Cascadia Preparedness

  The Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine has made a free PDF copy of the 1987 updated and expanded edition of Cresson H. Kearny's book " Nuclear War Survival Skills " (NWSS). While nuclear war may not be a current preparedness priority, NWSS contains valuable information for survival following other disasters. Ch. 1: The Dangers from Nuclear Weapons: Myths and Facts Ch. 2: Warnings and Communications Ch. 3: Psychological Preparations Ch. 4: Evacuation Ch. 5: Shelter, the Greatest Need Ch. 6: Ventilation and Cooling of Shelters Ch. 7: Protection Against Fires and Carbon Monoxide Ch. 8: Water Ch. 9: Food Ch. 10: Fallout Radiation Meters Ch. 11: Light Ch. 12: Shelter Sanitation and Preventive Medicine Ch. 13: Surviving Without Doctors Ch. 14: Expedient Shelter Furnishings Ch. 15: Improvised Clothing and Protective Items Ch. 16: Minimum Pre-Crisis Preparations Ch. 17: Permanent Family Fallout Shelters for Dual Use Ch. 18: Trans-Pacific Fallout Ready.Gov has additional ...

The Army has published a manual (Advanced Situational Awareness. TC 3-22.69 (April 2021)) that contains information on how soldiers can train their senses to new levels of awareness, enabling them to almost unconsciously perceive small details about their surroundings in a near-superhuman manner.  Other sections of the circular describe how cultural anthropology, the study of world religions, and even Gestalt psychology, can be leveraged in U.S. Army training in order to make soldiers into what some might call "warrior monks" with near-preternatural deductive reasoning ability.   Advanced Situational Awareness is worth reading. While focused on Soldiers, this manual provides information that is of use to anyone who might find themselves in a hostile or non-permissive environment. Download the manual from the Army Publication Site here.

  The CPJ Journalist Security Guide outlines basic preparedness for new journalists taking on their first assignments around the world... covering the following topics: 1. Basic Preparedness 2. Assessing and Responding to Risk 3. Technology Security 4. Armed Conflict 5. Organized Crime and Corruption 6. Civil Matters and Disturbances 7. Natural Disasters 9. Sustained Risks 10. Stress Reactions But, you don't have to be an international journalist to find something useful in this guide. Even here in Cascadia, the information contained in the CPJ Journalist Security Guide can help you be better prepared to deal with the unexpected.

While the danger from winter weather varies across the country, nearly all Americans, regardless of where they live, are likely to face some type of severe winter weather at some point in their lives. Winter storms can range from a moderate snow over a few hours to a blizzard with blinding, wind-driven snow that lasts for several days. Many winter storms are accompanied by dangerously low temperatures and sometimes by strong winds, icing, sleet and freezing rain. One of the primary concerns is the winter weather's ability to knock out heat, power and communications services to your home or office, sometimes for days at a time. Heavy snowfall and extreme cold can immobilize an entire region. The National Weather Service refers to winter storms as the "Deceptive Killers" because most deaths are indirectly related to the storm. Instead, people die in traffic accidents on icy roads and of hypothermia from prolonged exposure to cold. It is important to be prepared for winter w...

Zim is a graphical text editor used to maintain a collection of wiki pages. Each page can contain links to other pages, simple formatting and images. Pages are stored in a folder structure, like in an outliner, and can have attachments. Creating a new page is as easy as linking to a nonexistent page. All data is stored in plain text files with wiki formatting. Various plugins provide additional functionality, like a task list manager, an equation editor, a tray icon, and support for version control. Zim can be used to:     Keep an archive of notes     Keep a daily or weekly journal     Take notes during meetings or lectures     Organize task lists     Draft blog entries and emails     Do brainstorming Zim handles several types of markup, like headings, bullet lists and of course bold, italic and highlighted. This markup is saved as wiki text so you can easily edit it with other editors. Because of...

The Cascade Volcanoes (also known as the Cascade Volcanic Arc or the Cascade Arc) are a number of volcanoes in a volcanic arc in western North America, extending from southwestern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California, a distance of well over 700 miles (1,100 km). The arc formed due to subduction along the Cascadia subduction zone. Although taking its name from the Cascade Range, this term is a geologic grouping rather than a geographic one, and the Cascade Volcanoes extend north into the Coast Mountains, past the Fraser River which is the northward limit of the Cascade Range proper. The Cascade Volcanoes are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. The Cascade Volcanoes have erupted several times in recorded history. Two most recent were Lassen Peak in 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. It is also the site of Canada's most recent major eruption about 2,350 ...

Daryl R. Miller, a Retired Mountaineering Ranger at Denali National Park, included some of his thoughts on survival in an article published on the National Park Service web-site (March 5, 2020):  We have re-posted Ranger Miller's bullet points here, and recommend that you read his thought-provoking article in toto. * Everyone has a personal responsibility to maintain self-sufficiency in the wilderness and should always base decisions on getting back on their own.      * Your best resource is the ability to think in a controlled manner when a life-threatening crisis is happening.      * Prevention, not treatment, is what ultimately will save your life in the wilderness. There is a notable difference between a gamble and a calculated risk. A calculated risk considers all the odds, justifies the risk, and then makes an intelligent decision based on conservative judgment. A gamble is something over which you have no control and the outcome is just a roll ...

The RECCO reflector makes you searchable to the rescuers. RECCO reflectors are lightweight passive transponders which require no power or activation to function. They consist of a diode and an antenna. RECCO reflectors are integrated in products from more than 150 brands, including jackets, pants, helmets, backpacks, back protectors, boots, transceivers, watches and harnesses. Reflectors are also available as single products to be attached to Helmets and Backpacks or within our own RECCO Belts RECCO reflectors are designed to last a lifetime and do not age or wear out. If not mechanically damaged they will last forever. How it works: 1. The RECCO detector emits a directional radar signal, like the beam of a flashlight. 2. When the radar signal hits the RECCO reflector, it is echoed back to the detector and points the rescuer in the direction of the victim. 3. The closer the detector gets to the reflector the stronger the returned-signal, ultimately allowing the rescuer to pinpoint the...

Some disasters, like lightning strikes, home fires and windstorms can occur anywhere. Others, like earthquakes and hurricanes are more common in certain regions. The Pacific Northwest is home to many potential natural disasters, including wildfires, winter storms, flooding, and even a large earthquake or tsunami threat. According to the American Red Cross , if you live in the Pacific West (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California or Hawaii). You're at high risk of: Earthquakes - Practice DROP, COVER and HOLD ON with everyone in your household. Wildfires - Sign up for the emergency notification systems that your community uses. Be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice, and keep an emergency kit in your car. Listen to local radio and television for the latest on safe evacuation routes. Hurricanes (Hawaii) - Keep an emergency kit on hand, and create an evacuation plan for your household, including pets. Volcanoes - Keep a dust mask and goggles on hand for every member of your...

Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) is an international standard that has been defined for two-way radios. PNWDigital is an open Amateur Radio IPSC Network dedicated to maximizing DMR use in the Pacific Northwest using MotoTRBO repeaters and c-Bridges. All repeaters and networking are privately owned and funded solely by a handful of our members. The PNW DMR network is a system of open use DMR repeaters located in the Pacific Northwest. The PNW c-Bridge currently supports 35 plus MotoTRBO repeaters with 24 in Washington, 10 in Oregon and 1 in Idaho. They also have deployed several c-Bridges, an echo server and 8 MMDVM servers for additional repeater and hotSpot support. Where possible, the repeaters are IP linked via HamWAN, a private RF based IP backbone network. Some repeaters have dual IP sources with failover protection. BridgeCom Systems, Inc. is a major supplier of DMR radios. They have a short YouTube video "What is Digital Mobile Radio (DMR)? A Quick Introduction to DMR" tha...

Sprouts are the young shoots from the germinated seeds of vegetables, beans, and grains. Some sprouts are eaten fresh and raw, others including all grain and starchy bean sprouts should be cooked before eating. For example, avoid sprouting kidney beans for raw eating. They contain a toxin that causes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in many folks. If you do choose to sprout kidney beans, make sure to boil the finished sprouts for at least 10 minutes before consuming them. Sprouts are a source of vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, folate, flavonoids, amino acids, and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Sprouting increases the concentrations of vitamins and minerals within the seed, making them more available and absorbable. Sprouts are one of the easiest foods you can grow indoors. They require barely any space—if you can fit a Mason jar on your counter, then you have enough space. You don’t need any special equipment. WikiHow provides step-by-step instructions on how to s...

A.A.M Direct ( http://aamdirect.sourceforge.net/ ) is a newsgroup reader and posting program whereby two or more people can communicate through the alt.anonymous.messages newsgroup. A.A.M Direct might be better explained and understood to be a type of email system whereby two or more people can communicate privately (and anonymously) without having to open and use an email account.  The message text is automatically encrypted and transmitted by a secure TLS connection to a free news group server and placed out in the alt.anonymous.messages newsgroup under a continuously changing encrypted subject line. The program is also used to download all messages from the alt.anonymous.messages newsgroup and search out and display the messages sent to you. There is no definitive way for two communicating parties to be linked together with this system.     Download AAMDirectII from SourceForge ( https://sourceforge.net/projects/aamdirect/files/ ) You should download the updated .zip ...

The National Weather Service (NWS) FTPMAIL Server is intended to allow Internet access for users who do not have direct access to the World Wide Web but who are equipped with an e-mail system [such as someone using WinLink from a field location]. The service is free and no signup is required.  Using FTPMAIL, users can request files from NWS and have them automatically e-mailed back.  Turnaround is generally less than one hour, however, performance may vary widely and the NWS cannot guarantee receipt. Before disaster strikes, go to your search engine of choice and search for NWS Weather Forecast Zones. It should take you here ( https://www.weather.gov/pimar/PubZone ). Choose your state and download a copy of the map(s) you want. If you are in Pierce County, WA and want the forecast for Western Washington, open the Washington map and you will see that the zone for Pierce/Lewis County is 569.   This is where it gets a little confusing, but basically if you copy and paste th...

Special Operations Forces (SOF) Operators need a variety of individual medical items that can generally be broken down into three types of medical kits: a major trauma kit, to treat major traumatic wounds; an inuse medical kit, to prevent or treat anticipated common medical conditions during operations; and a survival medical kit, to treat minor injuries and ailments when in a survival/evasion situation. These two articles discuss Special Operations Individual Medical Equipment and can also serve as a reference for those of us who spend a lot of time in remote and wilderness areas: Special Operations Individual Medical Equipment, Part I - The Major Trauma Kit Special Operations Individual Medical Equipment, Part II - The In-Use and Survival Medical Kits While having a good first aid kit is important, having the knowledge to use it is essential. We previously discussed some on-line courses that can help you develop or refresh your first aid knowledge. When building your first aid / m...

Ready Gov Disaster Master Game Help the Heroes! Will you know what to do? Make the right decisions and earn points to unlock new levels. But watch out! The wrong choice could end the game. Step into the heart of the action and help the team face everything from home fires to earthquakes! Ready Gov has an interactive graphic novel (on-line game) to help children learn how to be safe during a disaster. We believe that it is essential to involve children in family disaster preparedness and planning. The Disaster Master Game is one way to help children learn about disaster preparedness. Other Kids games from Ready Gov The Disaster Game or “Lights Out”! - American Red Cross The Natural Disasters Puzzle Book Ready - Set - Prepare Activity Book   How The Smart Family Survived a Tsunami   Mickey & Friends Disaster Preparedness Activity Book ( Join Cascadia Preparedness on Facebook )

According to a KOMO 4 News report: Two missing Oregon women were found in an Idaho forest Friday, the mother dead from the elements and the disabled daughter alive with their broken-down vehicle. KATU News confirms a hunter discovered the mother’s body in the Solitaire Saddle area of the Panhandle National Forest and reported it to the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office at 11:45 a.m. Friday. Authorities then discovered the broken-down vehicle nearby with the other woman still alive. The sheriff’s office said the women were driving to Utah and following a navigation system when they got lost in the northern Idaho forest. Kootenai County authorities said the mother attempted to walk out to get help, but died as a result of exposure to the elements. They were reported missing from Pendleton, Oregon on Wednesday. Authorities say that the incident is still under investigation, however, at this time, "it does not appear to be suspicious in nature." Becoming stranded on a remote fore...

    CJCS Guide 5260 - A Self-Help Guide to Antiterrorism (June 10, 2013) states: "deploying personnel should assemble and carry Personal Survival Kits. -- "Creating and carrying a personal survival kit will augment any issued survival equipment in order to help an isolated person survive. Individuals must personalize their survival kits for the operating environment. Consider including the following items in a personal survival kit: water, shade tarp, [weapon and] ammunition, radio, personal locator beacon (PLB), satellite phone, commercial tracking device, maps, compass, and emergency signaling devices, local purchase cell phone, sun block, insect repellent, head net, space blanket, burlap, poncho, a mirror, infrared (IR) and visible lights (e.g.: Fire Flies, laser pointer, Micro Lights, Phoenix, chemical lights, etc.), 3’x3’ bright colored cloth, 1 sq. inch of glint tape, knife or multi-tool, fire starter, candle, button compass, water purification tablets, three 1-gallon...

Winlink Global Radio Email (https://www.winlink.org/) is a network of amateur radio and authorized government-licensed stations that provides worldwide radio email using radio pathways where the internet is not present. The system is built, operated and administered entirely by licensed "Ham" volunteers. It supports email with attachments, position reporting, weather and information bulletins, and is well-known for its role in interoperable emergency and disaster relief communications. It is capable of operating completely without the internet--automatically--using smart-network radio relays. OH8STN Ham Radio demonstrates Winlink for preparedness in two YouTube videos: Winlink Email to Gmail | Ham Radio for Preparedness Winlink Email P2P | Ham Radio for Preparedness Winlink can be used to exchange email over both HF and VHF/UHF radio frequencies, so it is available to entry level (Technician) amateur radio operators, as well as operators authorized HF privileges. It provides ...

We previously mentioned that Amateur (Ham) Radio is one of the most effective means of maintaining communication without the need to rely on commercial communications infrastructure. Ham radio is also a great hobby as well as providing an alternate means of communication during your regular daily activities. Here in Cascadia (the Pacific Northwest) it is very common to have good access to a radio repeater in areas where cellular access is poor or non-existent. One very useful service available to any licensed Ham is the Hamshack Hotline , a dedicated Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) network that is free to amateur radio operators around the world. The goal of the Hamshack Hotline is not to replace the traffic that is carried over RF, but rather augment it when conditions are diminished or otherwise busy. To set up Hamshack Hotline you must be a licensed Ham radio operator, and you must have a compatible Cisco SIP phone (current acceptable phone models are Cisco SPA-303, SPA-504, SP...

  Information from the Cascadia Preparedness Blog is cross-posted to the Cascadia Preparedness Group on Facebook .  Please join us on Facebook to participate in the preparedness conversation.

With over 55,000 medical articles, WikiMed Offline Medical Wikpedia is the largest and most comprehensive collection of health-related articles available. It includes content on diseases, medication, anatomy, and sanitation. If you do not always have guaranteed Internet access, e.g. in the developing world, while traveling, or on a boat in the middle of nowhere, you can now access one of the foremost and up-to-date medical en cyclopaedias, for free. The information in WikiMed has been selected from Wikipedia by WikiProject Medicine. As an encyclopedic medical dictionary, WikiMed is perfect for practicing physicians, as well as medical and other healthcare students. However, Wikipedia is not a doctor and does not give medical advice. The information provided in this app is for the purposes of education and research only. This app works entirely offline. It contains thousands of articles including images, so its archive is large (1.2 Gigabytes). We recommend that mobile users install it...

“With no antibiotics there would be no treatment for bacterial infections; pneumonia or a simple cut could kill again, contagious diseases (including those sexually transmitted) would make a come back, and high mortality rates would be associated with any surgery. Poor hygiene and disrupted water supplies would lead to an increase in diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Without vaccines there would be a progressive return in infectious diseases such as polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, mumps, etc. especially among children. People suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy would be severely affected with many dying (especially insulin-dependent diabetics). There would be no anesthetic agents resulting in return to tortuous surgical procedures with the patient awake or if they were lucky drunk or stoned. The same would apply to painkillers; a broken leg would be agony, and dying of cancer would be distressing for the patient and their family. Witho...

NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office. NWR broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. NWR includes more than 1000  transmitters, covering all 50 states, adjacent coastal waters, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Pacific Territories. Broadcasts are found in the VHF public service band at these seven frequencies (MHz): 162.400 MHz    162.425 MHz    162.450 MHz    162.475 MHz    162.500 MHz    162.525 MHz    162.550 MHz Many radios come with these NWR frequencies pre-programmed. If you have a radio that allows you to program additional frequencies, you can add these frequencies to allow you to receive local weather information, regardless of where you are in the United S...

Announcing "a new plan to require more Americans to be vaccinated to combat those blocking public health," Biden on Sept. 9 rolled out his administration's Path Out of the Pandemic program, which aims to increase the vaccination rate by requiring shots across public and private sectors. Here's who's required to be vaccinated under the plan: Employers with 100 or more employees will be required to have their employees either be fully vaccinated or get tested weekly to come to work. Biden said the Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration would implement the requirements that will affect more than 80 million workers.   Federal workers and employees of contractors that do business with the federal government will be required to be vaccinated. The Department of Health and Human Services will require vaccinations in Head Start Programs, as well as schools run by the Department of Defense and the Bureau of Indian Education. Workers in healt...