Two months without food?

It's been awhile since I've written about the Rule of 3's in this blog:

An average person may die after
Three minutes without air
Three hours without shelter (in extreme heat/cold)
Three days without water
Three weeks without food

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2010/04/return-of-rule-of-threes.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/07/rule-of-threes.html

Keep in mind that the rule is about the average person and average events. There are exceptions.

Some drowning victims have survived for 8 to 10 minutes with no brain damage in icy cold waters that send the body into instant shutdown with hypothermia. A similar thing happened to a man in Sweden who was trapped in his car for nearly two months before being discovered.

His doctor explained that besides eating snow, the man probably survived by going into a dormant-like state,

"A bit like a bear that hibernates. Humans can do that. He probably had a body temperature of around 31 degrees (Celsius) which the body adjusted to. Due to the low temperature, not much energy was used up." 

The car itself, covered in snow, acted as an igloo, so the man did not freeze to death.

Bottom Line

While researching this blog I saw references to a Rule of 4s
Four minutes without air
Four hours without shelter (in extreme heat or cold)
Four days without water
Four weeks without food

This might be more accurate for people in excellent health and fitness but I'll stick with the Rule of 3's for the average Joe.

The Return of the Rule of Threes

“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.”-Virginia Satir

This weekend my wife and I had an opportunity to train local Church Emergency Specialists. I chose as my topic the subject matter that started my blog almost two years ago,
The Rule of Threes.

The rule goes like this...

You may survive (on average)

Three minutes without air

Three hours without shelter
(i.e. protection from extreme heat or cold)

Three days without water

Three weeks without food

Three months without hope

The Rule of Threes explains some common survival errors:

1. By using a charcoal grill or power generator indoors during a power outage, you're trading shelter/heat for air and may die of asphyxiation.

2. By eating snow when thirsty you give up body heat and may die of hypothermia before you die of thirst.

3. Likewise don't sacrifice shelter when searching for water. Sunstroke kills faster than thirst.

4. By eating dried food like jerky when water is scarce you are speeding up your own dehydration and death.

Bottom Line

It's useful to keep the priorities in mind - we tend for focus on hunger pains and thirst and overlook core principles like air and body heat which are more subtle but silent killers.

My early blogs provide additional information on the topics of air, heat, cold, water, and food:

http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/07/carbon-monoxide-poisoning.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/hypothermia.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/hyperthermia.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/heat-exhaustion.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-water-is-enough.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/meals-ready-to-eat-and-other-options.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/survival-kitchen_12.html
http://perpetualpreparedness.blogspot.com/2008/08/how-much-food-is-enough.html

The Value of Hope

"What most people need to learn in life is how to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things." – Unknown

I mentioned in one of my earliest posts, MacGyver Ready, that

“I have seen some versions of the Rule of Threes, that include an extra line: you can only live for 3 months without hope. Hope and preparedness work well together. If you are prepared, you'll have reason to be hopeful. If you're of the right frame of mind and have the right skills, you will be better prepared.”

My mother-in-law fought breast cancer for many years in the 70’s and 80’s. She tried everything: veganism, wheat grass, spiritualism, laetrile, etc. She lived a very active life and beat the odds for nearly two decades driven by hope and stubbornness. But then one day she received some very negative test results from a doctor. She came home and told her daughter that she was giving up the fight. She died not long after.

Both of my mother’s parents lived into their 90’s despite poor health. We believe that it was stubbornness and love that kept my grandparents alive – neither wanted to be the first to die and leave their spouse of nearly 70 years to survive alone.

The reason I bring this topic up today is a recent story about the suicide of the world’s 94th richest man, Adolf Merckle, of Germany. In 2008 Forbes Magazine estimated Mr. Merckle’s fortune at $9.2 billion. But speculation in Volkswagen stock cost him in the “low hundreds of millions.” His family said in a statement, “The distress to his firms caused by the financial crisis and the related uncertainties of recent weeks, along with the helplessness of no longer being able to handle the situation, broke the passionate family businessman, and he ended his life.”

Bottom Line

Money does not buy happiness or hope. My father’s mother was one of the happiest, most up-beat persons I’ve ever met. She was never wealthy and lived for many decades in a trailer house and then a retirement apartment. She surrounded herself with slogans like “Smile, God Loves You” and she believed in the slogans.
Life is what you make of it. A life spent chasing money & fame can be very poor (think Citizen Kane). A life filled with hope and love and friends can be very rich.

MacGyver Ready

"Chance favors the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur

I have seen some versions of the Rule of Threes, that include an extra line: you can only live for 3 months without hope. Hope and preparedness work well together. If you are prepared, you'll have reason to be hopeful. If you're of the right frame of mind and have the right skills, you will be better prepared.

Frequently books and web sites focus on the material side of preparedness with check off lists for the right supplies to have on hand. But what if you're away from your supplies?

Example: while photographing a beautiful nature scene you step back too far and fall down a ravine breaking your leg. Are you carrying a first aid kit in your pocket?

Example: you are driving over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. Your car slides on black ice and is stuck in a ditch with no cell phone signal. Did you pack blankets and emergency food & water in the car?

The survival instructor who taught the broken leg example does indeed ALWAYS carry a survival kit in a fanny pack on his belt. (Who says you can't take it with you?) Lacking the fanny pack you might think back to your scouting days and make a splint with branches and the sleeves torn off your shirt. When you lack supplies, be creative!

You may remember the TV show MacGyver (the actor has appeared in character in a few commercials lately for Master Card). MacGyver was a hero who saved the day by combining everyday objects in clever ways. In one show he combined metal candle sticks and a power cord to shock a heart attack victim back to life (don't try this at home!). In a commercial he slides down a cable to freedom using his socks.

(For MacGyver fans there is an interview with the star, Richard Dean Anderson, comparing his life to MacGyver in Popular Mechanics, Sept. 2008)

Bottom Line
When supplies fail - use your mind. Be as resourceful and clever as MacGyver and be creative with the supplies you have.

Survival Food

"You may be able to survive a few weeks or even a month without food, but why would you want to? Without food, you will become weak, susceptible to illnesses, dizzy and unable to perform survival-related tasks. Sure, water may be more critical to short-term survival, but it's much easier for even the unskilled survivalist to find water in the wild (the safety and purity of the water is another story...)." - http://www.survival-center.com/guide/food.htm

Recall that the fourth Rule of Three says you can survive three weeks without food. But as the quote above aptly states - who would want to be that hungry? Ideally we should know how to catch food in the wild. Personally I have little luck at fishing, no experience at hunting, and no training in what plants might be safe to eat.

Knowing my limits in the wild, I'll have to survive on what I carry in my Go-Kit: Energy bars, dry mixes, MREs, peanut butter, etc. It is a good idea to have at least a mini-Go-Kit every time you travel be it car, boat, train or plane. You never know when an accident may leave you stranded for hours or even days. Even something as simple and common as a flat tire can be made less stressful knowing you have some bottled water in the trunk and some food bars or hard candy for the children.

For your home FEMA and the Red Cross now recommend that you store one week of food and drink for the entire family and pets. The recommendation used to be 3 days (72 hours) but it was raised after Hurricane Katrina. Personally I feel this is not enough. Consider these reasons for a longer food store (1 month+) from the Survival-Center.com:

• Store shelves are often cleared out right before a blizzard or hurricane is set to hit. One grocery chain reported that when storm warnings went out, they sold more rolls of toilet paper than there were people in the city. Batteries, bottled water, milk, candles and food staples are also going to be in short supply. Do you want to battle the grocery store crowd for a roll of toilet paper?
  
• Store shelves may be slowly replenished. A hurricane can destroy bridges and roads making it impossible for supplies to be delivered. 30 inches of snow in the winter storm of 1995-96 shut down Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia for more than a week. Trucks carrying supplies were stranded on the interstate highways.
  
• You may be asked to feed friends or neighbors. What if friends were visiting for the weekend and unable to return home because of the inclement weather, earthquake or other emergency?
  
• Food rarely goes down in price. What you buy now will be an investment in the future and you'll be protected from any price gouging after the emergency. You can also save money buying goods on sale or at warehouse club prices.

Bottom Line
Create at least two food stores:

1. 3 days of food in Go-Kits that you keep in your car
2. 1 month of food that you keep at home

Dehydration

“Dig your well before you are thirsty.” - Proverb

The third rule in the Rule of Threes is that you can survive only three days without water. Recall that the rule for shelter was just three hours. Ideally a good shelter will also provide water nearby. If you become weak or ill in the wilderness, you don't want a long or difficult hike to water. It may be necessary to build a few temporary shelters before finding the perfect location. Future posts will cover ways to find water and how to make water traps to catch dew and rain water.

The human body is 75% water which is constantly being depleted by breathing, sweating, menstruation, digestion and urination. Dehydration occurs when you consume/drink less fluid then you emit. Mild dehydration begins when you lose about 2% of your body water. For a 200 pound person this is 3 lbs of water or 1.5 quarts. Fluid loss can be quite rapid with vomiting and diarrhea - two possible symptoms if you're eating strange plants when lost. It is far better to remain hungry than to acquire food poisoning wilderness.

Environment and Water Needs

Surprisingly, very cold environments can be as dry as the driest desert. Cold air cannot hold much moisture; it drys your body with every breath you take. Cold dry air also robs your body of moisture from exposed skin - for example: chapped lips. You may become severely dehydrated without even realizing the danger you are in.

Wind also play a role in dehydration. A dry wind on exposed flesh can suck the water right out of a person. The remains of mummified animals and people are often found in desert regions, their bodies totally dried out.

Symptoms
See http://www.symptomsofdehydration.com/ for a detailed list of symptoms at increasing stages of dehydration. Muscle cramps can occur with 5% loss of body fluids. Dehydration becomes deadly at 10% fluid loss with seizures and loss of consciousness.
If the patient becomes confused or lethargic; if there is persistent, uncontrolled fever, vomiting, or diarrhea; contact a doctor.

Treatment

• Drinking fluids is usually sufficient for mild dehydration. It is better to have frequent, small amounts of fluid (using a teaspoon for an infant or child). Drinking too much fluid at once can bring on vomiting.
• Electrolyte solutions or freezer pops are especially effective. These are available at pharmacies. Consider also clear broths and jello. Sport drinks contain a lot of sugar and can cause or worsen diarrhea. For infants and children, avoid using water as the primary replacement fluid.
• Intravenous fluids and hospitalization may be necessary for moderate to severe dehydration. The doctor will try to identify and then treat the cause of the dehydration.

The Mayo Clinic has recommendations on preventing dehydration.

Bottom Line
As discussed in the last two posts, dehydration increases the risk of Heat Stroke in hot/humid weather. Heat Stroke will kill you faster than dehydration - hence the importance of establishing shelter before water. Don't kill yourself searching for water.

Additional Sources
http://www.medicinenet.com/dehydration/article.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000982.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dehydration/DS00561

The Importance of Shelter

All architecture is shelter, all great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates the persons in that space. -Philip Johnson

Unless you're an expert breath holder, most people have no problem accepting the 1st Survival Rule of Three - find air within 3 minutes. However I've seen lots of misunderstanding over the second Rule of Three - find shelter within 3 hours. One commenter on a different blog pointed out that he frequently spends more than 3 hours at the beach with no difficulty.

However, the beach goer did have shelter - if the sun became too hot he could retire to his car or his house. When far from civilization, you should establish a shelter within the first few hours to keep dry or become dry, to stay out of the wind, and to find warmth or shade BEFORE weather conditions turn fatal. For hikers, shelter may be a tent they carry on their backs. It could be your car, a cave, a cabin, etc. Here are some links on creating your own emergency shelter:

http://www.abc-of-hiking.com/hiking-tents/outdoor-shelters.asp
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Outdoor_Survival/Shelter
http://www.essortment.com/all/howdoyoumake_rkdt.htm
http://outdoorsurvival.org/quick-emergency-shelter

Bottom Line

Provide a shelter BEFORE you need it. While a shelter may be a place to keep "your stuff" (George Carlin) its real value is to maintain your body temperature under adverse conditions - too much heat leads to heat stroke, too little heat causes hypothermia.

Tomorrow's topic will cover hypothermia.

Fresh Air

"Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans." - Jacques Yves Cousteau

Air - it's everywhere and we take it for granted. But in yesterday's tip, the Rule of Threes, we learned that the #1 priority in emergencies is fresh AIR. Consider:

• 1st Aid and CPR courses teach "ABC"; the first things you check are the Airway, Breathing and then Circulation (pulse/heartbeat).
  
• According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, more than 500 people die in the U. S. from accidental Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
  
• Again according to the CDC, almost 200 children die each year from choking. It is estimated that more than 17,500 children 14 years of age or younger are treated in U.S. emergency departments for choking episodes annually.
  
• During home or office fires, the major cause of death is the smoke filled air, not burning in the flames. Stay low to the floor where the good air can be found.
  
• When miners are trapped underground, foul air is the leading cause of death.
  
• If the dirty air in a disaster doesn't kill you, it could still give you some serious lung injuries. Asbestos or other pollutants at the scene could raise your risk for later lung cancer. Some vivid images from 9-11 show persons completely coated in dust as they fled from the collapsing towers. Today there are concerns about what was in that 9-11 dust and the long term effects to the survivors and rescue workers.

Bottom Line:

1. Take a moment to think about the air quality when there's smoke, pollutants, or when you are confined to a small space like a car or room. Don't wait until you feel faint - that is often too late.
2. When firemen are wearing an oxygen tank and mask - what have you got? Hopefully your emergency kit will have a simple face mask to keep airborne particles and dust out of your lungs. No face mask? Then use a shirt, handkerchief, or scarf to cover your face when the air is thick.

Tomorrow: Carbon Monoxide

Rule of Threes

The first step in emergency preparedness is knowing where to start. What is most important?
Fortunately this is answered by the Survival Rule of Threes:

An average person can survive:

3 minutes without air

3 hours without shelter in harsh conditions of cold or heat

3 days without water

3 weeks without food

This is best illustrated by a story. A friend of a friend died in his car during a blizzard. He had pulled over to the side to avoid being hit or causing an accident and kept the car running to keep warm. However the snow piled up and buried the exhaust pipe causing the car to fill with Carbon Monoxide fumes - a silent killer. This person forgot that fresh air trumps heat for survival. This is also one of the reasons you see warnings not to use cooking stoves inside a tent.

A second example: if you're lost in the wilderness with dry food but no water - don't eat the food! Digesting food uses up moisture inside the body. It is better to go hungry than to become dehydrated.

Here are two other sites discussing the Rule of Threes:
Outdoor Skills
Survival Topics