Surviving an utter catastrophe

Post Reply New Topic

If it were my month on call, I would likely be in Haiti right now, working on keeping communications for my team up and running, and keeping our Disaster Medical Information System functioning, so our medical providers can provide appropriate care. (I'm a commo officer and DMIS specialist on a Disaster Medical Assistance Team (Think MASH for disasters)). My team isn't first-in for a couple months, so if we go there, it would be a couple rotations of teams out from now...

It's one thing to speculate from the safety of your home what you would want to do or might do, but the experience of disaster is more than intellectual or even mental.

There's a very real physical component; you were going about your day and the Earth Shook. Everything just fell down around you and ON you. You might be bleeding, injured. You might have just been speaking to a brother or your child and now they are dead and maimed beside you. You hear the screams of your neighbours, friends, relatives. Everything you knew, is gone. And nobody is there to tell you it's going to be okay.

The body and the mind go into shock in these situations, and it makes people entirely unpredictable.

The strong become weak. The weak show previously unfathomable strength.

How would you react after four days without food, three days without water? Wearing the same clothes still caked with the blood of yourself and your family. No medication. No space. No escape. And no break or private place to go to 'gather yourself'. After about five days of living off of straight adrenaline and nothing else, I think I'd be exhausted and completely disassociated.

I normally have a "act first, react later" type of response to emergencies. It's kept me alive, but I've got a wicked case of PTSD. I expect many, many, people in Haiti will have serious mental issues in the coming years.

Many Haitians will have mental issues but a few Haitians will emerge stronger and lead te country to greater heights (if there are any).

Haitians will be able to create new opportunities if they are strong-willed enough, which they will.

My lack of involvement does me well, small scale I give first aid, when Katrina hit I was one of the last out, and it was bumper to bumper for eighty miles. I was days gone and safe when the city flooded, and was locked out for six weeks.

It did cause me to get my survival kit together.

Haiti is the worst, no warning, the world ended in a minute. Dead and wounded everywhere, nothing to do but comfort the living and the dying.

Most of the wounded will die in a few days. If it was LA, most would die in a few days. There is no way to treat 250,000. The rest are in shock, and they will stay in familier places. Moving takes water, so if they marched off down the road or beach, they would be dying of thirst in a day or two, where just sitting they will last a week without water.

I would be a head looter from day one. Treat the lightly wounded, and put together an armed band for looting. It will get worse, the strong survive. Leave the weak to care for the wounded, take the strong out for supplies.

A little medical care, clean and bandage minor wounds, a little food and water, and a week later when others are dying, you will be strong in the second week when help might come. Rest, shade, shelter, recover. If no help is coming, you must find water. Boil it.

Humans can survive months with water, and cover ten miles a day or more. Move in the gullies, no one lives there, don't be seen, don't make noise. Don't get tired, move, rest, move at dawn and late in the day. Conserve energy, water, food. Keep moving, distance from the disaster is best.

In Haiti, digging out the dead, or the wounded, taking them to the hospital, most died. Field hospitals could have come quicker, but they would be filled with people who would die anyway. A week later they are gone, and the injured who survive might live with treatment. There are still a quarter million who need medical care. Maybe half of them will die. Using resources on them only slows their dying, and takes from those who might survive.

Of the three million made homeless, perhaps a million will die. All effort has to go to the survivors. If they go into the countryside, famine will spread. Over 4,000 were in prison, and the police are just shooting them now. They will not be coming into the camps and giving their name. No other city wants them. Port Au Prince is known for gangs.

Altogether it would be the same in Southern California, only they have more people and guns. The big quake is coming. The same for New Madrid.

Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for the.

Yes, this is sarcasm at my worst.

But nevertheless, I hope we can still live strong in life!

Thank you.

I wouldn't fight with others. Mostly I'd be upset that I can't get on line, and because I would probably be uncomfortable. I'd just want things the way they were.

One of the best things about where I live is that there are never any disasters. However, if there ever was one, it would be even worse because nobody expected it.

I would probably make my way into the countryside, I live very close to there anyway, the people in the city would be in the real trouble. I would gather food and water, and sleeping supplies and make my way to somewhere unlikely to be discovered by looters and gangs. A river near one of my relatives houses would do nicely, my family has been around that area for a long time. I would also have to take seeds to grow plants. I love growing plants... At any rate, if I were there I would have food, water and shelter. All I would need to do is wait until things have calmed down.

I would be in horrible shock though, my fish would probably be killed in the earth quake and if he wasn't, I would have to figure out how to keep the fish alive. My dog would probably survive though...

And my book collection...

Damn... this would be horrible.

I survived the election of 2008.

ruveyn

Interesting question. I was considering my preparedness, not good at the moment, especially in the field of equipment and supplies. Mentally, a lot better.

A couple of days ago I saw some interesting videos on the subject of an urban survival kit (it's a3 part sequence):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVkntkChnnM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOC901gcLng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeNVsc3vvi4

Note, level of details is exceptional, and opinions somewhat extreme. In other words - excellent!

Preparedness... only comes with experience and mentality.