NBCS
kit
The
preparations for all these things are similar
Last updated 30oct23
Notice
Copyright 2005-2023 Ken
Young (http://www.DinoDudes.com).
All
rights reserved.
This document may be
freely redistributed for educational purposes at no charge in
unaltered form.
This information is for
educational purposes only. There is no guarantee of any kind that it
is accurate, or that no harm will come to anyone who uses it.
This information is
provided on an "as is" basis with absolutely no warranty or guarantee.
The information is not necessarily correct, complete, or suitable for
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from using this information, you assume responsibility for all damages
and injuries. In no event shall the copyright holder, or any other
party, be liable for compensation or damages arising from the use,
misuse, failure to use, or inability to use this information.
Be
prepared
- Know your NBCs
N
- Nuclear accidents &
fallout
B
- Biological agents &
epidemics
C
- Chemical spills & agents
S
- Skunk stench removal (and
poison oak neutralizer)
Nuclear
accidents & fallout (dust is bad)
Radiological accidents, reactor meltdowns,
terrorist "dirty" bombs, and nuclear weapons all generate nuclear fallout.
It is mixed with dust and drifts downwind. Beware of rain, which brings
down fallout.
Leave the affected area immediately. If
you cannot leave the area in time, take shelter for at least 30 minutes so
the worst blows over.
Wear goggles and a respirator. Shower often, and wash your hands &
face before eating drinking, or touching food. Consume only bottled water
& canned food.
The single most dangerous component of
fallout is Iodine-131. Iodine pills protect you from it (and nothing
else). Most of the I-131 from the incident is gone in a month.
- Always have some unopened liquid
soap on hand that can be used to shower and shampoo.
- Own goggles that seal against your
face, one for everybody.
- Own respirators, two for everybody.
A respirator is a dust mask with two strings.
- Own an affordable air purifier.
- If you want to keep iodine pills,
have enough to last everybody a month. Replace them when they expire.
- Shower before going to bed because
of the hair-pillow-nose route.
Biological
agents & pandemics (germs are bad)
Update:
Covid-19 seems to spread mostly by air. Masks plus 2-meter/6-foot social
distancing seem to be pretty good protection.
Pandemics and other biological agents spread from person to person. You
can breathe airborne pathogens, but the most common way to be infected is
to touch something contaminated and then touch your face. Doorknobs and
water faucets are notorious because people touch them all day long and
they are rarely sterilized.
While a virus is smaller than the holes in
cheap respirators, airborne diseases are often spread through droplets
from coughs & sneezes. Respirators protect against aerosols. They also
keep you from touching your mouth and nose, which is even more important.
A scarf or handkerchief over your
mouth isn't as good, but is better than nothing.
Goggles keep you from touching your eyes, and also protect you from
aerosols landing in your eyes. Wrap-around sunglasses can keep you from
touching your eyes if you don't have goggles.
Wash your hands before taking off your mask or goggles.
Use alcohol to sterilize things that get
touched a lot, like handles, knobs, pulls, and switches. Sterilize them
frequently. A gellied alcohol hand sanitizer is just as good, and can act
as a waterless hand-wash.
Wash your hands frequently. Soap &
water kills viruses, but you need to wash your hands for at least 20
seconds for it to work.
Keep your hands away from your face,
and don't pick your nose.
Limit exposure to other people and wear
a respirator when you cant.
Run your air purifier continuously.
Floodwater usually contains sewage and it
renders food, pots, and dishes unsafe. Wash thoroughly and then disinfect
for 15 minutes by bleach or boiling. If you touch something that touched
floodwater, and later eat before washing your hands, you may get violently
ill.
- Always have a full bottle of 90%
alcohol on hand to sterilize things. Soap works in a pinch. Bleach,
ammonia, & peroxide work as well as alcohol, but can corrode or
discolor things.
- Own respirators, a box for
everybody. A respirator is a dust mask with two strings. Epidemics can
last a while, and a few masks may not be enough.
- Own goggles that seal against your
face, one for everybody.
- Own an affordable air purifier.
- Own vitamins that are not expired.
Good vitamins. Take them every day when concerned.
- Shower before going to bed because
of the hair-pillow-nose route.
Chemical
accidents & agents (air is bad)
Chemicals in powder, liquid, or gas form
can get into the air and cause havoc. Stay indoors or leave the affected
area immediately. Wear a respirator. Run your air purifier continuously.
Do not turn on anything that sucks air from outside. A bathroom exhaust
fan sucks air into your house to replace the air it blows out. So does the
one over the stove.
Some chemicals remain on surfaces. Bleach
decontaminates most chemicals, and peroxide is almost as good. Physical
removal with soapy water will do in a pinch (adding baking soda to the
soapy water helps).
Firefighting chemicals cover
food-preparation surfaces and require decontamination before preparing
food. Peroxide is the best decontaminant for this.
Shower as soon as you are out of the contaminated area.
Put on your mask and goggles before going outside to leave the
contaminated area.
- Always have some unopened bleach on
hand to decontaminate things. Soapy water works in a pinch.
- Own respirators, two for everybody.
A respirator is a dust mask with two strings.
- Own goggles that seal against your
face, one for everybody.
- Own an affordable air purifier.
- Shower before going to bed because
of the hair-pillow-nose route.
Skunk
stench
removal (stink is bad)
Tomato juice does not remove skunk stench
well (it is not acidic enough). Skunk stench is an oil, so is attacked by
acids and oxidizers. Bleach & peroxide are good oxidizers.
If the stink is not on you, wear gloves
and protective clothing. If it is on you, the clothes can be saved.
- Put a quart of hydrogen peroxide
into a bucket.
- Add a teaspoon or two of dish soap
and swish it around with a sponge until it dissolves.
- Add a small box of baking soda
(which will foam like crazy).
- Start sponging the stink off,
because the baking soda will only foam for a few minutes.
- Allow it to soak in for 5 minutes
before rinsing.
The dish soap lifts out the stench so the
other ingredients can get at it. The peroxide chemically attacks and
neutralizes the stench. The baking soda mops up whatever is left.
Bleach is almost as good as peroxide, and
vinegar is better than nothing. Both bleach and peroxide can discolor
things.
This mixture neutralizes poison
oak if applied before it soaks into the skin. The bad stuff in
poison oak is another oil.
This mixture takes pepper spray
off your skin, but don't put it in your
eyes. First get the pepper spray off your hands and face with
neutralizer, then you can flush it out of your eyes with lots of water.
Keep these ingredients outside, and buy
them before you need them. You will not want to go into your house or
drive your car for them.
- A bucket & sponge
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in
moisture-proof packaging
- Dish soap
Remove lingering skunk stench from your
house or car with bowls of vinegar, pans of ground coffee, or trays of
baking soda.
Some liquid soaps contain an ingredient
that can liberate a little chlorine gas from bleach. If the solution makes
you cough, don't breathe it.
Wonderful
bleach
- Bleach sterilizes surfaces from
biological agents
- Bleach decontaminates surfaces from
most chemicals
- Dilute pure bleach 10:1 for a milder
bleach that still sterilizes and decontaminates without ruining
things.
- Use 1/4 teaspoon of unscented bleach
to sterilize a gallon of drinking water. Mix & wait 30 minutes.
Add 6 more drops & wait again if you can't smell the bleach. The
fragrance in some scented bleaches is poisonous.
- Bleach can react with other
household cleaners, producing chlorine gas. They used it to kill
people in world war I. Do not store bleach in the same cabinet with
other chemicals or cleaners (other than laundry products). Bleach is
best stored low.
- Accidentally drinking bleach
happens. Don't panic. The symptoms of drinking too much straight
bleach are vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, etc.
Ozone
generators are bad
Ozone generators are effective air
fresheners. They can also cause health problems when used long-term. Ozone
ages rubber rapidly, so repair bills for everything you own can bleed you
white.
Prefer an air purifier with a filter
rather than an ozone generator.
Background
information
- BioChem agents are chemicals
produced by biological organisms. Examples include botulism toxin,
poison oak and skunk juice.
- Always wash your hair, beard, &
mustache before bed if exposed to an NBCS agent. Your hair absorbs
this junk and transfers it to your pillow. Then you breathe it all
night long.
Your
indoor NBCS supplies
- An affordable air purifier with
spare filter
- A small box of respirators for
everyone (a respirator is a dust mask with two strings)
- Goggles that seal against your face,
one for everybody
- Unscented bleach (always keep an
unopened jug around)
- Alcohol (90% or better)
- Iodine pills (optional)
Your
outdoor NBCS supplies
- A bucket (the rest of the stuff fits
in the bucket)
- Two one-quart bottles of hydrogen
peroxide
- Two small boxes of baking soda, in
waterproof packaging
- A small bottle of dish soap
- A sponge, in waterproof packaging