Fire Safety Equipment in the Laboratory By Ben Griston

Doing experiments is fun. It gives you time to discover scientific stuff, and it stimulates the mind and the learning process at the same time. In the laboratory, specifically a chemical laboratory, there are many tools and substances that can be useful in doing experiments. Some of these substances are flammable, which is why extra precautionary measures, such as the maintenance of fire safety equipment, should be taken into account. Laboratory rules should be strictly implemented to avoid fire at all costs

First, one must thoroughly read the safety information on chemicals. This is available for any chemical in the laboratory, and it is more appropriately called as material safety data sheet. This is very important, because wrong usage could be a burning mistake. So take the time to read, and strictly follow the use for all chemicals and their proper disposal.

Speaking of proper disposal, never throw anything anywhere. Again, read instructions. Chemicals are highly reactive, so even the simple washing down of a chemical down the drain can be catastrophic in due time. This is because some chemicals and solutions don't easily slip off the drain. Some can even explode when thrown and mixed with others. So always be wary when getting rid of leftovers after each laboratory work.

Next, you should dress appropriately. The laboratory is not a place for fashion, so keep it down and simple. Wear your lab gown, your protective eye gear, and any other equipment for your protection. Accidents can happen anywhere, even in laboratories, and there have been many reports of people stumbling over acids, spilling chemicals on their skin, and setting themselves on fire just because they are not properly dressed.

Also, don't touch anything with your bare hands. More so, don't taste or smell anything. Improper handling of chemicals and solutions can be dangerous, so do not shake anything. Simple sniffing can also be very harmful, and if you were instructed to use chemicals inside fume hoods, then use them only there. This way, you could keep yourself away from danger and from possible fire accidents.

Next, do not play inside the laboratory. Act maturely and avoid fooling around at all times. Pay attention to what you are doing and never attempt to do anything that you are not sure of. Ask for instructions, and do not stray away from these. An example is mixing the wrong chemicals or mixing the correct chemicals in wrong amounts. Such rashness could result to explosive results, literally.

Finally, know all the safety equipment inside the laboratory. It's not enough that you know these, but you should also learn how to use them. Accidents happen without you knowing that they will happen, or otherwise it would not have been an accident. So know where the fire blankets are, the fire extinguisher signs, the eyewash, and the shower. Laboratory fires caused by chemicals and solutions can be hard to put out, so always be cautious when inside the laboratory. Besides, you are experimenting in laboratories to learn, and not to play with fire.

For more tips and information about fire safety equipment, please check: http://www.essentialfiresafety.co.uk/safety/fire-extinguisher-signs.

Hurricane Season 2009 - Seven Tips to Be Ready By Russell Longcore

Today marks the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season, and early predictions by NOAA suggest that this will be an average season with as many as four to seven hurricanes.

The National Hurricane Center says there is a 70 percent chance of having 9 to 14 named storms, of which 4 to 7 could become hurricanes, including one to three major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5).

Hurricane season runs from June 1st through November. Tropical systems all get names, and the first one will be named "Ana" when it reaches sustained winds of at least 39 mph. Tropical storms become hurricanes when winds reach 74 mph, and become major hurricanes when winds increase to 111 mph.

Here are seven tips on getting ready for hurricanes or tropical storms:

1. If you have property in a hurricane-prone area, seriously consider buying flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program. Buy the coverage now, not when storm clouds gather. The link for the National Flood Insurance Program is shown below.
2. Dig out your property insurance policy and read it. If there is anything you do not understand, call your agent and get your questions answered.
3. Make sure that you are insured 100% to replacement value. In this economy, market value has dropped, but replacement value is still high. A good average for replacement value is $80.00 per square foot.
4. Make sure that you have the replacement cost endorsement on the building and the contents.
5. Be sure what your deductible is. In many hurricane-prone areas, the insurance companies assess a deductible which is a percentage of the building policy limit, such as 2%, 3% or 5%.
6. Contact a Public Adjuster (PA). Have a conversation about the services a PA can perform for you when you have a major loss. Knowledge is power, but knowledge can also get you a lot more money at claim time.
7. Remember that if a civil authority issues an evacuation order, your homeowners policy will cover your Additional Living Expense while you're out of your home. Read the policy for the details.

To learn more about the National Flood Insurance Program, go to www.floodsmart.gov

Let's hope that this hurricane season will pass without even one storm striking land!

Copyright 2009 by Russell D. Longcore

P.S. WARNING!! Do Not Buy Insurance, or Submit an Insurance Claim Without Visiting This Website!
check out: http://www.insurance-claim-secrets.com

My Book is NUMBER ONE at Amazon.com in its category! Buy it Today!
My blog is at: http://russlongcore.wordpress.com/

New book, "Commercial Insurance Claim Secrets REVEALED!" coming soon!

Hurricanes - What to Do After the Storm By Carol Farbe and Robert Farbe

Hurricane season starts June 1st and lasts through November. Almost any newspaper and TV news show has hurricane preparedness booklets showing information to you. They list requirements for everyone to have before a storm. You must stock food, water, and supplies. A back up power source like a generator is also a good idea. Depending upon the size of the generator, it may run your whole house. The size depends upon your needs. Whether you stay or evacuate, you will need these supplies and more. If you stay at home to ride out the hurricane, there are 5 tips to help you know what to do when the storm is over.

First, stay at home. Once the rain, wind, thunder, and lightning passes, some people want to go site seeing. Stay at home until the danger is over. You may impede the response of first responders.

Second, always have a valid identification on you. You may be expected to produce an ID if you are out walking in your yard. That ID will prove where you live.

Third, don't go near downed power lines. They may still be live and can still kill you. Leave them alone and don't play with wires.

Fourth, unplug all motor driven appliances if you are at home and have no electricity or back up. When the electricity comes back on, there may be power surges which may damage the motor driven appliances.

Fifth, if you don't have power at your house, you must eat the food in your freezer within one to two days. If you are not sure, remember the saying,' when in doubt, throw it out.'

Beware of approaching storms. Listen to your local news and weather and do what they say. Do not take their suggestions lightly. These tips will help you get through the aftermath and may save your life.

I would like to invite you to visit http://www.energyconsciousconsultant.com to find out how Farbe's Electric can give suggestions to reduce your energy costs to save money.

Survival Skills Training 101 - Do You Know What to Do? By John Branson

Survival skills training is becoming more and more important as our world becomes more dangerous. Even the most basic survival skills can mean the difference between life and death in several situations. You'll never stop learning new ways to survive, because potential threats are endless, but the more you know, the better your chances for safety and security.

To get you started on the right foot, this article breaks down three of the most basic and vital survival skills that could come in handy in the majority of survival situations.

How to Find or Create Shelter

If you find yourself in a location without appropriate shelter, then exposure to nature and the elements could be your greatest threat. You'll need to know how to use your environment to your advantage and create some sort of shelter to protect you, not only from weather conditions, but wild animals as well. In terms of shelter, there are actually two different kinds you need to focus on.

First, clothing is the most basic form of shelter and protection. Ideally, you should wear as many layers as possible, so you can stay warm in colder climates, but also remove one layer at a time as temperatures increase. Clothing will also help protect your skin from prolonged sun exposure, until you can find shade, which leads us to the second form of shelter. This is the more obvious form, any type of enclosure that will shelter you from rain and sun, while also creating at least some type of barrier between you and wildlife in the area. More often than not, you will have to construct your enclosure using only materials you can find around you, like rocks, sticks, leaves, clothes, and trees. A great way to practice this is to find a nearby wooded area, then try to build a small fort using only your surroundings and the clothing on your back.

Harnessing the Power of Fire

One of the most powerful and effective tools at your disposal is also one of the most magical: fire. Being able to create fire without the modern help of matches and lighters can be a literal life-saver in almost any outdoor survival situation. Fire is so versatile in that it can provide warmth, send a smoke signal, cook food, boil water, light up your area at night, and even keep some insects and animals at bay.

S.O.S. - Help!

While the above two skills will allow your to survive for much longer, you probably would like to return to civilization as soon as possible. You need to make as much noise and/or visual cues as you can to try and get the attention of potential rescuers. Fortunately, the fire discussed above will help do this on its own, but there are other ways to signal for assistance too. You can use pieces of glass or mirror to reflect the sun's rays at a passing boat or plane. If you happen to have a whistle or can make any other type of loud noise using rocks or even your voice, you could try to catch the ears of those nearby. The key to any signal for help is to send them in threes. Not only is this a universal sign of distress, the more times you send a signal, the better the chances are of someone seeing and/or hearing you.

Conclusion

You can never be too knowledgeable in the art of survival, but everyone should at least master these three core skills. Again, it is best to practice all of this survival skills training in a controlled environment first, so you have it mastered when you really need it.

Now that you've brushed up on your survival skills training, come discover even more survival skills and secrets at the number one source for all survivalists:
http://www.survivalskillsoutdoors.com

Linking Fire Engineering and Extinguishing By Ben Griston

Fire is essential, but it can also be catastrophic. Even Ancient Rome in all its grandeur had a share of havoc that were wreaked by this hot element. As far as that epoch, disciplines in the avoidance of burning mayhem were formulated, which can be termed nowadays as fire engineering.

Fire protection engineering, or fire safety engineering, is the practice of certain scientific and engineering principles with the aim of defending people and nature from the negative effects of fire. These effects are then studied by fire protection engineers to formulate plans that would identify, prevent, and control them. It also includes preventive and protective methodologies like active and passive fire protection, smoke control, structural design, space management, dynamics, and awareness and prevention programs.

An Accredited B.S. Degree Program

During the Industrial Revolution, fire engineering was emblazoned to become a separate discipline. It is distinctive from other engineering degrees like chemical, civil, and mechanical. It came into realization in order to organize the said engineering discipline to describe a set of practices and to spearhead researches that would pave the way for more innovations.

The study of fire protection engineering includes studies in combustion, risk management, fire suppression system design, and building code application. These count as professional courses because when working, the fire engineer is involved in building operations that should have strict design compliance with both the building and fire codes.

At Work to Save People from Harm

The fire engineer devises a fire safety plan with architects and others in order to secure authorized permits and begin the building construction. Any changes that stray from the original design must be reported to be able to check the conditions that might affect people's lives in the future. The fire safety plan must be highly systemized, and calls for the combo of active and passive protection.

Passive protection lies more on the containing of fire through the use of materials that could resist and impede it, whereas active protection is distinguished with the implementation of systems or the use of them. The latter is further categorized into three: fire detection, sprinkler systems and fire suppression.

Firefighting Equipment

Flame, heat, and smoke alarms are popular examples of fire detection equipment. They do the job of giving out alarm sounds upon activation. They may also do other programmable things such as open air vents.

Sprinkler systems on the other hand are commonly found on ceilings. They are activated once heat starts to chip the glass component in a sprinkler head. They also help mitigate conflagrations because of the mist that they give off.

Finally, fire suppressors among which are the fire extinguishers control the growth of flames. Extinguishers are intended for smaller fumes and they are typically cylindrical in shape. They also come in different classes, of which include water, foam, carbon dioxide, vaporizing liquid, wet chemical, and dry chemical.

Self-made Firefighter

Fire prevention is better than curing burns. Maintaining a foam fire extinguisher at home is a big step. Remember, fire can be a friend or a foe.

For more tips and information about foam fire extinguisher, please check: http://www.essentialfiresafety.co.uk

A Mobile Survival Retreat By Joseph Parish

The most frequent complaint that I hear from my fellow survivalists is simply that they can not afford to acquire land for their survival retreat. With today's pitiable economy that is perfectly understandable. I really don't perceive it improving in the least for some time to come.

However, all is not lost for you can still prepare in the event that you will need the services of a retreat and you can do it rather cheaply at that. The first thing you will need to do is to locate a 30 year old van of some sort. This van will become your emergency survival retreat.

You may already be familiar with using vehicles as bug out machines to get out of harms way and to a safe retreat however you can also use those same vehicles as the actual retreat as well. Your van can serve as your new home away from home should the need arise. It can travel from a dangerous neighborhood at a moments notice and safely transport you and your family to a safe haven some distance away. Additional storage can be obtained by installing a car top carrier on the roof of the van.

A van comes complete with a built in alternator or generator. I personally believe in maintaining dual battery systems in the vehicle so that I can make one battery dedicated to starting the van only. The second battery would power any inverters and 12 volt accessories that may be desired for surviving in the wild. If you have the additional room available you could even consider the use of more then two batteries placed in parallel to provide you with higher current capabilities. You would merely need to add an inverter to it and you can produce as much AC electricity as you may require to run many of your household appliances.

Battery selection should pose no particular problem as your best choice here would be to select 12 volt Deep cycle Marine batteries. These types of batteries are very rugged and can be charged repeatedly without detrimental effects to the battery cells.

Although I prefer to have a 4 cylinder engine in my van for economic sake it too can be costly. Running an automobile engine tends to use up a considerable amount of gasoline and as you can readily tell by a visit to your local filling stations these prices keep going higher and higher. A solar panel collector placed atop your van can correct this problem by keeping your batteries well charged with the help of the sun.

You will want to ensure that the ones which you purchase are weather resistant and have a plastic surface which makes them more adaptive for mobile use. There are many on the market made specifically for automobile use. Make sure that you follow the manufacturer's recommendations exactly or research the internet to obtain additional information on setting up the solar panels.

You should have no problems in the area of cooking. I myself prefer to have 12 volt appliances which I can use inside the van but if you use an open flame make certain to use them outside your van. Never use cook stoves inside unless they are specifically designed for such use. I once had a complete kitchen installed in the rear section of a Dodge Caravan where all I had to do was to lift the back panel up and I had access to a sink, stove and refrigerator. It was a perfect arrangement. There were considerable amounts of space in which to hold water and supplies.

In order to bathe when out in the wild with your van you can readily make use of one of the portable showers that are made specifically for camping. You can add some sort of removable curtain to the side of your van in order to provide a measure of privacy. They now have solar heated water showers where a container of water is heated by the sun and ready when you use your portable shower. Now let's discuss toilets. Let's face it using mother natures land is rather nasty and uncouth. It would be much better to take and spend a little money in a portable toilet or even make one yourself. They really are not hard to build in the least.

There are many features that you can incorporate into your van by merely using your imagination and a little bit of ingenuity. Good luck and enjoy your new home.

Copyright @ 2009 Joseph Parish

For more information relating to survival visit us at http://www.survival-training.info

An Uncomplicated Approach to Preparing Your Long Term Food Storage By Bill R.

Long term food storage sounds good when you say it fast; but what does it really mean? I imagine you get the food storage part, but what about the long term part? I place a time line on food storage, you've got different situations, with different time tables.

For example: If a hurricane or devastating tornado hit unexpectedly, you've got a few days to a couple of weeks before things get back to semi normal. Now I understand your power will be out (for way to long) and gas and ice will become hard to find. But over all you can skimp by on the extra food in the pantry and the food from the fridge that didn't spoil.

That to me is not an event you store long term food for. Long term food storage is for an event lasting longer than one month. I figure with the food in the pantry and the cold food I have I'll be good for one month. This food will take more preparation than my long term food and will have more clean up too. During my first month I'll be able to find regular gas for the generator sparingly, which will keep my cold food longer. After the regular gas is gone I'll have enough charcoal/gas for the grill and enough cooking wood for the rest of the first month's food.

The food you store for long term should be easy to prepare with little to no clean up. That is why I'm a firm believer in freeze dried food. It's a no cook, no prep, precooked meal that you add water to. A real meal with out having to cook and with out having to use your stored water for clean up. One thing to watch out for with these freeze dried meals is that you want real freeze dried meat not what they call tvp (textured vegetable protein). Another thing to keep in mind is you want at least 2000 calories per person per day.

For long term food storage, you should store freeze dried food. It's by far the easiest most uncomplicated approach I've found. Along with food, water also needs to be stored for future use. They say to store one gallon per person per day to eat and drink and one gallon for hygiene. If it's feasible, I suggest two gallons a day for consumption and one for hygiene, three gallons per day per person. Better to have too much than not enough.

Best uncomplicated approach!