In Time of Emergency Part 7

All these items need not be stocked in your home shelter area. They can be stored elsewhere in or around your house, as long as you could find them easily and move them to your shelter area quickly in a time of emergency.

* THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITIES. There are a few things you _must_ have. They are water, food, sanitation supplies, and any special medicines or foods needed by family members such as insulin, heart tablets, dietetic food and baby food.

* THE COMPLETE LIST. In addition to the absolute necessities, there are other important items. Some of them may be needed to save lives. At the least, they will be helpful to you. Here is a list of all major items--both essential and desirable.

WATER. This is even more important than food. Enough water should be available to give each person at least one quart per day for 14 days.

Store it in plastic containers, or in bottles or cans. All should have tight stoppers. Part of your water supply might be "trapped" water in the pipes of your home plumbing system, and part of it might be in the form of bottled or canned beverages, fruit or vegetable juices, or milk.

A water-purifying agent (either water-purifying tablets, or 2 percent tincture of iodine, or a liquid chlorine household bleach) should also be stored, in case you need to purify any cloudy or "suspicious" water that may contain bacteria.

FOOD. Enough food should be kept on hand to feed all shelter occupants for 14 days, including special foods needed by infants, elderly persons, and those on limited diets. Most people in shelter can get along on about half as much food as usual. If possible store canned or sealed-package foods, preferably those not requiring refrigeration or cooking. These should be replaced periodically. Here is a table showing the suggested replacement periods, in months, for some of the types of food suitable to store for emergency use.[3]

Milk: _Months_ Evaporated 6 Nonfat dry or whole dry milk, in metal container 6 Canned meat, poultry, fish: Meat, poultry 18 Fish 12 Mixtures of meats, vegetables, cereal products 18 Condensed meat-and-vegetable soups 8 Fruits and vegetables: Berries and sour cherries, canned 6 Citrus fruit juices, canned 6 Other fruits and fruit juices, canned 18 Dried fruit, in metal container 6 Tomatoes, sauerkraut, canned 6 Other vegetables, canned (including dry beans and dry peas) 18 Cereals and baked goods: Ready-to-eat cereals: In metal container 12 In original paper package 1 Uncooked cereal (quick-cooking or instant): In metal container 24 In original paper package 12 Hydrogenated (or antioxidant-treated) fats, vegetable oil 12 Sugars, sweets, nuts: Sugar will keep indefinitely Hard candy, gum 18 Nuts, canned 12 Instant puddings 12

Miscellaneous: Coffee, tea, cocoa (instant) 18 Dry cream product (instant) 12 Bouillon products 12 Flavored beverage powders 24 Salt will keep indefinitely Flavoring extracts (e.g., pepper) 24 Soda, baking powder 12

SANITATION SUPPLIES. Since you may not be able to use your regular bathroom during a period of emergency, you should keep on hand these sanitation supplies: A metal container with a tight-fitting lid, to use as an emergency toilet; one or two large garbage cans with covers (for human wastes and garbage); plastic bags to line the toilet container; disinfectant; toilet paper; soap; wash cloths and towels; a pail or basin; and sanitary napkins.

MEDICINES AND FIRST AID SUPPLIES. This should include any medicines being regularly taken, or likely to be needed, by family members. First aid supplies should include all those found in a good first aid kit (bandages, antiseptics, etc.), plus all the items normally kept in a well-stocked home medicine chest (aspirin, thermometer, baking soda, petroleum jelly, etc.). A good first aid handbook is also recommended.

INFANT SUPPLIES. Families with babies should keep on hand a two-week stock of infant supplies such as canned milk or baby formula, disposable diapers, bottles and nipples, rubber sheeting, blankets and baby clothing. Because water for was.h.i.+ng might be limited, baby clothing and bedding should be stored in larger-than-normal quant.i.ties.

COOKING AND EATING UTENSILS. Emergency supplies should include pots, pans, knives, forks, spoons, plates, cups, napkins, paper towels, measuring cup, bottle opener, can opener, and pocket knife. If possible, disposable items should be stored. A heat source also might be helpful, such as an electric hot plate (for use if power is available), or a camp stove or canned-heat stove (in case power is shut off). However, if a stove is used indoors, adequate ventilation is needed.

CLOTHING. Several changes of clean clothing--especially undergarments and socks or stockings--should be ready for shelter use, in case water for was.h.i.+ng should be scarce.

BEDDING. Blankets are the most important items of bedding that would be needed in a shelter, but occupants probably would be more comfortable if they also had available pillows, sheets, and air mattresses or sleeping bags.

FIRE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT. Simple fire fighting tools, and knowledge of how to use them, may be very useful. A hand-pumped fire extinguisher of the inexpensive, 5-gallon, water type is preferred. Carbon tetrachloride and other vaporizing-liquid type extinguishers are not recommended for use in small enclosed s.p.a.ces, because of the danger of fumes. Other useful fire equipment for home use includes buckets filled with sand, a ladder, and a garden hose.

GENERAL EQUIPMENT AND TOOLS. The essential items in this category are a battery-powered radio and a flashlight or lantern, with spare batteries.

The radio might be your only link with the outside world, and you might have to depend on it for all your information and instructions, especially for advice on when to leave shelter.

Other useful items: a shovel, broom, axe, crowbar, kerosene lantern, short rubber hose for siphoning, coil of half-inch rope at least 25 feet long, coil of wire, hammer, pliers, screwdriver, wrench, nails and screws.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. In addition to such practical items as matches, candles, and civil defense instructions, some personal convenience items could be brought into the home shelter if s.p.a.ce permits. These might include books and magazines, writing materials, a clock and calendar, playing cards and hobby materials, a sewing kit, and toiletries such as toothbrushes, cosmetics, and shaving supplies.

CHAPTER 7

WATER, FOOD, AND SANITATION IN A SHELTER

SUMMARY

BEFORE AN EMERGENCY

1. Read this chapter fully, and learn how you would have to manage your water, food and sanitation problems if you had to spend a week or two in a fallout shelter, especially a home shelter.

DURING AN EMERGENCY

1. If you are in a _public_ fallout shelter, do exactly what the shelter manager tells you to do. He will take care of you to the best of his ability.

2. If you are in a _home_ shelter, follow the advice given in this chapter concerning water, food and sanitation. Take care of your water and food supplies, keep them clean, and make them last for the period you may have to stay in shelter. If necessary, set up an emergency toilet, keep it clean, and make sure it is used properly.

WATER, FOOD, AND SANITATION IN A SHELTER

At all times and under all conditions, human beings must have sufficient water, adequate food and proper sanitation in order to stay alive and healthy. When people are living in a fallout shelter--even for a week or two--water and food may be scarce, and it may be difficult to maintain normal sanitary conditions. Water and food supplies may have to be "managed"--that is, taken care of, kept clean, and rationed to each person in the shelter. Sanitation also may have to be managed and controlled, perhaps by setting up emergency toilets and rules to insure that they are used properly.

If you go to a _public_ fallout shelter in a time of attack, you probably would not need to know a great deal about managing water, food, and sanitation. A shelter manager and his a.s.sistants would handle these problems with the cooperation of all in the shelter. He would make the best use of whatever water and food supplies were available, provide emergency toilets if necessary, set up rules for living in the shelter, arrange for the shelter occupants to carry on various activities necessary for health and well-being, and decide when it was safe for the group to leave shelter and for how long at a time.

In a _home_ fallout shelter, however, you and your family would be largely on your own. You would have to take care of yourselves, solve your own problems, make your own living arrangements, subsist on the supplies you had previously stocked, and find out for yourself (probably by listening to the radio) when it was safe to leave shelter. In this situation, one of your most important tasks would be to manage your water and food supplies, and maintain sanitation. The following guidance is intended to help you do this.

CARE AND USE OF WATER SUPPLIES

The average person in a shelter would need at least 1 quart of water or other liquids per day to drink, but more would be useful (to allow some for was.h.i.+ng, etc.). Therefore a rationing plan might be required in your home shelter, so as to make your available liquids last for 14 days.

(Many communities may continue to have potable water available, and families could relax their rationing plans.)

In addition to water stored in containers, there is usually other water available in most homes that is drinkable, such as:

--Water and other liquids normally found in the kitchen, including ice cubes, milk, soft drinks, and fruit and vegetable juices.

--Water (20 to 60 gallons) in the hot water tank.

--Water in the _flush tanks_ (not the bowls) of home toilets.

--Water in the pipes of your home plumbing system. In a time of nuclear attack, local authorities may instruct householders to _turn off_ the main water valves in their homes to avoid having water drain away in case of a break and loss of pressure in the water mains. With the main valve in your house closed, all the pipes in the house would still be full of water. To use this water, _turn on_ the faucet that is located at the _highest_ point in your house, to let air into the system; and then draw water, as needed, from the faucet that is located at the _lowest_ point in your house.

In a home shelter, occupants should drink first the water they know is uncontaminated, such as that mentioned above. Of course, if local authorities tell you the regular water is drinkable, it should be used.

If necessary, "suspicious" water--such as cloudy water from regular faucets or perhaps some muddy water from a nearby stream or pond--can be used after it has been purified. This is how to purify it:

1. Strain the water through a paper towel or several thicknesses of clean cloth, to remove dirt and fallout particles, if any. Or else let the water "settle" in a container for 24 hours, by which time any solid particles would have sunk to the bottom. A handful of clay soil in each gallon of water would help this settling process.

2. After the solid particles have been removed, boil the water if possible for 3 to 5 minutes, or add a water-purifying agent to it. This could be either: (_a_) water-purifying tablets, available at drug stores, or (_b_) two percent tincture of iodine, or (_c_) liquid chlorine household bleach, provided the label says that it contains hypochlorite as its _only_ active ingredient. For each gallon of water, use 4 water-purifying tablets, or 12 drops of tincture of iodine, or 8 drops of liquid chlorine bleach. If the water is cloudy, these amounts should be doubled.

There would not be much danger of drinking radioactive particles in water, as they would sink quickly to the bottom of the container or stream. Very few would dissolve in the water. Although open reservoirs might contain some radioactive iodine in the first few days after an attack, this danger is considered minor except to very young children.

CARE AND USE OF FOOD SUPPLIES

Food also should be rationed carefully in a home shelter, to make it last for at least a 2-week period of shelter occupancy. Usually, half the normal intake would be adequate, except for growing children or pregnant women.