MEDICAL SERIES NUMBER TWO BY Ed
The situation had deteriorated suddenly during the last week; the infrastructure was shattered, and gangs from large urban areas were descending on the suburbs. Our survivor (we’ll call him Bill) saw some of his neighbors being shot as he plunged into the woods north of his property.
Bill walked quickly for about a mile. He vaguely knew of a game preserve 8 miles to the north east, so he veered in the general direction. He forgot his map and compass, but he felt he knew the way.
Always keep your navigational tools packed and ready to go. Have a plan for a primary, secondary and tertiary location. Have an azimuth to your primary location already plotted on your map. Constantly assess and update the current situation around your residence and give yourself time to escape quickly and safely yet with enough time that nothing will be forgotten.
Bill stopped and reached for his Knob Creek Bourbon he had stashed in a side pocket of his pack. He took a long drink from the bottle, paused, and took another. Bill was upset, and he needed to “calm down his nerves.”
Mental and physical stress in field conditions will increase fluid needs. The cardiovascular system will pump faster; breathing will increase causing loss of water vapor thru exhaling.
When a person drinks alcohol, the ionic concentration increases in the blood stream causing ADH (the Antidiuretic Hormone) to be suppressed allowing more water to leave the body. The higher ionic concentration in the blood also pulls water from the cells which impacts all cells and organs. The person becomes “dryer” and risks becoming a heat casualty.
One thing Bill did right was to grab his water canteen. But taking several swigs of bourbon as he plunged into the wilderness was the beginning of mistakes that Bill might regret later.
In layman’s terms, alcohol allows the floodgates in the kidneys to be wide open, allowing precious water to be voided, placing a person at a fluid deficit immediately.Caffeine does the same thing, but alcohol has a much more profound effect.
Let’s give Bill a break, and let’s go back in time.
Bill grabs his go pack in which he has several 1:50,000 maps, a compass, a Katadyn Pocket water filter, and micropur MPI Purification Tablets. The water filter eliminates bacteria and protozoa, not viruses; thus the purification tablets to purify the water one more step.
I cannot emphasize the importance of having a good quality water filter and water purification tablets. These are a must have. Water requirements per day are critical and drinking water from an unknown source regardless how clear and clean it looks risks serious medical problems or even death.
He grabs his quart canteen full of water and leaves the booze behind for the barbarians. Bill already has marked water sources on his maps to include a few artesian wells. He has the bearing of a swift moving stream 8.5 miles north east of his house and that’s where he’s headed after grabbing his weapons.
It’s hot and muggy, a late afternoon in August. Bill knows he has enough water to get to the stream, but he’ll have to refill there because his quart will be nearly gone by the time he arrives.
How does one know how much to drink? According to an article at www.athleteinme.com “In the Fall of 2001, the International Marathon Medical Directors Association (IMMDA) met to develop an advisory statement regarding fluid replacement during marathon running. In this statement, released in 2002, they advise marathoners to drink no more than 400-800 ml of fluid per hour.”
Bill also knows how to gauge his water intake by looking at his urine color. Amber, to dark yellow would indicate he needs to drink more. Light yellow to colorless, and Bill knows he’s drinking enough.
Even though Bill is not running a marathon, carrying equipment through a forested area will feel like one very quickly. A quick and dirty calculation from www.myfooddiary.com
“For instance, if you weigh 140 lbs., simply multiply 140 by .5 to estimate your daily fluid needs in ounces, then divide by eight to estimate your fluid needs in cups per day, rounding up to the nearest full cup.”
Furthermore, the article states: “The other common way to calculate daily fluid needs is to base the fluid need on caloric intake. 1 milliliter of fluid for every calorie ingested. Converted to the household measurements of ounces, your body needs .034 ounces for every calorie that you ingest. 0.034 ounces X daily caloric Intake =Daily Fluid Requirement in ounces.”
Time Out! CHART:
1 Pint = 16 Fluid Ounces or 480 Milliliters.
1 Quart = 32 Fluid Ounces or 950 Milliliters.
1 Gallon = 128 Fluid Ounces or 3.75 Liters.
1000 milliliters = 1 liter.
Summary so far:
- Alcohol will contribute to fluid loss your body does not need in a stressful, survivor situation.
- Though a running marathon is different from a survival situation traveling in a heavily wooded area carrying a heavy pack and weapons, the effect of such an ordeal will tax the body’s fluid reserves heavily. Being in good physical shape will be a definite advantage. However, fluid requirement will climb steeply for every hour you trek in the woods towards your next water source.
You should have a quart canteen to start which closely corresponds to the IMMDA guidelines for marathon runners. 950 milliliters will give you a buffer beyond the maximum advised which is 800ml per hour. You don’t want to overload with pure water because you can run the risk of hyponatremia (loss of sodium). Small packets of dry electrolytes will offset that problem.
- NOTE!! Do not use potassium supplements UNLESS prescribed by a doctor. Too much potassium can cause dangerous cardiac arrythmias.
- Planning, knowing where you’re going, knowing your first water stop and having filter and water purification capabilities is a must. Having traveled the route and visited the water site prior to an actual deployment is also critical. Test out your equipment at the water source; be familiar with your equipment and actually test the water after processing it. These dry runs will build confidence in your skills and will decrease your stress in an already stressful environment.
- Having a secondary, tertiary and more sites planned to a semi permanent camping site near a good water source should be part of your plan.
- Thirst may not be a good indicator for fluid needs-actually it may be a late sign and as you grow older, it becomes unreliable. Do not drink cold water-it will shut off the drive to drink more (www.athleteinme.com) . A good way to gauge your need to drink is to note the color of your urine-the darker it is the more fluids you need. This is a simple gauge and is very reliable.
A note about artesian wells: In Michigan, I have identified a few, and I am still researching more, to include those which are not so obvious. In communities where artesian wells are found, the water is freely available to anyone. The community members actually like the publicity.
However, if a severe national emergency arises, I can guarantee several things: the artesian wells will become key terrain overnight. Guards will be posted around them, and their use will be severely restricted. Outsiders will no longer be welcomed and the water could be impounded by local authorities as a critical asset.
My feelings about artesian wells during a national emergency: Ignore them. Go search other good water sources from rapid flowing stre
ams. You have a good water filter and water purifying tablets. You’re independent. Do not approach such localities. In a survival situation, you want to avoid confrontation as much as possible. You want to be invisible. Artesian water sites could become a battle zone, so avoid them at all cost.
Age, health and physical conditioning will affect the body’s use of water. For example, consider diabetes. When a diabetic is stressed, his/her blood sugar will rise. As the blood sugar rises, water will be pulled out of every cell, causing dehydration. The diabetic will urinate more, and as the stress continues, the blood sugar continues to rise placing the person in a dangerous loop.
Age has an affect on a person. As we grow older, our thirst center does not work as well, resulting in less water intake. The very old and the very young are prone to dehydration very quickly.
Physical conditioning: the better fit, the better you will utilize water and energy. Back to my example above on practicing dry runs; taking all the equipment you will need will not only increase your familiarization with the terrain, land navigation and equipment. It will also tax you physically. You will know, at the end of the exercise, how much water you used, how long it took to travel, and how tired you are.
Your physical fitness will determine your pace when you will have to move out for real. Plunging into the wilderness cold places you at an immense risk. For example, how many times do we hear about hunters dropping due to a heart attack during the opening day of deer season? Every single year. Why? Because they were not conditioned to the uneven terrain; planned poorly; didn’t drink enough water; and got physically exhausted because they were not used to being in a field condition.
I think physical condition ranks very high relating to hydration. We don’t have to be an Olympic Athlete. We just need to practice our plan when we have time and increase slowly our stamina by walking through the woods, at first without equipment, and slowly increasing the load.
There is nothing like testing out what we are capable of doing. Knowing ourselves before an actual national emergency will increase our confidence while giving us important information relating to our fluid needs. Everybody is different, and you cannot fit one person into one standard mold.
This concludes Medical Series Number Two. Until next time, Ed signing off.
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