I'm not dead yet....


I feel happy...

 

 

This is actually a good question. I think in those circumstances, burial will be extremely difficult unless you have landscaping equipment and are willing to do mass graves. I can see a person manually digging graves for 1 or 2 of their loved ones, but without power equipment that will be backbreaking work. I suppose if you are grieving, you wouldn't notice...

Another option would be to burn the bodies.

 

Having tried to burn a few bodies I can tell you that they don't burn easy. All that fat makes for a greasy mess on the ground that reeks to high heaven long after the fire has gone out. I had to keep throwing gas onto the bodies to keep the fire going, and it puts off a reeking billowing smoke that you don't want to be downwind of.

The easiest way I found for disposal was to cover the body in lime, and I do mean cover it. It will basically mummify it and kill the smell. A 50# bag of lime is pretty cheap at the feed store. I always keep a bag or two on hand. I used about 1/4 of a bag on a 150 pound goat so a bag ought to do a couple of people easily.

As far as disposal, the OP mentions living around elderly folks. Obviously the dead don't much care what happens to their bodies once they've exited the building. If it were me I would put them in their bed and lime them thoroughly. If, on down the road, I get access to a backhoe, then I might dig a grave and move their bodies to it at that time. Until then at least the lime will keep them intact and keep them from falling apart.

 

Bury or burn

 

It is that simple.

 

For sure Burn.

 

For civility's sake: try and document their cause of death, and any identifying information about them. include the whereabouts if buried. SHTF doesn't mean it's going to stay that way forever, and it would be nice to know what happened to your loved ones.

 

http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/knowledge/notes_emergencies.html

#8 Disposal of dead bodies - Basic 4 page book covering the essentials

Theirs also a military manual that goes more indepth

 

Thank You, That is what I was looking for.:thumb:

 

Backhoe. If it gets that bad, civility has gone bye bye. We keep lime for the occasional dead deer, the county won't pick them up unless they're on the road. Ever try to drag a rotting deer a hundred yards to a road? Don't, it comes apart...

 

If they were close to you a I would say bury them in post shtf maybe if u had a camera you could take a few pics if it was something strange, wearing a mask and disposable cloths in case its a virus, bleach water and scrub down after. If they were in a bugout I would say leave every thing you find as it could give away that some one has passed through the area. according to last of the mohicans....

 

thank you for posting this. this is something that needs to be discussed. i'll start with why its so important. the majority of deaths will most likely be from dehydration, exposure or malnourishment. luckily for you none of these can be caught from the handling of a dead body.

it is important to understand what happens after a person dies.

The first stage is autolysis, more commonly known as self-digestion, during which the body's cells are destroyed through the action of their own digestive enzymes. flies will access the body in this stage and lay eggs in openings on the body.

The second stage of decomposition is bloating; bacteria in the gut begin to break down the tissues of the body, releasing gas that accumulates in the intestines, which becomes trapped because of the early collapse of the small intestine. at this point the eggs of the flies would have hatched and begun to eat the body.

The third stage is putrefaction. It is the last and longest stage. Putrefaction is where the larger structures of the body break down, and tissues liquefy. The digestive organs, the brain, and lungs are the first to disintegrate. this part can take several years to happen completely.

before disposing of a body you must first understand that there are a series of health, logistical, and psychological issues in doing so.

misconceptions- not true
1- disease can be carried/spread through the odor of a dead body.
2- natural decomposition is a sign of disease.
3- disease is spread from over abundance of corpuses being present.

non of the above is true.



diseases of dead bodies

cholera- this is the big one! because any dead body can get it from the decaying feces inside of it when death occurred.

Cholera is an infection in the small intestine caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse, watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the feces of an infected person, including one with no apparent symptoms. The severity of the diarrhea and vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and death in some cases. The primary treatment is oral rehydration therapy, typically with oral rehydration solution (ORS), to replace water and electrolytes. If this is not tolerated or does not provide improvement fast enough, intravenous fluids can also be used. Antibacterial drugs are beneficial in those with severe disease to shorten its duration and severity.

others are:
hepatitis B and hepatitis C,HIV, enteric intestinal pathogens, tuberculosis.

disposal

-Burial of the entire body in the earth, often within a coffin or casket (also referred to as inhumation)

-Permanent storage in an above-ground tomb or mausoleum (also referred to as immurement)

-Cremation, which burns soft tissue and renders much of the skeleton to ash. The remains, known as "cremains" may contain larger pieces of bone which are ground in a machine to the consistency of ash. The ashes may be stored in an urn or scattered on land or water.


my own plan is to bury in shallow graves, well marked and well documented in my own yard. you can buy body bags to hold the body while grave is being dug.

grave depth: 3-4 feet
record: as descriptive cause of death as possible, date of death, description of burial, location of body.
marker: something heave or well placed metal or rock with name and other identifying information.

hope this was helpful.

 

This is very helpful...thank you.
I had not considered pre exhisting conditions, like Hep. I do have some tyvec suits for painting. I think Ill get some for prep storage.

 

i didn't go over phycological because thats a touchy issue, but it is definitely something that needs to be addressed on your own with your family.

 

Why wait? Gotta eat right?

 

Go Davy has some good information. Dead bodies don't create or spread disease. Just because a person died of a disease, doesn't mean you're at risk of contracting it yourself just by being near the dead body. The disease/illness/infection is only as contagious as it was when the person was alive (perhaps even less contagious), i.e. if spread by saliva don't kiss the body.

I've never dealt with dead human bodies, but I did uncover what appeared to be an old pet grave on my property about 6 months ago while burying electrical lines.

I had stopped the trencher and began hand-digging near a telephone pole where the line was to enter the ground. First I found a few dog toys, didn't think much of it. Then I found some pieces of black plastic bag and sticky pink goo (almost like fresh bubble gum) on the end of my pickaxe. Then came the smell. I did not bother to exhume the entire bodies, only cut through the trench I needed to bury conduit, that was horrifying enough.

Two large dogs were buried inside of plastic bags, less than 1 foot deep, at least 7 years ago, since that's when we moved here. Maybe 100ft from the house. No idea they were there, my dog didn't even mess with the area and she loves to dig around in everything.

 

I plan to pre-dig several graves and to keep them ready for use if and when needed!
When dealing with deaduns it is inconvenient to have to dig in a hurry!
If pre-prepared properly a buriel can be done in minutes!

 

One thing to consider is to make sure you are far away from your water source, especially in areas with high water tables.

 

The only thing to add is this, two large hefty type garbage bags and a roll of duct tape in place of a body bag when COD ( cause of death ) is suspect. Handle the remains with PPE ( personal protection equipment ) in place and dispose of the remains promptly.

 

a concern for northern based preppers is wintertime SHTF deaths .... without powered equipment a decent burial grave is an extremely arduous task ..... only alternative safe keep, of a wrapped body, is in a vacant building/home basement .....

a burial subject rarely discussed is the safety of a buried body ..... sounds totally ghoulish in today's thoughts .... but if a severe enough SHTF or TEOTWAWKI, some survivors might see fresh graves as a resource .... if powered equipment would be available, I see using sections of sidewalks as grave covers and possibly to disguise the grave .....

 

I never thought of that. But it makes alot of sense. Not to mention roving bands of ferril dogs( former pets ) would be digging up remains, like the cyotes here.

BTW I was born and raised in Il.

 

As long as the meat is still good why not eat the dead? In a survival situation nothing should be wasted. It is called long pork for a reason.

 

Not a good idea if you plan to be around for a while.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)

Not something I would do even if it meant starving to death.


Brian

 

Could always use them for a crime deturant too but when any LEOs came through you might get screwed.

What about scalps you know the native americans determined the strength of the warriors by how many scalps he had.

 

Could always use them for a crime deturant too but when any LEOs came through you might get screwed.

What about scalps you know the native americans determined the strength of the warriors by how many scalps he had.

Hmmm, interesting concept.

 

Intersting fact ;

Traditionlly bodys were buried at or below 6' so animals could not smell them and dig them up

 

Two coins on the eyes and burn them if they are family or friend on a funeral pyre, if it's practical.

Burials doesn't seem practical to me, as the amount of energy used to dig a necessary grave (6 feet) could be put to better use post SHTF.

 

in order to help prevent disease the American Indian had the best idea of burning the bodies. This of course would be performed at a location outside of your BO/BI proximity

It truly is the best you can do other than bury them.

JAF

 

Considering the amount of fuel needed to burn a body , I don't think it would be practical post SHTF
Not in populated areas at least

 

body bag and put all personal effects in a separate bag and bury on the chest area out side of the body bag if the body bag does not have a pocket on it for the ID.
or a toe tag can easily be tied to one of the lifting handles if required.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_bag

This was put out to fire departments around the US years ago just in case of a long term mass casualty event.

 

Wood chipper set up on a wharf during an outgoing tide would do it, fish population would thrive

 

The Dead Sea is taken already.

 

The next stage of survival tools. I call it "Drag a Bag".

A harness for you, connected to dual ankle bands so you can drag a corpse. It comes in camo or black. It uses spidwire, .100" thick for the big ones and still, it will maintain silence as you drag your kill to its final resting place.

Stay safe, stay silent and don't break you back with "Drag a bag". TM.: