Monthly Archives: May 2014

Personal Hygiene

4 Replies

Personal Hygiene

 

Personal Hygiene is a difficult situation during a disaster. If you are sheltering in place you can still use the tub and have the luxury of taking a bath of course in smaller amounts of water and not as much soap as usual. You can heat water up however you are doing that and put some cold water with it and just wash up. You do not need to take a bath every day or you will use your water supply up. And you can wash your hair the same way, and have someone pour water slowly over your hair as you get the soap out. Your hair does not need to be washed every day either. In between you can use any kind of personal powder or baking soda. Just sprinkle either on your hair rub into hair and comb as usual. This dries up the oil that gets into hair and causes it to look dirty. This is what we use in healthcare as waterless shampoo, For the men maybe this would be that special time that you get to grow a mustache and a beard. But you can still shave if you have a straight razor or a safety razor and a non-breakable mirror (look in the camping section). You can use just soap on your face instead of shaving cream. A straight razor is great for camping because you do not have to worry about extra blades, the straight razor can be sharpened like a knife.

 

In case you need to bug out everyone should have a washcloth and a towel.

Kneel down with the bowl of water in front of you. Take your shirt off and take your washcloth and get it wet and a very small amount of soap and wash your face and neck and upper body. Rinse and dry off, then put your shirt back on. Take your pants off and lay them on the ground and kneel down on them. Wash your lower body, rinse and dry off, then put your pants back on. It is better to have a look out and be up against a group of trees or rocks. This way if someone comes upon you, you’re not completely undressed. This should be done as fast as you can and following these directions will be safer. To wash your hair especially longer hair kneel down as before having someone pour water over your hair, use little shampoo, lather up and have someone pour water slowly over your hair as you rinse out the soap. A comb takes up less room than a brush. Also if anyone has long hair it is a good idea to have something to put the hair up with or braid it would be even better. Deodorant is also a good idea. Some insect repellent and sun protection and a few chap sticks would be good. Some medicated powder would be a good idea especially to use at first until your body gets use to walking a lot.

 

For the women in your group who have the monthly visit of nature some extra hand towels or premade cloth pads that can be washed out and reused. This may not seem like a good idea, but how many disposable pads can you carry. Of course you can start with the disposable but you probably will have to go to the reusable at some date, depending upon how long the disaster lasts.

 

For babies and toddlers the same thing applies. How many disposable diapers can you carry or save up. They still sell cloth diapers and rubber pants. And you can wash them out and reuse them.

 

As far as soap to use, it would be easier to use only 1 type of soap for washing dishes, clothes and the body. Whether to use like dawn liquid you would have to be careful that it did not spill in your pack. Bar soap lasts longer and would not spill, you could use something like Ivory [or Grannies’ Lye soap] for everything.

We must Prepare to Survive & Thrive.

Amazing Powdered Milk

Leave a reply

The Amazing Powdered Milk

 

When most people think of powdered milk they think, yuk! Powdered milk can be a blessing if you know how to use it best. How many times have you started a recipe and found out it called for 2 cups of milk and when you looked in the fridge that is all you have and if you use it in the recipe then you will not have enough milk for your cereal the next morning. That is when milk powder comes to the rescue! Just take the powder milk and add cold water and presto you have enough for the recipe and still have your milk for the next morning’s cereal. Milk Powder is one of the earliest forms of convenience foods.

 

And since I live in an area that you can, and often do, get snowed in, powder milk is so great to have around when the weather is bad and you can’t get to the store. There is a way to make powdered milk that if you don’t let the kids know its milk powder they won’t guess. The night before make up 1 or 2 gallons by using WARM water instead of cold, this makes the powder dissolve easier. Stick it in the fridge over night. Then in the morning add chocolate or strawberry to the milk and the kids won’t know the difference. When you make hot chocolate you can use powdered milk and then add some flavored creamer, such as pumpkin which can be powder also to the hot chocolate and see if the kids or you can tell the difference.

 

There is a difference in the texture of powdered milk. If you get the kind that is very fine powder it is harder to get it to dissolve in cold water. There is a kind that the particles are larger, I prefer that kind as it is faster to mix. But if you use the method of using warm water to make it, it does not matter as much. Try both kinds and see what your preference is.

 

To store powdered milk the ideal is to put in #10 cans, however, if you don’t have access to a canner, then store in clean dry 2 liter pop or juice bottles [PETE]. If you don’t have that then put in zip lock bags and store in plastic buckets that you can get at the big box stores in the paint section, you don’t have to worry about food grade because the milk is in the bags and not touching the sides of the plastic.

 

The price of milk keeps going up. In Canada when they started the nation wide health care the price of milk went up to $5.00 way back in 1995. So when our Obama Care gets going the price will probably go up that way as well. So, for your family especially if you have children store some powdered milk. You can just get 1 box a week and start putting it up in whatever you decide. By using it in cooking you will save enough to get a box a week. Then start getting the strawberry and chocolate flavorings for the milk and the flavorings for coffee if you like.

 

I like to add it to cream of _____soup to make it richer. It also goes good in breads, cakes and other such. Start with ‘normal’ stuff like all that and then experiment. Remember we Prepare to Survive and Thrive.

Pork and noodles

Leave a reply

Pork and Noodles

This recipe works great using chicken as well. –variations use any meat available such as squirrel, rabbit, prairie dog, basically anything ;]

1 lb. boneless pork chops or shoulder steaks, cut into ½ inch thick strips

1 Tbsp. cooking oil

¾ c. chopped red bell pepper

1/3 c. chopped onion

1 ½ tsp. chicken bouillon granules

½ tsp. sage

¼ tsp. pepper

8 oz. sour cream

3 Tbsp. flour

1 Tbsp. fresh parsley

2 c. cooked, hot noodles

In a large cast iron skillet brown half the meat in oil; remove. Brown remaining meat; remove. Add pepper and onion; cook till tender. Return all meat to skillet. Stir in 1 c. water, bouillon granules, sage and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 30 minutes or till meat is tender and no pink remains. In a small bowl, stir together sour cream, flour and parsley. Stir into skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat till thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Serve over noodles.

Variations: serve over rice of any kind, puff wheat aka holy wheat,

Survival Magazines and Preparedness Articles

Leave a reply

What To Do With All Those Survival Magazines and Preparedness Articles

Do you have a massive amount of survival magazines that you want to keep just a few articles but not especially the whole magazine? Have you printed out a large amount of articles but don’t know what to do with them?

I love magazines but do not like to keep the whole magazine for years and years. So, I take out the articles I want and put them into notebooks with headings of what the article is about. When I have enough articles to have a notebook filled with just one heading then I mark the spine of the notebook with the heading. We have notebooks at Meals on Wheels for 10 cents, some are even brand new.

In the meantime I go through the article and highlight what is important and make notes, etc, in the margins. Then you can throw the rest of the magazine away and save some space.

If you want to, scan the items into the computer and put into files. Then put on flash drives so not to take up memory on your computer.

If there is one or two things in a catalog that I want to purchase or make. I will cut that item out and tape to a piece of paper along with the name, address, etc. so I can order or make when I have time to.

This helps keep the paper clutter in check.

Fatal Hospital Mistakes

Leave a reply

Fatal Hospital Mistakes

How to decrease the chances of You and Your Loved Ones Becoming Statistics.

In this insider report, we will show you how to lessen the chances of your hospital stay killing you.

You wouldn’t think people entrusted with your care would kill you, but it happens regularly. A Health Grades study recently showed that over a 3 year period 248,000 patient deaths were PREVENTABLE. I do find that reported number to be rather low.

A study of 3.3 million births in California found that babies born late at night were 16% more likely to die than those born during the daytime. Patients going into cardiac arrest at night were also more likely to die than those in the day. More medication errors happened at night. An analysis of 15 intensive care units showed that children admitted to them at night were more likely to die within 48 hours.

So what’s the problem with night admissions?

The main reason is lower quantity of staff, the ratio can sometimes double the patient load per nurse. The administrative staff –such as the head nurse or unit manager and the nurse who does patient education- on the unit typically does not provide direct care but they will help out during the day in an emergency such as cardiac arrest or patient fall.

The night shift is often 50% staffed with less seasoned people who are often reluctant [because of past gruff treatment] to awaken senior people with a problem.

It takes longer for someone to answer patient call lights at night because there are fewer staff available. During the day, the unit secretary can answer the call light via the intercom and redirect the nursing staff to higher priority situations first – such as new complaints of cheat pain or needing help to the toilet V needing the water pitcher refilled.

Another reason is fatigue. Have YOU ever tried working between 3am and 6am when most people are asleep? Not only that- 24-hour shifts and 80 hour work-weeks are not uncommon for residents and interns (student or junior doctors). A Harvard study showed interns on nightshift injured themselves twice as much as those on dayshift. With the nursing staff it is common for the evening crew to be required to work ‘a double’ shift to cover the floor if a night shift person calls in sick. In this case you may have been assigned to work an ‘eight’ hour shift originally which by the time you get all the massive paperwork done is actually 10 or 11 hours and then unexpectedly have to work another 8 to 10 hours.

Research has also shown that people who worked 24 hour shifts had the performance of someone who was legally drunk (blood alcohol 0.10 in most states).

Some pointers for a safer hospital stay:

  • Do some homework on hospitals in your area. Some have better fatality rates than others.
  • Avoid being overnight wherever possible.
  • It is better to be admitted during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
  • If possible get discharged from the hospital before 7 pm on Friday to avoid spending the weekend there when incident rates go up dramatically.
  • Make it your job to know EXACTLY the name and dosage of medications you should be taking (if any) during your stay. YOU are the final check that it is the correct medication.
  • Have a relative or friend stay by your bedside if possible 24/7. Have them maintain a log of your care
  • Get to know the staff on first name basis

spring storms

Leave a reply

spring storms

Here it is Mother’s Day [2014-05-11]  and we have a spring storm. The storm started the day bad enough that all church services and meetings were cancel today for safety reasons. The ‘winter’ storm warning will last at least until 0900 Monday [so less than 9 hours from right now].

At 1700 hours Sunday we were getting reports from around town about the depth of the snow. A few of the reports were poultry 10 inches of snow – NOT drifted. Other reports were for 18 inches of snow on the flats.

Looking at the webcams on the interstate show very poor driving conditions. Portions of the interstate both east – west AND north south are closed. Hopefully the truckers and other drivers got hunkered down before the storm hit. I have not heard any reports of accidents of any size nor of any injuries.

One conversation that I had this afternoon we discussed how “Spring storms typically kill more people than winter storms because they are unexpected.” This is great truth in this. All the more reason that we should all stay prepared for the storms of life.

Some of the ‘normal’ preps that most of us carry in our vehicles ALL the time include;

Sleeping bags and or blankets enough for everyone normally in the vehicle

CB radios to get road reports and to call for help should you need it

Weather alert radio [which is sometimes also on the CB] for current weather reports and road closures.

Car charger for your cell phone and other electronic gadgets.

A power inverter can come in handy too. These typically plug into the lighter socket of the car. Regardless of what the unit is rated at it can only handle about 150 watts safely, unless they are hard wired to the vehicle battery.

A strobe light would be of use should you slide off the road.

Candles in a can are of use to keep you warmer.

Jumper cables of at least 20 feet length.

Kitty liter often helps provide traction for your tires.

Toilet paper, #10 can and properly sized garbage bags to use a toilet. This is safer than going outside during a blizzard.

50 feet of light rope such as 550 parachute line. IF you HAVE to get out of the vehicle, tie one end of the rope to the steering wheel of the vehicle and the other end to you so that you can find your way back into the car. Do this even if you are only heading to the trunk  to get stuff. Yes, you can get lost in that short of trip. If you get lost from your vehicle in a storm you most likely WILL die.

Winter [spring] storms can be true life or death survival situations, but you prepare such storms can be just a small inconvenience.

What other ‘stuff’ do you carry in your vehicle for survival?

The apple trees had already blossomed – hopefully they will not be too damaged

Holidays Can Save You Money

Leave a reply

Holidays Can Save You Money

 

Looking at holidays, they usually are a time of spending lots of money; however, you can save a lot by shopping the sales and at the end of the holiday get at least 50% off.  All holidays and back to school, and end of summer and winter are great times to save.

 

Since winter is over, check prices on coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, ice scrappers and snow shovels.  If you know you are going to need these for next year, go ahead and get a snow shovel this year at lower prices. With children get coats for next year at 50% or more off, just buy the next size up.  Shoes can be a little tricky because you are not sure how much their feet are going to grow. But, you should be okay with just getting 1 or 2 sizes larger especially if you are buying boots.

 

After summer is over you can find sunglasses, summer jewelry, swimming pools, chemicals, swimming suits, patio furniture and grills are all on sale. Just watch for the time they put them on sale before back to school and the holidays start.

 

Also after summer is over Back to School will be going on, this is the best time to get underwear, socks, and especially jeans.  Also, if you need things like sheets or towels, the stores will have sales on that for college kids starting school. Sometimes they have bundles like a whole set of towels (washcloths, hand towels and bath towel) all together for a lower price.  Also if you need small appliances they will be cheaper during this time again for college kids.  If you are lucky you can get back to school sales on the college dorm stuff.

 

However, I have not seen a cheaper price on jeans, underwear and etc. before school starts. Then after schools starts they usually just put the jeans that are left back with the rest of the stock.  Also stock up on pencils, paper, notebooks, etc. they will not be as cheap as they are just BEFORE school starts. Again, most stores put these items back into their regular stock after school starts. You may even want to give art supplies that you get on sale during back to school for Christmas or Birthday presents. If you know that you are going to do a project that you might need extra school supplies, buy those supplies then, it will save you much.

 

If you purchase material to sew with, watch seasonal cloth after the season. Also with Hobby Lobby the 40% off of 1 item does include cut material.  I love the coupons that Hobby Lobby and Michael’s have.  That is what I usually purchase for Christmas, but start early because you can only get 1 item a week.  There are so many things to choose from in these 2 stores that you are sure to find something for everyone and that will spread out your Christmas and Birthday shopping throughout most of the year. The coupons are also good for online purchasing.

 

Of course after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, watch out for decorations, lights, wrapping paper, candy, costumes and other things that might be interesting to you and get them after the holiday to use for next year. Yes, you will have to store them, however, you will have to store them later anyway and why not save 50% or more on them.  I know K-Mart here in my town will put their holiday merchandise for 50% off the day before the holiday but Wal-Mart will not put it on special until the day after the holiday. So, you have to watch your stores and see how they do their 50% off. Hobby Lobby will also put their decorations on 40% off a few weeks before the holiday.

 

So, with this information save on these items so you have more money for other things.