When All Hell Breaks Loose Part 13

Optimal Hand Was.h.i.+ng Hand was.h.i.+ng, especially when preparing food for yourself and others, is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of infections and is defined as a vigorous, brief rubbing together of all surfaces of lathered hands, followed by rinsing under a stream of water as described below: Consider it to be your sacred civic duty.

1 Wash hands in soapy water, including top, bottom, sides, in between the fingers, and under the nails. (CAUTION! Soaps containing ammonia should not be used with chlorine bleach as they are a toxic combination. Check for possible warning labels on the soap to see if it's unsafe to use with bleach. As a small boy, I made the mistake of peeing into a toilet into which my mother had put chlorine bleach to clean it. I still remember the toxic gas created and gasping for breath as my parents held my head out of an open window for fresh air.) 2 Rinse the soap off.

3 Then re-rinse hands in a bleach solution.

4 Allow your hands to air dry! (by shaking, NOT wiping) Hand-was.h.i.+ng stations can be easily made from a gallon jug with the bottom cut out and tied upside down to a post, fence, tree, or shrub. Punch holes in the cap (the new "bottom" of the jug), and add water to the "new top" as needed so it can sprinkle out the holes like a makes.h.i.+ft faucet. These jugs can be anch.o.r.ed above an existing sink or outside in an area where drainage is not a problem. You can also use the larger, two-and-a-half-gallon-size water jugs with the built-in spigot in the front. Cut a flap in the plastic toward the top, back part of the jug, and you can refill it with water whenever it runs low. I used this method while I was living in my yurt. I elevated my two-and-a-half-gallon jug using a couple of boards screwed together and put a cheap plastic basin underneath the spigot. I used this system not only to wash my hands, but my dishes as well for several years. If used as a regular hand-was.h.i.+ng facility, clean the spigot regularly with bleach water. If you provide bar soap at your wash station, keep it in a container with drain holes in the bottom.

Just like the family camping trip, you will want to reemphasize the importance of hand was.h.i.+ng and keep things and people as clean as possible. When the modern conveniences that we take for granted are gone, people tend to get lazy about proper sanitation. DO NOT let your family become complacent about their sanitation practices or you will all suffer the consequences.

Safely Storing Scat There may be times when the little man in the truck doesn't show up to take away your waste products for some while. You will be left holding the bag, so to speak, of your family's (and neighborhood's) health and safety. If you have the s.p.a.ce or the land to dig a hole, bury your waste. Read the other sections on where and how to do so safely. Be mindful that local authorities might discourage you from burying human waste. If you don't have the s.p.a.ce, you'll have to store it aboveground. Many people talk about burning their waste. While most of your toilet paper will burn, have you ever tried to burn a fresh t.u.r.d, or even one that's a few weeks old? OK then. . .this is where having a couple of extra-large garbage cans with tight-fitting lids will come in handy. These should be lined with paper and/or plastic trash bags. Even if the lid is already a tight fit, anchor it down with ropes or bungee cords and stake the entire garbage can to the ground or tie it off to a tree or shrub so it can't be knocked over. Arizona has white-collared peccaries-wild piglike creatures-that love to push over people's trash cans and eat the contents. Roaming dogs can manage just as well, and you can imagine the result. Add a small amount of household disinfectant, a thin layer of quicklime, or wood ashes between each "deposit" from your emergency toilet until the garbage can is reasonably full. These cans can be stored if need be until the public sewage system is up and running or emptied into safe ground pits if they become available. Insecticides and deodorants can be used to control odors and bugs breeding in storage containers that can't be immediately emptied.

What about Apartment and Office Building p.o.o.pers?

Instead of using large garbage cans to store p.o.o.p, apartment dwellers can use smaller covered pails or whatever sealable containers are available. As mentioned, sealable five-gallon buckets can be double-lined with garbage bags and used as an emergency potty as is. Sprinkle or spray your fresh deposit with a disinfectant before sealing up the bucket for the next user. You can also add shredded newspaper as described below between the garbage bags before putting them in the five-gallon bucket.

Waterproof paper containers, similar to barf bags on airlines, should be kept as portable, disposable potties in places where yards and conventional toilets are not an option. After spraying bleach disinfectant on the contents, seal the bags individually and store them in doubled- or tripled-up large-capacity garbage bags (if pails or other sealable containers are not available) until an opportunity to properly dispose of them arises. You're not living in ancient Rome, so don't throw these parcels out the window to help start a disease epidemic. What comes around goes around, so take responsibility for your p.o.o.p and pee. You can make your own portable potty bags by putting a large grocery bag inside another with a layer of shredded newspaper or some other absorbent material between the bags. Keep a good supply of grocery bags, large-capacity trash bags, old newspapers, and a gallon of 5.25 or 6 percent household bleach around the apartment or office for just such emergencies.

No Toilet Paper? No Problem!

"I'VE LEARNED. . .THAT LIFE IS LIKE A ROLL OF TOILET PAPER. THE CLOSER IT GETS TO THE END, THE FASTER IT GOES.".

-ANDY ROONEY Toilet paper is a recent phenomenon. My own grandparents wiped their b.u.t.ts with corncobs and the good ol' Sears and Roebuck catalog. Some corncobs were softened in water before use and even dyed pretty colors to spiffy up the outhouse decor. Royalty of days past, believing their b.u.t.ts more sensitive than those of the working cla.s.s, used strips of silk and goose feathers, still attached to the dead goose's skinned neck for maximum wipability.

I don't allow students to take toilet paper into the field on my survival cla.s.ses. As I prepare them with this reality, I have seen many eyes go wide and faces turn white. G.o.d only knows what they're thinking. Some sit uncomfortably while others rage and protest as if their lives depended on the stuff. I have several reasons why I don't allow toilet paper during field courses, and the main one is simple. The last thing that should stress you out during a survival situation is what you're wiping your b.u.t.t with. Once I instruct students how to go potty without using toilet paper, and they experiment with the information outdoors, the mystery is gone. It's no longer an "unknown variable" to place something other than Mr. Whipple's recommendation in contact with their backsides, and they are free from one more self-imposed limitation.

Cool Things to Wipe Your b.u.t.t with Over the years my profession has led me to wipe with almost anything you can imagine that's not still moving, th.o.r.n.y, or has spines. In my more naive years, I once wiped my b.u.t.t with poison ivy on the third day of a month-long backpacking adventure, so I'm able to empathize with you about any non-toilet paper scenario your might find yourself facing. Below are a few of the safer items you have in your backyard, back lot, or in the garage. It's your job to identify any noxious plants particular to your area or personal sensitivities you may have.

Rocks. Rocks are a favorite of mine as there seems to be a shape and size for every orifice, but watch out for the sharp parts. Note: If it's too hot to pick up, it's too hot to wipe with. Watch for critters such as scorpions or fire ants in the Southwest.

Sticks. Be careful of sharp broken ends.

Gra.s.s. I like long gra.s.s. Pull up enough gra.s.s to create, when folded over onto itself, a thickly padded spoon-shaped utensil.

Leaves. Beware of poisonous plants. Use several at a time, overlapped, or your fingers will bust through.

Snow. An invigorating "wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee" experience that wipes and cleans at the same time.

Tree branches and shrubs. You will quickly learn that some are "directional." Identify whether a plant might irritate (before using on your b.u.t.tocks!) by rubbing some of the plant on your wrist or some other area less sensitive and critical to your comfort.

Rags. There are dozens of uses for rags and this is one of them. Use them sparingly due to the other choices you have.

Newspaper. Crumple it up a few times beforehand and the paper will become softer and more absorbent. It also works great for cleaning your windows; something about the printer's ink.

Magazines. While somewhat slippery and oily feeling, crumpling up the pages can improve its wiping abilities. What better way to honor yet another enlightening article about Paris Hilton?

No Toilet Paper?. . .or Anything Else?. . .

No Problem

In the event that you run out of anything to wipe your b.u.t.t with after going to the bathroom, you still have an option, your hand and water. In many parts of the world, toilet paper will not be waiting for you in the outhouse. Instead you will find a water-holding container of varying design. There are a few techniques in using the water/hand combination and I'm sure you'll find which method works best for you. Some folks have tried the water/hand method and never gone back. Most people recommend that you wipe with one hand and eat with the other, use water to rinse with, and wash your hands thoroughly, but that's where the commonalities in the advice end. Below are some options worth exploring.

Techniques for Wiping Your b.u.t.t with Your Hand (Caution! Beware of cuts or abrasions on your hand(s) that could come in contact with fecal matter.) 1 First, make sure you have some sort of container filled with water that is reserved for this purpose only. Have hand-was.h.i.+ng supplies ready to go at the site of your defecation.

2 Go p.o.o.p in some think-like-a-raindrop-approved location.

3 Using the hand that you don't eat with, try one of the following methods: a. Slowly pour/splash water up from the water container as you use your fingers to wipe and dislodge fecal matter from your a.n.u.s. . .

OR.

b. Pour water from the container slowly down your lower back and into your b.u.t.t crack while doing the same as above with your fingers. . .

OR.

c. Have some water container that can create velocity, such as a bicyclist's squirt bottle or commercial drinking water container with the pop-up squirt top. Direct the stream of water at your a.n.u.s while using the fingers as mentioned above. . .

OR.

d. Entertain the family by inventing a unique method of your own.

Note: Some people prefer to wet their fingers first as they feel the p.o.o.p is less likely to stick to their fingers: your call.

Regardless of which water/hand method you employ, WASH YOUR HANDS WELL after you're finished. If using this method, it will be a great advantage in comfort and cleanliness to keep your fingernails trimmed as short as you are able. Plan on using water to wash, not just waterless hand sanitizer, and have a bleach solution rinse, and maybe a fingernail brush, somewhere in your hand-was.h.i.+ng routine.

Pertinent Potty Paraphernalia The following are emergency sanitation supplies that will help you out when dealing with human waste. Purchase them now before the next emergency. Unlike canned corned beef, they will never go rancid, and they will always be useful for something.

Toilet paper (if the hardcore tips above didn't grab you, keep a month's supply on hand at all times) Waterless hand sanitizer Bleach-based spray disinfectant and/or a bottle of chlorine bleach-sodium hypochlorite 5.25 or 6 percent (Dry bleach is caustic and not safe for this type of use) Antibacterial soap (alcohol-based) LOTS of heavy-duty plastic trash bags with ties Large trash can(s) with tight-fitting lid Two or three five-gallon buckets with tight-fitting lids. Apartment owners might opt for these alone instead of the large trash can Shovel or other digging tool(s) Moistened towelettes or baby wipes Quicklime or woodstove/fireplace ashes A bunch of old newspapers (two or three weeks' worth). Use for making toilet paper or absorbent, homemade, portable potty bags, wrapping up garbage, lining large garbage cans for storing p.o.o.p, and a variety of other sanitary uses Four- to six-mil plastic sheeting. This roll of plastic has multiple uses, well beyond the realm of sanitation. If one of your tribe gets dysentery, using plastic sheeting to cover and protect his or her sleeping area will be a G.o.dsend Making the Most of Your Meals: Composting Your Family's p.o.o.p and Pee One of the blasphemies of modern society is the primitive way in which we deal with our waste products by using one of the most sacred elements of survival, water. The fact that your survival scenario can leave you high and dry, with no way to replenish your family's potable water supply, is not only possible, it's probable. If given a choice, using one of your most critical survival resources to stem the effects of one of your most critical sanitary needs begs the question whether you should remain in the gene pool. In the drought-stricken southwestern United States, towns and cities continue to flush millions of gallons of precious water down the toilet to whisk a t.u.r.d to a place of residence where it can begin its redemption process, using yet more water, energy resources, and dangerous chemicals. There has to be a better way, and there is.

HOW to COMPOST your p.o.o.p There are several no-water or, at least, low-water ways in which we as a society can deal with our waste and, frankly, they are not being promoted with any fervor or regularity. Sadly, America's aversion to simple and common-sense sanitation strategies dates back more than a century. Back in the late 1800s, New York City was having a problem getting rid of all the poo from its residents. After chucking it into the surrounding water proved to be a stinky situation, New York City for a time hauled its dung to New Jersey. After the Garden State proved unable to accommodate the needs of the Big Apple, New York looked to France for a solution. The French had been successfully composting human manure for a long time in a process called poudrette. Unfortunately, the composting process was voted down by an unimaginative city council, due to its inability to view composted human p.o.o.p as plant fertilizer, and the ignorance largely continues. On the hopeful side, in many areas major home-building and hardware stores now carry very low- or no-water use commercial toilet systems that have all of the comforting statistics needed to convince and rea.s.sure skeptical city planners as to their efficiency and safety.

The art of composting has been around for as long as people have. Back in the days of common sense, people actively used composted waste products from themselves, animals, food sc.r.a.ps, and other items to enrich the earth with nutrients. The thermophylic composting process brought the various items in the compost pile up to a certain temperature for a sustained period of time in which all of the harmful pathogens were killed. The end result was a safe, rich humus material that was then added to the garden, orchard, or field. The enriched earth would in turn give back to the people in the form of greater and more nutritious yields of fruits and vegetables-a closed-loop system in which everyone benefited. While composting might seem unrelated to an urban emergency situation, if more people would consider composting, we could deal with the cause of some of our problems instead of paying later to clean up their effect.

Just in case you're inspired to reap the harvest from your family, so to speak, see the previous ill.u.s.tration for how to compost your waste. For further reading and entertainment, I highly recommend The Humanure Handbook by J. C. Jenkins. J. C. lays out the facts regarding composting human waste in a scientific yet humorous way that won't bore you silly. He also addresses how to deal with the legalities of composting human waste in an urban environment full of fear and closed minds.

After a major disaster, due to destroyed infrastructure and swamped emergency response personnel, improvising proper sanitation methods will rank high on the list of your survival priorities.

Improper sanitation directly or indirectly kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Flies, other pests, and the family dog love p.o.o.p and will transfer dangerous fecalborne pathogens to family members if given a chance. All fecal matter should be thoroughly covered!

Use the PPDD method (privacy, proximity, drainage, and depth) when planning the location for your outdoor potty place. All outdoor pit toilets should be located at least 200 feet from all water sources!

Slit trenches and cat holes, two basic styles of alternative pit toilets, can be created with a pick or shovel in suitable ground. These styles of toilets will require you to squat to go to the bathroom unless a seat is improvised. Privacy barriers can be created from an extra blanket or tarp. Discontinue using slit trenches and cat holes when they fill up to within ten to twelve inches from the top of the ground. Fill them in with earth and pack it down.

Existing toilets in the home can be used by pouring water into the bowl itself to flush. Warning! If using this method, make certain that your area's sewer lines are intact! The existing toilet can also be used as a "seat" by suspending and anchoring doubled-up plastic bags into the empty bowl itself. Partially filled bags with added disinfectant are then tied up securely and disposed of in a safe location.

Important! Adequate hand was.h.i.+ng is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of infections. Thoroughly wash hands after going to the bathroom. Chlorine bleach-dip solutions, antibacterial soaps, and alcohol-based waterless hand sanitizers can be used in conjunction with the mechanics of proper hand was.h.i.+ng.

If burying waste products is not an option, use containers with tight-fitting lids such as five-gallon buckets or garbage cans to safely store waste products temporarily. Garbage cans should be thoroughly staked down to prevent them from being knocked over.

Toilet paper can be improvised from newspaper, magazines, and rags, as well as an a.s.sortment of outdoor options such as gra.s.s, leaves, sticks, and rocks.

Have sanitation supplies on hand to improvise emergency sanitation needs such as digging tools, five-gallon buckets, chlorine bleach, toilet paper, hand sanitizers, plastic trash bags with ties, old newspapers, plastic sheeting, and antibacterial soap.

HELPFUL Highlights of HYGIENE

"Keep your own house and its surrounding pure and clean. This hygiene will keep you healthy and benefit your worldly life."

-Sri Sathya Sai Baba The following are tips to help keep your family reasonably clean when conventional means for doing so have disappeared. Attempting to continue regular hygiene habits will help prevent the spread of disease, increase morale, and offer a predictable routine, thereby reducing stress.

The Amazing Towel Bath:

Four Simple Steps to a Cleaner You and a Better Att.i.tude

Let's face it, life sucks with a smelly crotch and armpits. Eating the can of survival beans next to Uncle Ted's wafting pelt can be a trying experience for the wee ones as well as the older members of the family. I remember my grandmother (one of seven kids) cringing as she told me the story about her bathing experiences on the old South Dakota homestead. Once a week her mother would fill a washtub with water heated on the woodstove. Then, one by one, the entire family would take turns bathing in the same water. The littlest kids went first, often peeing in the water. On the bright side, maybe it kept the water warmer longer.

It's amazing how a somewhat clean body can have a positive effect on your att.i.tude. If survival situations become long term and really grubby, "cooties" can get out of control and offer up a number of skin infections that are no fun to deal with. Crowded shelters, especially during hot, humid weather, can cause skin diseases to flourish. It's very important to wash off sweat and dead skin cells from your body. In sticky, humid weather, these skin cells will stay on your body and start to decay. At the same time, bathing with soap too often washes off normal skin oils and can cause the skin to prematurely dry out and crack, especially in dry, cold environments.

While emergency scenarios can put a damper on supplies, especially hot water, with a little ingenuity, your family can feel like half a million bucks with minimal effort. In the past, my solar shower experiences have been more of an experiment than a shower during the winter months. Thus I have become well-versed in perfecting the towel or sponge bath, as some prefer to call it.

The following recipe for cleanliness is good for one adult.

Ingredients: Heat source to boil water Medium-sized pot or container One-half quart, give or take, of potable or nonpotable water One medium-sized hand towel, large kitchen towel, large clean s.h.i.+rt, or whatever Your naked, smelly body Directions: 1 Put water in pot, cover with lid, and begin to bring to boil on heat source. Using a lid will save fuel, time, and water.

2 Check frequently. As water starts to steam and form small bubbles at bottom of pot, remove pot from heat source. (*see Tried and True Towel Tips below.) 3 Slowly and carefully immerse towel into pot. Move towel around slightly to let capillary action of cloth wick up hot water. If towel is completely saturated, use less water next time as a fully wet towel will be too hot to pick up, let alone wring out, and it will drip all over the place.

4 When towel is very hot but not too hot to handle (**see Tried and True Towel Tips), pick up towel and vigorously wash body.

I like to start with my face (was.h.i.+ng long hair is a separate event, folks), and then my arms and torso, back, legs, armpits, and the crotch last. I use every part of the towel, front and back, being careful not to rework the crotch part of the towel over some other part of my body. Believe it or not, I then take the towel, crotch part folded in the middle, and spot mop the floor of my house. While this may seem extreme to many water-rich parts of the country, I can sense my fellow desert rats and rain harvesters nodding in approval. Regardless of your mopping the floor with your towel or not, the towel is now dirty and should be laundered or at least sun-washed before future use (***see Tried and True Towel Tips).

Tried and True Towel Tips: *Fully boiling the water will make it too hot for immediate use, but if you're bathing with funky, nonpotable water, you may choose to boil the water for one minute or at least bring it to a boil to ensure the destruction of weird, waterborne pathogens.

**The towel will transform from being too hot to handle to cool within a phenomenally short amount of time so move with speed!

***The more you encourage your loved ones, especially the kiddies, to wipe and clean their b.u.t.t cracks with something disposable before wiping it with the towel, the easier it will be to clean the towel for future use and make certain that it's properly disinfected. Washcloths, underwear, socks, and other high-use items can be disinfected by putting them into boiling water for a minute or two. Disinfecting these items, not just was.h.i.+ng them, is the most important health objective under difficult shelter conditions. Unless plenty of water is available for rinsing, don't disinfect clothing by putting it in a chlorine bleach solution. Also, see the sun-was.h.i.+ng section later in this chapter.

Spiffy Spray Bottle Showers Spray bottles can be made into improvised showers allowing you to use very small amounts of water for bathing. Many household goods come in a spray bottle or they can be purchased new at most hardware stores. If you choose to recycle a spray bottle for use as a shower, don't choose one that held bug poison or some other toxic goo. Clean and rinse out the bottle thoroughly. Most spray bottles have an adjustable spout that will let you choose from a fine mist to a squirt-gunlike stream depending upon your needs. Fill up your bottle with warm water or set it in the sun. Bottles can be painted a dark color to speed up the absorption of shortwave radiation from the sun to heat up the water, but the smaller size of most bottles usually makes this unnecessary. Next, get naked, and in an appropriate place, use a combination of spraying and wiping with a rag or small towel to get clean.

The Super-Sized Spray Bottle Shower Multigallon capacity, manually pressurized spray bottles with an attached handheld wand that are normally used for spraying weed killer or fertilizers can be purchased at hardware stores. As the majority of my house is concrete, I used one of these sprayers (and the smaller handheld spray bottles) to paint my house using concrete dye. Just like their little brothers, these big brother spray bottles can be painted black or some other dark color, filled with water, and set in the sun to get hot, or at least warm, depending on where you live and the season. The container holding the water has a pump that allows you to pressurize the water inside, eliminating the need to continually pump the handle for you to have a pressurized shower. Simply fill the clean container with warm/hot water or set it in the sun, pressurize the holding tank, and enjoy a serious spray of water. The handheld wand can be modified and mounted in a number of ways to offer hands-free operation. Chemical Caution: Don't use a sprayer that has held toxic weed killer or chemical fertilizers for extended periods of time. Plastic absorbs the contents of whatever is stored within it so even intense scrubbing may not be enough to clean a sprayer that has been used for these purposes. Use common sense and test such a sprayer on something other than your crotch.

Greasy Hair To temporarily clean greasy hair, try rubbing small amounts of baby powder into the scalp and hair. Any extra should be brushed or combed out. Visually, this method works best for blondes, as dark-haired people might look like they have a wicked case of dandruff-but who cares if you're more comfortable. Baby powder is a cover-up and doesn't deal with the cause of greasy hair, but it helps to stretch out the time between rare showers, if need be.

Temporary Toothbrushes New toothbrushes are dirt cheap, so having a few spares around the house is easy. When they wear out for humans, they're still great for cleaning stuff. The following are options for keeping teeth clean in a crisis. Toothpaste is overrated. I haven't used it for nearly twenty years and four out of five dentists surveyed say I have great teeth. Here are some toothbrush and toothpaste subst.i.tutes: Fabric, rags, or washcloths and baking soda. Pioneer folks, including my grandparents, used wet pieces of fabric (hand towels work great) with salt or baking soda (toothpaste subst.i.tute) and simply rubbed their teeth and gums clean.

Willow (Salix species) or cottonwood (Populous species). Willows and cottonwoods contain salicin and populin, ingredients in aspirin that also double as a great plaque fighter. Simply cut a fresh twig of either about as big around as a pencil and chew the end until it's fuzzy. Use this as your toothbrush and scrub away. At first, both have a slightly bitter taste but it's not all that disagreeable; some people even like it.

Dental floss is very hard to duplicate in nature. I have used fibers of yucca and agave plants here in the Southwest but if your teeth are "tight," forget it. I think we have all experienced the agony of having something wedged in between the teeth. You may also be eating who knows what as part of your survival diet in which floss rates higher than dessert. In my first book, I pay homage to the multiuse virtues of dental floss and always carry some in my survival kit. Follow the advice and have some extra floss around the house.

Worthwhile Waterless Was.h.i.+ng If water is hard to come by, externally smelly areas of the body such as crotches, armpits, and feet can be dealt with using a variety of alcohol-based products and a paper towel or rag. While not truly getting you clean from dirt, the alcohol kills the critters that cause the stink instead of just masking the smell with a fragrance. In my dubious water situation, I commonly use waterless hand sanitizer to knock down the funk factor and it works wonderfully. Funky smells are not only a real romance killer, they are also harbingers of skin diseases ready to manifest themselves and should be dealt with seriously. Obese friends and family members may have the same bacterial buildup between the folds and rolls of their fat, caused by no light and high-moisture conditions. Help them keep as clean as possible through regular methods or wiping with one of the following alcohol products. Like mom does for baby, high-moisture areas can be treated and kept dry by using baby powder or cornstarch to absorb excess moisture.