Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Take a Deep Breath - Face masks and respirators

There is tons of information out there on masks and hundreds of sellers trying to get you to buy their products. How do you figure out which protection is best for your prepping needs? What does N95 mean anyway? Is there a difference between a mask and a respirator? Why do some cost so much more than others? Is it really worth getting all worked up about in the first place? Here are some quick, simple answers, and links for you.
First some basics - There is a difference between a face mask and a respirator. The best analogy I can come up with is the difference between a window and a screen. A face mask is like a screen, it keeps out the big stuff. A respirator is like a window, it will keep out most stuff but not everything... which brings us to the N95 designation. 'N95' simply means that the mask keep out 95% of test particles - it's the best you can expect really unless you move up to something military grade and then you're looking at spending big bucks, and sticking out like a sore thumb.

Which protection is best for your preps? As is generally the case, this is a matter of opinion... and everyone has one. My thinking is this - Ideally, I'd love to have 100 N95 respirators on hand per person but they run about $1 apiece and right now they're hard to find due to the H1N1 virus. 5 per person would be a nice, attainable, affordable goal. If you just can't get your hands on them, or can't afford them, then face masks are an affordable alternative and better than nothing.

In the case of H1N1 - according to the CDC site - face masks/respirators are not necessary in most cases. As they have repeated many times - regular, proper hand washing will do more to protect you than a mask.

Here are a couple of links to the CDC and FDA which will help you make an informed decision about your options.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

An APN freebie!

I love it when my fellow preppers offer something for free. Here's a link to teh latest APN giveaway.

http://americanpreppersnetwork.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-free-stuff.htm

First Aid Preps - the basics

When things get bad you don't want to find out that you're out of antiseptic or band-aids. You should actually expect to suffer MORE injuries during a crisis than you would in your everyday life. Consider this - cleaning up after a storm or fire has wreaked havoc on your property puts you at a much higher risk of coming into contact with sharp metal, broken glass, splinters, etc. A grid crash will have you doing things like chopping wood, starting fires, etc. Access to medical services may be difficult at best, not existent at worst. Be prepared to take care of your own injuries as much as possible.

Here is a short list of items you should have on you at all times - These can be kept in your car, purse, wallet, desk, etc. Redundancy is a good thing when it comes to being prepared.
  • Band-Aids - keep a good variety of sizes and don't skimp and buy the plastic ones, you'll end up changing them more often because they don't stay on well. I keep everything from 'dots' to 4x4 'knee pad' size. I also keep a couple butterfly closures with my bandaids
  • Liquid bandage - works well for most small injuries, fairly cheap at only $1 or 2 for a couple tubes about the size of a superglue bottle. Eliminates the need for most smaller band aids.
  • Individual packets of triple anti-biotic, sting relief, and cortizone cream. I found a great website for these - firstaidmonster.com. Their prices are great, products are effective and service is quick.
  • A pair of nail clippers with a small file
  • Mini bottle of hand sanitizer
It's possible to wrap these items in a face mask and keep them with (or near) you at all times. To keep them sanitary you can use a mint tin, travel soap box, or zipper bag. I would also keep a couple individual doses of Ibuprofen, Acetaminophen, etc. (also available from firstaidmontster)

This is a comprehensive list of first aid supplies to keep on hand. I've decided to post Medicines separately though some things like triple antibiotic may be included in both areas. Also - I've decided not to delve into natural/herbal/homeopathics in this post. Hopefully I can cover those at another time.

  • Instant ice packs
  • Peroxide
  • Alcohol
  • Saline
  • Aloe
  • Burn Cream
  • Triple anti-biotic/neosporin
  • Solarcaine spray
  • Medical Scissors
  • hemostats(?) - clamps
  • Tweezers
  • Nail Clippers
  • Elastic
  • Ace Bandages, sm
  • Ace Bandages, lg
  • Safety pins
  • Straight pins
  • Anbesol (can be used as a mild local anesthetic for splinter removal)
  • Thermometer
  • Hand Sanitizer
  • CPR Mask
  • Face Masks
  • Band-Aids, basic
  • Band-Aids, knuckle & tip
  • Band-Aids, small & dots
  • Band-Aids, large
  • Band-Aids, xl
  • Eyedropper
  • Moleskin
  • Medical Tape, narrow
  • Medical Tape, wide
  • liquid bandage
  • Gauze pads 2x2
  • Gauze pads 3x3
  • Gauze pads 4x4
  • Gauze rolls small
  • Gauze rolls large
  • Leukostrips/Butterfly bandages
  • Epsom Salts
Recommended skills -
Red Cross certification in CPR & First Aid
EMT training if feasible

Recommended resources -
PDR: Physicians Desk Reference
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy by Mark H Beers
US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook - Department of the Army

Recommended reading -
Survivalist Medicine Chest or Do it yourself Medicine by Ragnar Benson
Wilderness Medicine, Beyond First Aid by William Forgey
Where There is No Doctor by David Werner
Where There is No Dentist
by Murray Dickson

Medication preps

IF H1N1 becomes a serious issue this fall you don't want to find yourself standing in a crowd of sick people at the drug store or worse yet staring at an empty shelf where the medicines should be. You should actually expect to suffer MORE illnesses during a crisis than you would in your everyday life. After a long days work (possibly out in the elements) you'll at least need some pain relief, perhaps even cold/cough medication. If a flu pandemic does sweep through your town do you have the basic supplies to treat yourself and your family? A winter storm shuts down your town for several days - do you have adequate supplies of prescription medications to get through until you can get to the pharmacy?

PRESCRIPTIONS:
If you rely on prescription medications you should plan on keeping at least 3 months on hand at all times. This is particularly important for physical ailments such as diabetes and heart disease; but for someone suffering from a mental or emotional disorder - a time of crisis is not a good time to find yourself without the medication that keeps your head clear and focused. Additionally, many drugs prescribed for mental/emotional issues are controlled substances which can make stocking up particularly troublesome. In these cases you might want to use the margin at the end of your prescription to get a couple extra pills set aside each month. For example, you have enough pills to get you through till the 20th so you order your refill on the 15th. I know some people suggest asking your doctor for a longer refill by saying you'll be out of the country. I've never tried that so I can't speak to it's effectiveness, legality, or morality in your situation.

VISION CORRECTION -
This is a good place to remind those of you who rely on eyeglasses/contacts to keep your old pair of glasses in your emergency kit as a back up. You should also have a current copy of your prescription in case you need to replace yours on short notice. There are many websites that sell perfectly good eyeglasses at extremely reasonable prices ($10-20) - all you need is a copy of your prescription from your eye doctor. With this spare pair and prescription you should also keep one or two eyeglass repair kits. These are super cheap and anyone who wears eyeglasses should have several around them at all times.
Here are just a few places we keep repair kits: Purse/Wallet, Car, Desk, Work, Locker, First Aid Kit, 24/72 hour kit, Bug Out Bags.

BIRTH CONTROL - We all have our values/beliefs - prepare yourself as you see fit. Nuff said.

SPECIAL NEEDS -
I'm no expert on supplies for people with disabilities but if you have and elderly or invalid member of your family take a few minutes to consider what their needs will be in an emergency situation. If possible, talk with them about it. They may come up with some needs that never crossed your mind. If you have the space and want to be thorough you can get crutches for free quite frequently at yard sales. Once in a while you can find a wheelchair. That's more prepared than I can ever hope to be but one never knows...

So here's a fairly thorough list of medications to keep on hand. I've decided to post First Aid items separately though some things like triple antibiotic may be included in both areas. Also - I've decided not to delve into natural/herbal/homeopathics in this post. Hopefully I can cover those at another time. For today we will just look at basic OTC (over the counter) medications that are readily available at most drug stores, grocery stores, etc.

  • Selection of pain relievers based on your needs and preferences: Aspirin, non-aspirin, acetaminophen, naproxen, ibuprofen, headache relief, migraine relief. Make sure you have infants/children's dosages if you need them. Also remember to keep at least two forms of fever reducer for children as they can be alternated but NOT duplicated (i.e. you can use acetaminophen and ibuprofen alternating - but NEVER use two different brands of just one as it can cause severe damage to the child. Ask your pediatrician NOW if this confuses you. Don't wait til it's 3AM and you have a kid with a 103 fever!)
  • Cold & Cough/Flu medicine - We keep generic Day and Nighttime versions of Nyquil on hand. Again make sure you have infants/children's if needed. With children you may also want to keep 2 or 3 types of 'tussin' as well depending on the symptoms your kids tend to have.
  • Cough drops, vitamin c lozenges, etc.
  • Menthol rub
  • Sinus/Allergy medication - Benadryll, sudafed, etc Don't forget the kids. Might also want to consider a Neti pot but that's getting into natural medicine.
  • Anti-Dihareal - we've found that the pills work better than the pink stuff for this
  • Tums/Maalox/Rolaids/Pepcid, etc.
  • Pink bismuth -does a much better job for nausea than any of the above.
  • Afterbite, Hydrocortizone, Calamine
  • Triple Anti-biotic ointment
  • Anti-fungal cream/ foot powder
  • Hemherroid cream, pads, suppositories
  • Baby rash ointment - works for all sorts of mild to moderate skin irritation - not just for babies
  • Sunblock
  • OTC eye medications including - saline drops, Similasan for pink eye (I can attest to the effectiveness of this - worth every penny and cheaper than a trip to the Dr when you catch it from your kid!)
  • OTC earache relief (again from Similasan)
  • Epi-pen if needed
  • Ipecac - can't imagine this stuff ever goes bad, really - how could it taste worse or not make you puke?
Recommended skills -
Red Cross certification in CPR & First Aid
EMT training if feasible

Recommended resources -
PDR: Physicians Desk Reference
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy by Mark H Beers
US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook - Department of the Army

Recommended reading -
Survivalist Medicine Chest or Do it yourself Medicine by Ragnar Benson
Wilderness Medicine, Beyond First Aid by William Forgey
Where There is No Doctor by David Werner
Where There is No Dentist
by Murray Dickson

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Prepping on a cup o' joe - week 4 PRODUCE

This weeks cup is Produce. Fruits and veggies. You should plan on at least 2 cups per person per day. The USRDA (for what it's worth) is 2.5 cups of veggies and 1.5 cups of fruit.
There are a number of ways you can achieve produce preps, be sure to include a wide variety as eating dried apples and rasins will get old quickly.

If you have a backyard garden or even a few potted veggies on a balcony you're ahead of most people. I posted last week about garden seeds here Seeds of survival. Though I stick with those recommendations, even cheap hybrid seeds are better than nothing. However I strongly recommend that you read that post and educate yourself before storing cheap seeds.

My first recommendation for new preppers is canned goods. They're simple to store, fairly inexpensive on a per can basis, and easy to inventory. One can provides 3-4 half cup servings so you should plan on one can of fruit and two cans of veggies per person per day. They are pest proof and will last a very long time as long as they are properly stored. If you are concerned about moisture, consider waxing cans before storing them. A can of cheap veggies runs 40-50 cents around here.

In addition you can store dried fruits and veggies which store longer, weigh less, and take up less space. Real fruit leathers, applesauce and raisins are good choices. If you decide to go with some fruit leathers don't buy the 'candy' ones that are made by the snack companies like Betty Crocker - these are mostly sugar and have little nutritional value. Instead check the health food section of your grocery store. My family enjoys Fruit A Boo brand leathers.

You can also store canned soups as part of your produce.

For this weeks 'cup' you should purchase some combination of the following (make sure you get some fruits AND some veggies)
  • 5 packages of quality, non-hybrid garden seeds
  • 10-20 cans of veggies
  • 5-10 cans of fruit
  • 5-10 REAL fruit leathers
  • 1 or 2 jars of applesauce
  • a couple pounds of rasins or other dried fruit
  • 10 cans of soup
Now you have a reasonable variety of food stored. You will need muchmore but next week we will look at medications & first aid.

Prepping on a cup o' joe - week 3 Protein

So we're going to spend one more week on foods just to get started then we're going to skip to another area. Let me say again that you need a well balanced diet to survive but since you can't buy everything at once this seems like the next logical choice.
This category would include things like meats, peanut butter, eggs, nuts, legumes, and hearty soups. A one month supply for one person might include:
10-15 # of meat &/or legumes
1 jar of peanut butter
3 dozen eggs
1 pound of nuts

Some easy, obvious choices for this week 'cup' are a combination of the following:
  • 1-2 jars of peanut butter
  • 1/2 lb nuts or seeds
  • a dozen eggs - or for longer shelf life try frozen egg substitute or dried egg powder
  • 6-10 cans of tuna fish, spam, vienna sausages, etc
  • 6-10# of dried beans
In review you should now have enough water, grains, and protein items to last ONE person 15-30 days or a family of 4 about a week.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Completely off topic post about Michael Jackson

OK - So... I wasn't planning on posting about this. I'm not an MJ fan, never really was; but I AM a child of the 80's and it's just struck me. Seems like this is the first 80's pop star that I can recall dying - and that's what's got my mind going tonight. As the movie says "Death comes to us all" - it's one of the few universals in this amazingly diverse trip - we all end up in the same places. I knew this day would come (when someone famous during my youth would die) but didn't expect it to be someone so young. Like some childish part of me just figured he'd always be around doing crazy stuff. Never occured to me that he'd die, and definitely not so young. Who will they paparazzi chase now? Brittney? Lindsay? At any rate - at least now the poor tortured soul is at rest. Hopefully he's found a peace in the next life that eluded him in this one. RIP MJ.

So there's my crazy schpeil. I promise - no more off topic pop world posts.