Today in the show Lisa were honored to have Jane Austin (Survivor Jane) on with us talking about prevention, sanitation and hygiene in a SHTF or disaster situation. There are some things we will have no control over, but we need to stay focused on the things we can control.
Sometimes, the small things that we tend to take for granted can turn into bigger things. The common cold or infections can be easily treated today with antibiotics and medications, but that would be completely different in a disaster scenario.
In any disaster scenario, you will already have you hands full. With proper hygiene and sanitation, you can prevent further issues, or unnecessary issues, and focus on the bigger picture. If we find ourselves in a grid down scenario, we don’t want to compound the situation by having to deal with sick family members.
A Little About Jane
Most of you probably already know who Jane Austin is, but for those of you who don’t, here is a little bit about her. Jane is the author of 5 books (Available on Amazon), the brains behind Prepper Camp (along with her husband Rick Austin) and has her website SurvivorJane.com
Jane is also very active on social media (especially Twitter) and has one of the best personalities of anyone we have interviewed so for. She claims she is “no expert” when it comes to preparedness, but there is much to be learned from someone who has been through the trials and errors, and truly lives the preparedness lifestyle.
SPP225 Sanitation, Hygiene and Prevention for Preppers
his week in the show, we not only talked about hygiene and sanitation, we also talked about how her and Rick got into preparedness, how the homesteading fantasy is different from reality, and how Prepper Camp came to be.
Here are some of the topics we covered in this weeks show…
How You Got Into Prepping?
Jane was a self-proclaimed “city girl” for most of her life, and didn’t really give preparedness a second thought. Like most of us, events happened that caused her to reassess her lifestyle. What her and Rick have done, and how far they have come, should be inspiring to all of us.
PrepperCamp
Prepper Camp is quickly becoming a “must attend” event for most people in the preparedness community…it sure is for me! What sets Prepper Camp above any other event or convention is the focus on learning and interacting, rather than the buying and the vendors.
Everything I have heard from people how have attended (and I literally mean everything) Prepper Camp has been positive. This 3 day outdoor event offers more preparedness classes than you can take, and the opportunity to interact with not only the speakers, but like minded people in the preparedness community.
Hygiene
As we think about longer term disaster events, personal hygiene tends to take a back seat to all the other areas of preparedness. While hygiene and cleanliness may not be an initial concern, it could lead to problems down the line. Here are a few subjects we covered in the show…
- Going to the bathroom – Listen and find out about Jane’s “Hiney Hydrant” 🙂
- Wash your hands (the first and most important step)
- Jane wrote this article on showering with a half a gallon of water.
- Having a sense of normalcy. We also talked about this in last weeks show.
- Food safety (canning, cross contamination, spoilage etc.)
- Health and wound care (nutrients, immune system, infection etc.)
Sanitation
Keeping everything clean around the house goes hand in hand with keeping yourself clean. Keeping your family healthy not only means better productivity, it also helps prevent further issues in an already bad situation.
- Doing laundry – Jane wrote this on making your own laundry detergent.
- Trash removal
- Keeping the house clean
- The invisible enemy (microorganisms and bacteria)
Homesteading
At the end of the show, we talked to Jane about how they live like most preppers dream about, secluded property, livestock, garden. Sometimes we get lost in the fantasy world of becoming homesteaders, but the reality is a little different than the fantasy.
There is a lot more that goes into homesteading than you see on TV. Jane talked about all the “ugly” behind the scenes work that goes on that goes on.