a word to the wise on survival

by ipsi Sat Sep 03, 2005 17:33

If you have opened a squat
you can provision supplies.

Public bars, and general shops are best.
If you can't open it, drive a van through it.
You can start a van by breaking the panel under the ignition keys pulling out the wires and playing with them till you get a spark just like in the movies.

Many people make serious mistakes on the "personal posession" question. The only essential items seem to be - spectacles and eye wear, and wheelchairs. Those with eye wear should not wear them all the time unless near blind. and they should be properly fixed to the head, with a bit of stickingplaster.

Those in wheelchairs can not move more than 3km without serious discomfort or resulting infection from sores in disaster terrain after earthquakes or flooding.
The ability of a group to move is determined by the condition of the weakest.

Your chances of survival are highest in groups of about a dozen to two dozen people.

Don't make the mistake of just thinking about your family or flatmates you will use up more resources and fair worse off in the long run.

Don't attempt to leave a disaster area by car.
You won't get far, and your chances of being attacked will be much higher.

Motorway underpasses provide shelter to many all year round, and for 120 hours will be much coveted places. But often they will be safer than official shelters.

It is best to carry the disabled and injured or elderly, make a triangular frame and pull it.
Pull a wheelchair rather than push it. Make sure the person is well padded, and though your hygiene can be reduced to hands and feet, you must keep disabled, elderly and injured clean.

Do not bring your computer. Save you work on disk and bring those in a waterproof container instead. Many will want to bring cameras. Perhaps a good idea. A record will be appreciated, perhaps not, the same goods that are stolen in normal conditions are stolen in disasters.

Remember the condom is a life saver. And you can use them again and again for most things other than having sex with a stranger.

Remember that IV syringes likewise can be used again. In your first 120 hours if you have to use them, and you ought include them in your provisioning, clean the used needles and put them with disinfectant (another essential) in a waterproof container.
If more than one member of the group needs IV drugs, label the containers. Don't share needles. but when clean needles run out, insulin, morphine and other drugs can be administered to the same person again.

Any diabetic will tell you how to adminster IV drugs. but its just like in the movies.

Dont forget to mend, sew and fix.
Every rip or break ought be mended, it uses time, its therapeutic and its sensible.

Puncture repair kits, every wheelchair user has one. You should have many in your provisions.

If you have left dead behind, make sure they are sealed, and mark the area. Use a spray can. Clearly write "Dead 1 body." and the name if you want. to be added to the list.

Animals generally fair for themselves, too many people have died trying to save their cat. But dogs will accompany you and guard you. a Dog is a very good friend.

Earthquakes and Floods are the most usual urban damage that cause disasters. New Orleans is a disaster becuase Katrina caused flooding. You can make a raft in 7 hours from plastic material and a broken wardrobe and string. And indeed some come to Europe on rafts like that, but many more die.

Security is an issue more so in large shelters but also in the underpass, in fact anywhere, and normally outside of "desperate people concentration points" (the official shelters) violence will occur of every nature. This is why your "group" is important. If your route to roads or an airport is blocked by armed groups, do not confront, turn around go back. (Airports and motorways are the first routes to be cleared by emergency response, if you're reading this in ballymun your plan is to head to the airport) At night you should agree to a "guard" to keep an eye out for potential problems. It is also advisable (if you have taken a building) to have a perimeter alarm.
string and a bell. Make noise is the best response. Scream and shout, it is not good for the morale of any group to "engage" others. Try and avoid any physical confrontation, psychology can get you through. If your group injures another refugee, you are responsible for their treatment as well. It is important to remember that the usual "forces of security" the police will be just as traumatised as you.
And in many cases dangerous if they blame you for non essential provisioning or "looting" or for inter group problems.


Schools make good buildings to convert into shelters. They also have excellent medical supplies and books to read.

If you can open a squat,
you can open a school.

They will become focal points for emergency supplies later, and are often converted to field hospitals. By which time you'll be on the team and they are one of the first places after airports and motorways to be "cleared".


If you have stopped moving. Organise your space and your time. Make sure that the group gets to know each other. Sing songs, tell stories, do not become fixated on rescue.
It is normal for arguments to break out, and blame to be placed. People in shock and under such stress are like that. We are all less than five generations removed from people who survived the worst natural and man-made disasters in history. Nothing short of nuclear war ought mean our end.
And even that may be survived. Walk in the opposite direction of burn damage. Remember the buildings will be burnt on one side, the epicentre is that side. Do not consume or purify rain or ground water, eat and provision tinned supplies and form larger groups to carry that food favour milk based products and water. And you will in those circumstances need to improvise arms. And think on a 100 day survival timespan, just keep moving, provision masks or make them and get out of the city.
[most likely target London move to the coast]

And No matter how great the problem, it is never a question of the "surival of the fittest".

The richest get out.
But in small groups with a little preparation you can save lives. We are all descended from peasants who survived plague.
We are survivors. Except of course for Jesus.
he was different.
:-)

If you had these, they're called "papers", you had ID, a ration book, title deeds / rent-book, degree, CV, inter cert, driving license. They helped 60 years ago. Not many people had them. The War had just ended and most were on the road

by ipsi Sat Sep 03, 2005 19:58

relayed to me, seemingly the national guard of the USA will split up groups of "refugees" of more than 8 persons this includes family groups.

They are already facing criticism for doing such in the aftermath of New Orleans and will treat groups of a dozen to 20 as potentially hostile.

This is the group size I recommend (in the above article) and I'm sticking to it, thats you and your friends and your family and at least two (up to 4) "people in need" that means the disabled on your street and the elderly. Don't go rambo fantasy land, but agree with your friends that if the emergency ever comes you'll know where to meet up and start your walk. NATO emergency plans for european disasters allow for such groups and are happy to see them "pop into action".

I am very interested by this little factoid and grateful for its relay, and the little additional bit of praise and trust for "ye all" who might remember and someday use such advice from those in spooky land "over here" and their contempt for their american partners and equivalents, which will soon enough have geo-political consequences. As the "war on terror" and the "war on natural disasters" join.

by ipsi Sun Sep 04, 2005 15:25

sends chills down the spines of those in the €.U. who do not wish to advise their communities, voters, national citizens and non-national residents of the increased risk of nuclear attack.

Fortuanately unless all public information is false, the background geopolitical strategic reality has altered, and is somewhat in the survivors' favour.

We now expect to be victims of a nuclear disaster caused by "terrorists" rather than premptive or retaliatory action by the Warsaw Pact. Though the likelehood of a nuclear accident at a power plant, on a submarine or other military installation is at its highest since the €.U. was formed.

We are at an advantage, because it is most likely the survivor will have the slimest chance of leaving the target zone and making it to safety within their traditional state or another.

We are at a disadvantage that it is very unlikely that a terrorist attack using either conventional nuclear or an explosion aimed at spreading contamination will come with a warning. It is very unlikely that there will be perceived "escalation" with enough time to paint your windows white, place the cushions on the door and wait. In the case of conventional nuclear attack, there will be no 4 minute warning, no incoming ICBM and in the case of a "dirty bomb" an explosion will be followed by the appropriate state's response - "how much will they tell their citizens?".

We are further at a disadvantage when the tactic of attacking "weaker targets" which has typified emergent forms of terrorism is considered. We may consider London to be more at risk than Rome. But in truth Dublin could be as much a target.

___________________________________

If you believe your city has been the target of a conventional nuclear weapon, or that a nuclear accident has occured at the nearest power station or port, you must _wait_ as long as possible before leaving shelter. Shelter being wherever you were when the blast was felt. It is very important you pay attention to weather conditions. The first rainfall will be highly contaminated but will serve the function of washing contaminated dust from the surrounding area. Once rain has fallen it is safer (though only very marginally) to start moving.

In Dublin you must head for the airport. if the airport is on the other side of the epicentre.
The buildings will be burnt on one side (burnt means the glass will have melted). Contamination will be higher on the side the heat which caused glass to melt came from.
Contamination will also travel with the wind.
If your route to the airport is through the epicentre, then you ought head through south county Dublin into Wicklow moving to higher ground. Your best source of water, is deep ground water. You will find yourselves like biblical wanderers really trumpeting the ability of a good well builder.

This next tip might sadden many, and for a moment let us reflect that during his TV press conference briefing on the Gulf states Katrina disaster, the PResident of the USA Mr Bush was assured by a young helicopter pilot that animals were being rescued from New Orleans.

In the event of a nuclear disaster you must kill your dog and if you can catch it your cat, no exceptions. Both domestic animals will through instinct scavange food and drink contaminated water before you do. Evolution has not given any mammal a geiger counter.
Your pets death will be quick, horrible and in the case of dogs will be near rabid. Kill that dog.

If you are intending to survive a nuclear attack on London or any *capital city* of the EU NATO/OTAN alliance your chances are higher. For many years now there have been built shelters for the important and essential.
If you are not important or essential, you must remember that cities of over 5 million people have their own micro-weather systems. Your initial weather condition appraisal may be wrong. *You must wait before moving* for at least 2 rainfalls.
Move to the coast from the north, east or south of the city. IF you are in the west move to heathrow. Remember airports are dinky in a disaster.

Provision a short wave radio or VHF radio from any boat supply store. If you can't find one (either VHF radio or boat supply store) or make one, (a useful skill) keep your eye out for antennas on public buildings or any public service car. Channel 16 is the international Mayday! frequency 156.8Mhz.
remember that. Nuclear accidents cause electronic equipment to stop functioning due to electromagnetic effects, they are simply such wonderful weapons. but the band around 156Mhz is the global standard, a covers Mayday! calls and coast guard and other state reserved signals. You will be the first to hear the standard post nuclear broadcast. In the case of EU capital cities this will tell which cities to go to in a loop recording.
___________________________________

Other sundry tips.

* if you have a toothache, try rubbing some clove oil (2nd level essential items are herbal and typical hippy alternative medicines) on your gum rather than using morphine or treated codiene.

* if you are wondering about why you leave the cigarettes behind when you provision essential items from public bars, its very simple, tobacco is in every disaster sadly one of the first bartering materials. A stock of cigarettes will leave you and your group at high risk every time you light up, you demonstrate a supply which others will kill for. In the case of more serious disasters you might arguably be doing wider humanity a favour by destroying every stock of tobacco you find.

* if your city has been hit by an earthquake, the motorways will not be thoroughfares.
You will be stranded in sections between collapsed bridges. Modify your escape route accordingly.

* if you encounter soldiers during your refugee walk, you know you are under martial law. Soldiers are trained to kill people. Remember that. Give soldiers the right of way. Yield to armed columns. They will not ask you many times to get out of their way.

*Pay attention to the colouring and flags any soldiers you encounter are wearing. If they appear of unusual majority asian appearance, or seem unfamiliar in any way, your country might have been invaded. Ask amongst your group is there an interpreter present. Now would definetly be the time to offer your cigarettes (there will always be one who hides tobacco).

*dry brush your teeth every 8 hours (3 times a day) after a nuclear event, if the brush is covered in blood, you're dying. Be a brave little soldier and put yourself in a bin liner and tell your group to carry on without you.

Remember in the case of normal disasters, which we are prepared for under the well planned "War on Natural Disasters" your group of 12 to 20 refugees is less than a week from being helped and stand a very good chance of making it through.

But in the case of a "War on Terror" mishap, you must account for collateral loss of about 90% of your refugee group. It is very likely that will be you.

*Be a Leader.
*Be strong.
*Be prepared.

Will we have an Anderson, like in the last war? : No thats old fashioned. Top modern government policy is a door with cushions it Dear.

by ipsi Sun Sep 04, 2005 17:09

* Many of us are on medication, and it is important to remind your refugee group to take their medication with them in their own clearly labelled "water proof container".
Also, remember to include the label of the box with the "technical name" which seems long and foreign looking not the brightly coloured bit with the "TM" in a circle. This is because many drug companies make the same drugs, and you'll save time when you return to civilisation if you can describe your medication in better terms than "little pink ones".

* If you're provisioning medical supplies, remember morphine is kept in a locked cabinet. If its not in a locked cabinet, its not morphine. If it doesn't say morphine or diamorphine on the bottle its not morphine.

* Its a good idea to include antibiotics in your medical provisioning. Though in fairness their use will only be effective after your 120 hours working period. Anything the long name of which ends in "-cylin" will do. Adminster very small doses.

* its a very good idea to include placebos or depression inhibitors such as brandname market leader Prozac. Placebos are a wonderful little helper, a painkiller (aspirin) crushed up into powder and put in a capsule will help some members of the group feel properly medicated.

* Remember your provisioning is important.
Its your first 36 hours activity, but also the acitivity of many others. Its a competitive activity. Think carefully of where you're going to get those medical supplies. There will be little problem getting food and water, but drugs cause mayhem. Your local methadone clinic ought not probably be your first place of call, others will have thought of that. Don't forget that Vet. clinincs and midwives and community nurses are listed in the phone directory. You might like to rip those pages from the aforementioned book along with the map pages of your local community and store them in your "waterproof container".

* Many of you don't have papers and look very foreign and may be wondering are you "citizen" enough to jump through the many hoops you may encounter. This is sadly an issue. You might like to stay and behind and fight it out instead though you don't have an insurgent hope in refugee hell downtown dry levy american pie. It is probably better in these circumstances to pretend you are a member of a religious order engaged in missionary work. Provision a black shirt, keep your eye out for a big cross, carry a bible in your waterproof container and try and leave some white paper cardboard under your collar. Practise saying "Jesus" in a reverential and hopeful way.

by ipsi Sun Sep 04, 2005 18:12

Everything you need to know, you fill in the gaps and little local details.
And just one last warning for the very dim. If you are driving a van through armoured shutters, make sure you have broken the windscreen first. And you don't need to be in the driving seat.
Most people will make silly mistakes in their first 36 hours. you don't need to get into a guerilla war down the methadone clinic, or get caught looting the post apocalypse supply of siphoned petrol, dvds or cigarettes.

If nuclear threat seems elevated to serious level, I'll update specific tips to that remember to kill the dog, and everyone elses dogs for that matter, thats where weapons sadly come in.

& never refuse a refugee their musical instrument, they are posessions that the community are glad to have along. Except of course something like my piano. Not getting far with one of those. or even a double bass. Fiddle and guitar good.

;-)

by ipsi Mon Sep 05, 2005 12:23

Ok, dear reader. Lets go. By now many of you will have grasped that timing is the most important aspect of survival in urban disaster situations. Some will be wondering, "at what stage has the disaster morality kicked in?" meaning "how long do I have to wait before I can take a ford pick-up truck through my local drugstore window and it not be a sin or criminal act?".

Good Question.
One that concerns policing officials as much as survivors. Until police get hungry or have "worked" two shifts through, they continue being "on duty" in a pre-disaster sense, after which they often have nervous breakdowns and go slightly mad. [Nota Bene]

If your local authority or government have declared an evacuation order on public tv or radio in the face of extreme weather conditions or (in the case of Nederlands, Baltic states, some cities such as London) the breach of your flood barriers or dykes
you may go provisioning.

If your city has been hit by an earthquake, there is no water supply, no electricity and only isolated helicopters visible overhead and from the top of a building all the usual man-built landmarks seem to have suffered damage, you are in a disaster situation and you may go provisioning.

If you have observed the signs of nuclear accident, you must go provisioning and you must organise your group on more rigid lines.

More on this subject through the week.

___________________________________

At some stage, early on, your group of 12 to 20 refugees, will join with larger groups of other refugees, especially if you are following motorway or large road routes out of the disaster area. Remember that 3km progress a day is good. It allows your group the time they need to rest, to pace themselves as a group, purify water in those live saving condoms, see to injuries. Do not allow your pace to be sped up by the effects of joining a "larger group". Most will overestimate their capability to walk in the beginning, and underestimate it at the 100 hour point.
Once in a large group, rumours will spread along the line of chinese whispers of imminent rescue, of hostile action by soldiers, rumours of every nature. It is best to follow main routes such as motorways on the "outskirts" though more difficult terrain, you will stand a better chance of surviving "stampede" effects. You must also be aware that after provisioning your supplies and ovrecoming the risks involved, your supplies will very likely be stolen by other groups. You may walk as a thousand, but you walk at your pace, at that which is easy for the weakest. Your group thus will come in contact with a flow of other people.
Be aware that "messianic" personalities emerge within the first 100 hours. Amongst the most likely are police officers, and those who will treat survival as a darwinian challenge. Take the group away from such larger groups. Any sign of "a leader" of more than 500 people is a danger signal, these often accompany "improvised uniforms" and will be accompanied by attempts to "share your supplies" or - steal your provisions.
If you are following a north/south route switch to east west and vice versa.

by ipsi Mon Sep 05, 2005 13:16

I can not stress enough the importance of condoms in provisioning. & the importance of tobacco. Further to the last comment brief thoughts on "inter-group contact", you must realise that many in your group will want to be reunited with other survivors left behind or who went on ahead.

By the 100 hour there will be clear divisions in progress and the types of people who have made that progress. Just as you must not allow your group to provision tobacco, or smoke tobacco for group risks, you must avoid any large group of survivors which include smokers particularly if the smokers are on "steward duty". And you must not trust reports of "relatives ahead", especially if another group is urging you to go faster than your capablities allow. After 120 hours you might consider staying put in a suitable shelter. (remember we touched on schools or other large buildings with access)

Condoms, are resilient, contain much liquid, are perfect for mixing solutions, are waterproof, and resist heat they generally holding out well on 5 kg and are very elastic material. In the case of nuclear evacuation, I have touched on the vital importance of killing dogs, before they go "rabidly" to their death. It is important to remember that throwing stones at dogs will scare them away, but then they will form packs and return. There are obvious restricitions on what i can tell you about weapon manufacture on indymedia. Suffice to say you can improvise a slingshot with a condom. Practise using debris and stones till your aim is true. One of the things our evacuation plans allow you is plentiful time for rest, storytelling, mending and most importantly - learning. Without any careful training you can improvise every weapon in common use upto the middle ages. Favour long distance over close combat.

There are many who will count on pre-bought supplies in cases of disaster, many will have joined the rich and left ahead, except in the case of nuclear accident.
Amongst this group are included former military officers. & often they are dangerous.
Be mindful that for many refugees in disaster evacuation "the world has ended". there is nothing to return to, and all normal rules of civilisation "suspend".

Supplies of Potassium iodide are essential for protecting your thyroid and body from harmful radiation. This enters the body in many ways, after an explosion the first intake will be in the dust your breathe. After first rainfall, it will surround you but will slowly reduce.
The supplies of Potassium Iodide are plentiful but not sufficient in the USA and though higher in some EU states are not well prepared for distribution in Ireland where the imagined scenario is a off shore accident with much public warning and organisation.

Before you may provision them, others with licensed guns and little qualms will control the supply.

You may however provision and improvise the chemicals needed. Every point from which you may provision medical supplies will have a book called "vada mecum", its title doesn't change from language to language. Its the guide to drugs and treatment. You need thyroid boosters.
You need potassium and iodine. Helpfully most drugs on the market include "thy" or "throid" in the brand name. Doses of IP are very small, one half teaspoon per day. A thyroid boosting tablet can be crushed and you take a small quantity every day as the last resort.

Remember that animals are much the same as human except their kidneys and livers are more efficient. If you have provisioned vet. supplies make allowances for that. Any human administered vet. supplies must drink plentiful water and be allowed rest. Use intra-muscular injections instead of intra-venous. The best areas for IM injections are the buttocks and thighs.

The "water proof container"

It seems like a lunchbox, but will become the proud home of every refugee. Label the box with the group member's name inside and outside. Within goes their personal medical supply, their papers, their medication records, and any needles used in their treatment. Obviously every person needs more than one "water proof container" and on longer refugee routes, share the burden of carrying water and food and of course the weakest. You may survive theft of your group's resources, by hiding and dividing your supplies. remember now that the indymedia video camera is a long forgotten memory, that paper and pen is important.

Write diaries. Children and younger members are often happy with some paper and a coloured pen. Don't underestimate their value.

by ipsi Mon Sep 05, 2005 14:36

By now you will have realised that the load you carry around 30kg at 3km progress a day is mostly water, food and shelter. & most of it ought be in "waterproof containers".

Hygiene. Hands and thereafter feet must to be kept scrupulously clean, you can use vinegar, vinegar is useful and light and less precious than antiseptic. Hands goto mouths, moreso when many in the group are without a cigarette longer than they've remembered. The smell of vinegar will help stop this. Risk of bacterial infection and liver damage will be greatly reduced.

Much of disaster survival at civilian level is biblical. It really is good to get out of Egypt.
Remember that, the group must clean regularly. By now many will have realised that 120 hours refugee walking gets you 15km across your former city. By which you are much more likely to be rescued than those who didn't leave in the first 48 hours or went to the largest central shelter.

Clean ears with a clean "fourth finger" (the second smallest one. Rubbing dirt and dust outwards. Clean discharge from eyes simliarly but without vinegar, obviously. Nursing mothers, elderly and many disabled need more water for hygiene than ablebodied group members. Make allocation from purified water. Remember it can be made and stored in condoms.

No-one wants to leave the dead behind. But be thoughtful that they too are gone. In flood situations do not bury the dead. It is best to seal the dead within 2 hours of death, this is to prevent insects and disease and is important especially in flooded areas. Mark the area clearly with aerosol spray. Once you've gone over one body, use the matchstick system of numbering. Do not touch dead bodies of human or animal variety if you have not seen them die. You can cover a body with the "big liner" place stones on the edge. If you have to preserve dignity.

Rats are everywhere, at anytime and true to the proverbial, they will leave sinking ships.
& the good news is that unless given a source of food or the scent of one they will make quicker progress as refugees than you.
Do not be alarmed to see large groups pass through your group in waves usually at dawn or dusk. In post nuclear long refugee situations you ought give thought to baiting traps with dead rats if troubled by dogs. The springs on the traps are pretty dinky too.

insects breed in stagnant water, they will be delighted with broken freezers and fridges which are best left unopened and will a plague. Watch for discharge on the eyes of the group especially in children. Keep wounds covered. If lint is not suficient, when someone is not watching the wounded, (and wounded must be accompanied) then cover the wounded area in ... a section of "life saving c".

Smoke and Fire repel insects and animals and alert rescue to your position "the first time", they're not going to lose you, there's a lot of other people in the exodus. They also destroy flamable material, and in broken city, much flamable material is invisible. Be wary especially after earthquakes of gas mains.

You all know how to make and tend a camp toilet don't you? & make rafts? Jolly good.
The very good news, is that at least in Europe we are better prepared on many social levels for this type of thing, having been on the front line of the cold war.
You will mostly come to a river. In all our disaster scenarios flooding or earthquake or
post nuclear, crossing rivers is a challenge.

Rope your group together. raft from as far off bank as you can with the flow of the river at wide point aim to get to the other bank, you can raft your group of 12-20 to the other side of all european rivers within 3km which will be about one hour. Don't be scared, go with the river. In the case of blocked motorway evacuation this will bring you ahead of many thousands of people to the "TV refugee camps".

Do stay dry, most of your time ought be spent getting the group dry again for the next day's progress. & thats why you keep your feet scrupulously clean, its not the smell thing, post disaster city's stink enough. But feet are the first part of the body that will suffer from water exposure. They go you can't walk.

I could politically remind all readers, that someday you as a refugee will get through the challenges, and be welcomed in a new city. You will be housed badly, and will be called "alien", "sin papales", "asylum seeker" and many other labels. But what you carry with you on the way out of Egypt or Babalon in your "water proof container" will bring you friends eager to learn.

by ipsi.:.phi Mon Sep 05, 2005 16:18

By now you know that any city in disaster means hundreds of thousands of people on few routes, reaching bottle necks, and impassable natural frontiers and hostility on all sides. So you know you must at some stage be prepared to "stay" rather than move on.

This is no truer than in the case of a post Nuclear situation. In all members of the groups "water proof containers" make a note of their "start position" and first day's "estimated contamination" by exposure to dust, water, or injury. After first rainfall move to (in London, most of britain and much of Ireland) and to great degree much of Europe to the nearest cathedral. These buildings will be amongst the few that survived the blast, but are often in the epicentre, but if you look around you'll see that they are quite faithfully copied in the outskirts of most major cities in minature version. Do not convert a 20th century building you need the very old looking ones.

You will find many things you need inside, excluding "life saving condoms" and "morphine" to make a hospital, morgue, lab, and lets call it "operation centre".

Do not burn the wood. Its more valuable as a building material. You will have low grade fuel in stores, many important metalic elements, a secure environment and space. Label the roof with spray or paint. this building is going to be your "water proof container".

So write :- "Survivors - ALIVE" on the roof and fly a flag, you will find ample cloth and material in the building. White is best.
You must now protect the building's broken windows from insects. If the glass is older than one century do not disregard it, the older it is the more valuable it will be.

In such a building you will assemble a large quantity of survivors. Many will die on arrival.
Only transfer them to outside of the building after rainfall leave them in the morgue before hand. Improvise "suits" remember inhaled dust will kill you.

Make a mezanine. live off the ground, you will have enough wood, use your candle oil sparingly.

You must know isolate skills, but share all tasks. If there are no biologists or doctors, chemists or general scientists, be very nice and patient with the school-children who studied such things. Assess which yeast or moulds will grow on which organic material and with which water available. Work the problem. Your rooftop if a faithful copy will have good drainage and gargoyles. Collect water, don't drink it, sterilise and asses it biologically.You will have all the chemicals and metals and materials to improvise a lab in the building. Look around you.

Some amongst us are gardeners.

It is very unlikely that glass houses or botanical installations will survive a nuclear bombing, but you'd be surprised at the number of plants and vegetables will survive within under "relatively sealed conditions".
These are your non-contaminted seed stock.
And your non-contaminated soil stock. Bring it to the church/shelter. Start growing. work with the biologists even if its just a 16 year old kid.

Be very prepared for the huge death toll in post nuclear situations. Bag, put in the crypt/morgue area. Note carefully the time and pattern and manage your health resources accordingly. Many most possibly yourself included will be dying by the time you improvise the shelter.

Some amongst us are engineers, they've spent their lives thinking they weren't but fixed thier cars and were the DIY best. Listen to them. Everyone in a large group, will have information, and often those about to die will offer the most useful tips. Secure the building, it most likely won't be the first time it has been rebuilt. It will work with you, and offer you excellent clues.

Some will be able to get the "channel 16" thing going. You need isolated electronic parts. do not go salvaging tvs or dvds but older radio devices will still have "user servicable parts inside". You'd be surprised what you find in the rubbish rooms of old public buildings if not you have the materials and the antenna there the first "electrical task" is to connect the lighting rod. ;-) do make sure its earthed inside though. Work the problem. But honestly painting the roof and leaving clear survivor signals such as a flag will do. Do not spend much time outside the building. Create an "airlock" again you'll see you have what you need in architectural terms.

What you do not know, you will rapidly learn or younger members of the group will. The normal hierarchies will not work. Be aware that this is so. Those who are relied on for authority normally will go mad. Best to remember your anarcho-syndicalist values and talk it through. Give the kids string, they'll work out the best knots. Ask them to remember the science, & they will. Listen to those in the commuinty who have had the best pre-disaster experiences of "living rough", "being disabled" etc., For a light moment remember the movies and in particular "cube".

winston smith without his mohican in his Chairman Mao suit.:.+@*

by ipsi - guild of organists Mon Sep 05, 2005 18:09

This I hope is my last instalment, going a bit twitchy in the eye now thinking about all this and Its time to worry about other things.
:-)

Smokers, (& i'm one) do resist the temptation, honestly in any disaster its better to grab that gum instead of use patches. Patches are only suitable as a nicotiene substitute and don't solve the oral thing, and you will be tempted to use them as bandages. Don't. Gum on the otherhand is bd for the stomach, will give you hunger pangs, but at least its like glue afterwards.

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Post Nuclear Shelter (2)

By now your group or a a large group have assembled a post nuclear disaster shelter, hospital, morgue in either a school, or "old fashioned style church" or large community building, like a monastry or abandoned convent or hare krishna centre.
Look out for lead. 'tis a very useful post nuclear material. It provides radiation shielding, and it is never too late to improve the resistance of your shelter. You ought find a lot of rope attached to the bells in your old fashioned church. And the rope will yield much more fibre. think about it. Do not raise dust when building your "internal survival area". You can do this once the death toll decreases. (the 2nd to 3rd week.)
Use rope, the inside of the building, et cetera, and if you have an old fashioned pipe organ on site - you're in luck. I'm an organist. Great instruments. Do not attack it grabbing its parts, they're very useful. At the keyboard you will find the components you need for a radio. The wooden square shaped pipes are hardwood they support weight. Any metal pipe which is conical is made of conducting material, and the bottom detaches, you have the components for a water still, and wait----
motorised transport. The pipes which are mottled in colour contain high quantities of lead in alloy. This material is soft gather it.
Make sheeting. You will find within the instrument bellows or a windchest. This will help your metalwork. Once you've assembled a vehicle, of either "critical mass" pedal power or "distilled fuel" motorised, explore the area, get more supplies in short journeys, use the materials available to improve your mobile "counter radiation" safety.

Lead is very heavy, but you can make shielding. You ought find in your "old fashioned church" all metals, that can be worked imaginatively, many types of wood with differing qualities and all types of useful fabric and of course space you can be safe in. With a little bit of practise;

you will enjoy being a post nuclear survivor.

This of course will cause some personality problems, when the rescue forces come in.
If you are surviving a nuclear disaster in Ireland, London or continental Europe it is likely rescue forces will include "foreigners".
Don't allow old animosities to get in the way.
& don't expect medals, or a new job in the post nuclear administration.

Which brings me to...

The Post nuclear administration.

If you want to hang out and see the PNA in Dublin, leave it a few months and check near O'connell street and the docklands area.
If you're in London, from your church bell tower, (make use of that stained glass it has high lead content, and can improvise good radiation proof windows!!!) observe the route of helicopters. Your city will be divided in small zones for the PNA. After 60 days routes will be cleared to those centres. By the 100th day, you could try taking your lead shielded bycycle party flying a white flag in search of the local bunker. It is sadly a possibility that by this stage you will be in a "state of emergency quarantine area". Airborne and Waterborne diseases might have caused the nasty eventuality of someone in a bunker thinking you'd better off be dead.

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does anyone know how to fix a video cassete player that thinks its still got a video in it when it doesn't?

by ipsi Tue Sep 06, 2005 15:19

I would like to advise all good citizens that their local authority and government working in partnership and treaty with international and supernational bodies will look after you.
: ipsi

*Do not accept drugs or medication from non-qualified medical staff. Ask them to open their water proof container and show you their ID.

*Childrens novelty party baloons are resilient, waterproof, elastic and contain liquid and weight. You do not have to expose your innocent family members to condoms.

*The Red Cross and your National flag will fly near your shelter or local usual place of worship. Make your way in an orderly fashion and await instruction from your familiar minister or local community liason police officer.


*If anyone offers to sell you petrol or gasoline and they are not wearing the usual uniform they are probably breaking the law, make a note of their name, and a brief description in your water proof container. You are empowered to make a citizen's arrest. Report them to your familiar minister or local community liason police officer.


*Do not start hanging out with Mad Max meets TankGirl crusty hippy types carrying bags of soil and broken stained glass windows on bicycle contraptions in improvised suits from old freezer bags. These are delusional types, especially if they insist on teaching you how to read and write.

Do not accept gum from these people.

As soon as the evacuation order has come make your way in your car to the nearest motorway exits. Allow for traffic jams.
Wait patiently for your papers to be checked, make sure to have your drivers license and bank account and insurance details to hand.

*You might like to photocopy your important documents now and keep a copy.

*Remember to save your work as you go and don't just leave in in the C drive.

*Don't accept sweets from strangers.

*don't touch expensive musical instruments in religious surroundings.

*If your VCR thinks it has a cassette stuck in it, you need to buy a new one. Choose a "made in america with pride" model, from a registered dealer and help the rebuild.

*don't rely on indymedia for advice.

by ipsi Tue Sep 06, 2005 18:05

If prior to the disaster you worked in a job of key responsibility, such as estate agent, football or other sports referee, security guard, primary or secondary school teacher, you may live to volunteer as a deputy to your local public liason police officer and play your part in "restoring order".

Order needs to be restored, when its broken, and every good citizen has a role to play. Once order is broken, criminals will be readily indentifiable. Keep notes of descriptions in your water proof container.
Zero Tolerance, means you can kill these people. They failed the test, and they're not going home.

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(post nuclear disaster shelter improvement tips - how to treat on mutants - )

By now you have realised that your shelter is of prime psychological strategic value for survivors as it is of any real counter radiation use. At th third month stage, most people will be dead and well rotted. You will have made your "suits" and cleared the area of dead and found many tinned food stuffs and other useful things. Any dead material which has rotted has provided you with radioactive tolerant bacterial and organic material. You need to observe this scientifically.

The insects will also have gone mutant. You now need sprays. Water filtration is easy, and invovles as much distalation and recantation and all that sort of stuff, you need to get out the dust particles. Food production is also quite simple. You need carbohydrates which are not in sealed containers already, (baby milk stuff) and proteins. (also comes in sealed containers) [both are generally kept in areas free from radiactive dust fall. Your biologists will know what grows quickest on the least soil and the least filtered water. I'd suggest mushrooms. In the public buildings we have touched upon you have all the materials you need to reproduce any scientific experiment upto the end of the XVIIIcentury. We call this "The Enlightenment". Your remants of "civilised science" will allow you and the human species to survive, hopefully your descendents will find making nukes more difficult.

on mutants -
Mutants are
ok, don't worry about them, sure many of us already are mutated, and if you don't bother a mutant it won't be hostile. In the normal natural disaster situation, you may find conditions in shelters rather cramped and have to ask the neighbouring family [on the bed next to yours'] for toilet paper. They may sing slightly different hymns to you. This is because our cities are very diverse.
They are not probably mutants. Do beware of mutant insects and vermin. Now most people don't know this, but huge marauding 8 metre insects came out of the French sahara underground nuclear tests and ravaged most of the western continent, which is why it is so poor. It was all covered up, of course, and it was learnt that large mutant insects respond to acoustic and smell signals. They don't like petrol or any oil like that, create a perimeter, work in the lab.
Naturally you will not have foolishly drunk the altar wine or window cleaner or floor polishes in any of the buildings we touched upon. Your mutant insects will be held at bay.
Human mutants are not be shunned and will offer the genome useful changes, you must breed with these people, unless they're gay, in which case God has finally told you something.

Plague

Plagues are God's way of saying we've done something very wrong and the federal government are not responsibile. Watch out for blemishes or hooded jackets. Do not offer these people kleenex. Make a note of the location of suspected plague victims in your water proof container and inform "restoration of order" armoured personel.

by ipsi Tue Sep 06, 2005 20:18

Car evacuees useful reminder:

It is important to remember to turn off your car engine whilst waiting on the traffic congestion to clear. You might also like to consider that your car battery will run down if you keep looking for a tv station. Try your best to stay awake for the first 100 hours as this is when other people will siphon your gasoline and steal your battery. It is your responsibility as a good citizen not to block the exit routes, you will be expected to push your car.

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Your government and local authority have detailed plans as part of their responsibility to you and other citizens as part of international obligations and treaties. There will be clear and Unequivocal statements made if the Martians are to be involved in any disaster.

Surviving Martian disasters is pretty much the same as others we've looked at. You still need a water and food supply, medical supplies, and shelter.

Don't write "survivors" on the roof forget about channel 16 and the Mayday! thing.

Again approach the Martian problem as you would the "nuclear everything is contaminated and wants to kill me" threat but with an added psychological and very very intelligent element. What do the Martians want from your group of survivors?
Do not presume they are either hostile or friendly to you, and do not in any close contact tell them they are God. Move in the opposite direction of observed land activity and as always "up the mountains", but slowly and be very receptive to signs of intelligence and start leaving them in your wake. That means *location and timing*. It is possible the Martians had grown bored of network tv and had just stopped your country working.

which brings us to-
"your country has stopped working".

This can occur in small countries, and would occur in any european state were it to suffer two or three of any the disasters we've looked it simultanously or close together or in the case of a horrible bout of bird flu and the cruelest computer virus ever ever, and a nuclear meltdown or something like that.

The time span alters, and in the case of post-nuke the climate changes too, but the sun will always be visible and will be in the same place in "your old fashioned shelter" every year. Leave it within two years, and within a detailed log in a safe position of who you were - what you did. You may not be the only survivors to use it.

You now must give thought to live stock, schools and migration. Your birthrate will be low and your infant mortality very high. You will need to collect livestock from woods and city outskirts. Choose herbivores preferably goats or lambs. One of obvious mutant strain, other of "normal" strain other of mixed .Breed and study them all before you eat them, and use all their material which is useful to you before. Remember your school biology and _maternal_ dna patterns. You will hopefully have become quite familiar with organic radiation signs and return to milk production in 3 years. Or you might have lost the taste for it. Still fibres are useful.
You certainly will have forgotten tobacco.

Migration from an "ireland which stopped working" would probably mean "britain stopped working" as well. Do not cross the Irish sea, as most probably our neighbours ample nuclear energy facilities would have gone pop. Do not attempt to make your way by currach to the USA. Its very far.

Martians and serious post-nuclear collapse are the only two disaster situations in which we seriously talk of migration. Its a very serious matter, to leave your land behind.
You might see it in a very different way by then.

_________________________________
Bacterial disasters, are really really easy. Shun everyone! Stay in your bedroom with the water, biscuits, baby milk, and lifesaving condoms and novelty party balloons for two weeks, then cycle out of the city in one day.
You will meet the quarantine forces, fly a white t-shirt from your bike with a red cross on it. Mask, waterproof coat and wellington boots. You don't even need a waterproof container.

by ipsi Wed Sep 07, 2005 15:02

Remember 2 years after nuclear disaster and/or attack by the martians on network TV government you move from your shelter.

*It is most likely your survivors will be in the average age group of 20 to mid 30s. You have less than 14 years to live.

*You will reclaim livestock (for fibres and materials and their environmental shaping value before meat) from forests and city outskirts. Avoid those types that carry parasites. The pig will be quickest to revert to boar, and the most dangerous to your group.

*Farm in nomadic patterns, rotate crops and livestock, do not destroy woodlands to clear for crops. You must educate your young, because you are going to die, and when you do, XVIII century science, XIII century weapons and the secrets of a disposable lighter will die with you.

Sadly, most of your civilisation will be digitalised and useless to you, and the rest will have been burnt for heat or fuel long ago.
You must teach what is left how to read, and how algebra works. If you spend your last 6 years of life learning yourself how algebra works then do so. All the demonstrations and proofs will have remained.

"The return of the dragons"

At no point in the survival guide, is it implied that you are the "only survivor". In the case of huge nuclear or martian disasters, there will be others who shall emerge between 2 and 8 years later. They will not be accustomed to helping you, and will attempt to enslave you.
Slavery begins as soon as one man may offer another a cigarette to guard his food or water. Isolate skills and share tasks, and do not allow slavery to emerge, it will be based on the notion that the strongest survive and not on the identification of what qualities or intelligence will bring the species through.
Most slave based systems will collapse within 8 years, most armoured shelter survivors without "migrant help" will die within one year of leaving their shelter. But they will attack you first.

The dragons will build or reclaim "fortresses" and adopt a command structure to land, they will be nomadic, they will only remember "feudalism" as much as your past will have been centred on "old fashioned preferably gothic appearing religious buildings and schools".
Intelligence, writing and algebra!

If you remember that, You and the species will prevail, you can leave off the materno-linear thing on both survivors and livestock after 120 years, by which time the French will be invading you and you'll have forgotten everything anyway.

by ipsi - ( I did a special night-course & took an oath) Wed Sep 07, 2005 16:26

By now the underground reader will have realised that overground, everything neccesary to your individual, group, community and species survival is at hand.
This is not the case for the dragon. Within the first months of a typical post nuclear disaster or attack by the Martians you will have remembered to locate the lair. After the 2 year stage, as you move to reclaim land and livestock your chances of coming into contact with them is higher. This is what you need to remember if you are being put to slave conditions -

Their weaknesses are chemical and biological and ironically their temporary removal from the biosphere. A Lair is worth more to you open than closed. The common or garden meat yielding animal in northern Europe is "scrufus scrufus" the piggie. In normal non-disaster conditions they revert to boarish appearance in less than 2 years. They are intelligent, omnivorious, marginally quicker and heavier than humans and pack animals. They will also mutate rapidly. Do eat them, and do not destroy them, rather learn to use them. They will become as useful as the dogs you eradicated.

Cows mutate rapidly, you will find them in forests and hardly recognise them. But they are good for moving things and yield fuel.

All magnetic components are effected by radiation, without a constant electricity supply from pedal, water, wind or battery source you will not get a computer running. But you will have at your disposal the means you need to extract electronically stored data and electromagnetically stored data. Don't waste your resources on it. There is much information stored all around you which can be read. Collect lenses , they will be everywhere, calibrate & learn what they do.
A burnt public library will still have microfiche files. An open dragons' lair is much more useful 8 to 10 years after it was intended to be opened. In Ireland or the dragon has caught a nasty scrofus scrofus infection (and in Britain depending on the nature of your apocalypse) move to the Atlantic coast.
Fish off the continental coast do not touch filter feeding animals but remember they are valuable in the lab. Apart from XVIII science, and your Mad Max meets Tank Girl imagination, you will be living in a rapidly changing environment. Don't be scared of it. Your science is to be biologically and organically based. But be wary of establishing a "taboo" on going back to get chemical supplies. Your periodic table elements have been pointed out to you. You'll find a use for those jellyfish after all, (watch out for the ones that glow they'll be very very big the gene that causes phosphorence is key).

Your most plentiful and useful material "after XVIII science" is plastic. You'll be amazed how much of it is left. Use it well. It lasts.

Vampires are grand. No problem with vampires, just like mutants. As long as they do not appear to be on the side of the dragon's lair (remember they'll compete at the re-introduction of farming feudalism stage) or God Forbid, they're helping the Martians hassle you, and you had nothing to do with network TV, then *work with them* and come to an arrangement, they know a lot, and are very resilient.

by ipsi Wed Sep 07, 2005 16:29

for "do eat pig/boar" read "do not eat"
for they will be nomadic (dragons' lair) read:
"they will not be nomadic".

*No actual species or city was harmed in the writing of this guide.
**No actual species may be saved by following the advice in this guide.
****don't go suing me.

by ipsi Wed Sep 07, 2005 18:09

Unless lots of nukes and plagues and martian activity stops your city or country working for more than 14 years, people from other continents will come. Offer them something to eat remind your descendents not to call them God, and don't accept trinkets from them. The vampires will warn you about them you'll have come to some sort of arrangement by then, and they'll introduce you to music, dance and shakespeare.

Morality kicks in the moment a disaster happens. If you want to go to heaven you've got save lives and be nice to other people.

If you accept a positition in a long term shelter because of your importance, brilliance, or beauty you have not saved lives.

Remember that.

Feng Shui is an important consideration, and much of what you've learnt over the years of oriental culture from TV will assist you in your inheritance of Earth and also locating your dragons' lair. Once years ago, a fellow contributor lamented that Tony Blair had slipped through the net again, and I replied taht for a fish of that nature neither hook and lair, or fly and net will do. You need to introduce a predator. 30 years down the line, you will have noticed that the herds of boars and other animals which survived are doing what the insects did in the first months. Going really weird, getting really dinky evolutional, and generally nasty and displaying heightened group organisation. They'll make you a good natural barrier, but remember to pay close attention to what inter-predatory or eco-food-chain jumpsd they're going through. Most will happily live on or by the dragon's lair, they'll smell it before you.

But someday you'll have to worry about them perhaps becuase you want to move, or they've learnt how to fly and grown armour. Your answers will be at the sea.

We've touched on the possibilities of slavery, nobody wants to survive a traffic jam, having their gasoline siphoned, finding their potassium iodide, losing their water proof container, kicking cigarettes and losing their only lighter to become a slave building a dam or fortress or a thank you monument to God / the Martians shaped like a pyramid from plastic bottles.

So, little rule, for you to carefully insert in your descendents spiritual or religious beliefs :-

.:.all women, men & mutants are created equal.:.

by ipsi Wed Sep 07, 2005 22:11

For obvious reasons, what I can tell you about fighting the Martians is restricted.
But return to previous advice- they are not to be considered hostile or friendly without evidence. Sadly you're not inheriting the earth without some sort of incident including "martians" with a little "m". They will find you before you see them. You may note a connection between them and the dragons' lair. So you need to -(a) hide from them and then (b) trap them. option (b) is very old fashioned and simple option (a) is a bit more difficult. How do they find you? Are they finding you or looking for some resource near you? No group in fishbowl helmets is coming near you to talk about water filtration or advice on how to fix the windmill. They want something, if its _you_, its to enslave you.
Be aware that no large scale engineering projects are to be considered in post Apocalypse, You'll work all the problem with smaller solutions. So what clues are you leaving around for the martians to arrive?
Did you remove the "survivors" sign from the roof? When do they find you? are they better at finding you "in the dark"?
Then you have to improvise infra-red shielding and heat insulation.
Most of all - Keep your trap cold and bait well shaped and hot, your predators will do the rest.

You'll go around in circles like that for a few years and develop quite an attitude. Singing ballads about legendary old pacifists will help you. I recommend psalm 147.

The dragons lair, will be doing the same lab experiments and kind of things as you for between 2 and 8 years except their equipment will be better, their learning curve not as inspired, and their attitude to recycling their own resources different. When you go into the lair this is what you need to know:-

Whats their fuel source?
What did they do with their waste?
How many of them are/were there???
When you enter the dragons' lair, you will be able to assess its importance by size, if it has many floors with lifts and boats and aircraft in hangers its very important. If you find a TV studio with what appears like a presidential seal on a lecturn or a throne bingo! Well done, you really hit the big time. If you find real Martians in large jars of pickle, You've solved intergalactic problems.

You now have to do something which will be prove as difficult as kicking cigarettes all those years (and in some cases) generations
ago.

If you want a divided post-apocalyptic society, which will develop along caste lines, slavery, and secret knowledge and a probable return to GM modified food and credit cards within 50 years:- turn on the radio .

If you want humanity to have a go at it and find its best way against all horrible odds and challenges a now irradiated mother nature will throw at you, destroy the bunker. You'll find a self destruct button make sure all your new communities are theother side of the nearest mountain ranges and know how to start again.

Well done!
Olé! Ozymandias.
maith an mutant.