biological or chemical warfare/ terrorism-what are practical preps?

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Does anybody know any URL's that give information about practical steps to do now for surviving a biological/chemical attack?

We hope to live permanently in such a way that our preps would allow us to stay isolated at home in the event of a contagious epidemic for at least a couple months. We also got Israeli gas masks from the Cheaper than Dirt catalogue, and have one bottle of Potassium iodide for each family member for nuclear fallout.

I am wondering about anthrax, and the various other most likely threats. I also wonder if we should get more Potassium iodide. We don't have a lot of money, but are there cheap common antidotes for soem of the most anticipated threats in this area? Do you believe the government reports about the threat of smallpox terrorism? If they are very realistic warnings, is there anything we can do?

My thanks to anybody who has information or links. This forum is a tremendous resource in so many ways. God bless you all.

-- thinking (about@germs.and.stuff), February 08, 2000

Answers

go to www.ki4u.com and read all about Potassium Iodide and how to get some cheap, the dosage to take, precautions, etc. I've got enough for 200 doses. You have to take it in advance of exposure for best results, and are "They" going to give us sufficient warning? They didn't at Three Mile Island, and they didn't in Japan recently.

Before Mike Adams abandoned Y2K he had a cool article on how to cheaply build a positive air pressure filter for your house so you could ride out an Anthrax attack. I didn't take it too seriously because, again, I don't think we'll know about it until it's too late.

Sure hope those chemtrails really are a test program to see if a cheap soaplike substance can protect us from biowarfare agents.

-- Ceemeister (ceemeister@hotmail.com), February 08, 2000.


Thinking,

What might be a practical prep for biochem/nuke attacks?

Rent a backhoe.

They're a lot easier on the back for digging graves than a spade.

Sorry; I had to do that. A little graveside humor, to start things off with.

There is a great survival site on the web that you could post to for biochem questions: Frugal Squirrel.

http://www.netside.com/~lcoble/index.html

Some nice, well informed folks there; often I've read people there say that there are no stupid questions that can possibly be posted there, when safety is a concern. Very much a gun site, so be aware of this should you be sensitive about firearms.

Cory Hamasaki has some interesting suggestions concerning booster shots/vaccinations. I believe in one of his posts he told his doctor that he was going to some South American country to see bats in their natural habitats(or something like this). They gave him the works. Overseas/tropical area vaccinations are an option for some of the nastier bugs.

Gas masks are an interesting issue. Think about this for a moment: why are there so many cheap Israeli/German gas masks out on the 'net and in surplus stores? Could it maybe be that the respective militaries think they're obsolete, and these old masks are being replaced with newer models that will be more effective against newer biochem agents? What will your older mask be effective against? Did you test it before you bought it? If not, can you test it? I'd certainly want to make sure one of those things works before I'd bet my life on it. I believe in recycling, but new can also be a good thing.

Check out the new M-95 from Finland:

http://www.gas-masks.com/nm-95.html

The water bottle attachment is great. These folks sell all sorts of biochem protection; worth a look. Ain't cheap(you mentioned you're on a budget), but neither is being dead, or seeing your children die. What's money good for, anyway? You can't take it with you...

I read about this stuff a while back; it should be code in all office buildings and governmental offices! I want some in fire extinguisher- like containers for my home:

--------------------------------------------

Sandia Decontamination Foam may be tomorrow's best first response in a chem-bio attack. By: Fred Gates, San Diego Union-Tribune

Monday, March 1, 1999

Sudsy brew neutralizes viral, bacterial, nerve agents in minutes

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Emergency personnel responding to a terrorist release of chemical or biological warfare agents will be faced with a dilemma: If they enter the scene without knowing the dangers, they might become a victim. If they wait to evaluate, more people might die -- or worse, an agent could spread and cause widespread casualties.

A better option may be available soon. Researchers at the Department of Energy's Sandia National Laboratories have created a foam that begins neutralizing both chemical and biological agents in minutes. Because it is not harmful to people, it could be dispensed on the disaster scene immediately, even before casualties are evacuated.

Its developers think the decontaminating foam soon may be the best first response available in the event of a chem-bio attack.

"Whatever you do, it's best to act very quickly," says co- developer Maher Tadros of Sandia. "This foam can start neutralizing an agent or combinationsof agents right away, even before you know what you're dealing with."

The U.S. has a number of strategies to deter a chemical or biological attack from ever occurring in this country, says Greg Thomas, Sandia program manager for chem-bio nonproliferation. "But if we are attacked," he says, "we'll need to have the tools available to respond."

One decontaminant, all chem-bio agents In laboratory tests at Sandia the foam destroyed simulants of the most worrisome chemical agents (VX, mustard, and soman) and killed a simulant of anthrax -- the toughest known biological agent.

Against the anthrax simulant, the foam achieved what the researchers call a 7-log kill -- after one hour only one anthrax spore out of 10 million is still alive.

International law prohibits the Sandia researchers from possessing real chemical or biological agents, but they have taken samples of the foam to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago where the foam was tested against actual VX, mustard gas, and soman.

In those tests the foam neutralized half the remaining chemical agent molecules every 2 to 10 minutes, depending on the agent. For most chemical agents the contamination remaining after one hour of exposure to the foam is insignificant.

The foam neutralizes viral particles in minutes, as well.

"It has performed superbly for all the agents we have tested it against," Tadros says.

More tests planned for April will pit the foam against real anthrax and other bacterial spores.

"If you can kill spores, you can kill germinating bacteria and you can deactivate viruses," says foam co-developer Mark Tucker of Sandia. "Spores are the most difficult."

The foam -- a cocktail of ordinary substances found in common household products -- neutralizes chemical agents in much the same way a detergent lifts away an oily spot from a stained shirt. Its surfactants (like those in hair conditioner) and mild oxidizing substances (like those in toothpaste) begin to chemically digest the chemical agent, seeking out the phosphate or sulfide bonds holding the molecules together and chopping the molecules into nontoxic pieces.

How the foam kills spores -- bacteria in a rugged, dormant state - - still is not well understood, Tucker adds. The researchers suspect the surfactants poke holes in the spore's protein armor, allowing the oxidizing agents to attack the genetic material inside.

Research papers on the work have been presented at various technical gatherings of the chem-bio defense community, most recently at the National Research Council Workshop on Chem-bio Warfare Physical Protection and Decontamination in Washington, D.C., Jan. 25-26.

Sandia has filed for a patent on the substance, tentatively called Decon Foam 100.

Effective, benign, and inexpensive Currently available sprays, fogs, or other decontaminating products typically are based on bleach, chlorinated solvents, or other hazardous or corrosive materials, Tadros says. And many new and emerging decontaminants are designed to work against only a limited number of either chemical or biological agents.

They also are expensive, he says. A new nerve-agent decontaminant made in Germany, for example, costs about $150 a pound. The Sandia foam, in comparison, could be produced for about 15 cents a pound, he estimates.

As it expands to about 100 times its liquid volume through a special nozzle that draws air into the spray, the foam fills space and automatically seeks contact with chemical or biological agents in crevices and other hiding places, or in the air for airborne agents. In several hours it collapses back to its compact liquid state and, in theory, is benign enough following a chem-bio incident to be washed down the drain like dish soap.

"The foam gets around the traditional approaches that have high water demand and use more damaging chemicals," says Thomas. "It also offers an 'all-in-one' approach that would greatly simplify deployment considerations."

Like a fire retardant, the foam could be sprayed from handheld canisters. (It also works as a fire retardant.) For open areas, airports have trucks that can dispense foams over runways.

Ideally, tanks of the foam could be incorporated into the fire sprinkler systems of high-profile government buildings or other potential targets -- embassies, congressional buildings, the White House, subways, and the New York Stock Exchange, for instance.

"That's the best scenario," says Tadros. "You could flip the switch as you evacuate and begin decontaminating immediately."

Several government organizations including Sandia are working to develop sensors that would automatically detect contamination by a chemical or biological warfare agent.

The more decontaminating agents, the better Tadros says the foam is more effective at neutralizing combinations of chem-bio agents than other existing or emerging decontaminating agents. But, he adds, this is not a competition.

"The more products we have available, the better," he says.

He cautions that much research and independent testing needs to be done to verify the foam's effectiveness and ready it for real-world applications and acceptance.

Sandia has discussed deploying the foam with various military organizations, police departments, subway systems, national laboratories, and an international airport.

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding development of the foam as part of its larger Chemical and Biological Nonproliferation Program. The program, initiated through Nunn- Lugar-Domenici legislation (known as the Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 1996), seeks to develop intelligence capabilities, sensors, and other technologies that allow the U.S. to detect, deter, and respond to terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.

Sandia is a multiprogram DOE laboratory, operated by a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major research and development responsibilities in national security, energy, and environmental technologies and economic competitiveness.

---------------------------------

Ultimately, the best protection from any sort of contamination is probably prevention(an oz. is worth a lb.) Cheaper, too. If possible, the cheapest and most effective thing would be to relocate to an area where contamination is unlikely, from bomb blasts to just sick folks wandering near. If you can, I'd shoot for a rural area, or have a place in a rural area set up where you could head to, given "realistic warnings." Cheaper to get away from a target area with fresh air than to try to construct a safe area/biochem-tight shelter in some city.

Hope all of this helps; searching the web will really help you, and you're already doing that. Good luck!

Peace and love,

Don

-- Shimoda (enlighten@me.com), February 08, 2000.


For a good air pump, cheap KI, etc. the book Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson Kearney via http://www.oism.org They don't have online ordering or credit card taking but you can email them to get the cost & shiiping and where to send your check. Some of my articles at Frugal squirrel are pretty old (10+ years), for the updates http://home.earthlink.net/~kenseger/surv/surv.htm

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), February 09, 2000.

Mike Adams also had some stuff about using colloidal silver for anthrax. Anyone have any details...

Todd

-- Todd Detzel (detzel@jps.net), February 09, 2000.


---yes, several

  • you need to have a good gas mask in your car
  • make sure you listen to the NEWS when you are driving, NOT the endless music stations or a tape, you could miss an accident or chem spill report, and drive right into it
  • have a scanner, and know the emergency response agencies frequencies and have them programmed in and monitor them, you'll learn to develop "an ear" for out of the ordinary 'things"
  • KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GEOGRAPHICALLY, AND DEVELOP THE ABILITY TO KNOW WHERE WINDS ARE COMING FROM. This is VERY important. Familiarize yourself with the roads in the area you don't use much, know where the turns are to get around problem areas. You can also look up where various dangerous chemical storage and usage plants are. You'll be amazed, they are all over, and don't forget the railroads, daily, millions of pounds of toxic, lethal, concentrateed substances are shipped all over, and they DO have accidents, and dangerous chemicals ARE released occassionally
  • Have a HEPA air filter for your entire home, and another room size one for one room that is designated as a "shelter in place"-that is a room you can lock up and keep outside raw air out. Now it starts to get complex, you need to think now. You need air, but that air needs to be CLEAN, so you pick ONE point where air can get in that room, and that air is scrubbed clean to the best of your ability. That room will have to be maintained at POSITIVE PRESSURE, so no other air gets in that is potentially contaminated. Any other room leaks will have your good air pushing out, which has the effect of no "bad" air getting in. THAT'S IT.

    Now, the very best thing to do is MOVE. Get away from major metro areas. Move UPWIND of the nearest big metro area, not DOWNWIND. You'll have to go by historical averages in your area of usually prevailing wind direction. This is by far the single easiest, best thing you can do.

    IF EXPOSED IN THE CITY-drive at right angles or upwind of the exposure area. First chance you get once you are in a safe area is to personally decontaminate youirself, then your vehicle. Drive to a carwash or gas station or ANYPLACE you can get your hands on a water hose. Keep a coiled hose in your car, you may find a faucet, but no hose. Now, first yopurself, then your vehicle, GET CLEAN.

    Now, for 20$, you can get a cheap pump up sprayer at any garden supply, etc. Buy a new one, don't be cheap and use one that has been used for insecticide spraying. Now make a solution of water, bleach and some soap, enough to make some good suds. Don't go nutz and overly bleach, a capful or so is fine in these little sprayers. A good squirt of concentrated dishwashing soap, the rest water in the sprayer. You keep this for decontamination if you think you've been exposed. Forget modesty, if you get exposed, you need to lose the clothes, spray down, have another sprayer with clean water, rinse off, put on some other clothes from a sealed bag you have in your car. WASH, RINSE, WASH ,RINSE WELL. Now you and car are POSSIBLY decontaminated, but you have made a really good start at decontamination. Go through this same drill when you get home, before you enter the house and your "safe room". AND BUILD A SAFE ROOM NOW, don't wait. A safe room is just that, the interior room with the most protection from the outside, whether tornado, gas attack, bio, or radiation. THINK about it. Zero or one window max. Zero is the best, the basement is better for MOST things, except heavier than air city gas leaks or propane leaks. It depends on your ingenuity and resourcefullness. different scenarios require different responses, but a good safe room is something anyone can construct, even in an apartment. Plastic sheets and duct tape for the windows. Door sweeps and rubberized sealing strips, similar to cold weather strips. You need AIR, air must get in, but it must be CLEANED through a good HEPA filter.

    There's a lot more, but that's some place to start thinking. As to antibiotics, whatever you can stockpile, make sure you aren't allergic to them. Our AMA and gov makes it very hard to stockpile. I can't give med advice. What I have learned is that it appears that various animal meds, not requiring a prescription, apparently are identical to human meds, and are very cheap. Do your own research there.

    There is also some evidence that colloidal silver may be effective in some circumstances. I am not advocating the use or misuse of this product you can make yourself. Do your own research. All the good quality water filters use silver, because it kills harmful 'things". That is a FACT. Externally, there is ample evidence that it works on pathogens, microbes, and some virii. Internally, I think the jury is still out, and there's a risk of some heavy metal poisoning, but heck, so is the tap water and half the well water in this country chock full of all sorts of bad chemicals and heavy metals. Even yuppie bottled water isn't "pure" in most cases. Lot of evidence on that. So, in limited, extreme emergency use, personally, if that was all I had, well...

    Glad you are thinking about this, it's a lot better to be proactive in advance than be reactive after an acident or attack. 911 doesn't solve hardly any immediate threat, initally for some time frame you are ALWAYS on your own, no matter WHAT the emergency is. those first few minutes and seconds are crucial to your survival. And in a big accident, any areas police and emergency personnel are going to be swamped with work, just swamped. Take care of yourself.

    -- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), February 09, 2000.



  • This is the site to Larry Wayne Harris' book on care and treatment in biological warfare. It's there in full to read from anthrax to plague.

    http://norden1.com/~hawkins/CIVIL.HTM

    NH

    -- NH (new@mindspring.com), February 09, 2000.


    Sorry, I don't know (and don't wanna know) how to make direct hotlinks here--kids, this is where you get to use the cut-and-paste feature! My brief comments are in parentheses and are not part of the URLs:

    http://www.chem-bio.com/ (Commercial site, but good references linked)

    http://www.hopkins-biodefense.org/ (Site from Johns Hopkins Univ in Baltimore)

    http://www.nbc-med.org/ie40/ (Lots of references, especially the US military "Bluebook"; also daily news items--this may be the best all- round site for "reliable" information)

    http://www.nbc- med.org/SiteContent/MedRef/OnlineRef/FieldManuals/medman/Handbook.htm (direct link to the Bluebook mentioned in previous item)

    http://www.stimson.org/cwc/bwissues.htm (Political articles, not directly on personal preps but worth reading to get background)

    http://www.potomacinstitute.com/pubs/bt2proc.pdf (More background, with an academic twist; go up one level from this URL for list of other articles)

    Hope this helps. Prevention is certainly the key here. The best advice was given in various posts above:

    1. Live somewhere safe. Corollary: Avoid crowds. Always.

    2. Be aware of your surroundings. Corollary: Be suspicious. (Too many people go through life like cattle, not even getting off their rear ends when the fire alarm sounds! Learn Colonel Jeff Cooper's "color scheme" for levels of awareness.)

    --Andre in southcentral Pennsylvania

    -- Andre Weltman (72320.1066@compuserve.com), February 09, 2000.


    Excerpts from: "Houston...we have a problem."

    Posted at:http://www.bashar.com/GSP/houston1.htm

    =========== SNIP ===============

    Worchester Polytechnic Institute

    RADIATION SAFETY MANUAL - EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

    (excerpts w/ minor edits)

    The goal of the WPI radiation safety program is to protect the user, co-workers and the general public from exposure to excessive levels of radiation and concentrations of radioactive materials. Correct action taken...can prevent unnecessary exposure to personnel and spread of contamination.

    GENERAL PROCEDURES

    Medical attention takes precedence over radiological or other concerns in the case of a serious injury. Inform medical, fire and safety personnel if there is the possibility of contamination.

    Do not risk external or internal exposure to save equipment or an experiment. Any exception should only be made at the direction of a person qualified to evaluate the hazards involved.

    Take all reasonable precautions to limit the spread of the radioactive contamination.

    Limit access to the area.

    Turn off ventilation system, if possible.

    Prevent spread of liquid or powdered contaminates.

    SERIOUS INJURY INVOLVING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL

    Tell operator that it is also a radiation emergency and have him/her notify the Radiation Safety Officer. When paramedics (or safety personnel) arrive, inform them of the possibility of radioactive contamination.

    Determine and record the radionuclide, 'activity' (intensity of radiation) involved, and chemical form.

    MAJOR SPILL

    A spill is considered major if it results in any of the following:

    - Internal radiation exposure to personnel (inhalation/ingestion of radioactive material).

    - Excessive external radiation exposure or contamination of personnel.

    Contamination of large areas.

    - Notify personnel not involved in the spill to vacate the laboratory. Prevent other personnel from entering the contaminated area.

    Monitor personnel for contamination. Remove contaminated clothing. If skin is contaminated, flush thoroughly with water and wash with mild soap.

    Confine movement of all potentially contaminated personnel to prevent further spread of contamination.

    Be careful not to spread contamination. Do not attempt to clean up the spill.

    If possible, turn off fans or ventilation that might spread vapors or dust.

    Determine and record the radionuclide, activity involved, chemical form, and personnel involved.

    >End<

    ======================================================= Next article:

    Source: "Houston...we have a problem" (c)S.Meyers 1999

    "CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR NUCLEAR REACTOR FAILURE"

    (There are none...)

    Run

    Basic Contingency Plan: In the event of a nuclear reactor meltdown and loss of containment, the most prudent course of action is to run AWAY from the reactor area. Do not waste any time. You cannot see, smell, hear, taste or feel radioactivity ...it is invisible. Based on normal media reports, you won't really know how long its been since the accident actually occurred, or how bad it really is. Don't take chances...leave the area immediately. Cover your mouth and give handkerchiefs to your children and loved ones.

    At you earliest convenience, turn on the car radio and tune to your local weather station. If you don't have a car, "walk briskly." Or, stay inside and close all doors and windows. Take shallow breaths. Say a few prayers and hope the radioactive cloud is not headed your way. Listen to the radio if you have one. Hopefully, you will have a portable radio with fresh batteries and you will be able to find it.

    Realize that if a reactor fails in your area, it was probably supplying the electricity you normally depend on to power your tabletop radio.

    If you are lucky, someone will still be at the radio station to give you the weather report. Listen closely for information on wind speed and direction. Based on this information, make sure you are not driving or running in the wrong direction, i.e. downwind from the reactor accident. Under no circumstances should you drive towards the reactor area, even if it means having to take side streets to get AWAY from the reactor.

    After you have distanced yourself considerably, stop at an Ace Hardware or Radio Shack - see if they have any Geiger counters (scintillation detectors) in stock. If available, purchase and read operating manual. Before approaching your children, first - check yourself and your clothing - you don't want to inadvertently contaminate your children further. If you hear an unusually high number of 'clicks' ...carefully remove your clothing; do not raise any dust; do not touch your fingers to your mouth; do not let your child suck their thumb, fingers or toes.

    Throw away all food, belongings, picture albums, etc., which you brought with you. Keep nothing. Do not discard belongings in a place where others might be inadvertently contaminated later. Do NOT go back to your house in case you forgot your wallet, check book or ATM card during the panic. Ask someone on the street if they will loan you some money so you can feed your children. Promise you will pay them back later.

    Wait and listen for further instructions from the NRC, FEMA and other government authorities who brought you all this. To help with the psychological impacts, pretend you are on a vacation and try to enjoy the scenery. Depending on the amount of radiation released and wind direction...this might be the last time you will be able to visit this area for the next 10,000 years. Try not to appear upset so you don't further disturb your children and frighten them unnecessarily. Tell them "Everything is ok.... the government is handling it."

    There are no 'contingency plans' for a catastrophic nuclear failure. Since the NRC does not consider that a catastrophic failure is possible (inspite of Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, the uranium spill at Churchrock, Tokaimura Japan)....there are no credible contingency plans in place at any of nuclear facility for major loss of containment...any more than there were at Chernobyl.

    The contingency plan is to notify people to leave. The simple fact is, once there has been loss of containment...no one can 'unring the bell'... no one can put the genie back in the bottle. Again, its hard to appreciate the significance of the fact that the deadly half life of plutonium is 400,000+ years.

    Man opened a new Pandora's Box when he unleashed 'the power of the Atom.' So are we now on a new threshold of being able to unleash the power of 'Mutant DNA' - and cause 'a genetic nightmare' that could last 400,000 years. Much like a forest fire out of control at Yellow Stone Park...so can a "genetic fire" go out of control. But it can "burn" far longer than any fire known to man.

    It is difficult to find an analogy which adequately describes the actual consequences of what we are talking about here.

    see: http://www.bashar.com/GSP/frogs.gif (picture)

    see: http://www.bashar.com/GSP/thyroid-cancer.gif (graph)

    see: http://www.bashar.com/GSP/2-heads2.jpgs (farmer with calf)

    see: http://www.bashar.com/GSP/chernobyl3.htm (real world example)

    see: http://www.bashar.com/GSP/houston1.htm (main article; follow links)

    -- steve (WhoCares@nymore.Right?com), February 10, 2000.


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