Read SEAL Survival Guide Online
Authors: Cade Courtley
SEAL Survival Guide (61 page)
Think of the requirements both for physical well-being and to counteract the psychological effects of long-term isolation. Those who practiced hardening up will be able to deal with a dramatic reduction of normal amenities. To fully prepare your dwelling and stockpile all the necessary supplies, check government lists issued by FEMA and other organizations that itemize the supplies needed for long-term isolation. In such emergencies, those who hesitate will go without.
If you failed to previously stockpile the above items and are forced to venture out to seek supplies, understand that there will be a lot of very scared and desperate people on the streets doing the same thing, some of whom will undoubtedly be infected with the virus or bacterial pathogen. In addition to all of the previous instructions, keep in mind that you may need to fight to get and keep your supplies. Do what you can to maintain distance from those around you. Once you return from your supply run, wipe everything down with bleach wipes and place what you’ve gathered in the sun. The UV rays will damage the virus’s DNA, killing anything still on the surface.
Among the more difficult missions SEALs perform are reconnaissance/surveillance ops. These require tremendous discipline: little sleep, no movement, no noise, eating only MREs (meals ready to eat), and the occasional shit/piss in a container (pack it in, pack it out—we were never here). Five days of this, and you are absolutely wiped out. So imagine three months of a similar existence, and you will come to understand the concept of mental toughness. Practice it now—it will keep you alive.
Your Crew
Now that you are indoors, keep a very close eye on one another. Someone who has been infected may not show symptoms for three to six days but will still be contagious. This group you are with is considered the
safety group.
Until the all-clear has been given, these should be the
only
people you interact with. Anyone outside that group, like a next-door neighbor, has the ability to infect the group. Again, maintain your isolation and social distancing. If someone in your unit is noticeably sick, then they have to be contained for the greater good of the whole. This will be a tough call if your crew is your family, even though expulsion of the sickened individual from the sheltered environment would, in reality, be the best call. You could, instead, try creating a secondary isolation room within the shelter for those loved ones or members of your team you find impossible to send off.
When You’re the Sick One
If you are sick with symptoms of the pandemic, isolate yourself for at least twenty-four hours, especially if you have a fever. The World Health Organization recommends having the drugs Tamiflu and Relenza on hand, which are used to treat many flulike illnesses; these antiviral drugs could kick in to offer some resistance. If you put on a respirator, trying to protect those around you, make sure it’s a mask
without a valve, because otherwise it will not filter the infected air you exhale. Don’t let anyone use your utensils or linens. In the event the pandemic has reached monumental portions and your chances of recovery are nil, make a decision about whether or not you should leave the safe shelter. If you’re grouped with family, for example, they will likely protest your departure. However, bravery comes in many forms; if you stay, not only will you die, but you’ll likely infect those you love.
Sickroom
When someone gets sick, it’s important to isolate them from the rest of the group. The best thing to do is to choose a corner room that will be the designated
sickroom.
If you have power, place a box fan in a window facing outward so that it pushes the air out of the room. This will create a negative-pressure room that will pull good air in from the house and push the contaminated air outside. Next, seal all of the other windows and doors in the room. Use precut plastic for each window and seal with tape. Don’t forget the gaps at thresholds. Cover air-conditioner and heater vents. Finally, you will still need to care for the sick, so create a double barrier at the entry of this room, enabling you to enter and exit while maintaining isolation. This can be done by hanging two sets of trash bags or shower curtains from the ceiling above the door, which will drape down all the way to the floor. You want to fasten these plastics sheets or trash bags so that the door, doorframe gaps, and threshold are all covered. When entering or leaving the room, you will travel through only one set of barriers at a time.
Homemade Protective Gear
When you must have contact with the sick, make sure you limit your exposure. Additionally, you need to wear a protective suit that can be made from items in the house. Start by putting on long sleeves and long pants. Place a rain poncho or several trash bags over the top. A shower cap will protect the head and hair, and the use of dishwashing
gloves will protect the hands. Wear a mask or a rag that has been sprinkled or minimally dipped in bleach before you slowly enter the room. Don’t drench the mask in bleach because concentrated chlorine fumes could be harmful. Yet, this will offer a good barrier from inhaling contagions. Again, minimize the exposure time, and just prior to leaving the room, wipe down with bleach wipes anything that could have touched the victim.
SIX FEET UNDER
The colloquialism for burial “six feet under” refers to the measurement of depth that is supposed to be ideal for properly burying a body, though six feet is actually excessive. Covering a body with three feet of earth is sufficient to halt the spread of disease, even if, at this shallower depth, there is a chance that scavenger dogs or animals might reexpose the corpse. The Vikings and a number of Native Americans placed the dead on raised platforms and then covered them with soil, primarily for religious beliefs. Nevertheless, the contagions emitted by a decaying body on a raised platform are less harmful than merely covering the body with a heap of stones, for example. During a pandemic, it would take too much time exposed to the environment to dispose of bodies in deep graves. In any regard, the site for the burial should be at the farthest point from the dwelling or safe house, and not near wells or potential water supplies. Determining the farthest point would be dependent on where you lived, and how safe it was to venture from your safe house. If you lived in a Brooklyn row house with a backyard, for example, it would still be better to bury the body at the farthest point from the house than to dig a grave in the basement.
Handling the Dead
Unfortunately, with a disaster as widespread as future pandemics are predicted to be, there will be a very high mortality rate. Morgues will be maxed out, and places like ice rinks and refrigerated warehouses will be used for dead body storage. If your sick friend has passed away, you are going to have to deal with the body. A dead body can’t be left
to decompose, because the bacteria can cause health problems for everyone else. Wrap the body in plastic and move it to a location far away from you. Wear as much protective gear as you have available before doing so. Bury the body at a depth of six feet if you can, but at least three feet if that’s not possible. Mark the grave site for possible future identification and/or services. As mentioned above, if the victim was killed by a disease as contagious as the Ebola virus, cremation would be the only option to halt the spread of the infection.
RIOTS AND STAMPEDES
Riots are any unruly acts of civil unrest caused by an assembled group that result in violence against people and property. Riots can start with an organized call to assemble to protest perceived grievances or to express opinions, though they can suddenly turn disorderly for any number of reasons. Sometimes riots begin as a seemingly spontaneous outpouring of people onto the streets, though signs of potential trouble simmer for some time before it boils over into violence. However, once an organized march, for example, transforms into a violent and uncontrollable mob, another dynamic takes over, which some refer to as “herd mentality.” A mob creates its own whirlpool and rapidly draws others into acting aggressively or rebelliously.
Leadership can get bystanders to step up in a positive way, but negative behavior is even more contagious. One person throws a garbage can through a plate-glass window, and like a match dropped into a crate of ammunition, the situation explodes as others follow and a riot is born. There are no rules in a riot; it is an example of humanity without laws, where robbery, assault, and manslaughter are committed openly.