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Owner- LaMar Alexander
Emergency Preparedness by Katherine Yarber
I'm a mother and wife of 22 years married to the man of my dreams. We live on 144 acres in the northern woods of North Carolina near the border of VA. We have been working toward total self-sufficiency since they day we moved back to the states from my husband serving in the military over-seas almost 10 years. Our research on getting back to the basics, natural survival, homesteading, and taking ourselves off the grid started LONG before we even thought of the military career ending. We have an endless amount of goals that we have happily starting incorporating into our lives. We have dairy goats, a horse, chickens everywhere, goats, ducks, cats, and a dog. I have been organic gardening since we've been back in the states and watching the way the food is turning on people in the commercial market... we sure are glad!
I have been writing since I was a child. One of my early teachers decided to put our stories into an actual book form when I was very young and when I held that in my hand I was hooked! I write some fiction, but mostly non-fiction because I am always studying what we can try next on our farm. Our next biggest goal is to build (yes BUILD!) windmills and solar panels and throw the electric bill out the window!
I dearly LOVE emergency preparation/preparedness because there are so many times while we were with the military that my husband's pay would get mixed up and we'd have to wait a month for it to come through and we literally LIVED on our food storage. We also learned how to survive without power because of electrical outages from the countless typhoons while we lived in Okinawa, Japan!
Here's to preparing and STILL living normal when the lights go out!!!!!
History Of CPR
Modern CPR developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The discoverers of mouth-to-mouth ventilation were Drs. James Elam and Peter Safar. Though mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was described in the Bible (mostly performed by midwives to resuscitate newborns) it fell out of practice until it was rediscovered in the 1950s.
In early 1960 Drs. Kouwenhoven, Knickerbocker, and Jude discovered the benefit of chest compression to achieve a small amount of artificial circulation. Later in 1960, mouth-to-mouth and chest compression were combined to form CPR similar to the way it is practiced today.
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1. CALL
2. BLOW
Tilt the head back and listen for breathing. If not breathing normally, pinch nose and cover the mouth with yours and blow until you see the chest rise. Give 2 breaths. Each breath should take 1 second.
3. PUMP
If the victim is still not breathing normally, coughing or moving, begin chest compressions. Push down on the chest 1½ to 2 inches 30 times right between the nipples. Pump at the rate of 100/minute, faster than once per second.
CONTINUE WITH 2 BREATHS AND 30 PUMPS UNTIL HELP ARRIVES
NOTE: This ratio is the same for one-person & two-person CPR. In two-person CPR the person pumping the chest stops while the other gives mouth-to-mouth breathing.
Complications of CPR
Vomiting is the most frequently encountered complication of CPR. If the victim starts to vomit, turn the head to the side and try to sweep out or wipe off the vomit. Continue with CPR.
The spread of infection from the victim to the rescuer is exceedingly rare. Most cardiac arrests occur in people's homes - relatives or friends will be the ones needing to do CPR. Even CPR performed on strangers has an exceedingly rare risk of infection. There is NO documentation of HIV or AIDS ever being transmitted via CPR.
Checking The Pulse
The pulse check is no longer taught or expected of laypersons. Instead, if there is no response after two mouth-to-mouth breaths, begin to pump on the chest. Please note that the pulse check is still expected of health care providers.
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
( http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/videodemo/adult-cpr-video.html )
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CPR IN TWO SIMPLE STEPS - HANDS-ONLY CPR
This method of CPR was recommended by the AHA in an Advisory Statement (March 31, 2008). It is intended for bystanders untrained in standard CPR, who see an adult suddenly collapse. It is also recommended for situations when the rescuer is unable or unwilling to provide mouth-to-mouth ventilations. (Please try to attend a CPR training course)
1. CALL
Check the victim for unresponsiveness. If there is no response, Call 911 and return to the victim. In most locations the emergency dispatcher can assist you with CPR instructions.
2. PUMP
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
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CPR for Children (Ages 1-8)
CPR for children is similar CPR for adults. The compression to ventilation ratio is 30:2. There are, however, 3 differences.
1) If you are alone with the child give two minutes of CPR before calling 911
2) Use the heel of one or two hands for chest compression
3) Press the sternum approximately one-third the depth of the chest
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
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CPR for Infants (Age <1) 
1. Shout and Tap
Shout and gently tap the child on the shoulder. If there is no response, position the infant on his or her back
2. Open The Airway
Open the airway using a head tilt lifting of chin. Do not tilt the head too far back
3. Give 2 Gentle Breaths
If the baby is NOT breathing give 2 small gentle breaths. Cover the baby's mouth and nose with your mouth. Each breath should be 1 second long. You should see the baby's chest rise with each breath.
4. Give 30 Compressions
Give 30 gentle chest compressions at the rate of 100 per minute. Use two or three fingers in the center of the chest just below the nipples. Press down approximately one-third the depth of the chest.
5. Repeat
Repeat with 2 breath and 30 compressions. After two minutes of repeated cycles call 911 and continue giving breaths and compressions.
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO DEMONSTRATION
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CPR for Cats & Dogs
CPR for cats and dogs is similar to CPR for humans. These directions assume the animal is unconscious and the risk of being bitten by the animal is not present
1. Remove any obstruction.
Open animal’s mouth and make sure the air passage is clear. If not, remove the object obstructing the air passage.
2. Extend the head and give several artificial respirations:
A. For large dogs: close the animal's jaw tightly and breathe into the nose. The animal's chest should rise. Give 2 breaths.
B. For small dogs and cats you may be able to cover the nose and mouth with your mouth as you breathe. The animal's chest should rise. Give 2 breaths.
3. Next perform chest compression
A. For large dogs you may be able to position the dogs on its back and compress the chest just like for humans.
B. For small dogs and cats as well as large dogs with funnel chests, you may need to lie the animal on its side and compress the side of the rib cage. Alternatively you can position the animal on its back and press on both sides of the rib cage.
C. The rate of chest compressions varies with the size of the animal
i. Dogs over 60 lbs: 60 compressions per minute
ii. Animals 11 to 60 lbs: 80-100 compressions per minute
iii. Animals 10 lbs or less: 120 compressions per minute
4. Alternate breaths with compressions
The ratio of compressions to breaths should be approximately the same as for humans - 30:2 Continue doing this until the animal responds or begins to breathe on its own.
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Print out this CPR guide and keep it in your wallet or purse!
Special thanks to: University of Washington School of Medicine for this information.
Used with permission: learncpr.org Mickey Eisenberg, MD
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Can 'Cough CPR' Save Your Life During a Heart Attack?
Self-CPR? According to this email rumor circulating since 1999, you can save your own life during a heart attack ... by coughing.
Let's say it's 4:17 p.m. and you're driving home, (alone of course) after an unusually hard day on the job. Not only was the work load extraordinarily heavy, you also had a disagreement with your boss, and no matter how hard you tried he just wouldn't see your side of the situation. You're really upset and the more you think about it the more up tight you become.
All of a sudden you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest you home, unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far.
What can you do? You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course neglected to tell you how to perform it on yourself.
HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed in order.) Without help the person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel Faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a phone and, between breaths, call for help.
Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!
~from Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240's newsletter AND THE BEAT GOES ON... (reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart Response)
Keeping Food Safe During an Emergency
Did you know that a flood, fire, national disaster, or the loss of power from high winds, snow, or ice could jeopardize the safety of your food? Knowing how to determine if food is safe and how to keep food safe will help minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness. This fact sheet will help you make the right decisions for keeping your family safe during an emergency.
ABCD’s of Keeping Food Safe in an Emergency
Always keep meat, poultry, fish, and eggs refrigerated at or below 40 °F and frozen food at or below 0 °F. This may be difficult when the power is out.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed. Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic foot full freezer for 2 days. Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.
Be prepared for an emergency...
... by having items on hand that don’t require refrigeration and can be eaten cold or heated on the outdoor grill. Shelf-stable food, boxed or canned milk, water, and canned goods should be part of a planned emergency food supply. Make sure you have ready-to-use baby formula for infants and pet food. Remember to use these items and replace them from time to time. Be sure to keep a hand-held can opener for an emergency.
Consider what you can do ahead of time to store your food safely in an emergency. If you live in a location that could be affected by a flood, plan your food storage on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water. Coolers are a great help for keeping food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours—have a couple on hand along with frozen gel packs. When your freezer is not full, keep items close together—this helps the food stay cold longer.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
