Comfort

Staying Warm

Why This Is Important   

In the cold months, keeping warm will be more than a matter of comfort: it will be a matter of survival.

The Problem:  Heat may not be available. Critical infrastructure is at risk in a pandemic.  This includes power generating plants, refineries for heating oil, natural gas facilities, coal mining, and transportation systems.  The people who work at these facilities will also be sick.

If Utilities Fail, Don’t Try to Heat The Entire House

1. Insulate one room in your house for a "shelter within the house."
   
   
   • Pitch a tent in the warmest room. Tent alternative: Use your dining room table (extra leaves in). Place a mattress underneath it, and drape blankets, rugs etc. down the sides. Leave a gap near the bottom for fresh air. Keep tent or blankets away from any fire source.
     
     
   • Insulate doorways, floors, walls and windows: Use extra blankets, rugs, curtains, mattresses, clothes or newspapers.
     
     
   • Place sleeping bags inside your tent.
     
     
   • Bring stored water into this room to keep it from freezing.
     
     
2. Safety precautions - bring the following to the insulated room:
   
   • Battery-operated smoke alarm
     
   • Battery-operated carbon monoxide detector
     
   • Any fire extinguishers
     
   • Disaster supply kit (72-hour kit) in case of evacuation
     
     
3. Insulate your body
   
   • Wear a hat/cap indoors and outdoors.
     
   • Wear loose clothes, in layers.
     
   • Keep clothes clean and dry.
     
   • If needed, stuff newspapers around legs, arms and chest.
     
   • If needed, use garbage bags for feet or over body, stuffed with insulative materials.
     
   • Wear thermal underwear.
     
   
   
4. Fireplaces and Woodstoves.  If you have a working fireplace in your home, it can provide emergency heat.  Heat circulating or “heatilator” fireplaces are much more efficient than conventional masonry fireplaces.  Burn only safe woods or logs.  Service your fireplace/woodstove annually.
   
   
   • Do NOT burn pressure-treated wood, as it contains toxins that could make you sick.  Artificial logs (made from sawdust and wax) should only be burned one at a time.
     
     
   • Do NOT burn newspapers or other trash, as they burn very hot, and can cause a chimney fire.
   
   
5. Other heat sources.  The emergency cooking heat sources discussed for indoor use in Food, can be used to provide heat. Propane heaters approved for indoor use can also be used.  Turn these off before going to sleep.
   


• WARNING for using any indoor alternate heating ideas:
  
  Provide ventilation with a window or door opened one inch, with the heater placed close to this opening.
  
  Place all open-flame emergency heaters on a fireproof surface.
  

Minimizing Frozen Plumbing

If there is no heat and the temperature is expected to go below freezing (32 degrees F or 0 degrees C) you must take steps to keep the water in your pipes from  freezing.

Water expands when it freezes, and may crack your pipes.  You will not be able to have running water if the pipes are frozen, and when they thaw, if there is a crack, you will have a very big leak and will need to turn off the water until the leak is fixed, which may take a long time.

Any pipe exposed to severe cold may freeze; but in a power outage, pipes that usually are fine may also freeze because there is no heat, such as in a basement or crawl space, attic, garage, in the kitchen cabinets, or pipes that go through exterior walls with little insulation.  

Use the following steps to protect your plumbing if the temperature is expected to go below freezing.

1. Turn on faucets and collect any water.
   
   
2. Open cupboard doors under sinks.
   
   
3. Open any other drain valves and collect water.
   
   
4. Turn off the main water valve into the house if possible.
   
   
5. Turn off and drain the hot water tank through the drain valve at the bottom of the tank. (It has a connection for a hose, and this water should be saved).  Turn off the hot water heater when you are going to drain it.  If left on and empty, it will burn up the heating system in the tank.  Put a note at the switch or circuit breaker:
   
   

   Refill tank BEFORE turning back on

   
   
   
6. Pour car windshield washer anti-freeze in the sinks and toilet to protect the gooseneck traps and prevent odor from entering the house.
   
   
7. Washing machine:  Pour a quart of car windshield washer anti-freeze in the washing machine and set the button to pump it out just a second. This gets it through the tubes and pump underneath.
   
   
8. Move stored water to the warmest room, if possible.  If not practical, make sure containers have enough room for expansion, if the water freezes.

For more information on preventing and thawing frozen pipes, go to Preventing and Thawing Frozen Pipes at the official American Red Cross Web site.

Staying Cool

Why This is Important

Heat waves kill!  Those at greatest risk for heat-related illness include infants and children up to four years old, people older than 65, people who are overweight, and people who are ill or on certain medications.  If electricity is out, so is air conditioning.

Take action  

1. Stay hydrated.  Drink at least a cup of water every 20-30 minutes during extreme heat periods in the summer, even if you aren’t thirsty. By the time you FEEL thirsty, you are already dehydrated.  Avoid soft drinks, caffeine, and alcoholic beverages.
   
   
2. Cook outside to avoid increasing the heat and humidity inside your house.  See: Food, "Emergency Cooking".
   
   
3. Adjust your diet.  Eat small, light meals, spaced throughout the day, rather than 2 or 3 big heavy meals.
   
   
4. Dress for the season.  Inside the house, wear shorts and a light shirt. Loose fitting clothes are cooler and more comfortable than tight fitting garments. Go barefoot or wear sandals. Natural fabrics are cooler than synthetics. At night, use light cotton sheets on your bed.
   
   
5. Shade is your friend. 
   
   
   • Keep the sun’s heat from hitting windows, doors & walls. Shade the outside of the windows.
     
     
   • Indoor curtains are good, but greater benefit can be achieved by blocking the sun from the inside AND the outside.  Light-colored sheets will work for indoor curtains.
     
     
   • You can tape tinfoil on the inside of a window.  Put the shiny side facing the sun.
     
     
   • Use auto sun shades to make a cheap outdoor window shade. Duct tape 2 or 3 of them together (depending on the size of the window). Hang them on the outside of the windows. A roll-up window shade also works fine.
     
     
   • Shade the doors.
     
     
   • Shade your walls with plants.
     
     
6. Ventilate your house.  If it is hotter inside than outside, open the windows and doors for cross flow. If it is hotter outside than inside, and the day is still, then leave everything shut.
   
   
   • Open every window and door to facilitate cross breezes.
     
     
   • If the temperature is warmer inside than outside, open the windows and doors.  If it is cooler inside than outside, keep the house closed unless there is a good breeze that would further cool the house.
   
   
7. Minimize outdoor activities.  Any work or exercise outdoors generates extra heat.  If you must be outside, dress right. Wear:
   
   
   • A light colored hat
     
     
   • Light colored and light weight clothing that covers the skin (long sleeves).
   
   
8. Cooling off. If the heat becomes oppressive, douse your head, arms, and feet with cool water, or go outside and soak yourself with a water hose. Keep a spray bottle of cool water handy, and give yourself spritzes of cool water. Dip cloths in cool water and wrap around your head, neck, armpits and groin.
   
   
9. Location.  Since heat rises, stay on the lowest floor possible.  Basements are cooler.

Staying Calm

Why This Is Important 

Most of the time, the right attitude and proper preparation will get you through.

How Your Personal Situation Might Be Affected

1. As the pandemic progresses, you may observe or experience a wide range of emotional responses in yourself and the people around you.
   
   
   • Denial
   • Anger/blaming
   • Headaches
   • Loss of appetite
   • Sleep disturbances
   • Family problems
   • Fatigue
   • Crying
   • Panic
   • Depression
   • Restlessness
     
     
   These are real, expected, and usually temporary responses.
    
2. Special needs of children.  Children are greatly affected by disasters and will need extra reassurance.  An excellent guide, "Helping Your Child Cope with Disaster", is available from Virginia Cooperative Extension at Helping Your Child Cope with Disaster

Practical tips 

The following is offered for your consideration, from the experience of a cruising sailor/medic, and is used courtesy of Avian Flu Diary.

1. If your relationships at home need work, consider ways to resolve those issues and disputes NOW – instead of having to do it in close quarters later.
   
   
   
2. Don't expect your spouse, kids, or significant other to have done everything right prior to isolation. You won’t have, neither will they.  If, come a pandemic, you discover that your spouse forgot to buy soy sauce for the rice, get over it! Couples may bicker and fight over the silliest things, and it's often the little gripes that fester the most.
   
   
3. Cross training is important.  Cruising couples who did well could both cook meals and change the oil in the engine. Both could handle the boat. Those couples where one person sailed and the other did galley duty were doomed from the start. The non-sailing person lived in perpetual fear that the sailing partner would fall overboard, or be injured, and they'd be stuck far out at sea with no clue. The sailing partner would grow exasperated at their partner’s inability to assist th em.
   
   Divide home chores among ALL family members. One spouse may say "The dishes need to be done AND the kids need a bath…which would you like to do?  I will do the other…"
   
   
   
   
4. Don't shout, no matter how dire the situation.  Aboard a boat, often the captain will bark orders to his crew. The less confident he (or she) is in their orders, the more likely they are to raise their voice. Hurt feelings abound, and mutinies often erupt. For inter-room communication, get a pair of cheap walkie-talkies. Use them.
   
   
5. Think of your family unit as a team…a combat platoon, who always has their buddy's back. Ask any medic, any cop, and they will tell you that their partner is a member of their family.
   
   
6. Communicate. Talk about your fears, don’t hide them. Find work-arounds now, not later. Find out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Change those you can, accept those you cannot. If someone in your group needs meds for anxiety, get them. If someone can’t handle alcohol, don’t let them have it (even if it’s you!).
   
   
7. Keep your sense of humor. Don’t ridicule others, but make fun of yourself, or the situation. Encourage others to do the same. I t is the ultimate stress reducer.
   
   
8. Try to find some 'personal space' for each family member. Everyone needs a retreat, even if it’s nothing more than a personal radio/CD player with headphones.  Books, games, CDs – whatever works.
   
   
9. Decide on a chain of command. Every boat needs a captain. Pick one. There will be group decisions, of course, and a good captain will want input from his team, but someone needs be in charge. You can rotate this position, swap days…whatever. But during a crisis, committees can dither when decisive action is required.
   
   
10. Establish rules and routines.  There should be rules about almost everything, especially where children are concerned.  Set these rules when you begin sheltering in place.  See how they work for 2-3 weeks, and then adjust as needed. Examples are the time set for schoolwork, TV, and phone time.  The strictest rules must address going in and out, to minimize exposure to the flu virus.
    
    Complementing the rules are routines.  These provide structure to the day, and include things like chores, schoolwork, creative time, family time, clean time, and self/free time.  There should be a daily exercise period for everyone.  Have specific days where something special happens.  Maybe each Friday is "crank up the generator and watch a movie" night, or there are pancakes with chocolate chips for breakfast each Saturday, or game night on Wednesdays with popcorn.
     
    
11. Decide right now that your ultimate goal is not your personal survival. Your goal is the survival of the people in your group. If you’re a lone wolf, go it alone. Otherwise, accept that you exist primarily for the common good of your group. Try to instill that attitude in every adult in your family unit.

…And Finally

Value and foster a good friend or relative that you can just talk things over with.