Posted on 06/30/2011 6:41:48 AM PDT by blam
The Four Most Likely Ways You Can Die If The SHTF
Tess Pennington
June 30th, 2011
Ready Nutrition
The subject of survival in a long term disaster goes beyond having stockpiles of beans, bullets and band-aids. Those that do survive during a long term emergency will no doubt be tried and tested with a great many things. One of those trying scenarios is dealing with death.
Zombie attacks seem to be a prevalent theme for preppers to prepare for. In fact, the CDC has even posted a preparedness article on how to ward off zombie attacks. While I believe these zombies will likely take the form of substance abusers, mental patients, chronically ill or diseased, and desperate individuals whose basic needs have not been met, they will die out in the first few months of an onset of a major disaster, and there presence will rarely be an issue in a long term situation.
In reality, a majority of those that will die during a long-term disaster will be from illnesses brought on by acute respiratory infections due to cramped living conditions, poor water conditions (or lack of), or bacterial infections from wounds. If we survive a major disaster, America would become a third world country and the aftermath of such a scenario will be similar to those living in Africa, Ethiopia and India.
Illness Due to Poor Water Conditions
Typically, any diseases that are brought on by lack of sanitation and hygiene are controllable and preventable. In a disaster where water sources are compromised, people within a 50 mile radius could be adversely impacted by illness and disease if just one person incorrectly handles water or incorrectly disposes of waste. Contaminated water, poor sanitation and/or lack of hygeine leads to diseases such as Hepatitis A, viral gastroenteritis, cholera, Shigellosis, typhoid, Diphtheria and polio. If these diseases affect enough people, an epidemic will ensue.
Dehydration and diarrhea are also water-related matters to contend with. Those without adequate water conditions and/or are suffering from disease brought on by poor water conditions could quickly dehydrate. These types of illnesses typically affect at-risk populations such as children, the sick and the elderly. Young children in particular are at high risk for diarrhea and other food- and waterborne illnesses because of limited pre-existing immunity and behavioral factors such as frequent hand-to-mouth contact. The greatest risk to an infant with diarrhea and vomiting is dehydration. In addition, fever or increased ambient temperature increases fluid losses and speeds dehydration. Having knowledge beforehand on how to properly clean drinking water and food, and the symptomatology and treatment of these types of diseases can prevent further outbreaks from occurring.
Recommended preparedness items: water filtration systems, water purification tablets, chlorine granules, bleach, electrolyte or rehydration powders, anti-diarrea medicines.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition from either improper water conditions or from lack of nutrients is also a large killer amongst those in impoverished communities. Medical experts say there is a symbiotic relationship between malnutrition and diarreah. Malnutrition increases the severity of diarrhea while diarrhea can cause malnutrition. Either way, prevention for both of these health issues is key.
Those that are malnourished are more suseptible to illness and disease. Individuals who are malnourished will also be vitamin deficient and their health is likely to regress further. Those who survive from malnutrition are permanently affected by this disease and may suffer from recurring sickness, faltering growth, poor brain development, increased tooth decay, reduced strength and work capacity, and increased chance of chronic diseases in adulthood. Adult women with this condition will give birth to underweight babies.
Recommended preparedness items: dietary supplements, vitamin powders, seeds for sprouting or seeds for fresh vegetables and fruits, survival bars, knowledge of alternative means to attain vitamins
Acute Respiratory Infections
Upper respiratory infections (URI) will also be a leading cause of death in a long term disaster. Upper respiratory infections include: colds, flu, sore throat, coughs and bronchitis can usually be cured with additional liquids, rest and nourishment. Allowing the illness to exacerbate will lead to secondary infections such as bacterial pneumonia. The germs from pneumonia are easily spread from an infected person to others by coughing or sneezing or through close contact. A major concern about respiratory infections is that there are many drug resistant strands of viruses, bacterias and diseases (including tuberculosis), that regular medicine will not cure. In a long term disaster situation, many could perish.
To properly prepare for this type of medical situation, learn about the more prevalent viruses and bacterias in your country and how to prevent them in order to provide a healthy living environment in a long term situation.
Not only are URI’s a concern but other air-borne diseases such as tuberculosis will likely fester during a long term scenario. In regular non-SHTF times, treatment for tuberculosis requires 6-12 months of medication. In a long term emergency, chances of surviving tuberculosis are slim. The best way to prevent tuberculosis is adequate nutrition, vitamin D and living in a properly ventilated shelter.
Survival groups that have multiple people living under one roof will only increase the likelihood of passing air-borne infections and diseases to one another. In addition, those in an at-risk group (elderly, immuno-deficient, infants) are more likely to catch illnesses. If a survival group is sharing a home, an infirmary or sick room should be prepared for those who have fallen ill. Isolating the person who is ill will limit exposure to the other members of the group. Adequate nutrition, water, rest, good sanitary practices and ventilation of the home is essential in curbing this.
Recommended preparedness items: decongestants, expectorants, upper respiratory medicines, antibiotics (for secondary and bacterial infections), knowledge on medicinal herbs, prepare a sick room at your survival homestead
Infections From Wounds
Open injuries have the potential for serious bacterial wound infections, including gas gangrene and tetanus, and these in turn may lead to long term disabilities, chronic wound or bone infection, and death. Anitibiotics will be few and far between and will be more precious than gold. Without proper medicines, antiseptic and knowledge on proper medical procedures, many will die of bacterial infections. Learning medical skills, gaining knowledge on natural medicines and alternative medical antiseptic (i.e., Dakin’s Solution) before a disaster occurs could help people survive from wound infections. Also, ensuring the area that you treat medical emergencies is clean and as sterile as possible may also prevent bacterial infections.
Recommended preparedness items: stock up on maxi pads for wound absorption, gauze, celox, antibiotics, suture needles and other basic first aid supplies
Additionally, consider developing the following skills: basic first aid class, sign up for EMT classes in your community, an off-grid medical care class such as those offered by onPoint Tactical. Also, consider investing in books such as When There is No Doctor and When There is No Dentist
Also look into making your own antiseptics utilizing alcohol distillation, such as the custom made units from LNL Protekt.
These illnesses (provided above) have impacted countries all over the world. These illness and conditions, coupled with unsanitary living conditions such as substandard sanitation, inadequate food and water supplies and poor hygiene, make disaster-affected people especially vulnerable to disease. These illnesses will affect us no matter what part of the world we live in, what socio-economic status we currently hold, and no matter how prepared we think we are.
Understanding what can happen and being prepared when it does is absolutely essential. The last thing we want to do when a serious condition arises is to panic. Preparing your supplies, developing your skills and educating the rest of your family and preparedness group on how to prevent, identify and counteract these serious conditions will provide a significant boost to your ability to survive if the worst happens.
Recommended Reading:
Patriot Nurse: 5 Diseases that Will Explode WTSHTF
Prevention and Management of Wound Infections
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Emergencies
That’s simply not true about tomatoes. Here’s the definitive proof from the Ball homecanning site: http://www.freshpreserving.com/pages/recipe/215.php?recipe=63
Tomatoes can also be canned with nothing more than a solar oven: http://www.cookwiththesun.com/canning.htm
Zombie: (noun) Any person who no longer has ready access to food, water or shelter and becomes desperate enough to kill you for yours. In other words, 90% of the population WTSHTF. Ask yourself what would you do to feed your starving children? Almost anything.
Why is Iran putting a monkey into space? It is a distraction. What they really want is to be able to put a 200 pound payload in orbit at 250 miles above earth. With 20 of these nuclear payloads they can cause the world’s modern society to revert to 16th century agrarian life styles.
Dr. Graham, Chair of the EMP Commission report to Congress in 2008 said that he believes an EMP detonation 250 miles above Kansas would cause loss of electricity nation wide and result in only 20% of the population surviving during the first year.
The book One Second After ended with the military coming to the rescue a year later after 75% had died but in reality, there would be no military coming to the rescue unless they were Chinese or Muslims.
But look at the bright side, removal of 6 billion people would almost eliminate the human carbon footprint.
Have you guys read “World War Z”?
Better yet, listen to it on audio.
Hordes. Hordes that are after your hoards.
That reminds me of a joke. “No, we don’t have any oars in this camp, and we don’t have any danged ‘aggis, either!”
thankya... speel czecher doesn’t catch misstakes like that.
No you’re homophones ... it’s what sets us apart from the savages!
Many common antibiotics are available from farm supply sources, in bulk quantities, without a prescription and cheaper than the pharmacy.
“Why is distillation more important than simply boiling?”
Boiling kills bugs fine, but leaves behind things like toxins, lead, arsenic, chemical weapons, selenium, and any toxins the bacteria/fungi have left behind. A filter will get particulates but not bad stuff that dissolves in the water (antifreeze, for instance).
Distillation removes most of that, boils the water to vapor, transports the vapor, condenses it. Energy intensive, though.
The best prep is to make sure that you are prepared to die, strange as it sounds.
The population will be decimated, at the very least. I am prepared for a while, but not as long as I need to. And even so, the zombies could take care of that.
At that point, either God pulls through with miracles and keeps me alive that way, or my time is up.
But I know where I’m going when I die, so leaving this planet is not going to be a great loss. I’d RATHER go later than sooner, that survival instinct that God instilled in us, but I know that in probably 30 years the point will be moot anyway.
The other alternative is that you are caught up in the Rapture before TEOTWAWKI.
I am prepared. I talk to The Lord daily.
Is WWZ going to scare me?
Tomatoes don’t need to be pressure cooked they are acidic and you also add some salt to them. Other non-acidic food need pressure canning though, meats, beans, cheese, corn, ect.. Anything with lots of sugar, acid, lots of salt(can’t remember how much, I think it was 10% of volume), vinegar don’t need the pressure canner. Best thing to do is just buy a good canning book.
Can’t even imagine what the inner cities will be like. Glad we moved away years ago.
“The best prep is to make sure that you are prepared to die, strange as it sounds.”
Or to be willing to do what it takes to not give up the ghost. Either way, with those two mindsets, you’ll be more prepare than most.
I have faith in humanity’s innate ability to thrive and go forward. It’s the artifical burdens we’re under that are limiting us. Too many people have been taught they can’t do anything so big daddy government will take care of them. I presume many will welcome the lack of chains post SHTF, and those who don’t won’t make it.
In any event, what I am most worried about is the spread of disease. We live in a consumption society, with easily disposible waste. Should the water stop flowing and the garbage trucks stop rolling, urban areas will be knee high or worse with garbage and human waste in a matter of days, if not hourse in some areas. Then the pests will come, and spread the disease. When I began taking note of such things years, my biggest fear was the disease that would run rampant. Without access to antibiotics and modern medicine, the average person who doesn’t self quarantine will be seeing a high mortality rate due to infectious diseases.
I LOL’d. :D
Ditto. See my post, 2 posts up. The garbage and pests worried me more than the hordes. Yikes!
There are some new insulin meds that don’t need refrigeration. I’d find out about them, see if your son can use them. Try switching and stocking up on the meds. My daughter has gran mal seizures, well controlled with meds. I can’t afford to pay for the name brand(over $300 for a month supply) but, have stocked up on the generic brand($100.00 for 3 month supply).
Call your doc have him/her call in a 1 month to however many months you can afford and pay out of pocket. That’s what I did for my daughters seizure meds. You just have to do the best you can and pray. God will take care of the rest.
Get your tetanus booster now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.