Sanitation and First Aid When Water and Hospitals Are Stretched

If the water is off or sewers are backing up, do not flush. You can still use the toilet bowl lined with a heavy bag, or a 5 gallon bucket with a snap-on seat. Add a gelling agent, cat litter or sawdust after each use to absorb liquid and cut odor, tie the bag off, and store sealed bags in a lidded bin outside, away from any water source, until collection resumes.

Many families use two buckets, one for urine and one for solids, since urine is most of the volume and can usually be diluted and poured away from water sources, which keeps the solids bucket far drier and less smelly. Keep the toilet area ventilated and keep a pump bottle of hand sanitizer right next to it.

Wash hands with soap and water before handling food and after the toilet. When water is short, the CDC recommends hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol, though it does not work as well on visibly dirty hands. Store bar soap, sanitizer, unscented bleach for disinfecting surfaces, heavy trash bags, disposable gloves, wet wipes and feminine hygiene products.

Keep trash sealed and away from the house. Garbage pickup may stop, and piles attract rats and flies. Burn nothing that is plastic or treated.

A household kit should handle cuts, burns, sprains, splinters and infections. Add what kits usually lack: extra gauze and tape, an elastic bandage, a thermometer, pain relievers and fever reducers, antihistamines, antidiarrheal medicine and oral rehydration salts, antibiotic ointment and a pulse oximeter.

Severe bleeding is the injury that will not wait for help. A tourniquet and pressure dressing, plus a Stop the Bleed class from the American College of Surgeons program, let you act in the minutes that matter.

Prescription medicines are the hardest item to replace in a crisis. Ask your doctor about a 30 to 90 day supply, keep a written list of every medicine and dose, and store copies of prescriptions. For medicines that need refrigeration, plan on a small power station or a cooler. Spare glasses matter too.

If you live near a nuclear power plant, or worry about nuclear war, potassium iodide (KI) is often mentioned. Per the FDA and CDC, it protects only the thyroid gland and only from radioactive iodine. It does not protect against other radiation. Take it only when public health or emergency officials tell you to, at the dose on the package, since it can harm some people.

The bigger protection is shelter. Ready.gov's advice for a nuclear detonation is to get inside, stay inside and stay tuned: go to the center of a sturdy building or a basement, away from walls and roof, and stay there for at least 24 hours unless officials say otherwise. A battery radio is how you will hear when it is safe.