Pet Go-Kits

The difference between friends and pets is that friends we allow into our company, pets we allow into our solitude. 
~Robert Brault

When forced to evacuate your home what will you do with your pets? Most people will want to bring the pets with them which causes two problems:

1. Most emergency shelters will not allow pets. So where will you stay?
2. Do you have emergency supplies for your pets?

Problem 2 is easy to solve - make a go-kit for your animals. Here are some ideas from the ASPCA:

• Pet first-aid kit and guide book
• 3-7 days' worth of canned (pop-top) or dry food (be sure to rotate every two months)
• Disposable litter trays (aluminum roasting pans are perfect)
• Litter or paper toweling
• Liquid dish soap and disinfectant
• Disposable garbage bags for clean-up
• Pet feeding dishes
• Extra harness and leash (Note: if you do find a pet friendly shelter, harnesses will be required.)
• Photocopies of medical records including recent rabies shot and distemper. (very important for pet shelters - they want to know your pet is safe. Otherwise it will be quarantined with other "sick" animals)
• Waterproof container with a two-week supply of any medicine your pet requires
• Bottled water, at least 7 days' worth for each person and pet (store in a cool, dry place and replace every two months)
• A traveling bag, crate or sturdy carrier, ideally one for each pet
• Flashlight
• Blanket (for scooping up a fearful pet)
• Recent photos of your pets (in case you are separated and need to make "Lost" posters)
• Especially for cats: Pillowcase or EvackSack, toys, scoopable litter
• Especially for dogs: Long leash and yard stake, toys and chew toys, a week's worth of cage liner.

Bottom Line

Remember, food and medications need to be rotated out of your emergency kit—otherwise they may go bad or become useless.

Good, Better, Best

"This porridge is too hot!" she exclaimed.
So, she tasted the porridge from the second bowl.
"This porridge is too cold," she said
So, she tasted the last bowl of porridge.
"Ahhh, this porridge is just right," she said happily and she ate it all up.
- from Goldilocks and the Three Bears

After three days of introspection and the inability of some to accurately "know thyself" let's return to an actual preparedness topic.

SurvivalBlog.com has a post called Preparedness Provisioning (Good, Better, Best), by Bill L.  It captures an idea that I have long struggled with - the ideal list. Everyone wants a list. This month at church we are handing out a list for making your own first aid kit. We thought long and hard over what to include; it should be more than bandaids but less than a "professional" kit. It was not easy creating a list that was "just right."

What the SurvivalBlog posts suggests is that there is not one list that is a perfect fit for everyone.

"When beginning ... it can be overwhelming as to what and how much would be needed to provide for simple survival. ... Without a plan you will be tempted to start gathering an unorganized pile of “stuff” that has value, but does not ensure that you are prepared."

The author breaks planning into three necessities with three phases. The three necessities are food, water and shelter. The three phases are Good, Better, and Best. It does not make sense to buy the world's best food storage system and then have no heat and no water. Instead families should obtain a Good stockpile of all basic necessities. Then move on to Better for all three. And then if so motivated, try to assemble the Best.

The Good level of preparedness used to be called the 72-hr kit but now everyone recommends one week of supplies for local disasters:

FOOD:

• A one week supply of usable non-perishable nutritious food
• A means of cooking without power or natural gas, i.e. propane stove, wood, etc
• A grab and go kit of food in case you have to evacuate

WATER:

• Clean stored water equivalent to 2 gallons/day per person to last one week
• Knowledge of secondary water sources (e.g. your 40 gal water heater)
• Means of water purification (pump, chemical, or UV light)

SHELTER:

• Keep your home warm and lit when the grid is down
• Quality tent and sleeping bag ( as part of your grab and go kit)

If you've at the Good level and want to do Better, check out the full post at http://www.survivalblog.com/2011/01/preparedness_provisioning_good.html

Bottom Line

Next time I'll apply this concept when I create a list. There will be a Good section that everyone should have. Some Better items for those who want to go further, and a Best section for the super dedicated.

Not everyone desires or sees the need for the Best. And some never get started when the goal is set at Better or above. So think of Goldilocks and remember that there are different preferences for what is "just right".

Dirty Bombs

[A] radioactive "dirty bomb" (...) spreads radioactive material that is highly toxic to humans and can cause mass death and injury. - Attorney General John Ashcroft, 2002

An analysis on Stratfor.com downplays the danger of Dirty Bombs. These types of bombs use common explosives to spread radioactive materials (hence ‘dirty’). There is no nuclear reaction, no mushroom cloud, just a normal explosion that coats an area with radioactive dust. Since they are much easier to build than an atom bomb, and radioactive byproducts are easier to acquire, there reasonable concern that terrorists will someday use dirty bombs.

The common media portrayal of dirty bombs is that they will “immediately cause hundreds or even thousands of deaths.” Not true, says Stratfor. A dirty bomb is not a “weapon of mass destruction” but rather a weapon of mass “disruption”. Immediate deaths would result from the explosion itself and the resulting panic when the bomb is found to be “dirty”. The dirty effects of the radioactivity are longer term and most people will be safely decontaminated (eventually).

The real problem is economic and psychological. Since anyone living or working in a radioactive area will sicken and die over days/weeks/years, the area must be cordoned off and abandoned until cleaned. A total cleanup will require relocating everyone, tearing down the buildings, streets, sidewalks, and scraping the soil. Not at all cheap if the area is downtown NY, London or DC. And not nice if the target is something historical and irreplaceable.

To back up their analysis downplaying the danger, Stratfor looks at the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in northern Ukraine. This was bigger than any possible dirty bomb and in fact more than one hundred times the radiation of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. The Chernobyl explosion killed 31 persons in the immediate aftermath. Over several decades it may contribute to the deaths of 9,000 people from radiation poisoning. But many of those affected by the radiation are still alive more than 20 years after the accident. Today, 5.5 million people live in the contaminated zone.

Fortunately for civilization, it’s not easy to use radiation as a mass weapon. Yes, a concentrated radioactive substance can kill individuals quickly with direct exposure – but such items are rare and quantities small. With dirty bombs the radiation is spread far and wide by the explosion; maximizing the number of people impacted but weakening the lethality.

Bottom Line

What should you do if you are a victim of a dirty bomb?

• Don’t panic!
  
• The CDC recommends sheltering inside a building with intact walls. If you’re outside, cover your mouth and nose to avoid breathing in the radioactive dust (VERY IMPORTANT), avoid touching anything, and get inside the nearest walled shelter quickly. While outside, clothing is an effective shield against energetic alpha particles but if you breath those same particles in – damage will be done.
  
• If inside a damaged building, move to an undamaged interior room.
  
• When you come in from outside, remove your shoes and outer clothing at the door. Up to 90% of the radioactive dust on you is on your clothes. Don’t spread it around your shelter. If possible seal your clothes, shoes, and breathing cloth/mask it in a plastic bag or other disposable storage. You don’t want to be near these clothes afterwards (or ever again).
  
• Shut all windows, outside doors, and fireplace dampers. Turn off fans and heating and air-conditioning systems that bring in air from the outside. It is not necessary to put duct tape or plastic around doors or windows.
  
• If outside or exposed, shower or wash ALL exposed skin with soap and water to remove any remaining dust. Be sure to wash your hair. Don’t put contaminated clothes back on. Don’t forget that your washing area may now be slightly radioactive from the rinsed off dust. Initially the washing water should be safe – water inside pipes at the time of the explosion is protected. But over time as water is used, you’ll be drawing from lakes and reservoirs that may have been exposed.
  
• Cover any open wounds to keep radioactive dust out of your blood stream.
  
• If you’re at home and have pets outside, get them indoors and wash them completely.
  
• Tune to the local radio or television news for more instructions.
  
• Don’t go outside until instructed to by authorities. When leaving your temporary shelter, cover up 100% with clean clothes/coat/blanket. You’ll need new shoes or a substitute. You’ll repeat the process of disposing the outer clothing layers and washing when you return to a shelter.
  
• Do not attempt to rescue your children at their school. They should be safe in a school shelter. You endanger yourself by traveling and contaminate the school shelter by demanding entrance or even opening the door.
  
• Don’t eat or drink from anything that was open and possibly contaminated by dust. Sealed food is ok but be sure to wash the outside container first. Avoid drinking public faucet water until authorities say it is safe. You don’t want to allow anything radioactive inside your body.
  
• If all goes well, your exposure will be no worse than an intensive medical X-ray and there will be no symptoms. However if you experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and swelling and redness of the skin then you were exposed to a higher level of radiation and need medical attention ASAP.

Resources

CDC Public Service Announcements for a Dirty Bomb
(what you hope to never hear on your radio)
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/firsthours/word/messages_dirtybomb.doc

Nuclear War Survival Skills by Kresson H Kearny.

CNN
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/06/10/cohen.dirty.bomb.otsc/

Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_bomb

Comfort Items

“Some parents say it is toy guns that make boys warlike. But give a boy a rubber duck and he will seize its neck like the butt of a pistol and shout "Bang!"”- George F. Will

Today I recommend reading Barter Goods -- A Woman's Perspective on http://www.survivalblog.com/. The author points out that most preparedness advice comes “from thoughtful and hardy men” who focus on fire, food, guns, and basic survival. The author doffs her “hard hat” to these men but feels that something is missing, a woman’s touch regarding items that will “improved quality of life”. She then goes on to list useful items for children of various ages and for adults.

Infants & Toddlers: baby formula mix, chew toys (i.e. teething rings), pull toys

Ages 4-9: Crayons and coloring books, hard candies, fluffy-clutch-comfort toys (like a teddy bear)

Ages 10-13: look for brain & drain items for mental stimulation and to use up the tons of energy they have. Brainy books & puzzles & card games; physical toys like Frisbees, boomerangs, Nerf ball, jump rope. Girls may enjoy a simple cosmetic kit or sewing kit.

Ages 14-17: this age group wants to be treated as adults so assign tasks to them that require some thought and/or some physical prowess like foraging or child care. Provide them with some of the trappings of adulthood like a pocketknife, multi-tool, cosmetics or a purse. Teens want privacy that a small tent of their own could provide.

Seniors: Denture cream, magnifying glasses, packets of facial tissues, hand creams, bucket hats, cold packs, heat packs, compact chess and checker sets, large print puzzle books (don’t forget the pencils), over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications, Ben-Gay, Vick's Vap-O-Rub, hard candies, and sunglasses.

Bottom Line
Being forced out of your home is stressful regardless of whether you end up at a hotel, the woods or a Red Cross shelter. Kids will be frightened and their discomfort will result in fighting and crying which in turn raises the stress level of the parents. Plan now to have comfort items on hand to keep everyone occupied and entertained. It can still pay to stock up even if you don’t have kids. You can trade comfort items with desperate parents or just gift them something to calm a crying child.

Nit Picky

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.” – Old Testament

It is said that head lice is as common with children as having colds. And during emergencies if you’re sleeping in shelters or packed tight into tents, the chances of lice are increased. Lice are highly contagious and spread quickly from person to person in group settings. Since head lice do not jump or hop, they spread by direct contact with infested people or with items that their head has touched like chairs, beds, hats, etc. While schools are prime locales for transmission, other common “transfer zones” include movie theaters, costume parties and slumber parties.

“The head louse is a tiny, wingless parasitic insect that lives among human hairs and feeds on extremely small amounts of blood drawn from the scalp. Lice aren't dangerous and they don't spread disease but they do cause the scalp to become itchy and inflamed, and persistent scratching may lead to skin irritation and even infection.” [KidsHealth.com]

Nits (eggs) “look like tiny yellow, tan, or brown dots before they hatch. After hatching, the remaining shell looks white or clear. Lice lay nits on hair shafts close to the skin's surface, where the temperature is perfect for keeping warm. Nits look sort of like dandruff, only they can't be removed by brushing or shaking them off. Unless the infestation is heavy, it's more common to see nits than it is to see live lice crawling on the scalp.” [KidsHealth.com]

An old folk saying says there is no sin in catching lice but there is sin in spreading it and not stopping the infection.

• Families should periodically check child and each other's hair for nits.
• One treatment is not likely to remove all lice and nits (eggs), so check hair nightly until all nits have been removed. Continue checking for two weeks after the “last” nit in case unseen eggs hatch and the infestation is restarted.
• A female louse lays 3-5 eggs a day. The eggs hatch in 7-10 days and it takes another 7-10 day for the louse to mature and lay their own eggs. So when eggs hatch you have one week to kill every louse before the next round of egg laying begins.
• Most lice feed on blood several times a day, but they can survive up to 2 days off the scalp. It’s important to wash clothes, stuffed animals a child sleeps with, sheets and pillows daily in hot water for infected individuals. Otherwise you can kill every louse in the hair and have one climb back on from the pillow.
• Vacuum carpets and any upholstered furniture (in your home or car) every 3 days
• Soak hair-care items like combs, barrettes, hair ties or bands, headbands, and brushes in rubbing alcohol or medicated shampoo for 1 hour. You can also wash them in hot water or just throw them away.
• Pets can't catch head lice and pass them on to people or the other way around.
• For really bad cases or during emergencies the ultimate "cure" is to shave off all hair.

Bottom Line

There are many folk remedies for killing lice like soaking the hair in cooking/olive oil or mayonnaise but these are not proven to work. Oft times prescription shampoos don’t work either. These can be very toxic but a few nits manage to survive if instructions are not followed exactly.

The consensus appears to be that nothing beats good old-fashion manual removal (think of monkeys grooming each other). There are two things that help with lice removal:

• A nit-comb: this has very fine teeth to catch nits
• Hair conditioner: by soaking the hair before combing, the lice and nits will slip off more easily. Lice have strong claws and nits are glued to the hair.

Here is a detailed account from one family and the nit-picking procedure they used:
http://www.survivalblog.com/2009/05/two_letters_re_dealing_with_un.html

CDC advice for lice

Disaster Animal Response Team

“I never married because there was no need. I have three pets at home which answer the same purpose as a husband. I have a dog which growls every morning, a parrot which swears all afternoon, and a cat that comes home late at night.” - Marie Corelli

If ordered to evacuate your home, would you/could you leave your pets behind? Because most emergency shelters and hotels have a no pet policy, the standard procedure for disasters requires that pet owners leave their loved ones behind. However as Hurricane Katrina clearly showed, when given a choice between their own personal safety or abandoning their household pets, a significant number of people will choose to risk their lives in order to remain with their pets.

In recognition of this, congress passed the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act, Public Law 109–308 (2006). The PETS Act requires that State and local emergency preparedness authorities include how they will accommodate households with pets or service animals when presenting disaster preparedness plans to the FEMA. (A city or state is required to submit a plan in order to qualify for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.)

Unfortunately, since the passage of the PETS Act of 2006, little has changed. Bureaucracies are slow to change. Under existing liability laws, a shelter could face a damaging lawsuit when someone is bitten by another person’s cute pet. And I suspect this law is not well known; I just learned of it, three years after its passage. It has never been mentioned in my training with the Red Cross or CERT.

Bottom Line

What can you do?

First- write to your mayor and governor and ask them, do they know about this law and what have they done to include pets in the emergency planning.

Second- follow the example of the Lamorinda area in Northern California (Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda in Contra Costa County). They have created a Disaster Animal Response Team (DART) to rescue pets and farm animals during Wildfires. Lamorinda DART consists of CERT graduates who have received additional animal sheltering and rescue training and are able to provide disaster response to humans and animals.

What to do if You Are Stranded in Your Car in Winter

"Things are not as bad as they seem. They are worse." - Bill Press

"Ce" has a nice article titled Urban Survival - 12 Tips to Follow If You Are Stranded in Your Car in Winter. I've already covered winterizing your car and stocking your car with winter supplies so I'll start mid-way into the article with what to do when you are stranded ...

1. Do NOT pull off on to the shoulder of the highway, or on an exit ramp.
   Yes pull off the road but not where you might get hit by other cars or a snow plow. Try to reach a rest area, or pull off at an exit ramp and park near the entrance ramp (where cars are moving slower).
2. Major truck stops are excellent places to shelter from a storm.
3. If you are stranded on the road, stay with your car for shelter! Do not attempt to walk to safety unless your destination is in plain sight. Even then you might get lost if winds pick up the snow and visibility drops. If you must leave your car put a note inside the front window telling rescuers where you have gone or in what direction.
4. If you are sheltering in your car, get whatever survival gear you have out of the trunk and into the passenger compartment. Keep water and food supplies from freezing by placing it near a heater vent.
5. Run the engine and heater at most 10 minutes per hour for warmth. Open a window, at least an inch, on the downwind side of the car to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning. Don't kill yourself from gas fume or burn up all your fuel in the first hour. Periodically check your tailpipe to be sure it is not covered with snow and pushing the gas fumes into the car.
6. Once the snow has stopped, work slowly while uncoverng your car to avoid perspiring. It is much harder to stay warm when you are wet.

Bottom Line

Stay with your car until help arrives. Run the car (and heat) as little as possible to survive as long as possible. You might be stranded for many, many hours. Stay dry and use blankets and body heat.

Winter Survival and Igloos

"We were left with our snowshoes, two tea mugs, and the contents of our pockets. A quick inventory revealed a half-dozen chocolate bars, two sturdy knives, and a lighter, the last a leftover benefit of my former smoking habit." - Arthur Montague

The quote above comes from an excellent article called "Winter Survival Skills". The author and his friend were left stranded miles from help when their sled dogs took off with most of their supplies. The article describes good and bad ideas for making a shelter, finding water, and winter food. A must read.

Bottom Line

Winter training can be fun. My wife and I attended an igloo building class. The instructor also had us make a snow "yurt"; a big pile of snow with a tunnel dug into it for one person. Here are some links on igloo building...

http://www.igloobuilding.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=28

(video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTB666s8wwY

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/extremes/survigloo.html
The cartoon pictures really demonstrate the importance of building block rows on a slant.

http://www.primitiveways.com/igloo.html

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.

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