Giving it Due Respect

water givith, water taketh away

I learned a bunch my first year out here in the middle of Nowhere, Michigan. Crazy me, I bought a place 30 miles from town, in the center of 1000’s of acres of woods. I spent that first year in a little tar paper shanty without electricity or water. My dog Gus, the mice in the walls and ceiling and those damn nasty, huge wood spiders, were my only companions. Those spiders are so massive, a group of them can get together and carry off my cabin if they had a mind to, they are that big. (Think I’m kidding? Look up wolf spiders on the computer, some look like eight legged toads.)

Listen carefully, when you have to haul your own water, and avoid spiders, you realize it’s value real quick. You practically count every drop. Ask anyone who has lived in the desert when their well went dry or the moment you realize your only water bottle is empty. It’s a hard slap of reality.

Let’s play with this a little bit.

Imagine for a moment if you will, you have been hiking a hilly dry trail and you are about 3 miles into the musty wilderness. It’s about 80 degrees and you have been walking at a nice pace and sweating pretty good. Oh, look! Your water bottle developed a leak and you now have no water for the trip back. Suddenly you panic! Strong emotion uses water.

Did you know ?

At least 60% of your body is water when hydration is good. But of that 60%, 73% of the brain is water and 83% of our blood is water.

So when the body is at just 2% dehydration, you will feel thirsty. At 5% dehydration, you become hot and tired and your strength and endurance decreases. At 10% dehydration, you will get delirious and your vision will blurr which can be a big problem out on the trail 3 miles from the car. So, you stagger, huff, puff and sweat your way back to the car. All that extra strain on your body, you are now at 20% dehydration. Game over, you died 4 feet from the car.

A soldier out on the battlefield can lose 2 gallons of bodily fluids during heavy conflict. But even if he has water available it will take his body up to 30 minutes to absorb only 4 oz. If a constant supply doesn’t come, his dehydration continues. Soldiers are also told that if they have no water to NOT eat anything. It takes water to digest food. Water is damn serious business!

Experts say that a family of 4 uses around 260,000 gallons of water for the average household per year. Any idea how much water you use on a daily basis? You will know real fast once you have to start carrying your own. Rule of thumb is that you should have 2 gallons per person per day stored and change that stored water once every 6 months to keep it fresh.

Stored city or municipal water generally has chlorine already added to the water supply, but if you use well water, some people will add 8 drops of chlorine bleach to each gallon of water. There are many ways to purify stored water. You can be your own best researcher to find out what is best for you in your area.

Personally, I saved up and bought a Big Berky water filtering system.

Big Berky water filtration or something similar. And here is why;

Imagine, if you will, the most horrendous storm you have ever lived through. Walls of torrential water slamming into the side of your house. Day after day of miserable wet rain and wind pounding your neighborhood. River and lake waters are creeping higher and higher, seeping into every crack in the foundations of every home. After 3 days of these intense storms there is a lull in the rain, your neighbor ventures out to check on you. Frank works for a large power network and he just got word from a colleague a major cyber attack happened at the same time as these wicked storms. Looks as if these events were timed towards sabotaging the nations power grids. "We need to accept that we are in world of hurt for a long haul,” he mumbles as he diverts his eyes to the ground. "Not your fault, Frank." I say “There is nothing you could you have done." You and Frank decide to check in with some of the other neighbors.

 "I was out a little yesterday watching the flood waters. There were things floating down the street that were totally unidentifiable. I had no idea what some of that stuff was. Sometimes a greasy film would float by on top of the water followed by a decomposing carcass of some sort. Thank goodness the weather is still a little cooler than it could be, or mold would be creeping up our asses." Frank said, slightly winded from trudging mucky and debris filled flood water.

Day number five and the flood waters are beginning to recede. The guys met up again to get out and assess the damages, check on other neighbors and see who might need help. The soft ground made it difficult to walk. Frank took a brief moment to stop and catch his breath. He promised to give his brain a few minutes to catch up to the unbelievable damages he was seeing around precious neighborhood, so he let his mind wander for a moment.  Franks memory landed on a news broadcast of bodies floating in the water shortly after hurricane Katrina. He shook off the sick memory and started to asses his own real situation. After a few moments, Franks brain suddenly understood, this is real! 

                                        *********

Although the above scenario is fiction, scenes like this are happening more and more in this country every year. Most Americans have never had to deal with water borne diseases that plague most third world countries.

 Cholera, for instance, is one of those diseases most of us in industrialized nations took for granted and mindlessly dedicated it to large populated unsanitary, third world countries. Not giving Cholera its just due, we were under the impression it had been eradicated here at the turn of the 20th century with inventions of garbage collection, refrigeration and indoor plumbing. Our belief was, "it just wouldn't happen here".

 And as if we don't have enough already to worry about. Weather and climate has us rethinking things we took for granted. Learning the basics of these water borne diseases could save your life or that of someone you love. Please take the time to understand water borne illnesses and how to handle them. This is some very important, life saving shit! Not in any particular order, I give this information for non-commercial free use, to share, to discuss, to copy, and keep in your survival library. The key to getting through *what comes next* is knowledge.

Bacteria, virus and protozoa, dangers in your water and a few key 'need to know' words.

Virus--Is a minute microorganism much smaller than a bacterium that, having no independent metabolic activity of its own, may only replicate within a cell of a living plant or animal host. A virus consists of a core nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a coat of antigenic (antibody production) protein, sometimes surrounded by an envelope of lipoprotein. 

Bacteria--Any of the small unicellular microorganisms. A combining form 'genus of microscopic plants from the class Schizomycetes'. The nature, severity, and outcome of any infection caused by a bacterium are characteristic of that species. 

Protozoa- Is a single-celled microorganisms of the class of Protozoa, the lowest form of animal life. Protozoa are more complex than bacteria, forming a self-contained unit with organelles ( a unit within a cell) that carry on such functions as locomotion, nutrition, excretion, respiration, and attachment to other objects or organisms. These descriptions were taken from the Nurse's reference library- Book of 'Definitions'- Encyclopedic dictionary. Volume by Intermed Communications 1983

Contagion= the medium by which a disease is transmitted.

Sanitation= the application of disposal of sewage and waste for the sake of cleanliness and the protecting of health.

Hygiene= the application of scientific knowledge to the preservation of health and the prevention of disease through cleanliness.

Nutrition= the act or process of nourishing, also obtaining the dietary requirements for proper health. The process by which humans take in and utilize food material thus providing energy and healing.

Patient report- An initial assessment of the patient and a description of pertinent information on the patient's condition- what brings him to you?- What are her symptoms?- Where has she been and with whom?- What has he eaten and drank in the last several days? Caregivers remarks- Is he feverish, does he have a rash, etc.?

Listed below in no specific order are the waterborne illness that can take you and a loved one down after a crisis.

Cholera

Cholera was first recorded in 1563 in a medical report in India, but humanity didn't start to get a clear picture of the disease until 1817 when it spread to the rest of the world. Cholera is a highly contagious disease that countless millions have contracted and died from, and it's potential comeback has medical experts reeling." Says the Master of Public health, University of California.

Cholera is one of several nasty bacterial infections of the small intestine which causes acute diarrhea. It's contracted by eating or drinking food and water that has been contaminated with the bacterium vibrio cholerae. 

Anyone can become infected with Cholera, but a few factors increase your risk of a severe case.

*Living in unclean conditions, poor sanitation and using contaminated water.

*Low levels of stomach acid (Cholera bacteria cannot live in highly acid environments) Elderly people and babies usually have less stomach acid in their bodies which makes them more susceptible to Cholera and other diseases.

*Sick household members that have not been isolated.

*Type O blood type (It is not clear why this is true, except to say more people with O type seem to be at risk for Cholera.)

Diagnosing cholera can be difficult because it can take anywhere from 12 hours to 5 days to show symptoms. By the time you begin blowing out from both ends, who could possibly remember what you ate or drank 5 days to 12 days ago.  For some Cholera can be fatal if they don't begin treatment right away. Constant diarrhea is the bodies way of trying to eliminate the bacteria, but the constant elimination of the body's liquid reserves can take a toll.  

It is also possible to have cholera and not have symptoms at all although bacteria are present in feces for up to 10 days. Which makes this person a walking Typhoid Mary, shedding bacteria back into the environment and infecting other people. You can very well understand why sanitation in austere conditions is of the utmost importance.

Symptoms of Cholera from the Mayo Clinic Website;

Diarrhea-- Cholera-related diarrhea come on suddenly and can quickly cause dangerous fluid loss - as much as a quart an hour. Diarrhea due to cholera is often pale and milky looking.

Nausea and vomiting-- Vomiting occurs especially in the early stages of cholera and can last for hours.

Dehydration-- Dehydration can develop within hours after cholera symptoms start and range from mild to severe. A loss of 10% or more of body weight indicates severe dehydration.

If you had to guess that someone is suffering from cholera look for; irritability, fatigue, sunken eyes, a dry mouth, extreme thirst, dry and shriveled skin that's slow to bounce back when pinched, little or no urinating, low blood pressure, and irregular heartbeat.

Dehydration can lead to a rapid loss of minerals that maintain the balance of fluids in your body. This is called an electrolyte imbalance. (Having lots pedialyte in your preps can save a life. It stores well for years.)

An electrolyte imbalance can lead to serious signs and symptoms such as:

*Muscle cramps due to rapid loss of salts such as sodium, chloride and potassium. 

*Shock is one of the most serious complications of dehydration. It occurs when blood volume causes a drop in blood pressure and a drop in the amount of oxygen in your body. If untreated, severe hypovolemic shock* can cause death in minutes. 

*Hypovolemic Shock--A state of physical collapse and prostration caused by massive blood loss, circulatory dysfunction, and inadequate tissue perfusion. The loss of one fifth of total blood volume in the affected individual can produce this condition.

Scary stuff, right? Sanitation is the only prevention and cure. Careful handling of any water is a must in all crisis situations. Immediate care from a healthcare professional is always your best outcome for an ill person. But what if there are no doctors or healthcare professionals in or near your situation?

You as the caretaker-----

It is your job as the support staff to make sure your group is drinking clean water. Running dirty water through a coffee filter or clean towel or tee shirt and then boiling the crap out of it is one way to get reasonably safe drinking water. Having a water filtration system that is independent of the electrical grid is a very well thought out insurance policy against most all waterborne illnesses your family may be subjected to. When clean water is scarce and pond and puddle water is suspicious, this type of home water system is a life saver. Again, Check out the Berky site here.

Also, when you leave the house have a “Life Straw” with you at all times. These are portable water filtration for those on the move, they lightweight and fit easily in your go bag. You have a go bag, right?

If you become the designated group or family caregiver, just remember you will recognize the initial symptoms of Cholera as sudden painless diarrhea and vomiting, then the diarrhea becomes progressively waterier. It is then that the patient begins to lose body electrolytes, (sodium, chloride, potassium, and bicarbonate), the direct result of fluid loss and electrolyte imbalance.

The person may complain of intense thirst, will have decreased output of urine, and most likely will have muscle cramps and/or general weakness. An abnormal drop in blood pressure and lose of potassium are common symptoms with severe dehydration. Excessive amounts of acid may build up in the blood and body tissues. Kidney failure can occur at this stage but should respond well to fluid replacement. This is characteristic of most diarrheal diseases.

To make a simple oral rehydration solution

2 quarts clean, cold, filtered water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Stir until salt and baking soda are dissolved. Serve cold and as much as the person will drink. Keep the person well dehydrated but do not give sweeteners or fruit juice at this stage.

A good potassium broth should be used, or a salty bouillon is good too.

To make a homemade potassium broth, cook barley in lots of water. When fully cooked strain out the barley retaining the water it was cooked in.

Take one pint of the barley water and add 1 tablespoon of slippery elm bark. Serve warm. This is very nutritious!

Add (optional)

1 onion           2 stalks celery

1 potato          2 carrots

Simmer until the vegetables are soft and strain. This makes another very nourishing broth that is well tolerated. 

Put the person somewhere comfortable and put hot compress over the stomach and bowel area as well as the spine. Keep him comfortable and well hydrated until the bacteria are finally evacuated. If there are no pharmaceutical antibiotics available, these herbs offer a tried-and-true alternative.

An anti-diarrhea herbal tea use Yarrow, Dandelion root, Parsley root, rose hips, Agrimony (Cocklebur) or Bilberry leaf.

Antibacterial herbs-- Oregon grape, Plantain, California Poppy, garlic, or burdock root (also very nutritious), oil of oregano ('The Cure is in the Cupboard', book by Dr. Cass Ingram)

Gut healing and nutritional herbs-- Licorice root, Marshmallow root, Chamomile or Nettles.

Activated Charcoal--Diarrhea caused by bacterial causes can be helped greatly by using activated charcoal found in most pharmacies. Hospitals usually keep activated charcoal handy for people brought in due to food poisoning and other poisonings. (Some stomach upset may be experienced by some)

Use two heaping teaspoons of powdered charcoal mixed in water and drank, followed by all the liquid a person can drink. Give this treatment up to four times a day. Capsules can be purchased, but enough charcoal capsules should be given to equal two teaspoons. (about 2760 mg. to 1 teaspoon)

Herbs are best used as an herbal tea but also, put into your vegetable soup. Do not give the patient sweetened beverages or fruit juices. Monitor closely, it is not always the toxins that cause injury, it is the dehydration that kills. With great care and diligence, these patients can be saved.

Dysentery

Symptoms and treatment are similar to Cholera. What makes Dysentery different is the offending bacteria and some of the symptoms. The bacteria causing Dysentery is shigella bacillus and an Entamoeba histolytica (an amoeba).

Symptoms of Dysentery;

stomach cramps/ abdominal pain

dehydration

fever and chills-nausea and vomiting

loss of appetite, weight loss

painful passing of stools with intermittent constipation

fatigue

Dysentery is characterized by inflammation of the rectum and large intestine. Follow care instructions for Cholera taking care to monitor dehydration and give nutrient rich meals.

Typhoid

 Just the word is scary! We all remember the story of Typhoid Mary who was a cook in a restaurant in the early 1900's, she was a carrier of the Salmonella family of bacteria but showed no symptoms. She infected many people before they discovered what the victims had in common, they had all eaten their dinner in her diner.

Typhoid is an infectious disease usually caused by the Salmonella typhi bacteria, highly contagious, and is contracted by ingestion of contaminated food, milk and water which has come into contact with body fluids of an active typhoid carrier. Personal sanitation here is a priority, wash those hands!

This disease may be fatal! Complications include intestinal hemorrhage or perforation. Some people who recover from the disease continue to be carriers and excrete the organisms. Proper disposal of human wastes is essential to prevent epidemics and disease carriers should not be permitted to prepare food.

Symptoms of Typhoid fever;

Fever of 103* to 105* with fatigue.

No appetite

Chills, headache, muscle pain and tenderness of the abdomen. 

Red spots form over the chest and abdomen with the spleen becoming very tender.

If possible, a lab test and professional medical care would be ideal. If no healthcare provider is available, isolate patient. Give patient clean fresh air and good ventilation, these are an essential treatment. Keep fever under control, if you are up to it, give an enema everyday of illness using white oak bark, red raspberry leaves, or wild alum root. These enemas will greatly relieve the patient and hasten recovery.

A good vegetable broth with garlic will give much nourishment. Have the patient drink as much water as he possibly can. If ulcers of the rectum and stomach appear give a heaping teaspoon of goldenseal steeped in one pint of boiling water. Take one swallow every hour until healing begins.

Giardia- A common genus of the flagellate protozoans. Flagellates prefer soluble nutrients and dead or decaying material such as those found in stagnant and slow moving water. These little bugs are quite prevalent in most natural bodies of water, today. Many species of the Giardia normally inhabit the digestive tract, causing inflammation in associations with other factors that produce rapid proliferation of the organism. Giardiasis is an inflammatory intestinal condition caused by an overgrowth of the protozoa. The source of the infection is usually drinking from untreated water such as standing water, lakes, and rivers where it has been contaminated. Treating all water as suspect is your first line of defence.

Symptoms of Giardiasis is the onset of diarrhea and stomach cramps. The parasite can be spread through contaminated water, food and surfaces and from contact with someone who has it. Be sure to understand the water you are drinking and where it came from. Giardiasis can be treated with antibiotics or allowed to run its course. Isolate the patient and monitor for severe diarrhea. See Cholera. Most people will make a full recovery within two months after having mild to moderate digestive symptoms.

Cryptosporidium- Is a genus of coccidian sporozoans that are important pathogens of the dairy industry and other domestic animals, but also is a common parasite in humans. They flourish under conditions of those with compromised immune function, especially the elderly, and babies.

As with most waterborne illnesses, cryptosporidium leaves the patient with watery diarrhea. Contamination is through infected water, food, soil, dirty hands and stagnant warm pond water. 

Cryptosporidium parasites can live for up to several weeks in the poop of infected humans and animals. Crypto's high tolerance of chlorine allows the parasite to survive in chlorinated drinking water and swimming pools for long periods of time.

As with the above water borne protozoan illnesses, dehydration is the biggest concern. This can have a serve effect on the elderly and children. Antidiarrheal medication offers some relief. Healthy nutritious meals and plenty of water is the only course of action when a doctor isn't coming. 

Crypto is highly contagious, isolation for two weeks is recommended. A good deal of sanitation and hygiene is a must.

The next time your city calls for its citizens to boil the tap water, you will have a better understanding of why and what it is you need to guard against. If you find yourself in an evacuation situation or just bug out for whatever reason, if you printed this essay off and put it in your go bag you are well above the crowd.

There is so much to learn about water and why you simply cannot take it for granted. Please start a hard copy notebook today. Do your water research while the internet is still up and running. This is not a complete list of water, only a starting point. We don’t know how long our way of life is going to last and by all means take care of yourself, we need you on the other side of the coming chaos.

Next newsletter; Situational awareness for women and girls. You and your girls will be like raw meat to a pack of starving dogs when the SHTF goes hot. History has already laid out this madness for us to learn from. I will tell you in no uncertain terms what to expect and what you’ll need to know to protect yourself and your daughters.