Training Topics
Field Living
Safety
Practicing safety is important to
deployments
that require field living. Each member is responsible for their own
safety
as well as being aware of potential problems which may affect their
team
mates. Here are a few items to remember:
- - Be
where you are assigned to
be. Don't
leave without reporting your need to leave. Don't go alone.
- - Drink water often. This
is
especially
true in hot weather when your body looses moisture quickly. When taking
a break, grab a drink. Monitor your urine color:
- Clear - Ok
- Faint
yellow - start drinking more
- Yellow - you're falling well behind
in your fluids intake, step up the fluids
- Dark
Yellow - You are heavily dehydrated
and your efficiency has been falling off. Team emergency! A member is
now
on the brink of being no longer a productive part of the team. Drink,
drink,
drink.
- - Experience has also
shown that most people will acclimatize to constant heat within about a
week. Sweating starts to reduce, water intake will decrease and urine
starts to clear. Be aware that an intolerance of cold air conditioning
may also occur, especially when sleeping. Most team members at
hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, MS, found themselves sleeping in their
full winter sleeping bags when demobilizing at Keesler AFB.
- - Move equipment with care.
Use
your
legs not your back. Know your limit. If you have a bad back, save it!
Your
talent is needed in other areas than lifting heavy objects. Don't end
up
a patient.
- - Watch for others! Keep
your
team members
healthy. Watch for exhaustion.
- - Watch for natural hazards
such as mosquito,
insects, snakes, poison ivy, wild animals, etc.
- - Look for signs of frost
bite
in cold
environments. Look for reddening of nose and checks as a response to
cold.
- - Use good personal hygiene.
- - Don't eat food or water
that
is of
unknown quality. Don't eat fresh food offered by locals. Stick with
food
that is supplied by the team, NDMS, Red Cross, or other federal agency.
Field Laundry
You will need to clean clothes
and
equipment in the field. There are several ways to get this accomplished
without commercial washing machines.
Bag Method
You will need two large size
plastic
bags with thick rating. A sturdy lawn type bag is best.
The soap should be able to
dissolve
in cool water. A liquid soap makes a good starting point. Try to select
a hypo-allergenic soap that will not cause skin irritation if not
thoroughly
rinsed from the clothing.
Place clothing in the first
bag and
add about two gallons of water. Don't put too many clothes in at one
time.
Add an amount of soap that would be used to wash your hands. Agitate
the
clothes in the bag for about 10 minutes.
Take clothing from first bag
and put
in to a second bag containing again about 2 gallons of water. Agitate
again
for at least 5 minutes.
Remove clothing, wring them
out and
hang them to dry.
Action Packer Method
Here laundry is placed inside
an empty "Action Packer". Just cover clothes with soapy water
then hand wash for 5 minutes.
Place clothes in second
"Action Packer" containing
clean rinse water. Agitate again for at least 5 minutes.
Wring excess water out and
hang out
to dry.
Biloxi, MS Katrina deployment laundry
room.