Emergency Food: Dandelions

The title of this post suggests that dandelions should only be consumed for emergencies, but actually they are eaten in many part of the world quite regularly as a delicious vegetable.  What is commonly hailed as merely a pesky weed in the United States is actually a bud of nutrition and health just sitting in your backyard.  Harvest it in emergencies and any other time as well.

Quick dandelion facts:

• Dandelions are extremely nutrient dense with plenty of vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and antioxidants in all parts (leaves, roots, flower) 
• Dandelions have more iron than spinach, more vitamin A than carrots, and 1/2 c. of dandelion greens will give you more calcium than a glass of milk along with loads of potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, thiamine, and riboflavin
• Medicinally they can be used to treat digestive disorders, eczema, arthritis, and are great for detoxing the blood, preventing or curing liver diseases and anemia, dissolving kidney stones, cleansing your skin, aiding weight loss, controlling diabetes, lowering cholesterol, regulating bowl functions, and for use as a gentle diuretic among other things
• Before flowering, young leaves are tender and tasty and can be washed and eaten like salad; more mature leaves have a strong, bitter taste that you can staunch by boiling (make sure to drink the water you used for boiling to aid your digestive track), or wait until after a fall frost for the bitterness to calm down
• Boiled greens can also be served with other greens, eaten hot with butter, salt, and lemon juice, and even served over pasta
• Flowers can be fried or served with yogurt
• Roots can be roasted and ground to make a nourishing drink
• The French make a "Cream of Dandelion Soup"
• You should never eat dandelions that have been sprayed with chemicals or pesticides

Make a Family Fire Escape Plan

You probably remember those fire drills in school with the flashing, blaring alarms and everyone walking outside to stand single file while taking roll.  It was boring but we loved it nonetheless because we got out of class.  And without our realizing it, we were receiving early lessons in emergency preparedness.

Recent fires raging in the western United States and other places have brought up the question, "When was the last time I made a home fire escape plan?"  And honestly, for me it has been a while.  So here are some guidelines to help us create a plan.  Set aside an evening, call all the family together, and practice where you'd go and what you'd do in the event of a fire in your home.  Save yourself the heartache of "I was going to get to it but just didn't have time!" because that won't help your family in an emergency.

1. Draw a basic map of your home showing all doors and windows.
2. Go to each room. Find two exits (usually a door and a window) and indicate them on your map.  Test all doors and windows to make sure they open easily and let your kids practice opening them.
3. Mark each smoke alarm in your home on your map with a circled SA.  Test each one to make sure it is working properly.  (You should have at least one per level in your home, typically between the sleeping areas and the rest of the house.  If you sleep with your bedroom door closed, have major appliances that could cause a fire, or smoke in your room, you will want to add an additional alarm to that room.)  
4. Pick a meeting place at the front of your house where all family members will gather.  Mark this meeting place with a star on your map.  Make sure your house/building number can be seen from the street.
5. Learn the number for your local fire department or have it easily accessible.
6. Practice your family fire escape plan with the whole family.  You should practice at least twice a year at different times of the day and with different scenarios.  Practice crawling in case of lots of smoke.  When you come to a closed door, practice feeling the doorknob and door to see if they are hot.  Practice taking alternate routes if a fire is on the other side of a closed door.  You should also teach children to stay out of the house once they have left.  If a family member or pet is trapped inside, inform firefighters immediately since they are equipped to handle such situations safely.  

You might also consider calling your local fire department to ask about taking a tour.  This can be especially beneficial for small children to be familiar with firefighters and feel more trusting of them in an emergency.

Go to http://www.sparky.org/downloads/escape_plan.PDF or http://www.scholastic.com/firesafety/escapeplan/ for free printables and helps to make a family fire escape plan.

Finding North with a Watch and the Sun

This is a cool trick I learned from watching the very first episode of Man vs. Wild.  I was curious to see if it really worked so I tried it out, and it does!  Of course, if you're in an emergency situation without an analog watch, you'll just have to find a different system (like maybe...a compass?).

Here's what you do if you are in the northern hemisphere:

1. Hold your watch flat like you would a compass.
2. Point the smaller, hour hand in the direction of the sun.
3. Find the midway angle between 12 and the hour hand.  This gives you your north/south line to follow.  If it happens to be during Daylight Savings, find the midway angle between 1 and the hour hand instead.
4. North will be in the direction away from the sun.  South is towards the sun.

If you are in the southern hemisphere, the method changes only slightly:

1. Hold the watch flat.
2. Point 12 in the direction of the sun.
3. Find the midway angle between 12 and the hour hand to get your north/south line.  This time, south is away from the sun and north is towards the sun.

Finding Drinkable Water in an Emergency

Photo by thiagofest

One of the most critical needs in an emergency is a good water supply.  Your best bet is to purchase bottled water or prepare and store water beforehand in food-grade containers.  Cleaned and sterilized juice bottles work great too.  However, if you run out or your supply somehow becomes contaminated, look for these additional emergency water sources to sustain life:

Indoor Water Sources:

• Ice cubes from the freezer can be melted down to drinkable water.
• The water reserve in most hot water heaters holds 30-60 gallons of water that can be drained.  Make sure the electricity to the water heater is off first and that the drain is clean.  Open the drain at the bottom of the tank and turn on a hot water faucet at a higher level from the water heater to let air into the tank as water is running out.  Drain water into clean storage containers.
• Water pressure tanks are good though be careful if flooding has occurred and treat all equipment as being contaminated.  If the water is still under pressure in the take, it is probably clean.  Just clean the drain first. 
• Your toilet tank can be used for drinking.  It sounds gross, but inside the tank (not the bowl) the water should be pretty clean.  Water from the bowl could be cleaned and used as well, but only if you haven't used chemicals to clean it (so mine is out).
• If water to your home is turned off due to contamination, some water may be pulled from your house and shower pipes.  Turn on a faucet at the highest level of your home (an upper floor perhaps) to release a small amount of water and let air into the pipes.  Then turn on a faucet at the lowest level of your home (like a basement, or just your kitchen sink) and collect the water that comes out.
• Canned milk, bottled water, bottled juices, etc. are great.
• Distilled water is also good.
• Water from a water bed should be used only as a last resource since toxins or chemicals from the bed may have leached into the water.

Outdoor Water Sources:

• Swimming pool water is usually chlorinated and fairly clean if kept covered, but you should still boil or purify it before drinking.
• Rooftop water tanks are good.
• Private well water can be used for drinking, though be cautious if it has been flooded and treat it as contaminated.
• Fresh rainwater, dew, and water from condensation on cool surfaces can be collected.
• Water from streams, lakes, rivers, etc. can be collected to drink, but should be filtered first.  Be aware that using chlorine or iodine tablets will not get rid of certain microorganisms, such as Giardia.

Other Water Tips:

• If you hear of any contamination issue, shut off the main water valve to your home to keep the contamination from entering.
• Flood waters should always be considered contaminated.  If they touch any water you will drink or containers you will use to drink from, they need to be cleaned first.
• Boiling and purifying will NOT get rid of chemicals, pesticides, and heavy metals in the water, only bacteria.  If a water source has a funny odor or looks dark in color, don't drink it. 
• Sources go back and forth about drinking urine.  Some survival experts say yes, and some (including the U.S. Army) say no.  The idea to me seems ridiculous, but I suppose if you are desperate a whole new set of possibilities opens up.  The main basis for not drinking urine is that your urine is removing toxins, sodium, and other minerals from your body which will only make dehydration worse.

Adult CPR

Along the same lines as my Child CPR post, this is meant to review CPR for adults.  The steps are nearly the same and as mentioned before, the acronym A-B-C has now been changed to C-A-B by the American Heart Association, meaning we first start with "Compressions," followed by "Airway" and then "Breathing."  Here are the guidelines:

1. Check the Scene  Make sure it is safe so you don't become the second victim.
2. Check the Victim for injuries and consciousness.  You don't want to perform CPR on someone who's just sleeping.
3. Call for Help by directing someone specific on the scene to call 911.  If you are alone, do 2 minutes of C-A-B before calling for help.  Not delaying may mean the difference between life and death for the victim.
4. Compressions  Place the heel of one hand slightly lower than the nipple line in the center of the victim's chest.  Your other hand goes on top with the fingers interlaced.  Lock your elbows and compress down 2 inches, hard and fast.  You should give 30 compressions in about 18 seconds (almost 2 each second).  This alone may save someone's life.  Sing a song if needed to keep up a steady beat; I've seen "Staying Alive" recommended since the beat is nearly the right tempo, though the lyrics may be a bit sardonic.
5. Airway  If trained in CPR, you may now open the airway.  Lift the chin and tilt the victim's head back.  Watch for the chest to rise and listen for any breathing.  Look for any object that might be blocking the airway, but be careful not to push it further in by trying to get it out.
6. Breathing  If the victim is still not breathing, pinch the victim's nose and give two short breaths (1 second each).  Make sure your mouth makes a tight seal over the victim's mouth, and watch for the chest to rise and fall.  
7. Continue C-A-B until help arrives.

Remember: even if you are untrained, doing compressions alone may help save someone's life.  Compressions help circulate an emergency reserve of oxygen in the victim's lungs and bloodstream from the last breath.  The American Heart Association changed to the C-A-B method so as not to delay this step.  Don't worry about making things worse (if the person is dying, that would be difficult to do);  Just keep calm and do your best.  

These guidelines are no replacement for official CPR training.  My recommendation to anyone reading is to take a CPR certification class so you are well-prepared.  It would also be handy to keep a reference guide available just in case you want to double check some things.

Child CPR

     As you may or may not know, the CPR guidelines for both adults and children were changed by the American Heart Association in October of 2010.  Prior to that, the handy acronym A-B-C indicated the order of operations as "Airway - Breathing - Compressions."  That has now changed to C-A-B, meaning compressions come first.
     Why the change?  With the earlier method, medical professionals were concerned that chest compressions were being delayed too long.  Chest compressions are more important than breathing.  What?!?  Yes, it's true: chest compressions are more important than giving mouth-to-mouth breaths.  In fact, if you are untrained in CPR, you can still give someone only chest compressions until help arrives and may still save their life.  The reason for that is that a reserve supply of oxygen remains in the blood and lungs after a person takes their last breath.  Chest compressions help circulate that vital oxygen through the body, so don't delay!
     Because this post deals with child CPR, here are the new guidelines for children and infants.  This is NOT a replacement for official CPR training.  I recommend taking a class to become certified.  It's also nice to keep a first aid guide on hand in case you have questions in the moment.

1. Check the Scene and make sure everything is safe.
2. Check the Victim, tapping him or her and shouting to make sure he/she is not just sleeping.  Look for injuries.
3. Call for Help, or better yet, send someone else to call while you start CPR.  If you are alone, do five rounds of C-A-B and then call for help.
4. C = Compressions  Roll the victim to his or her back.  For infants (under 1 year), place two fingers in the center of the chest just below the nipple line.  Press down only 1 1/2 inches (you don't need to push hard).  For children, you can place the heel of one hand in the center of their sternum (central rib cage bone) and the other hand on the child's forehead to stabilize, or use two hands.  Lock your elbows and use your body to compress 2 inches, or 1/3 of the depth of the chest.  Do 30 quick compressions in 18 seconds, or almost 2 per second.
5. A = Airway  If trained in CPR, you can now tilt back the head while lifting the chin.  If you have a towel available you can roll it up to help align and support the victim's head.  Look in the mouth for any object that may be blocking the airway, but don't reach in to get it unless you can turn the head and swipe it out.  Otherwise, you may push the object in further.
6. B = Breathing  For an infant, cover the nose and mouth with your mouth and give a light puff.  For children, pinch the nose, make a tight seal over their mouth with yours, and give one breath.  Watch for the chest to rise and fall.  Give a second breath.  If you don't see the chest rise, realign the head and try again.
7. Repeat C-A-B until help arrives or the victim shows signs of life.