Diarrhea, Emergency Preparedness, survival, life and death

Sustainable Living Blog ^ | 7/29/11 | rayphe

[Kartographer]

Diarrhea is a life threatening ailment. In 2009, diarrhea was estimated to have caused 1.1 million deaths in people aged 5 and over and 1.5 million deaths in children under the age of 5.

When things get bad in America, and other places that are not use to hardship, many people will realize that they shouldn’t have been nearly as concerned about preparing for others to harm them as much as they should have been prepared to simply take care of themselves.

Here is an example; I know of a guy who is use to dining out at expensive restaurants, unashamedly eats steak and it’s trappings every night (when he is home), and enjoys it all very much. He prides himself as being “prepared” and so he has an abundant supply of dried and freeze dried foods stored.

What do you think is going to happen when things get bad and this person can’t make his daily trip to the grocer for his fresh food that he is accustomed too?

[Kartographer]

Not a pleasant subject to be sure, but an important one for Preppers to consider. One reason I have a couple of bottles of loperamide(Imodium)caplets and sports drinks. When SHTF you have to consider stress, strange food, iffy water, disease and general poor hygienic conditions can lead to trouble.

[hope]

Red Raspberry herb...don’t go to Mexico without it!

[Kartographer]

A good article on treatment of diarrhea By Beth W. Orenstein and reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH

http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health/diarrhea/treating-diarrhea.aspx

[Kartographer]

PING!!!

[1066AD]

On a third world assignment years ago (before Imodium and Lomotil was very new) locals insisted a shot or two of neat Pastis (Pernod, Ricard) would do the trick. It did. I guess Ouzo would also work.

[unkus]

I lived in Mexico for 2 1/2 years....and will never go back.

[unkus]

Thanks for posting, Kartographer. Not a pleasant subject as you say, but crucial.

[MamaDearest]

Here's a couple of articles from a website I use on which people post home remedies and comment about prescription drugs that cause them problems:

Can cookies beat bad diarrhea?

Snip: The Archway Coconut Macaroon story is fascinating. Over a decade ago we heard from a reader who claimed that two cookies a day relieved his chronic diarrhea.

Others have tried it with mixed results. One woman said, "I ate the coconut cookies, but no luck." Another stated that they worked for awhile, but then the diarrhea returned. On the other hand, many other people do report that coconut flakes appear to help control their diarrhea.

Sugar substitutes cause diarrhea

Snip: Sweeteners like sorbitol, maltitol and mannitol are frequently used in foods for people restricting sugar. They have calories but are absorbed much more slowly than table sugar. Because they can reach the large intestine without being absorbed, they may cause diarrhea.

[Bobalu]

This is a really good post Karto!

Nauseating but necessary information for all who take preparedness seriously.

[WePledge]

If you can get your hands on a bottle of paregoric, treat
it as if it were gold. Nothing slows diarrhea quicker. It's
nearly impossible to obtain unless one has something like irritable bowel syndrome.
Another good thing to have on hand is a stock of several
bags of both saline and Ringers solution [electrolytes] set up for IV administration. These are available through
veterinarians but it's the exact same as for humans.Pedialyte is great for replacing fluids and electrolytes if you aren't vomiting too.
Diarrhea is the leading cause of death in undeveloped
areas.Once TSHTF, everywhere becomes undeveloped.

[Squantos]

Dehydration can kill anyone at any age. Special note during loose bowel movement / diarrhea episodes, sometimes the intake of plain water may not be enough as the body gets an imbalance in electrolyte levels and cannot make use of the plain water. First aid I usually choose is water melon, then follow up with coconut juice with coconut meat for raw fats. But what if the dehydrated person is far beyond that stage? What if he cannot take anything orally?

Normally, people think of IV drips in the emergency room of a hospital. But did you know that that method takes too slow? You drive up to the hospital, the hospital staff diagnose, fill out papers, then decide if they will give you an IV drip. In some hospitals they will require you to check in and get a room before even giving you an IV drip! Plus the IV drip itself which directly goes to the blood takes a fairly long time to do its job. So what to do?

Enemas. Hydrating enemas. It is basically water, with a lot of sugar and some salt.

Here is a hydrating enema formula for a 6 year old child:

0.75 liters of room temperature water
5 tablespoons of real sugar
1 tablespoon of real sea salt

Mix in enema kit until all is dissolved. Administer the enema. Have the patient hold the enema some 10 minutes. You can have the patient lie in different positions to let the enema go round and round the intestines. Distract the patient with television, movie, stories, games or anything so he can hold it. Then let him blow out in the toilet.

Observe patient and repeat if necessary.

You can then probably use oral hydration. See to it fats are ingested. Fats let humans be hydrated longer and steadier. If patient is so fat deprived, you can later on stick in some virgin coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil as enema.

Enema is faster and safer than any IV drip in hydrating patients. You must have an enema kit at home. You must practice using it before hand. Remember to lubricate the anus and the enema end with something like ghee, other thick oils, or petroleum jelly — it’s not specific, any will do. Be careful with your insertion angle. Listen to the patient if it hurts… you have the wrong angle, try again.

Adjust the formula accordingly for adult sized patients.

[Mariner]

Put 10 gallons of Clorox in your stash.

It will save your life many times over.

Oh, and gas-packed beans and grains for sprouts.

Iodine.

Basic dish soap.

And, water filtration equipment.

They are all second ONLY to guns and ammo.

[RedStateRocker]

“I know of a guy who is use to dining “

It’s *USED* to

If one is going to blog then they should at least learn the English language.

[unkus]

Does Iodine have multiple uses?

[betsyross60]

ping

[Quix]

PREP INFO

for those not sold on the MSM version of reality.

[30Moves]

If you have no medicine - APPLES contain large amounts of pectin which is what kaopectate used to contain.

[Kartographer]

“Put 10 gallons of Clorox in your stash.”

I’ve done better I’ve stashed 2 pounds of Calcium Hypochlorite:

Better than Bleach: Use Calcium Hypochlorite to Disinfect Water

http://readynutrition.com/resources/better-than-bleach-use-calcium-hypochlorite-to-disinfect-water_19062010/

[Kartographer]

Now that you’ve corrected and edited the article do you have anything positive or helpful to add to it or the conversion about the subject?

[bgill]

Hey, Kart, I’m going to go OT a bit here but thought it might be of interest to preppers. Here’s my findings on tuna I just posted on another thread:

Because of all the tuna talk, I decided to make tuna sandwiches a few days ago and sadly, we were right about the quantity.

I checked the size of the small can and they are now 5 ounces. In the back of my mind I had thought it used to be around 7 ounces. Coincidently, while looking through some cookbooks last night (withdrawn library freebies!), I happened upon two tuna recipes that stated the size of the small cans:

7 1/2 oz. can = Richard Simmons’ Never-Say-Diet Cookbook - 1982 - page 86 - Tuna Imperial

6 1/2 oz. can = The Frugal Gourmet Whole Family Cookbook - 1992 - page 323 - Tuna Salad Sandwich

As has been the case with sugar, coffee, cereal, and toilet paper, so goes the size of small cans of tuna. Notice that at some point between ‘82 and ‘92 the size shrunk 1 ounce. Some say that may not be much but by 2011 it has shrunk 2 1/2 ounces or a total of one third of it’s original size. Well, “original” as far as I can verify.

Ok, so we’ve established we’re getting a can that’s 1/3rd less than what we used to get, but what about the product inside the can? I can’t tell you what the meat to water content was in ‘82 but here’s what I found in the ‘11 product:

I opened four 5 oz. cans of tuna and did the lid squeeze to drain out the water. I then weighed it:

11 oz = water
9 1/2 oz (about 1 1/3 C) = meat

Yes, the weight of all four cans is a half ounce more than what should have been but it does tell a very eye opening tale.

Yikes, we’re paying about $4 per pound for canned tuna. When shopping, I try to keep my meat purchases around the $2/lb. mark. The other day I bought boneless beef ribs for $1.97/lb. and what with the drought beef prices should be dropping soon. With this slap up side the head, tuna sandwiches just went out of my budget. Sorry, Charlie, I’ll save what I currently have in the pantry and look for something else to stock for teotwawki and other emergencies.