July 2015 Bug In Drill Report
Since I did 60 hours last year, I decided to take it easy this year. Check out some new gear and procedures, but breeze through the stuff I have done many times before. As I stated last year, I tend to ‘prepare’ for these things, and that really does not make for a fair test in some ways. So I was careful not to do anything extra for the drill to get ready for it this year, either. I set the timeframe for the drill as 11:00 AM Saturday, July 11, 2015 to 11:00 AM Sunday, July 12, 2015
I am proud to say that the time frame went exactly as planned.
Not much else did.
I did my usual morning routine and then, at 11:00 AM I turned off the electricity to the apartment. There is no natural gas or propane to the apartment so I did not have to bother with them. The sewer and water I just do not use during these drills, since in the apartment building I cannot turn them off.
First problem:
I was unable to acquire any of the new gear I intended to test out in this drill. So I had to deal with things as is. Fortunately, that really was not so bad. The temperatures were moderate so I did not have to deal with severe heat the way I did last year. So the lack of the power pack for the swamp cooler was not big deal. Neither was the lack of the power supply for the BiPAP sleep Apnea ventilator, as it was only one night of sleep.
Second problem: My truck is in the shop for more repairs and I did not have access to some of the gear I would have used in this drill. A 12v power pack/jump starter, primarily, in addition to the truck itself. And a new plastic garden sprayer to make a shower.
Third, and major problem:
Two of my rib heads were out of place on my right side. Those that have seen me in this condition know I am pretty much useless when this occurs. So I was very limited in what I could do physically. I decided to ‘play along’ and considered myself as injured. I got my ribs wrapped okay. But I just could not stand it and took the ace bandage off after about fifteen minutes. And no, I did not have it too tight. I just hate being restricted. And it is not like I am not used to this particular pain. It was just that it was much worse than normal, for some reason. Probably slept cockeyed. Anyway, as I considered myself injured, I was extra careful in everything else I did. Going slow, extra care in bending and lifting. Trying really hard not to sneeze. Ouch. And double ouch.
Walking carefully so I did not disturb the unwrapped ribs, I did a walk around of the building to check for structural damage and leaks, as this was an Earthquake drill again. (I plan on doing something else next year.) The building was sound, with no power lines sparking, water, or gas leaks, so I went back upstairs. Which brings up the problem with my ribs.
Since I cannot use the stairs due to the alarm sounding if I open the door, I did use the elevator again. But I realized that doing three flights of stairs would have been a severe strain on my ribs. Going to have to think on a solution for that one.
When I got back to the apartment, I did a communications check using my portable comm gear. I checked the 2-meter band for activity first. I had made tentative arrangements with another Amateur Radio operator to use his HF rig to get a message to Winnemucca and have a local operator there call my brother to tell him that I was okay after the earthquake. (Simulated, of course. My brother knew to expect it and knew it would be a drill.) But I was unable to raise the operator on the SNARS repeater network after a few tries. Figuring that in a real disaster the system would only last a limited time, I cut off trying one hour into the drill.
While I was making the attempt on 2-meters, I had the NOAA weather radio on as always. (They were doing regular broadcasts, of course.) I tried the NOAA frequencies on my emergency powered radio. I made sure I had a good power level and that the NOAA alarm function was active.
Next I checked the AM/FM bands on the emergency radio. (Of course, they were doing regular broadcasts, as well.)
I was hurting now and skipped the SW and Amateur HF band scan on the emergency radios. I left my other radios in the Faraday Bag, keeping out only one 2-meter handheld and the regular NOAA radio.
Since I was playing this as a power and other infrastructure outage due to an earthquake, and the building was safe, I went into Bug In mode.
I got some things ready (chemical toilet [ouch!], water tote [triple ouch!], washbowl, lantern), and then opened the bedroom window and balcony deck door. Then I laid down for a while.
I napped for quite a while, even without the BiPAP. When I got up, I was hungry and dug out the camping stove to heat water for a package of Ramen noodles. Using the water from the water bottles in my pack, I made sure to hydrate well, with Effer’C hydration water flavoring mix.
I used the computer until my battery was at 15% (about 2½ hours or so), working on a novel to keep busy. I was hurting again after the noon time meds wore off and laid down again to rest my ribs. I was able to do some reading on my Smartphone as I have several batteries and power packs for it, plus a solar charger. When I was up to it, I got up to make supper. Deciding it was a good time to rotate some canned foods, I heated up a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs on the camp stove. Pretty good, actually. Been a long time since I had any.
I cleaned up, went back to bed, read for a while longer on my phone, and then just went to sleep again. With the cooler temperatures I did not need to move the recliner near the deck door and sleep in it for the sleep apnea. I did wake up a couple of extra times, but there were no problems getting enough rest.
I woke up the next morning about eight, and with nothing much to do, and my ribs hurting, I just read a bit and then went back to sleep for another hour or so. When I got up, I took my meds, and ate breakfast, getting into the fridge for the first and only time during the drill, to get out the milk for my cereal.
By the time I finished eating and cleaned up, it was a bit past 11:00 AM and I ended the drill. Turned the power back on and went back to normal routine.
The good: My phone power packs let me use my phone for hours for off-grid things.
The bad: Not having my truck and its gear.
The unexpected: I was unable to have gear ready that I thought would be in plenty of time for this drill. Do not count your chickens until the eggs hatch.
The humanitarian aid: Although I did not actually do it, I simulated a raid on the vending machines in the apartment mail room. Took my glass cutter from the tool/hardware kit on my bag, a pair of gloves, pen, and Post-it note down to the mail room. I did not take a crowbar for the soda/water vending machine. I took note of what was in the machines. Mostly candy and snacks, of course, but one frozen food vending machine had sandwiches as well as ice cream. Between the three machines I could have kept quite a few kids (and adults) supplied with some food, including comfort foods. In a real situation, if called for, I would jimmy the soda machine for the liquids, especially the waters. The gloves were to protect my hands. The Post-it and pen were to leave a message on where to get recompensed for the items taken.
What I learned from this drill:
Some things I need to add to my preps:
1. Still need that solar rechargeable 12 volt DC power supply
2. Need to get a better wrecking bar
3. Need to build a Ceramic Pot Food Cooler
Some actions I need to perform:
1. Get 2-meter simplex contact frequencies and time schedules from Ken/Rob
2. Get HF contact frequencies and time schedules from Ken/Rob
Some discoveries:
1. It is very hard to work with injuries, without making them worse.
2. I am getting jaded about these drills. My ribs being out and even more painful than usual put a huge damper on things.
Long range lessons:
1. Get much better prepared to get to help, or to get help to come here, if injured.
2. Stop wasting time and money on minor things and get what is important before it is too late.
As usual, doing these drills always results in learning something new, or using old knowledge and gear in new ways, as well.
Planning is an absolutely essential tool for the prepper. But drills and practice are every bit as important, because an untested plan, while better than no plan, is likely not to be the best plan.
Just my opinion.
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