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.

Practical Preparedness - Pharmaceuticals

Every couple of years, we take an inventory of our medical supplies, both pharmaceuticals and wound care, and make major purchases.  This year, we are redoubling our preparedness efforts, so rather than making one major purchase, we are breaking things down into categories and making numerous purchases, otherwise the shear volume would overwhelm us.

A recent buying trip (to our local Costco) yielded pharmaceutical gold.  Here is a sampling of what we bought, and why....

• Fleet Saline Enemas.  As people age and become less active, a little help in the waste management department is indicated.  Also, a change in diet, from a heavily laden fiber diet to a diet including mostly protein (as in a wild game driven TEOTWAWKI diet) will cause things to "stop up".  If not dealt with quickly and efficiently, constipation could prove to be a life-threatening condition.
• Stool Softeners.  Basically, they are indicated for the same condition mentioned above, however, they would be a preventative, taken before complete stoppage.
• Cough Drops.  For soothing relief of itchy throats due to PND and bothersome colds.  Something along the lines of Chloraseptic Throat Lozenges would be in order for sore throats.
• Ibuprofen.  Fever relief and pain management.  Ibuprofen is good three years past the expiration date (per doctor), then throw it away. 
• Quick Release Caps Ibuprofen.  For super fast acting pain relief or fever reduction.  Gel caps are more expensive and the shelf life is shorter, but can be worth the extra price.
• Tylenol.  Fever relief and pain management.  Tylenol has no shelf life (per doctor), so it is an excellent long term storage option.
• Aspirin.  Fever relief and pain management.  It also works as a blood thinner.  Aspirin lasts forever (per doctor), making it perfect for long term storage.
• Children's Tylenol.  As indicated previously, but with children's dosage.
• Children's Ibuprofen.  As indicated previously, but with children's dosage.
• Tylenol PM.  Use as you would for Tylenol, but with the added benefit of a sleep aid.  In cases of extreme illness or pain, sleeping can be a great healer.
• Benadryl Allergy.  Benadryl is the first course of action for an anaphylactic reaction.  It can be the difference between life and death.  We keep quite a supply on hand.
• Children's Benadryl Allergy.  Same as above, but with dosage for children.
• Neosporin.  An antibiotic ointment to be used on minor scrapes and scratches to prevent infection.  It can keep minor injuries minor.
• Bag Balm.  Truthfully, we use bag balm in place of Neosporin regularly, with great success.  We do find that the Neosporin tubes are easier to transport in packs and bags.
• Visine. When allergies come calling or you get something in your eye, there is no better eye wash.  It can bring immediate relief.
• Hydrogen Peroxide.  The uses for hydrogen peroxide are too numerous to mention!  We use it extensively to remove blood from clothing and linens.  It is also a great gargle and antiseptic.
• Betadine.  We use Betadine as a topical antiseptic.  You can scrub for minor surgery (or major) with a Betadine solution by mixing 2oz. of dish soap to 1 gallon of betadine.  This is an excellent solution to wash with and sterilize wounds.
• Isopropyl Alcohol.  Yet another topical antiseptic for use in wound care (ie. sterilization of instruments).

Not only do we stock up on simple medications, we purchase large quantities of vitamins to maintain health.  Our daily regime consists of an Emergen-C packet every morning followed by a high quality multi-vitamin.  Emergen-C is available in bulk at Costco and is packaged in a foil packet (plastic is NOT an oxygen barrier!).  My all-time favorite multi-vitamins are made by a company called Beeyoutiful.  I love them!  I take Super Mom and they have worked so well for both Maid Elizabeth and myself that I just placed an order for Super Dad for Sir Knight!

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.

Stylish Blogger Award

Imagine my surprise and utter amazement when I received an email notifying me that JWR over at Survival Blog had awarded Paratus Familia with a Stylish Blogger Award!  I am honored.

As with any blog award, there are rules that govern them.  The rules of this award are, 1) I must divulge 7 things about myself and, 2) nominate 15 other blogs for the Stylish Blog Award.

Here are seven things about myself:

1)  My real name is not Enola Gay.
2)  I grew up field stripping M16's rather than playing with Barbies.
3)  Sir Knight and I watch way too many movies.
4)  I know how to jump start a 24 volt battery system with a 12 volt car battery.
5)  "Red Dawn" was the defining movie of my teenage years.
6)  I think they based the character of "Burt Gummer" in the "Tremors" movies on my husband (and my dad always thought I would marry a "bleeding-heart liberal"!)
7)  I am a second generation survivalist/prepper.

Now for the hard part!  I don't read fifteen other blogs, and some of these Blog Awards are going to be redundant, but here goes...

My Stylish Blogger Awards to to.... (in no particular order)

• Life at Providence Lodge
• Rural Revolution (I know, it's already been honored)
• Haven of Home
• Survival Blog  (I'm sure its against the rules to nominate the blog that nominated you, but I just don't read that many blogs!)

So that is it.  I don't read blogs, with the exception of those listed here, so my list is pretty short.

I do thank Survival Blog for this prestigious honor.  I am humbled.

Perhaps I qualify as a Redneck!?!

Maid Elizabeth and I picked up a book at the thrift store the other day with the express purpose of entertaining ourselves on the drive home.  It was called the "Redneck Extreme Mobile Home Makeover" by Jeff Foxworthy.  Maid Elizabeth read the jokes out loud to us (Master Hand Grenade, Miss Calamity, Princess Dragon Snack and Master Calvin were all enjoying the ride) as we made our way home from town.  We were all laughing uproariously and then, the jokes started hitting a little too close to home.   This is the sad state in which we find ourselves....

You Might Be A Redneck If....

• Your central heating system consists of leaving the oven door open.
• Your lawnmower says, Moo".
• Nothing in your refrigerator was purchased at a store.
• Your shotgun sees more action than your lawn mower.
• You've tightened a loose screw with your fingernail.
• You've ever hollered, "You kids quit playing on that sheet metal!".
• The curtains in your living room are camouflage.
• You have to go outside to get something out of the fridge.
• Anything in your home is running off a forklift battery.
• You think "prime real estate" is the chair next to the wood cookstove.
• Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night requires shoes and a flashlight.
• Any of your wedding gifts came from an Army Navy store.
• You're saving up to gravel your driveway.
• Your lawn fertilizer was in your cow about five minutes earlier.
• You've ever had to have a wrecker pull your car out of a pothole in your driveway.
• You don't have electricity in every room of your house.
• You've ever heard "I told you it was loaded" while staring at a hole in your ceiling.
• Privacy in your bathroom means singing loudly.
• You've bandaged a wound with duct tape.
• You've ever moved furniture in a horse trailer.
• You use your bathroom plunger every day.
• You've ever been stuck in your own driveway.
• You stockpile pork and beans.
• Drying your clothes depends upon the weather.

Are we rednecks?  I'll let you be the judge!

Essential Preparedness Tools of the Trade Part VIII - Otter Sled

I probably should have addressed the usefulness of the "Otter Sled" earlier this winter, but until we had a drifting snow, it didn't occur to me!

We bought an Otter Sled about three years ago, and have used it extensively ever since.  Otter Sleds were designed for ice fishing, but their practicality on the prepared homestead makes them a necessity for any prepper.  They haul huge amounts of cargo, have tall side walls and double as a boat in an emergency.  For our family, the Otter Sled is an all season workhorse.  Obviously, it is a wonder in the winter when we are up to our eyeballs in snow, but it has proved its worth in every other season as well.  We use our sled every day to haul a huge load of wood into the house, the kids use it for sledding down the sled hill.  We have been known to haul groceries, fuel and mail in it when the driveway has been drifted in.  In the spring and fall, the Otter sled is a better choice than any wheeled vehicle for toting heavy cargo around the homestead.  It slides over mud and moves through the grass easily.  And in the summertime, our kids use the Otter sled as a boat in the neighbors pond! They float packs and gear that they don't want to get wet across the creeks on the way to their super-secret hidey holes in the woods.

Hauling wood into the house

Hauling kids

Precious cargo

Hauling the mail up our drifted driveway - really!

As much use and fun as we get out of our sled it is no comparison to its survival value.  The sled is incredibly tough and very suited to hauling behind snowmobiles and other tracked vehicles.  You can haul it while on snowshoes, skis or even horseback.  And Otter makes a zip up cover for the sled to keep cargo dry or cover and insulate a patient you are transporting through the backwoods.

Otter sleds come in many sizes (even one that is Olive Drab - my personal favorite!).  They are available at most feed stores and usually sell out very quickly when snow season hits.  As far as I am concerned, our Otter sled is one of our most valuable winter-time survival assets.

The realities of "One Second After"

I just finished reading the book "One Second After" by William Forstchen.  Avalanche Lily, over at Survival Blog had recommended it as a riveting read, so I thought I had better check it out.

The basic premiss of the book is the realities of life after an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) attack over the continental United States.  Being sufficiently paranoid already, I found this book perfect fodder for my already overactive sense of preparedness.

One of the main themes of the book that haunted me was that of sickness and death.  Throughout history, it has been within the realm of women to care for laboring women, babies, the elderly, the sick and the dying.  Women, by our very nature, care for others.  Men were created to protect and provide for their families. Women were created to nurture and minister to their families.  As I read "One Second After", I realized that in a grid down situation the care for the sick would once again become the realm of women.  When there are no doctors, hospitals or health officials to "save" us from sickness, it will be the mothers, daughters, grandmothers and aunts that take up the mantle laid down by their ancestors and reclaim their place among the legions of women who lived lives of service caring for the sick and dying.

As a wife, a mother, a daughter and an aunt, I want to arm myself with information and the necessary equipment and skills to make me a formidable enemy to sickness and death.  I want to know the potential health dangers of a world without grid-power and readily available bathroom facilities.  I want to re-aquire the medical knowledge required to deal with diseases that have been vanquished by modern medical practices and clean food and water sources.  In that vein, I have been researching (with much help from Maid Elizabeth) ancient diseases like Cholera, Typhoid, and Typhus, along with once common childhood diseases like Mumps and Measles.  My plan is to put together a booklet with vital information - information like signs, symptoms, preventative measures, causes, methods of transmission, proper methods of contamination containment, indicated antibiotics (if any) etc.  I plan to include simple recipes for ORH (oral rehydration therapy) solutions, electrolyte replacement fluids, emergency baby formula recipes and even methods for dealing with such things as lice, without the help of modern medical interventions.

If nothing else, "One Second After" reminded me of the important role of women in a TEOTWAWKI situation.  I plan to go into battle armed with knowledge, skills and the resources I need to see my family through whatever comes our way.

Wood Cookstove Tools of the Trade

The longer I have cooked on a wood cookstove the more I have come to realize the importance of a few good cooking utensils.  I find that I turn to the same pans and skillets over and over because of their superior performance both on the stove top and in the oven.  Using my stove has been an education, but the lessons I have learned are invaluable.  It has afforded me the opportunity to refine my techniques while I gather appropriate tools - before I really NEED them.  Here is a partial list of what I have learned.....

Cast Iron is your friend.  The beauty of cast iron is that it durable and perfect for use both on the stovetop and in the oven.  It cooks evenly and holds heat well - and after it has been properly seasoned, withstands the high heat of a wood cookstove remarkably well.  I have a variety of cast iron in many shapes and sizes.  Skillets by themselves are a workhorse, but coupled with a lid, they are indispensable.  I use skillets for all manner of stovetop dishes, but I use them extensively in the oven as well.  They are perfect for cooking a Frittata on the stovetop and finishing in the oven.  When I make pizza in the cookstove, I always cook it on the stovetop first.  Wood cookstoves are notorious for browning or even burning the tops of your baked goods while leaving the bottom white and gooey.  The answer to this problem is cooking on the stovetop first and popping in the oven for the final cooking and browning.  Cast iron is perfect for this.  Not only does it perform well on the top of the stove, but equally well in the oven.  In addition to numerous skillets, I have a cast iron Dutch Oven.  The Sheepherders Bread recipe I have just fits into my Dutch Oven and cooks to golden perfection when covered with the lid.

German Pancakes

Roasting pans.  The wonderful thing about roasting pans is that they have lids.  One thing that I quickly learned was that things brown long before they are cooked through.  You either have to buy truckloads of tin foil, or you have pans that you can cover to slow the browning process.  I generally bake until the top is golden brown and then cover with a lid.  This allows whatever I am baking to cook all of the way through but not become a charred mess on top.

Cake pans with slide on covers.  Just like roasting pans, they have a cover.  One of the biggest challenges in wood cookstove cookery is keeping the tops of your foods from burning.  Covers also keep moisture in casseroles and other dishes.  Wood heat is very dry.  Covering your dishes while they cook slows the evaporation.

Pie Shields.  Just like cast iron lids, roasting pans and cake pans with covers, pie shields will keep your pies from becoming burnt offerings.  It is amazing how a tiny, thin piece of metal protects your crusts from becoming inedible.

Tin Foil.  O.K.  I just had to say it.  Some of your pans just don't come equipped with lids.  As you can tell, my main concern while cooking on my cookstove, is keeping the tops of all my cakes, pies, breads and everything else from becoming blackened soot.  A few rolls of tin foil are worth their weight in gold!

Pear Pie

One final thought regarding cooking on/in a wood cookstove.  Most wood cookstoves have non-standard oven sizes.  My folks have a cookstove with a rather small oven.  Mom has had to search high and low for skillets and pans and cookie sheets that will fit in her oven.  Had she not been diligent in her search now, she may very well have been in for a very big, not-so-pleasant surprise at the End of the World as we Know It.

Wood Cookstove Cookery is an art and a science.  It is a challenge that is well worth the effort.  Having the proper cookware will be the difference between success and sheer frustration.