Practical Preparedness - Short Range Communications

When people are bitten by the preparedness bug most of them start with buying food.  They stock up on wheat, MRE's and freeze dried wonder food in Number 10 tins.  The longer they are infected with this particular "virus"  other symptoms of preparedness emerge.  Family days no longer consist of going to the local park for a hike, but now entail putting as many precious metals (lead and copper) down-range as financially and humanly possible. Garages morph into high density storage units and road trips are planned with topographical maps lined with emergency routes home.  First aid classes are replaced with full-fledged EMT courses and researching uncommon diseases become a favorite pastime.  In a nutshell, you can sum up your life with the phrase "Beans, Bullets and Band-aids".  And then you get hard-core.....

One of the weaknesses of many otherwise well thought out preparedness plans is the lack of communications.  We spend so much time trying to cover the basics that we neglect one of the most basic necessities of all - the ability to communicate with one another.  Without the ability to communicate with your "group" or similarly prepared neighbors, you become intensely vulnerable to any number of grid-down hazards.   Sickness could sweep through an area and quarantine could be broken because of the lack of communication.  Invaders could use the element of surprise to ransack and plunder your retreat due to lack of communications.  A simple inconvenience could become a life or death situation without the ability to call for back-up.

After much research and consideration, we have chosen to use the MURS frequency for our local communications (2 to 3 miles, depending upon terrain).  MURS requires a VHF radio programed to MURS frequencies (there are 5 MURS frequencies).  The MURS frequency is a business band that the FCC released to the public to use without a license.  You are limited to 2 watts on these frequencies by the FCC, however, if you have the abilities to program these radios yourself (this requires software and a programming cable) you could bump the radios up to 5 watts in an emergency.  The reason we chose the MURS radios was that we were disappointed in the quality of the FRS and GRMS radios that were available.  They were cheaply made and often required AAA batteries (AA batteries are our group standard) to function and we had several sets fail in the field for no apparent reason.  I have no doubt there might be some good radios available but we decided to go with very reliable, rugged milspec radios, manufactured by ICOM.  We chose ICOM specifically because Sir Knight has two old ICOM FRS (.5 watt) radios (no longer manufactured) that are so tough that not even the children have been able to destroy them!  We went with the IC F3001 VHF radio.  It had very simple (not as likely to break) controls, is incredibly rugged (both water and dust resistant) and the alkaline battery pack (bought separately) took AA batteries.  The alkaline pack replaces the standard lithium ion battery pack and allows you to use rechargeable AA batteries to power your radio (remember, it is always best to have more than one way to do anything!).  Both the lithium ion and alkaline packs are rechargeable using either standard 110vac or 12vdc chargers, and most preppers already have AA batteries.

Alkaline Battery Packs

Replaces the Lithium Ion battery pack

Headsets and throat-mikes can make a handy option to your field radios.  We are currently testing two different models - one is a headset with a boom mike and the other is a throat-mike with an in-ear receiver.  To date, both have functioned very well. In reality, when it comes to headsets, it is completely a personal choice.  You have to go with what is comfortable and what works for your specific circumstances.  Both of our headsets work under hat or helmets and have good audio quality.  One thing we have noticed about the throat mike (which came without instructions) is that the microphone can't be too close to your windpipe or vocal chords or, when you talk, the audio will be somewhat garbled.  The best position for the mike is on the neck muscles below the ear.  You have to adjust the mike on your neck until you find the best transmission quality.

Throat mike

In-ear receiver

Headset with boom mike (we added the
lovely camo sweatband)

We chose ICOM radios, however, there are any number of other good radios available.  Many times business radios are sold on ebay, in large sets, for a very good price.  Companies going out of business or upgrading their communications are often an excellent source for acquiring used business band radios.

As you get squared away on your beans, bullets and band-aids, it would be wise to also consider the very important aspect of short range communications.  It's not just about preparedness - it's about practical preparedness.

Circular reasoning

I came across an article recently that caused me to think about the decisions I make now and how they can affect this generation, and the next, and the next.  Read on.....

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches.  That's an exceedingly odd number.


Why was that gauge used?  Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the U.S. railroads.


Why did the English build them like that?  Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.


Why did they use that gauge then?  Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.


Okay!  Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?  Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break and some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.


So who built those old rutted roads?  Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions.  The roads have been used ever since.


And the ruts in the roads?  Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels.  Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.


The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot.  

So the next time you are handed a spec and told "we have always done it this way" and wonder what horse's behind came up with that, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses!


            Author Unknown


Just a little something to think on....

Turning Boys into Men

The longer I am the mother of sons, the more convinced I am, that as a society, we are failing at turning our boys into men.  Our young men are entering the adult world more concerned with having the newest cell phone or gnarliest tattoo rather than bothering themselves with standing up for what they believe is right or providing for their family.  They are selfish, self-centered, unused to working and truly believe that the world revolves around them.  They are disrespectful, hate authority, and think the world owes them a living.  And as parents, we share in the burden of blame.

For years, I have pondered the state of our young men, and wondered at the remedy.  I have come to the conclusion that the answer doesn't lie in providing boys with more stuff, filling them with self-esteem or pandering to their over-inflated sense of self.  It lies in skipping adolescent angst and progressing systematically from boyhood to manhood.

When Master Hand Grenade was 12, I noticed a change in his countenance.  He gradually changed from a little boy, looking to his mother for guidance and affirmation to a young man, choosing to spend his time watching and learning the ways of men.  The way that he responded to me changed.  No longer did he appreciate me organizing and dictating every hour of his day.  He wanted autonomy.  He wanted to have input in the goings on of daily life.  As a mother, I rebelled.  Who was he to tell me how he wanted some things to be done?  He was the child - I was the mother!  And then I realized that my role as a mother was changing.  Yes, I was his mother, but I was also a woman, and in reality, men don't like to be ordered about by women, even their mother.

This new development put me in quite a quandary.  Now I needed to figure out how to balance being a mother, in charge of teaching school and mandating chores and being a woman, allowing my son to take his rightful place as a man, practicing to be the head of a household.

Truthfully, after years of thinking on these things, I still don't have the answers.  I do, however, have some theories.  I have come to the conclusion that young men, when they reach the age of 12, should be out from under their mothers roof.  Now before everyone starts yelling, let me explain.  By out of the house, I don't think that 12 year olds should move out and make their own way in the world - heaven forbid!  I do, however, think they need to be out of the house, working alongside of men, learning discipline, work ethic and responsibility from an older man.

In my perfect world, Master Hand Grenade would be home until noon each day.  He would finish his schooling, chores and whatever other home responsibilities he had and then he would spend the rest of the day, until dinner, working on becoming a man.  He would dig ditches, build houses, put up hay and chop wood.  He would learn to be on time, to work hard, to be tough.  He would learn to work when he wanted to be anywhere else and put in a full day when his muscles were aching and tired.  He would learn the value of physical labor and a dollar earned.  He would learn true self-respect, not the prolific lie of self-esteem.  He would skip being a "teenager" and go strait to manhood.  He would be a man worthy of marrying your daughter and being the father of your grandchildren.  He would be a man of God.

The reality of my perfect world is anything but perfect.  Our society doesn't value the same things that I value.  Our society worships youth, not the respectability of manhood.  We applaud the folly of a child rather than venerating the character of the truly humble, self-controlled man.  We are teaching our boys to be boys and wondering why they are not men.

The truth of the matter is that Master Hand Grenade is still under my roof, instead of learning beside his father or another Godly man.  Our government has deemed him too young to have a job.  The craftsman taking an apprentice is from a bygone era.  And so we pray.  We pray that we will have the wisdom to raise Master Hand Grenade and Master Calvin to have a great desire to be a men rather than boys.  I pray that I am able to balance being a mother and a woman encouraging her men to be leaders.

I believe we need to rethink the way we turn boys into men.  Our families, our country our very society depends on it.

Some things you can't prepare for....

As I watch the devastation being wrought in Japan, I am reminded that not all things can be prepared for.  The only thing I can truly prepare for is my meeting with my creator.  I am on my face praying for the people of Japan, not for their homes or their roads or their lands, but for their very souls.

"Jesus wept".
               John 11:35 NIV

Practical Preparedness - Organization

Last spring, I needed some simple canning lids.  As I waded through piles of supplies, camping equipment and off season clothing that were stored in our "container", in attempt to reach the canning supplies, I realized that we had a HUGE problem.  Although we had food stores, hygiene items and extra socks, I wouldn't be able to find them if I had to.  Our storage container had become such a mess, that although I knew we had whatever we needed in there "somewhere", it was most often easier to go buy something than dig for it.  My struggle to get from one end of the container to the other was the impetus I needed to get organized and inventory our supplies.  What a revelation!  I had tons of some things and not nearly enough of other things.  Without organization, it was impossible to have an accurate idea of what we had and what we needed.

Miscellaneous Storage

Clothes Storage

Maid Elizabeth and I, armed with clipboards and sharpie pens, tackled the beast.  Starting at the beginning, we inventoried our supplies and began the arduous task of organizing and rearranging.  We combined half buckets of supplies, put like things together and stowed loose items in tubs, barrels and extra buckets.  We threw an entire horse trailer (O.K., it was only a two horse trailer, but still!) load of garbage away.  Empty boxes, torn bags and broken equipment were all thrown in the trailer as we made our way down a 40 foot hallway.  Little by little, order was restored.  At the end of the day, we had inventoried an entire 40 foot container and organized so many buckets and barrels that we lost count.  Finally, if we really NEEDED something, we would be able to put our hands on it.

One of the indoor pantries

Trauma Supplies

Medical Cabinet

Communications Center

Charging Station

Alkaline Battery Storage

After that fateful day, we have never again succumbed to a messy container.  And little by little, we have organized and inventoried pantries, cupboards and every little nook and cranny.  From a preparedness standpoint, we have struck gold.  Not only do we know what we have, but we know were it is.  We also know what we need.  In a grid-down situation being organized is being prepared.  Rather than fighting our way through a mess, we will know exactly were to find something.  In reality, organization could be the difference between life and death.

Oh, and by the way, I did find the canning lids....eventually.

Sneak Peek - an excerpt from "The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases"

Here is a sneak peek of our upcoming booklet "The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases".  My dear friend Julianne called this morning needing an Oral Rehydration Therapy recipe to treat her sweet little man Gabe, who was suffering with acute food poisoning and it occurred to me, being flu season and all, others might find information on dehydration helpful as well.

Enjoy your "sneak peek".  There is more to come.....

Dehydration

Dehydration results when the body loses more liquid than it takes in.  This can happen with severe diarrhea, especially when there is vomiting too.  It can happen in very serious illness, when a person is too sick to take much food or liquid.  Anyone can become dehydrated but it develops more quickly and is most dangerous in small children.  When a person has watery diarrhea, or diarrhea and vomiting, do not wait for signs of dehydration – Act quickly.

• ·   Give lots of liquids to drink.  ORT (oral rehydration therapy) is best; or give a thin cereal porridge or gruel, teas, soups or even plain water.
• ·   Keep giving food.  As soon as the person will accept food, give frequent feeding of foods he likes or will accept.
• ·   For babies – keep offering breast milk often, before other drinks.

Oral Rehydration Therapy

ORT 1

1 Liter (quart) boiled water

1 teaspoon salt

8 teaspoons sugar

1 mashed banana (for potassium and improved taste) Optional

If you leave out banana, replace with a potassium supplement.

CAUTION:  Before adding the sugar, taste the drink and be sure it is less salty than tears.

ORT 2

1 Liter (quart) boiled water

½ teaspoon salt

8 heaping teaspoons of cereal (finely ground maize, wheat flour, sorghum or cooked and mashed potatoes

Boil for 5 to 7 minutes to form a liquid gruel or watery porridge.  Cool the drink quickly and start administering.

CAUTION:  Taste the drink each time it is used to be sure it is not spoiled.  Cereal drinks can spoil in a few hours in hot weather.

*To either drink add half a cup of fruit juice, coconut water or mashed ripe banana, if available.  This provides potassium which may help the person accept more food and drink.

*Give the dehydrated person sips of this drink every 5 minutes, day and night, until he begins to urinate normally.  A large person needs 3 or more liters (quarts) a day.  A small child usually needs at least 1 liter (quart) a day, or 1 glass for each watery stool passed.  Keep giving the drink often in small sips, even if the person vomits.  Not all of the drink will be vomited.

Foods for a person with Diarrhea

When the person is vomiting or feels too sick to eat, he should drink:

·      Watery mush or broth of rice, maize powder or potato

·      Rice water (with some mashed rice)

·      Broth (chicken, meat, egg or bean)

·      Rehydration drink

·      Breast milk.

As soon as the person is able to eat, in addition to giving the drinks listed above, he should eat a balanced selection of the following foods:

Energy Foods

·      Ripe or cooked bananas

·      Crackers

·      Rice, oatmeal or other well-cooked grain

·      Fresh maize (well-cooked and mashed)

·      Potatoes

·      Applesauce (cooked)

·      Papaya

*It helps to add a little (a very small amount) sugar or vegetable oil to the cereal foods.

Body-Building Foods

·      Chicken (boiled or roasted)

·      Eggs (boiled)

·      Meat (well-cooked without fat/grease)

·      Beans, lentils or peas (well-cooked and mashed)

·      Fish (well-cooked)

·      Milk (in some can cause more diarrhea.  If this happens, try giving less milk and mixing it with other foods).

If Dehydrated Do NOT Eat or Drink

·      Fatty or greasy foods

·      Most raw fruits

·      Any kind of laxative or purge

·      Alcoholic drinks

·      Highly seasoned food

Blog giveaway!

My friends over at Forgotten Way Farms are having a giveaway for a homestead DVD set.  It looks like the set has a lot of great information for those wanting to begin an agrarian way of life.  Pop on over there and enter to win - tell them that Enola sent you!

P.S.  Check out the new items they have listed on their website - very cool!

Blood Draws and I.V.'s

This is how Idaho midwives get to their patients!

As Maid Elizabeth draws nearer to her planned mission trip to the Philippines, she has ramped up her acquisitions of medical skills.  Today she learned the very essential skills of drawing blood and starting and administering I.V.'s.  One of the wonderful things about her training for midwifery is that she is becoming proficient in numerous techniques not only needed in midwifery, but in any medical situation.  And we have the added benefit of learning along side her (and sometimes being her Guinea pig!).  

And this is how we spend our weekends....

Maid Elizabeth and her precepter midwife
getting ready to begin blood draws

Teacher and Student

Starting with a "dummy" arm

Cleaning the site (always practice like
it's "for real")

Applying the tourniquet

Instruction on choosing a vein

Placing the needle

Inserting the vacutainer

Removing the needle, having released
the tourniquet

Now, it's Sir Knight's turn!

The tourniquet is in place, now it is time
to insert the needle

The needle slides right into the vein

She hit paydirt (as you can see from
the blood flowing through
the tube)

And the sharps go in the sharps container

This is what I call "Home School"!


As a side note, Maid Elizabeth went to her first prenatal as a Primary midwife later in the afternoon.  She preformed her first blood draw flawlessly!  What a testament to both teacher and student!

Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

When a birthday comes to our house, the birthday boy or girl gets to choose their favorite dinner.  Recently, it was Miss Calamity's special day.  Being the consummate cowgirl, her dinner of choice was Sausage Gravy and Biscuits.

I didn't grow up making biscuits and gravy, but it was always a favorite on the rare occasions that we went out for breakfast.  I could tell the difference between the "real thing" and the canned goop from a mile away.  Try as I might, I could never figure out how to make good ol' fashioned sausage gravy.  I tried the little packets of sausage gravy mix in the spice aisle - eeww, yuck!  And then, one day, I happened to be at a friends house while she was making dinner.  She was making hamburger gravy, and I had never seen anything like it.  She browned the meat, added some butter, tossed a little flour over the top, stirred it in, added milk and walah - perfect hamburger gravy.  Inspired, I decided to try my own little experiment, but with sausage rather than hamburger.  It was an instant success!  I did make a change or two.  Instead of draining the grease, I left it in (for that great sausage flavor) and   also added some butter.  The results are consistently fabulous.

Here is our Miss Calamity's birthday dinner.....

Brown the sausage over medium
(or over a "slow" woodbox)

Add butter (about 1 cube per pound of sausage)

Sprinkle liberally with flour (I used about 3/4 Cup)

Stir the flour in (it will be quite thick and pasty)

Add milk (I used about 2 1/2 cups -
and then added more as it thickened)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Add some fried potatoes (in cast iron - of course)

And biscuits

Miss Calamity's Birthday Dinner!

Practical Preparedness - Wound Care

I come from a medically inclined family.  My parents were both EMT's, serving our rural community for most of my growing up years.  I have been to more first aid classes than I can count.  When I was in high school, I assisted our local Vet both in the office and during farm calls.  I have given shots, lanced boils, stitched injuries and been a horse midwife.  My husband was a Firefighter/EMT when we lived in the big city and our oldest daughter is an EMT training to be a Midwife.  All of our children, with the exception of the three year old, have been through first aid classes.  When we think of TEOTWAWKI situations, we always think of medical emergencies, illnesses and normal parts of life, such as birth and death.  We want all of our bases covered.

In that vein, we stock up on not only pharmaceuticals, but personal protection and wound care supplies.  We often pick up band aids, medical tape and other medical necessities when we go to the dollar store (it is amazing how a box here and there really adds up), but once a year or so, we make a major "band aids" purchase through a company that outfits firehouses and ambulances.  Moore Medical carries everything from butterflies to suture strips (they even carry medications, though they are only available by prescription).  We find it much less expensive to buy in bulk (when we have a chunk of cash) than to pick up more expensive items singly.

Here is a sampling of what we purchase, and what we use it for.....

Personal Protection Equipment

• Nitrile Exam Gloves (S, M, XL).  It is wise to have gloves on anytime you are dealing with blood products or bodily fluids.  It is the first line of defense in infection control
• Surgical Masks.  If you are dealing with a communicable disease a surgical mask offers a modicum of protection.
• Fluid Shield Surgical Masks.  To protect you from contracting diseases due to small droplets.

Band Aids (aka boo boo strips)

• Butterfly Closures.  For closing lacerations that don't quite require sutures.
• Fabric Adhesive Bandages 1"x3"
• Fabric Fingertip Bandages
• Fabric Adhesive Bandages 2"x4"
• Fabric Knuckle Bandages  (we find that fabric band aids move better and wear better than plastic band aids)

Dressings and Bandages

• Sponges 4"x4".  Use as a dressing for a wound, or to clean a wound.
• Kling rolls.  To be used over a dressing - holds dressing in place.
• Surgical tape.  Secures kling over wound.
• Sponges.  Use as a dressing for wounds.
• Gauze Pads.  Use as a dressing for wounds (sterile) 4"x4".
• Vaseline Petrolatum Gauze.  Use as a dressing for weeping wounds or sutured areas.  We use these extensively.  They will not stick to the wound.
• CoFlex.  Cohesive flexible bandage.  This can be used in place of Kling and tape.  It sticks to itself, but not to skin.  It is stretchy and applies nicely.  We purchased our CoFlex through KV Vet Supply for half the price we could purchase it for at our medical supplier!  Interestingly, the CoFlex is identical to what we have bought from pharmacies in the past - even the packaging is the same.
• Sterile oval eye pads.  You never know when someone is going to get "pucker brush" in their eye and require first aid!

Bumps, Bruises and Sprains

• Triangle Bandages.  Stabilize dislocated shoulders and fractured arms and wrists.  Also used for wrapping head wounds.
• Elastic Bandage (Ace Bandage). (2", 3", 4")  Multiple uses.  Used for supporting sprains and sore joints.  Can be used as bleeding control (without cutting off circulation).  For the price we pay for them, they can be used for bandaging any wound.

Burn Care

• Burn Jel.  Made by Water Jel, Burn Jel contains Lidocaine and offers almost instant relief for burns.  The thick jel cools the burn and seals out air.  We use Burn Jel exclusively for burn care (including sun burns).  We stock bottles of bulk jel, along with pre-soaked sterile dressings in foil packets.

We have found that being medically equipped is not just for preppers awaiting the end of the world.  Our latest order was merely a re-supply.  Living in a rural area, we are frequently called upon to render first aid to any number of neighbors and most often, our own children.  We have flushed eyes, transported severed digits, preformed CPR, bandaged severe lacerations, stopped major bleeding, dealt with anaphylactic reactions, stabilized fractured bones and even delivered a few babies.  Being rural, more than one farm animal has also been the recipient of our equipment and supplies.  

Preparing for medical emergencies goes hand in hand with food storage, defense and communications when anticipating a grid-down scenario.   It's not just about preparedness - it's about Practical Preparedness.