Being prepared
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive January 2007:
Being prepared
I got this in an email this morning from someone at the Air Force academy. It's long, but worth reading, especially since some of us are going to get or are already getting freezing weather.
I want all of you to be safe, so am passing on the following message regarding current weather predictions and preparing yourself for very cold temperatures in our near future:
Presently the contract weather team is predicting RECORD cold temperatures for the next few days. Frontal passage is forecast for sunset Thursday. While we've been hit with record snowfall this winter, these types of temperatures bring on a whole new set of problems--frostbite, black ice, frozen pipes, power outages, etc. Included below are some tips on keeping it safe during the cold snap.
Be Prepared & Keep Warm
The 5 P's Of Cold Weather Preparedness
* Protect People
* Protect Plants
* Protect Pets
* Protect Exposed Pipes
* Practice Fire Safety
NWS Winter Awareness Page <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/winter/index.shtml>
During Cold Weather
INDOORS:
* Stay indoors and dress warmly.
* Conserve fuel.
* Lower the thermostat to 65 degrees during the day and 55 degrees at night. Close off unused rooms.
* Wrap exposed pipes in heating cable to prevent freezing and bursting.
* If the pipes freeze, remove any insulation or layers of newspapers and wrap pipes in rags.
* Completely open all faucets and pour hot water over the pipes, starting where they were most exposed to the cold (or where the cold was most likely to penetrate).
* Listen to the radio or television to get the latest information.
* Residents need to be extra careful when using supplemental heating units. Make sure that all-combustible materials such as drapes or chairs are at least three feet away from any heating unit. Avoid using flammable liquids to start fireplaces and do not leave a fireplace unattended. Most importantly, check your smoke detector to make sure it is working properly.
OUTDOORS:
* Dress warmly.
* Wear loose-fitting, layered, lightweight clothing. Layers can be removed to prevent perspiration and chill. Outer garments should be tightly woven and water repellant. Mittens are warmer than gloves because fingers generate warmth when they touch each other.
* Keep dry.
* Change wet clothing frequently to prevent a loss of body heat. Wet clothing loses all of its insulating value and transmits heat rapidly.
* Watch for Frostbite and Hypothermia <http://www.sarbc.org/resqair/warnhypo.html>
Frostbite is a severe reaction to cold exposure that can permanently damage its victims. A loss of feeling and a white or pale appearance in fingers, toes, or nose and ear lobes are symptoms of frostbite. While rare in Florida, individuals who will spend much time outside during extreme cold can develop frostbite to exposed skin. Hypothermia is a condition brought on when the body temperature drops to less than 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Symptoms of hypothermia include uncontrollable shivering, slow speech, memory lapses, frequent stumbling, drowsiness, and exhaustion. In Florida, the elderly, very young, and sick are at greatest risk of developing hypothermia. Remember to check on your neighbors who may require special assistance- infants, elderly people, and people with disabilities.
If hypothermia is suspected, begin warming the person slowly and seek immediate medical assistance. Warm the person's trunk first. Use your own body heat to help. Arms and legs should be warmed last because stimulation of the limbs can drive cold blood toward the heart and lead to heart failure. Put person in dry clothing and wrap their entire body in a blanket.
Never give a hypothermia victim something with caffeine in it (like coffee or tea) or alcohol. Caffeine, a stimulant, can cause the heart to beat faster and hasten the effects the cold has on the body. Alcohol, a depressant, can slow the heart and also hasten the ill effects of cold body temperatures.
PREVENT CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING
* Install UL approved carbon monoxide detectors
* Have appliances using combustible fuels installed by a professional and checked at least once a year for proper ventilation
* Never run your car in the garage with the garage door closed
* Check your vehicles for exhaust leaks
* Never use a gas range to heat your home
* Never burn charcoal in an unventilated area
* Never adjust your own pilot light
* Check chimneys and flues for proper ventilation
* Never use an unvented combustion heater indoors
* Avoid smoking indoors
COLD WEATHER CAR SAFETY - Make sure you get a car winter tune-up now, prior to severe winter weather. Tune-ups should include:
· Tire check - consider snow- or all-season tires if tread is worn
· Battery test – you don’t want to be stranded in severe weather
· Wiper blades check and replacement, if needed
· Radiator, engine and all fluid levels check
· Brake line and pad inspection
· Head-light and brake-light and turn signal inspections
Also, keep an extra gallon of window washer fluid in the trunk – bad weather can occur suddenly and catch you off guard and good vision is critical especially when driving in bad weather conditions.
Prepare a winter emergency kit for each vehicle and keep it in the trunk. Kits should include:
· Two blankets or sleeping bags
· Waterproof matches and candles
· Extra clothing – especially boots, mittens and hats · Dry food rations, like raisins, nuts and candy · Flashlight with spare batteries · First-aid kit and a supply of necessary medications · Emergency flares · An extra cell phone battery and vehicle charger – if a cell phone isn’t available, keep pocket change for pay phone use · A brightly colored cloth for use as a signal for assistance · A steel shovel and rope to use as a lifeline · A few large plastic garbage bags – which take little space, but could be used as insulation to block the wind if forced to leave a stranded vehicle
Cat... does your email work? I tried to send you one to your new email this morning and it came back?
I'm wondering why it's recommended to keep your thermostat so low and to close off unused rooms....any ideas? That sounds like an economical thing, not a cold safety issue.
Conni, as far as I know it's working. Do you have my falconbroadband one? I'll send you something.
Kate, it probably is an economical thing. One of the points is to conserve fuel. Who knows.
OK, I rcv'd your note and sent you a reply. Then I got an unable to deliver note back again. 
Bummer!
CYE again, Conni.
I did Cat and I replied again and it came back as undeliverable again.
65 is darned cold, in a house! That is too cold for me! Even 66 is too cold for me! We programmable thermostat set at 68 during the day and down to 60 at night, when we are sleeping. If my house was at 65, I wouldn't want to do anything other than sit around wrapped in a blanket!
We always get our furnace checked every year, in late summer/early fall.
Hey, I didn't write it! I just shared it! lol
We keep our house at 68 and sometimes I turn it down to 67 if the sun is really beating in. So I guess 65 wouldn't be too far of a stretch. I wouldn't want it there all the time, though. Maybe it's talking about if you're using a generator and need to conserve?
Thanks. That is very valuable and life-saving information. One thing, though....whoever wrote it apparently values plants before pets. 
I was at a friend's house, for my book discussion. They had their house at 64 and I didn't have a blanket to wrap up in. I was cold! LOL! I'm glad to be back in my much warmer house! I kept thinking about asking for a blanket, but never quite got around to it.
I have a dog question. I'm dog-sitting for my neighbors, who have 2 outside, large breed dogs. It's about 10 degrees outside, they have a doghouse, but are they going to be ok out there? I have no instructions on what to do with them for this kind of weather. I can't bring them in my house, and I don't want them to tear up my neighbors' house.
I don't know how cold is too cold, for a dog. My dogs would be in the house, so I have no experience. I know my neighbor used to keep his yellow lab, outside, nearly all winter and he survived it. Now, I think he has Buddy in the house, because I haven't seen him, in months.
Down the street is a chocolate lab and a German Shepherd that seem to be outside all the time. They have lived there, the whole time we have lived at our house, which is 10 years. I don't know if they ever brought them in the house, when it got down to about zero, though. I never paid that much attention.
If they are usually outside, then they probably have a heavier coat, to compensate for it. I couldn't put Jasmine outside, all the time, at this point, since her coat wouldn't be ready for it. As it is, sometimes she does her business and makes a beeline for the house!
Crystal, I don't know. But it is in the teens here with a couple of inches of sleet on the ground, and our neighbor,s two Basset Hounds are outside. I think they were out all night. They seem to be enjoying the sleet and cold. They are running all over the place out there.
Is there a garage or shed that you can put them in, just to shield them from the wind, and yet where they can't destroy anything? Plus, their drinking water will freeze awfully quickly outside.
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