-Caveat Lector- Could be handy to have. Peter This information was sent to us today, and we are passing it on to our Newletter subscribers. ********************************************** For question or information call 801-756-2488 Toll Free Order Line 877-770-FOOD (3663) http://www.permapac.com ********************************************** "Y2K Checklist" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- The Safest Way to Y2K! Last Update: 17-Dec-1999 This report was prepared as a public service in response to what the federal government has said is a dangerous level of public apathy regarding national and local problems that might soon be caused by the Year 2000 computer problem. Preface The latest polls show that almost everyone has heard of the Y2K computer problem. However, very few people are preparing for serious national and international problems that "Y2K" might cause. In response to significant public apathy on the one hand, and recent rapidly growing public interest in preparing for Y2K on the other hand, we decided to publish a survival checklist that is complete and easy for everyone to use. The mission was and is to encourage as many people as possible to make some preparation for Y2K problems that might effect their lives. reproduce the "Checklist" and distribute it free of charge so long as your doing so is not intended for a commercial purpose. Shelter Why is "Shelter" first? Isn't "Water" or "Food" supposed to be first? Think of it this way: You need water within 3 to 4 days before your body begins to seriously deteriorate. You need shelter within hours if you are in snow country and don't have adequate shelter! All survival experts will tell you that shelter is the most important survival necessity. Clothing. Make certain that you can survive inside your house or apartment without any heat for at least one week. Also make certain that you have clothes to work outdoors for several hours if necessary. If you live in snow country, adequate clothing is absolutely your number one survival priority! Insulated living space. Make sure that your living space does not let unwanted cold air in and does not let warm air out. Use mattresses and box springs to make a small room within a room if necessary. Adequate bedding. Make sure that you have sufficient bedding for each member of your family including blankets and sleeping bags if you live in a cold climate. Tool kit. Your shelter tool kit can save your life. It should contain household tools and emergency response equipment including a well made hunting knife with knife sharpening stone and sharpening oil. Be sure you also have a fire extinguishers that are charged and certified. Adapt your tool kit for the area that you live in. Example: Although it might not happen during Y2K, after an earthquake, you may need lots of duct tape, mylar plastic sheets, bailing wire, saws, hammers, etc. to make fa s t repairs to your shelter. Emergency procedures. If your place of shelter looses electricity, do NOT turn off the gas to appliances such as water heaters, stoves and furnaces. Only turn off gas to appliances if you have an interruption in the gas supply or if you smell gas coming from any appliance or other gas leak. Make sure that family members know the procedures for evacuating your shelter and where they should meet if your family is dispersed for a period of time. Light What? Again "Water" isn't next? Imagine: It's 8:00 PM January 1, 2000, snowing like crazy outside, and everyone is watching a movie on television. Suddenly the lights go out. You (and millions of others) reach for the phone but don't hear a dial tone. Someone walks across the room, trips on the cat, cat screams, someone smashes into furniture and falls on the floor. No street lights, no night lights, and "Where's the flashlight?!" This kind of emergency could happen any time during the first weeks after Y2K. You can't deal with that injured person without light! You can't make fast repairs to your shelter without light. You might not even find your stored water without light. Flashlights and lots batteries. Lots of both. Remember, flashlight batteries don't last long, unless you buy one of the new 7 LED lights from the C. Crane Company (800-522-8863 and on the web at http://www.ccrane.com). Make sure that you have at least three flashlights and enough batteries to last for 2 hours every night that you plan to be without electricity. And buy spare bulbs too! 100-hour candles. Regular candles don't last long. 100 hour candles last, well... 100 hours (give or take a few). They don't provide much light but enough for survival. And, if you buy the optional cooking stand, they can be used to warm (not cook) food. Lanterns. These are brighter lights for emergencies and lighting rooms. Buy several. Buy one florescent lantern with lots of batteries and one propane or Coleman fuel lantern. The latter creates a lot of light but must be used outdoors or, in an emergency, for only short periods of time indoors. Solar lights are also an option but require daily recharging and do not give off a lot of light. Generator. A 650 watt portable gas-engine powered electric generator can provide a lot of emergency light. Honda makes a nice unit that should be available at many local home supply stores. Run heavy duty extension cords from the generator to the lights. NEVER PLUG EXTENSION CORDS FROM A GENERATOR INTO A WALL OUTLET IN YOUR HOUSE! Be sure to buy an adequate supply of gasoline and store it in safe containers away from your place of shelter. Note: If you want to use a hair dryer or small electri c heaters (not an electric stove), you will have to purchase at least a 5,000 watt generator. That will requires a LOT of fuel storage and special electrical connections to your shelter by a licensed electrician. Flares. Road flares can save lives. You can use them in an emergency to signal rescue workers, to light a fire, and even to protect yourself from wild animals (and wild people). Health You have shelter and light but the person on the floor is bleeding, unconscious, and may have a broken bone or two. You don't need water! You need to help him or her so that he or she can live long enough to drink your water! It is important to remember that the health industry is huge and very reliant on computers as the Senate's "100 Day Report" states. The Committee points out: "Healthcare is the nation's single largest industry, generating $1.5 trillion annually. The U.S. has 6,000 h o spitals, 800,000 doctors in 50,000 offices, and 16,000 nursing homes as well as 2,000 biomedical equipment manufacturers and hundreds of healthcare insurers in the public and private sectors. All of these entities are highly automated and thus are highly vulnerable to Y2K problems." Conclusion: Do NOT leave your health care solely to the health care systems especially during a disaster, including the potential crises that the Year 2000 computer problem entails. Quality first aid kit. There are a lot of them out there and you need a top quality kit! Ask the American Red Cross to recommend where to purchase a quality kit for your entire family's use. Note that if all the electricity is out, rushing your loved one to a hospital might not help. Although most hospitals have emergency electric generators, these generators don't supply every electrical device in a hospital. In addition, the hospital you go to might be swamped with cases. Therefore, you migh t have to provide first aid! Be sure to include herbal pain relievers, sedatives, and tranquilizers in your kit. Medications. You and your family might not be able to get prescription refills if electricity has closed down your favorite pharmacy. Have extra medication on hand before January 1, 2000. Note: Many pharmaceutical and health supply companies have reported that they expect possible Y2K disruption of their overseas production and distribution systems which could affect the availability of medications and medical supplies in the United States. Portable toilet. You will need one and the chemicals, plastic disposal bags, and plastic trash baskets with tight fitting lids. And, don't forget to store lots of toilet paper. Solar shower. Campers have used these for years. They work. Be sure to have a tree handy or a place to hang it, "Water", and a shower curtain (although there won't be police worrying about anybody's nudism during a crisis). Personal hygiene supplies. Bathing soaps, tooth brushes, tooth pastes, feminine hygiene supplies, and whatever else your family members need to maintain personal hygiene. Don't forget baby diapers for babies and elderly family members with incontinence. Protection Yup, we're still not to "Water". But why "Protection"? You need protection from two dangers: crazy humans and hungry or crazy animals. In a serious emergency where everyone must live without electricity, water, sewage, gas, banking, shopping, travel, television, telephone, and other daily services, many people can get pretty nasty. You can either "hope" that this doesn't happen, and suffer the consequences if it does, or, you can decide to be responsible for yourself and your family and protect them. If you encounter a dangerous situation and can't protect yourself, then when water becomes available you might not be around to enjoy it. Guard dog. Research has shown that by far the most inexpensive and enjoyable form of family protection is a dog. This can be any dog that makes lots of noise when strangers come around and that looks threatening to any intruder or potential attacker. Even if you don't have a dog or don't like dogs, leaving a dog bowl and bag of dog food on the porch and/or posting a printed sign that warns about a guard dog can scare of would be intruders! Pepper spray. Every member of your family should have access to and know how to effectively use pepper spray. Get the good stuff the police use. You can also find pepper gel that clings to the attackers face and even some that is brightly colored. Surprising your attacker is very important. Be poised, spray and run. Proximity door alarms. These gadgets are fantastic. Everyone should use them at home or when they travel. They are small and hang on the inside a door-knob. When someone touches the outside door-knob, the box makes a terrifying loud noise. You won't sleep through it and the person on the other side will probably be long gone by the time you reset the alarm. Shotgun. Do NOT acquire a shotgun for home protection unless you have been well trained on how to carry it, use it, and safely store it at home!!! Many experts say that a shotgun is the best choice if you decide to use a firearm as part of your home protection plan. If you do choose to use a shotgun, use a short brass shell with a reduced powder and small shot load. USUALLY just the threatening sound of a shotgun being cocked will send any intruders diving out the windows to escape! If you do d ecide acquire a shotgun, seek the advice of your local NRA club. Hand gun. Do NOT acquire a hand gun for home or self protection unless you have been well trained on how to carry it, use it, and safely store it at home!!! If you do decide acquire a handgun, seek the advice of your local NRA club. Water Finally, you made it to water. This survival preparation work makes you thirsty, eh? You will start to die within 3 to 4 days without water. If you don't eventually die (if you get water in time), you still might sustain serious permanent bodily injury that is caused by dehydration. The average American household uses 100 to 150 gallons of water per person per day! You are used to using a lot of water. Get used to using a lot less that you would normally use! (Consider 1 to 4 percent of normal use). You won't like it but you will survive with it. Water. One gallon per person per day is the absolute minimum you need to store. For a one week supply for 5 people, that would be 7 times 5 or 35 gallons of water. Two gallons per person per day gives you some water for washing and cleaning. We advise that you store at least 4 gallons per person per day. For a one week supply for 5 people that would be 7 days times 5 people times 4 gallons per person or 140 gallons of water. With that amount you can shower every other day, wash dishes, eat, et c But you will still have to be very careful and not waste it. Unscented Clorox. Water must be "treated" if you will be storing it for long periods of time (6-12 months) or if you are cleaning contaminants from it. You need unscented Clorox bleach. DO NOT USE SCENTED BLEACH! It must be pure bleach (pure sodium hypochlorite solution). To treat clean water for storage, add 8 drops of Clorox to each gallon of fresh water. For each 50 gallons of fresh water, add 1 ounce of Clorox. For water that you are unsure of, first filter it and then add twice as much Cl o rox per gallon as described above and let it stand for 24 hours. Note that boiling water for 15 minutes is effective for killing biological contaminants but does not remove harmful chemicals and does use a lot of fuel. Storage containers. If you decide to store enough water to make everyone's life livable after a disaster, you will need to store your water in food quality 50 gallon (or other size) plastic storage drums and smaller 1 and 5 gallon plastic storage containers. They are typically blue in color and meet federal water packaging requirements. For long storage (a year or more), sterilize your containers with a strong solution of unscented Clorox and water, then pour it from container to container and dump it out of the last container. Since water weighs 8 pounds per gallon, you will also need a hand pump to pump your water from the large plastic drums and a bung wrench to remove the tight fitting drum lids without injuring your hands. Note that for very short periods of time, standard ½ gallon or 1 gallon bottles of water from your local store work fine. Quality water filter. If you run out of water, you will need to find some very soon. And the water that you do find might not be too appetizing. Nonetheless, you will need it if you are really thirsty. So, you must filter it to remove protozoan and other biological creatures as well as remove many of the more toxic chemicals. PUR water filters are widely used for back packing. A less heard of company with excellent products is General Ecology that makes the First Need water purifiers. General E cology is the company the installs water purification systems on many airlines! For more info: http://www.permapac.com/firstneed.htm Fill your bathtub(s). Before midnight, January 2000, you should fill your bathtub(s) with water and add 1 ounce of unscented Clorox to it. This will give you an immediate large quantity of emergency water if a serious Y2K water disruption occurs. Heat You're alive, not thirsty, but very cold. There is nothing that makes people feel more secure and at ease than the warmth of a fire. Fire and the heat that it provides are almost as basic as air and water to survival. Therefore, heat is essential and especially comforting in any emergency. And, although you can live for many days without food you might not last that long without warming your body sufficiently to ward of hypothermia. Heat is the next most important survival necessity. Camp stove. Every household should have a camp stove. The best solution is to use a dual-fuel model that burns Coleman fuel or, in an emergency, regular unleaded gasoline. How do you use it other than for heating food? Use it to heat water and pour that water in hot water bottles for everyone's use in bed. Heat up a brick (not a rock, because rocks may have moisture inside and explode), wrap it in a towel with strong cord, and use it as a bed warmer, foot warmer, or a warmer for aching muscles We are about to go on a Journey. All Aboard http://sites.netscape.net/gsussnzl/poleshift DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. 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