Oral Rehydration -- a PSA

Hopefully, news you can't, and never will need, to use.

So while we were at the emergency communications team meeting the other night discussing Go Kits and Bug Out Bags, one of the members offered some real world observations about first aid kits, to wit, based on the "historical re-enactment" his church did for the youth group -- he's LDS, so I'm assuming he was talking about a Pioneer Trek. (The reason I know about it is that I recalled Howard "Schlock Mercenary" Taylor commented once that he was told not to call it Oregon Trail LARPing...) He was observing that the first aid kit needed blister care supplies, because kids today will get blisters if they have to walk more than a mile, since they are not used to that, and they probably have stylish, not functional, socks. (And their shoes are probably suspect, too.)

Then he made an offhand remark about how simply drinking water is not enough, you need to replace electrolytes, as well.

And that made me remember reading in one of P.J. O'Rourke's books -- All The Trouble In The World, I think -- where he was talking to some American aid official (or maybe non- or semi-official) about famine and pestilence, and the guy reaches into his desk and says that the death rate in whichever part of Africa they were in could be slashed dramatically with "this" -- "this" being a 25 cent packet of oral re-hydration salts.

Oral rehydration therapy - Wikipedia

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a type of fluid replacement used to prevent and treat dehydration, especially that due to diarrhea.^[1] It involves drinking water with modest amounts of sugar and salts, specifically sodium and potassium.^[1] Oral rehydration therapy can also be given by a nasogastric tube.^[1] Therapy should routinely include the use of zinc supplements.^[1] Use of oral rehydration therapy decreases the risk of death from diarrhea by about 93%.^[2]
...
The formula for the current WHO oral rehydration solution (also known as low-osmolar ORS or reduced-osmolarity ORS) is 2.6 grams (0.092 oz) salt (NaCl), 2.9 grams (0.10 oz) trisodium citrate dihydrate (C 6H 5Na 3O 7⋅2H 2O), 1.5 grams (0.053 oz) potassium chloride (KCl), 13.5 grams (0.48 oz) anhydrous glucose (C 6H 12O 6) per litre of fluid.

A basic oral rehydration therapy solution can also be prepared when packets of oral rehydration salts are not available. It can be made using 6 level teaspoons (25.2 grams) of sugar and 0.5 teaspoon (2.9 grams) of salt in 1 litre of water. The molar ratio of sugar to salt should be 1:1 and the solution should not be hyperosmolar. The Rehydration Project states, "Making the mixture a little diluted (with more than 1 litre of clean water) is not harmful."

The optimal fluid for preparing oral rehydration solution is clean water. However, if this is not available the usually available water should be used. Oral rehydration solution should not be withheld simply because the available water is potentially unsafe; rehydration takes precedence.

...Sports drinks are not optimal oral rehydration solutions, but they can be used if optimal choices are not available.

Not gonna lie, I don't know what all the ten dollar words in there mean. But, really, in the documentation or inventory of your first aid kit, or even just a 3"x5" index card in there, write down "6 tsp (2 Tbl) sugar and 0.5 tsp salt 1 quart water."

Or, you can get fancy. Found this one researching the subject:

• 1 quart water
• half tsp sea salt
• half tsp baking soda
• quarter tsp salt substitute (potassium chloride; can use cream of tartar instead)
• 8 tsp sugar

That supposedly replicates the WHO formulation, described in the Wikipedia quote above.

Or, you can buy them: Amazon.com: oral re-hydration packets. Some of these are flavored.

Now, Oral Re-Hydration Therapy such as Wikipedia is talking about is an in extremis thing, not "Been mowing the lawn in the hot sun, I need a glass of iced tea" (or whatever) in someone who is more or less healthy and well nourished. It's usually applied in cases of extreme life threatening illness, the sort that results in diarrhea, like cholera. But some folks just won't admit they're not Superman, in the course of my military career I saw more than a few people rushed to the hospital for what turned out to be dehydration.

And especially in a first aid kit that is expected to be used in true, disaster-type emergency, throwing a ten pack of these in, as well as making sure you have the recipes to make some if you need it, seems like a Good Idea.

I did not know that.

SO, reading this article -- MRE Shelf Life and Stockpiling MREs - AllOutdoor.com, I wound up at this page: USDA -- Food Product Dating.

Where I learned that the "pull dates" on food items have nothing to do with food safety or health. (With one exception, see emphasis added below):

Does Federal Law Require Dating?
Except for infant formula, product dating is not required by Federal regulations.

For meat, poultry, and egg products under the jurisdiction of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), dates may be voluntarily applied provided they are labeled in a manner that is truthful and not misleading and in compliance with FSIS regulations. To comply, a calendar date must express both the month and day of the month. In the case of shelf-stable and frozen products, the year must also be displayed. Additionally, immediately adjacent to the date must be a phrase explaining the meaning of that date such as "Best if Used By."

Are Dates for Food Safety or Quality?
Manufacturers provide dating to help consumers and retailers decide when food is of best quality. Except for infant formula, dates are not an indicator of the product’s safety and are not required by Federal law.

What Date-Labeling Phrases are Used? There are no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels for open dating in the United States. As a result, there are a wide variety of phrases used on labels to describe quality dates.

Examples of commonly used phrases:

• A "Best if Used By/Before" indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date.
• A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date.
• A "Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality. It is not a safety date except for when used on infant formula as described below.

Although experience says that the bread mix you found in the back of the pantry from 5 years ago may no longer have fully (or any) active leavening...

So the other evening at the emergency communication team meeting we were talking about "Go Bags" and Bug Out Bags. I took my Go Kit -- which is to say, my bag for CERT or ARES/RACES work, not my "Get Out Of Town" bag.

I also took my car kit in, to show a couple of thing in it. Now, my car kit is mostly a cheap packable rain suit, such as you find at a big box store, hat and gloves, reflective vest... It also has a package of Datrex Lifeboat rations. (Might have been another brand.)

And it was pointed out to me that "These are almost expired."

The packaging is intact, these are safe to eat.

"But they're almost expired!"

s*i*g*h

RIP -- and R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Not the usual...

Cue the hysteria! -- Edit

CodeIsFreeSpeech.com

OK, I'm actually a few days late with the "Cue the hysteria!" title, still...

You may be aware that the US Government has lifted the restriction on the sharing online of files with instructions to 3D print firearms components.

This, of course, is merely the latest in a series of events which are going to kill us all.

The thing is...

There are many inherent issues with manufacturing a firearm, or firearm parts, using a 3D printer. For instance, the plastic used isn't exactly up to withstanding the pressures of a modern firearm cartridge being fired, which limits which parts of the firearm they are suitable for. In order for the firing pin to detonate the primer on a cartridge, it has to be made of metal, or possibly, I suppose, some other hard material, which would probably be so exotic as to be impractical.

But.

A fact which escapes those convinced that the availability of these files online mean the end of civilization is that it has always been legal to manufacture a firearm in your garage workshop, as long as you did not attempt to sell it.

Here, for example, is a thread about building a glorious revolutionary AK47 from a people's shovel, purchased for a whole 2 kopeks I mean rubles I mean capitalist pig dollars at an antique barn in Vermont: DIY: Shovel AK - photo tsunami warning! | Northeastshooters.com Forums

So, why (one might ask) was the distribution of files with instructions on how to 3D print firearms components banned? Well, the US State Department takes its responsibility (not to say authority) to control export of firearms and weapons technology seriously.

Now, this authority does extend to some information technology, namely, computer security/anti-virus files. (In an earlier job I had to help some sales reps for a local aviation firm process requests to Uncle Sam to let them take their laptops, with anti-virus software installed, overseas.)

But these are 3D printer files are hardly innovative in and of themselves, and cannot be seriously be considered a threat to national security.

What made the US State Department lift the ban on Internet distribution of 3D printer files is that the US State Department does not have a broad legal authority to ban the distribution of information.

That's right: The ability to download these files is a First Amendment issue, as well as a Second Amendment one. (Some would even argue that it is not a Second Amendment one at all.)

CodeIsFreeSpeech.com

Elsewhere, Roberta X addresses the issue in her post The Adventures of Roberta X: That's Not How This Works.

There is also an excellent Twitter thread that starts with this one:

Ok, on this, the eve of one of my favorite things ever - the #democratization of technology - let's have a serious, sober-ish conversation about this whole #StopDownloadableGuns / #Stop3DPrintedGuns hysteria by starting at the beginning and working forward (1/?)

— Jonathan (@CorrelA_B) August 1, 2018

(There is a Thread Reader version of the full thread here: Thread by @CorrelA_B: "Ok, on this, the eve of one of my favorite things ever - the of technology - let's have a serious, sober-ish conversation a […]" #democratization #StopDownloadableGuns #Stop3DPrintedGuns #guncontrol

EDIT: Meanwhile, a commie judge here in Western Washington has ordered Defense Distributed to shut down their site again: DEFCAD

Fortunately, the files are available elsewhere: CodeIsFreeSpeech.com