HOW TO STERILIZE A WOUND IN AN UNSTERILE ENVIRONMENT
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How to do it normally:
1) First wash your hands and around the wound site.
2) Wear latex gloves.
3) Sterilize any items that will come in contact with the wound.
4) Remove any debris with sterilized tools.
5) Irrigate the wound site with a saline solution.
6) Dress the wound in sterile bandages.
How to do it without the needed equipment:
1) Unable to wash your hands or the wound site? Simple, just pour or wipe your hands and the area around the wound with one of the following:
a) Alcohol (alcohol content 50% or higher)
b) 2% iodine tincture
c) 10% providone iodine solution
d) Hand sanitizer (alcohol content is 62-65%)
e) 1 part bleach / 10 parts water solution
f) Boiled down urine paste ( high uric acid content: The norse culture
would make uric paste from cow pee to prevent infection in battle wounds).
g) First morning urine (U.S. pow's used first morning pee to sterilize
wounds while held by the north koreans to prevent infections from minor
scratches and makeshift field surgery).
h) Gasoline ( is very caustic and should be wiped off after about a minute)
i) Heet antifreeze (has a high alcohol content)
j) Fuel injector cleaner (has a high alcohol content)
k) Octane booster (has a high alcohol content)
l) Fuel treatment (has a high alcohol content)
m) liquor (has a high alcohol content)
n) perfume / body spray / cologne / after shave (has a high alcohol content)
o) hydrogen peroxide
p) witch hazel (similar to alcohol)
q) soap (lye / glycerin)
2) Unable to wear latex gloves? Then just either sterilize your hands with one of the options above, dip your fingers in crisco, melted wax, trash bags or boil some socks then wear them as gloves.
3) Sterilize any items that will come in contact with the wound by one of the methods mentioned above or boil it for 5 minutes. When attempting to sterilize with any solution it must soak in the solution for 30 minutes or only 15 minutes in a bleach solution.
4) Remove any debris with sterilized tools, if you have no other choice then use your fingers or sterilized cloth/ plastic wrap/ plastic bag ect... as a barrier between your hands and the wound.
5) Irrigate the wound with a saline (1 part salt / to 5 parts water) solution. If you don't have a syringe to irrigate the wound then use any ziplock baggie, plastic bag, finger of a latex glove, balloon or similar material to hold the solution such as plastic wrap, make a deep pocket and fill it with the solution then twist it creating a pressurized pouch. Next just poke a hole in the pouch and squeeze forcing the jet of solution into the wound to wash out debris.
6) Dress the wound in sterile bandages. Use any type of natural cloth material sterilized by either boiling it for at least 15 minutes or soaking it in alcohol for an hour or in a bleach/water solution for about 5 minutes. Wring the excess liquid out and allow to dry either by heat, by solar radiation, or both by placing it on a
dark colored surface in direct sunlight for half an hour on both sides. If it is a deep wound requiring stitches then the bandage should be changed often, twice a day until the wound becomes closed then once a day. An alternative to bandages it to allow abrasions and such to air dry as they are less as likely as wet wounds to get infected but take longer to heal. Yet another way is to use ointment, crisco, chapstick, urine paste, honey(which has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties), bacon fat ect...ect...as a barrier from bacteria and allow the wound to stay moist so as to heal quicker with some type of material over the wound site to keep the ointment or substitute from wearing off such as cloth, plastic, paper, or green leaves. The best are combinations, using an ointment with sterile bandages.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
THE SODIS WATER DISINFECTION METHOD
THE SODIS WATER DISINFECTION METHOD
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SODIS stands for Solar Disinfection known as the solar water disinfection process. In short, the intense ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight shining through a nonopaque container filled with nonpotable water will irradiate and kill undesirable pathogens rendering the water safe to drink.
SODIS does not completely sterilize water of all critters, as it's primarily used to inactivate the pathogenic microorganisms that predominatly cause diarrhea. When the SODIS bottle is exposed to the sun, other harmless bacteria present in the water may keep growing. The SODIS method does not produce sterile water, as drinking water does not have to be sterile.
In a nutshell, the SODIS method involves filling up a clear, plastic, one- to two- quart container with nonpotable water. This bottle is then put into direct sunlight, on the roof of a house or elsewhere, for several hours until the ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight disinfects the water for drinking. More info on the subject can be found at the SODIS website at www.sodis.ch/ .
Concentrated sunlight is the name of the game so stay away from large containers with more then one- or two- quart (one liter) capacity. Don't use large containers.
Although clear soda bottles are not optimal for the SODIS method as they have a small area for exposure to sunlight, they are common and readily available in most places. Use only newer, clean, clear plastic containers with lids. Old, dinged, colored, tinted, opaque or scratched up ones will block UV radiation but they can be used to store disinfected water.
The best container to use are quart or gallon sized ziplock freezer baggies filled then laid flat as this offers more surface area and a thinner area for the UV to penetrate. Do not place the bags or bottles on top of flammable material such as hay or dried leaves and grasses as it can act as a magnifying glass and set fire to the material around it. Place it in a place that will receive full sunlight during the peak time of the day and not in a place that will be shaded during those times. The bottles should be laid on their sides increasing the area of exposure.
The water should be filtered of particulates prior to the SODIS treatment as they will impede the UV's ability to penetrate and kill harmful pathogens. The SODIS method can render microbiologically contaminated water that has been in contact with human feces potable.
The bottles/baggies need to be exposed to full sunlight for 6 hours in up to 50% cloudy skies to ensure the water is biologically safe. If it is from 50% to 80% cloudy allow them to sit for an additional 2 hours, if up to 100% cloudy then allow them to sit for 2 consecutive cloudy days. During days of continuous rain, don't use SODIS, as it's not reliable. SODIS does have a few limitations. It doesn't work for treating large amounts of water in one container and it requires suitable weather conditions for effectiveness.
The person responsible for disinfecting the water should take the job seriously, screw up this one, especially with limited medical help after a crisis, and you could help slowly kill yourself or a loved one from dysentery.
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SODIS stands for Solar Disinfection known as the solar water disinfection process. In short, the intense ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight shining through a nonopaque container filled with nonpotable water will irradiate and kill undesirable pathogens rendering the water safe to drink.
SODIS does not completely sterilize water of all critters, as it's primarily used to inactivate the pathogenic microorganisms that predominatly cause diarrhea. When the SODIS bottle is exposed to the sun, other harmless bacteria present in the water may keep growing. The SODIS method does not produce sterile water, as drinking water does not have to be sterile.
In a nutshell, the SODIS method involves filling up a clear, plastic, one- to two- quart container with nonpotable water. This bottle is then put into direct sunlight, on the roof of a house or elsewhere, for several hours until the ultraviolet radiation from the sunlight disinfects the water for drinking. More info on the subject can be found at the SODIS website at www.sodis.ch/ .
Concentrated sunlight is the name of the game so stay away from large containers with more then one- or two- quart (one liter) capacity. Don't use large containers.
Although clear soda bottles are not optimal for the SODIS method as they have a small area for exposure to sunlight, they are common and readily available in most places. Use only newer, clean, clear plastic containers with lids. Old, dinged, colored, tinted, opaque or scratched up ones will block UV radiation but they can be used to store disinfected water.
The best container to use are quart or gallon sized ziplock freezer baggies filled then laid flat as this offers more surface area and a thinner area for the UV to penetrate. Do not place the bags or bottles on top of flammable material such as hay or dried leaves and grasses as it can act as a magnifying glass and set fire to the material around it. Place it in a place that will receive full sunlight during the peak time of the day and not in a place that will be shaded during those times. The bottles should be laid on their sides increasing the area of exposure.
The water should be filtered of particulates prior to the SODIS treatment as they will impede the UV's ability to penetrate and kill harmful pathogens. The SODIS method can render microbiologically contaminated water that has been in contact with human feces potable.
The bottles/baggies need to be exposed to full sunlight for 6 hours in up to 50% cloudy skies to ensure the water is biologically safe. If it is from 50% to 80% cloudy allow them to sit for an additional 2 hours, if up to 100% cloudy then allow them to sit for 2 consecutive cloudy days. During days of continuous rain, don't use SODIS, as it's not reliable. SODIS does have a few limitations. It doesn't work for treating large amounts of water in one container and it requires suitable weather conditions for effectiveness.
The person responsible for disinfecting the water should take the job seriously, screw up this one, especially with limited medical help after a crisis, and you could help slowly kill yourself or a loved one from dysentery.
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