain that killed her was rare and had not been discovered until years after she was immunised and therefore she was not protected. She was the last person to my knowledge to die of Smallpox. Her mother contracted the disease from her but survived the encounter.
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| Janet Parker 1939-1978 the worlds last known smallpox victim |
It is of course possible that a pandemic could be triggered by a pathogen escaping from a lab, or by a deliberate release. It is however considered by the medical profession to most likely be caused by just one person with a highly contagious condition, doing something completely normal like teaching a class of kids or arriving at a major international airport. Even this though does not guarantee a disease going global. Many lethal diseases, such as Ebola, have such blatant symptoms that although some people in direct contact would die, it is highly unlikely to be more than a localised incident, almost immediate containment would see to that. If any contact did go on to develop and spread the disease, containment again would kick in. There would never be enough hosts for it to get a foothold.
This is what happened in the Parker smallpox case, although highly contagious, swift treatment and containment limited the spread to two people, including Parker, and the other patient survived.
Microbiologists, virologists and bacteriologists around the world are in consensus that the biggest risk for pandemic comes from respiratory disorders. This is quite simply because they usually start off feeling like a cold, and progress to feeling like flu, by the time anyone is aware that it is a novel illness, many, many people are already infected and are passing it on to others. Microbiologists work on a 20 spread, that is each person with a highly contagious condition will infect approximately 20 people, the rest of those they come into contact with for some reason do not develop the condition. So, one teacher infects 20 kids, over the next day or week, depending on the disease, each of them infects 20 people, that takes us to 400. Each of those 400 infect on average 20 people each, that gives us 8000, and so on, you are now heading towards an epidemic. Global travel is an easy way for epidemics to turn into pandemics, if populations were static, pandemics would not occur. Even the plague pandemic in the middle ages arrived by sailing ship, it escaped from its local population and spread out.
There is no way to prevent a pandemic of an emerging or novel disease. The impact can be minimised by international co-operation on research and drug development but that is all. On an individual or family level, social distancing, that goes way beyond the government guidelines of not going to a ball game or to the cinema is the only effective way to deal with the situation. If you are not sharing air with people who may be infected, not touching the door handles that they touch, not sitting on chairs they sit in or telephones they have used, you greatly reduce your risk of becoming infected. Many pathogens can survive for 72 hours on hard surfaces, and 24 hours on soft surfaces such as bed linen and towels.
The flu pandemic of 1918-1920 killed between 30 and 50 million people, with some 675,000 Americans amongst the dead. The global population at that time was approximately 1.8 billion, so some 3% of the population died, and 500,000,000, or 27% were infected. Today the global population stands at 7 billion. If 3% of the population died in a pandemic, some 210,000,000 lives would be lost globally. Whilst a vast number, it would in no way wipe out the human race. If 30% died, that's 2.1 billion
people, we would still have 4.9 billion neighbours, more than twice the amount alive in 1918.
Whilst it is not disputed that a major pandemic would be devastating, it is unlikely, at this point in time, to result in the extinction of the human race. That said, it should be noted that small nations could find themselves much more sparsely populated, and in some cases totally depopulated, after such an event as proportionally they may lose more of their inhabitants.
Losing five million people out of the 336,000,000 residents of the USA would be unthinkable, losing 4,895,000 people from Norway, leaves the country devoid of human life.
Looking at the bleakest possible scenario, a new, highly virulent diseases emerges and takes the world by storm, killing 90% of the global population. It is still highly likely that as a race we would survive. Something that new and that contagious would likely see countries blocking international, and maybe even interstate travel, this is purely a damage limitation exercise. That done, it would be expected that pockets of the world, the remoter areas of the planet would see humans surviving the disease, and even those living a remote lifestyle in large countries like the USA, Canada, Australia etc would have a good chance of surviving if they prevented contact with outsiders.
THE AFTERMATH
This bit needs a book all to itself but I'll give it a go.
Depending on the severity of the pandemic, the aftermath will range from carrying on as normal whilst mourning people we may have lost, to a total infrastructure breakdown whereby normal services can not be resumed due to lack of people to run those systems.
A docudrama, shown in the UK two years ago called 'Life After People' looked at how long the planet would take to revert to nature if mankind were to simply vanish. They talked to experts about how long the bridges would take to fall down, the subways to flood etc. It seems the Hoover dam could keep running, with no intervention from humans for a year or more as it is mainly automated and there are so many turbines that even one or two breaking down would not mean the whole system fails. That's the only example I have of something that is infrastructure related continuing to work without humans.
For those that survived the worst case scenario event, life would be extremely difficult. Many would have no family or support mechanism, the infrastructure has collapsed, unburied bodies lie in houses and hospitals all over the country. Packs of dogs roam the streets and vermin are spreading disease. These people would be refugees in their own land, and their only choice would be to migrate away from these areas if they wanted a shot at long term survival.
The only real plus for these survivors is that long term food supplies would be plentiful and there for the taking, fuel for cars and generators would be easy to come by, and medical supplies would be available in abundance. Having these things would give them a better chance than past generations of starting new colonies and settlements, and providing the gene mix was varied enough, it would be these groups that would, over many generations, repopulate the planet.
We have no way of knowing, should a pandemic occur, if it will be the worse case scenario or not, but, if looking at all past pandemics gives us clues to the future, future pandemics will fall somewhere between the worst case scenario and the 2009 pandemic, which for those of us untouched by it, was very much a good result, for most of us it was a mild disease with no lasting effects.
Research on novel, emerging and re-emerging disease continues around the world in the hope that when the time comes, and it most certainly will come, we have the ability to fight back. The real issue is not knowing what you are fighting against. Mother nature is a master of disguise, and something that effects only pigs today, could infect humans tomorrow. Something affecting only birds on Wednesday, could make the leap to humans on Friday. It is these zoonotic infections that most respiratory diseases arise from, and almost all flu infections started in animals and birds before making the jump to humans. As I said, you can't stop these diseases spreading, and the only real advice is stock up, be aware and prepare...it's all you can do.
Take care
Lizzie
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