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Ox8 Comments


SURVIVING EXTREME HEAT & POWER OUTAGES

We’re to the part of the summer when the heat seems to be one of the big news
stories. Conveniently, everyone seems to forget that it gets hot EVERY summer,
so it makes good news.

Heat is not new.  Heat is not unique to the US.

Along with heat comes power outages, primarily from increased air conditioner
use and it’s common to get local and regional brown-outs and
black-outs…especially when wildfires start taking out power lines.

The media loves this time of year. They can interview hot people, talk about
where power is out and when it will come back on, and talk about all the people
dying and being hospitalized from the heat.  They use a hyperbolic focus on
ordinary seasonal events to whip people into a frenzy and advance their agendas.

As our population and electrical infrastructure ages, this is going to be a
bigger and bigger issue. Throw in a local or regional disaster, and it’s an
issue that almost everyone needs to have a plan for.

I want to start with heat related deaths and say that for the most part, they
are a creation of the media…but not totally.

It actually makes me mad when I hear talk about people dying from the heat. It’s
not only inaccurate, but it plants the idea in people’s heads that they might
die simply because it’s hot out–as if 100 degrees in NYC, Eugene, or Seattle, is
that much worse than 120 degrees in Phoenix, Australia, or the Middle East.

In the majority of cases where people die from the heat in urban areas, the
deaths are completely unnecessary and avoidable.  It’s much more accurate to say
that these people died from a lack of knowledge, rather than from the heat and a
power outage.

Do people die when it gets hot out? Yes, but ask anyone who has deployed to the
sandbox, done manual labor throughout the summer, or the millions of people who
live in Africa and the Middle East without air conditioning and they’ll tell you
that hot weather alone won’t kill you.


WHICH BEGS THE QUESTION,
WHY DO MORE PEOPLE DIE WHEN IT GETS HOT AND AIR CONDITIONING STOPS WORKING?

In short, the problem isn’t with the heat as much as people’s inability to
control their core body temperature.

One of the first signs of heat related issues is muscle cramping, although that
is more of an issue for people who are exerting themselves and not for people
who the media claims “died from the heatwave.”

As Alex Hutchinson points out in his book, “Endure,” People who were exerting
themselves oftentimes have other things in play…they’re wearing clothes that
don’t breathe and trap heat, they’ve got an illness making them hotter, and/or
they’re taking amphetamine based drugs like adderall that suppress the body’s
natural exertion governors.

The next stage is heat exhaustion, which is caused by low water and salt levels.
It’s exactly what it sounds like…you feel exhausted because it’s hot. In
addition, it’s normal to also have headaches, confusion, and cold, clammy skin.

If it’s not treated, the body can “stroke out and eventually die. At this stage,
people don’t sweat anymore, their pulse is fast, they feel nauseous or vomit,
they’re extremely confused and/or delirious, and may pass out.

It’s important to look for and recognize these signs, both in yourself and those
around you. If you’re alone, you can take care of yourself if you’ve got cramps
or early heat exhaustion, but if you let things go too far and get heat stroke,
your survival depends on someone else finding you and helping you.

Here’s a few things you can do to influence how vulnerable you are to heat
related illnesses and death during a temporary power outage:

First, we’ve got sweating. Our bodies rely, in large part, on sweat evaporating
off of the skin to cool the body. You want to give the body the tools it needs
to be able to sweat as it sees fit.

If you take medication that interferes with sweating or is a diuretic, then
you’ll have a harder time sweating.  I took allergy medicines for several years
that affected my ability to sweat and this is a fairly common issue.

If you don’t drink enough water, you won’t sweat as much as you need to.

The temperature of the water you drink is a hotly contested debate.  Sweating
rates are influenced by the temperature of the brain AND the temperature of the
stomach…so sipping hot tea may allow you to sweat more than sipping ice water. 
It’s claimed that sipping ice water slows absorption, but there is very limited
proof of this.  If we look at studies of extreme athletes (think Olympians, pro
athletes, and tacletes) we see that sipping cold liquids…or even slushies…has a
net positive impact.  If you’re concerned about drinking cold fluids causing you
to sweat less, simply get some water on your head/body/clothes so you get the
cooling benefits of sweat, regardless of whether or not you’re actually
sweating.

If you consume sugar, caffeine, or alcohol, you will need to drink more water or
you won’t sweat as much as you need to.

Your sweat contains salt and minerals. If you don’t replace them, your body will
enter a low salt state called hyponatremia. When you’re in this state, you feel
like you want to die because of something called hyponatremic encephalopathy, or
swelling of the brain. I would gladly have the worst flu conditions that I’ve
ever had for a week than hyponatremia for a day.  I’ve had it way too many
times…two notable times being once on Mt. Elbert at 13,000-14,000 feet because I
took caffeine pills earlier in the day and once on an “easy” solo backpacking
trip on Wheeler Peak at 11,500 because I drank too much and ate too little.

All of these factors are more pronounced for the extremely young, extremely old,
and people who are chronically ill.

Second, you can make yourself more resilient to heat by simply keeping your
house warmer when you use AC. It may not seem like much, but your body will be
able to handle 100+ degree temperatures much easier if it is used to 74, 76, or
78 degrees than if you keep it at 68 or even 72 degrees.

It takes a few days to a week for your circulatory system, breathing, and sweat
glands to fully acclimate to high temperatures.  If you’re constantly telling
your body that “normal” is 68 degrees, then it simply won’t be able to adapt to
extreme temperatures very quickly. But even if your body IS used to 68 degree
weather and you get an extended power outage, keep in mind that your body will
quickly adapt to the higher temperatures over a few days…and the National
Athletic Trainers’ Association recommends 2 weeks of acclimatization before full
speed activity.

Personally, we keep our house between 74 and 76 during the summer so that we can
run easier in 100+ degree weather and so that our kids can play in 100+ degree
temperatures without thinking it’s too hot to play.

There’s also a benefit of lower utility costs, but the biggest benefit is the
freedom that it gives us by not being “prisoners” to air conditioning.

Over the years, I’ve made it a point to try to run during the hottest times of
the day. It isn’t all that bad, simply because my body is not used to 68 degree
air and I give it the raw materials it needs (water, salts, minerals) to cool
itself. In addition, I wear loose clothes and soak my clothes with a hose before
starting my runs. I also carry a camelback with me that I fill with water to
drink on my run.  (Just being used to sitting/existing in warmer conditions is
good…exerting yourself lightly for a few minutes at a time in hot conditions
causes the body to start major adaptations within 2-3 days.)

Heat and humidity can lower pace by half or more, and I want to squeeze as much
performance out of every beat of my heart as possible.  By taking these extra
steps to cool my body while running, I’m able to run at a faster pace while
maintaining my target heartrate.

Third, influence your environment. It’s pretty obvious that if you’re stuck in a
100 degree house with the electricity off that you shouldn’t wear a winter coat.

Even so, many people don’t take the next logical step of wearing as few
lightweight breathable clothes as possible.  In 2010, U.S. Army Research
Institute of Environmental Medicine identified this as one of the 3 main reasons
why people were more likely to get heat stroke.

If you’ve got water and lightweight breathable clothes, the next thing that you
want to do is get them damp so that your body doesn’t have to sweat to get the
benefits of evaporative cooling.

Any time you feel uncomfortably hot and realize that your skin is dry, you
should both drink water and get your skin damp.

If you’re moving around, that’s great because you will be creating airflow that
will increase evaporation. If you have to sit, try to sit in a chair that
exposes as much of you as possible to air. A good example of this is a wicker
chair.

Unless it’s a lot hotter outside than inside, open windows so that you get a
breeze.

If you have access to water that’s cooler than 98 degrees, take a bath or
shower. Water conducts heat away from the body 27-30 times faster than air and
can help you get your core temperature down quickly.

If you have access to ice, bag some up and put it inside of your shirt.

If you live in an area that gets to temperatures that you consider to be
“dangerously” hot, invest in some batteries and DC fans.

You can get low power 12 volt fans from Amazon or Radio Shack for $10-$60. When
combined with moist skin, they can cool you off very quickly.

Direct air from the fan is helpful…putting a thin, wet muslin sheet between you
and the fan is even better.

Prescriptions.  One of the biggest factors in heat related deaths among youth
athletes is that they were on prescription medications that impacted their
ability to sense heat or sweat and they didn’t do anything extra to compensate. 
What’s that mean?  It means that if someone needs certain classes of
prescription medications like ADHD medication, some anti-depressants, and some
allergy/decongestant medications, they need to do MORE to maintain a healthy
body temperature than everyone else around them in order to keep their body at a
healthy temperature.  Taking this one level deeper, they need to do more to
maintain a healthy body temperature as a discipline rather than listening to
internal cues that would help them if they weren’t taking the medications.

Powering items during power outages.

And what about powering stuff? Whether it’s power for medical equipment, for
cash registers and credit card processing, for computers, or just to run fans,
having power during a short term power outage can mean the difference between a
minor interruption and a disaster.  I’ve written about this a few times in the
past, and I go into detail on the subject in the SurviveInPlace.com Urban
Survival Course (Which is included with Upgraded Shooter >HERE<, but here are a
few quick-n-dirty tips.

One of the simplest things, although not necessarily the cheapest, that you can
do is buy a few 6 volt golf cart batteries and a properly sized inverter. Golf
cart batteries are about the same size as car batteries, but they’re made to run
things for a long time where a car battery is only designed to start your car
for a few seconds and then get immediately recharged. This will allow you to run
or charge both 12 volt and 120 volt items, including refrigerators (in the
summer), medical items, fans, computers, well pumps, and a fireplace blower (in
the winter).  Look for a wholesale battery company in your area and you’re
likely to be able to buy best-of-the-best batteries (Trojan) for about the same
price as the “normal” deep cycle batteries you can get at Costco.  Lithium-x
batteries are going to take the place of wet batteries, but I think they’re
still a couple years out.

You can scale this up as your needs dictate and your finances allow, but I
suggest buying batteries in sets of 2 and never mixing batteries of different
ages.

You can also scale this up by adding solar, wind, or hand/foot crank generators
to the mix to recharge the batteries.

What about gun training during the heat?

With training tools like >THIS< you can stay inside and make more improvement in
less time with less effort than your buddies who are suffering through outdoor
training in the heat.

If you’re in one of the areas being impacted by the summer heat and power
outages, what have you done to minimize the inconvenience? What lessons have you
learned that you could apply to a medium to long term power outage? Do you have
any kind of power backups in place? If so, what kind? Share your thoughts and
answers by commenting below.

Please follow and share:









8 COMMENTS

 * Comments
 * Trackbacks



 * oldseabee
   
   Reply June 28, 2021
   
   One thing I have always relied on when working in very hot temps, was
   something I learned in the jungles of Panama. Take a towel, roll it up, put
   it around your neck, cross it over, and stick it down your shirt. In
   hot,humid weather,it will get plenty wet on its own from sweating. Getting it
   wet beforehand will hasten the process.At that point, any little breeze that
   hits you feels like a/c,and helps to cool the blood in the arteries going to
   the brain.

   

 * Tim Eby
   
   Reply July 21, 2019
   
   Last year a friend sent me an Australian Chiller Hat. You soak it in water,
   or at least get it wet, and it keeps your head cool to a remarkable degree.
   I’m not advertising them, just advising that such an effective hat is
   available. If your head is cool, the rest of you stays more cool, too.
   It make you look like an Aussie, but Aussies are good people!
   
   * Ron
     
     Reply July 22, 2019
     
     Just picked up a few of these for the family:
     https://www.harborfreight.com/13-in-x-31-14-in-cooling-towel-62635.html
     Work great! We’re just ending a heat wave here and with only one 5K BTU A/C
     the house was getting too hot – I’d normally put a second one in but we are
     moving tomorrow and I was holding off. Anyways the cooling towel is working
     great for lawn mowing and a bit of car repair too .
   
     
   

 * adam
   
   Reply July 21, 2019
   
   I have a 1750 inverter that I use during power outages. I turn off the main
   breaker in the house and all 240 breakers. a jumper plugged into an outside
   outlet will power half my breaker box, including fridge, and about half the
   lights. Usually in winter, so I have gas heat. Outside outlet near power pole
   (pre house main) lets me know when the power comes back on with a light.
   
   * Ox
     
     Reply July 22, 2019
     
     If you do that, you really need to make sure that you have a transfer
     switch for your main panel or sub-panel so that there’s no chance of
     back-feeding electricity and electrocuting a utility worker.
     
     * Julie
       
       Reply July 23, 2019
       
       He clearly said he turns off the main breaker. As long as you do that,
       you do NOT need a transfer switch.
       
       * Ox
         
         Reply July 24, 2019
         
         I understand why you might say that…and it makes perfect sense…but it’s
         not correct. What I would suggest is that you don’t believe what I say
         or what you’ve been told before and call your electric company and find
         out what they tell you you should do. In addition, there are 2 other
         calls that you may want to make…one to your homeowner’s insurance
         company and the other to a prosecutor in your local DA’s office. If all
         3 of them agree with you that you would not have any additional danger
         or liability by using your main breaker instead of a transfer switch,
         then it may be OK where you live. If I had to put a number on it, I’d
         guess that in 99% of the country, all 3 are going to tell you that it’s
         more dangerous, may void or limit your insurance, and possibly illegal,
         to use your main breaker and back-feed your house with a generator.
       
         
       
     
   

 * MikeyW
   
   Reply July 21, 2019
   
   Unless it is a wide-area outage, go to the movies or the mall and take
   advantage of their air-conditioning. Even driving around in an
   air-conditioned car for half an hour can be a great mood booster. For
   long-term outages, learn to adapt in the ways you pointed out in your
   article. That’s the way we did it when I was a kid and only rich people had
   air conditioners.

   




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