Comments on: Food for Emergencies

By: Chris Nickson

Chris Nickson — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 07:45:59 +0000

No experience with the peanut butter trick -- my received folk remedy for gum in hair is freeze it with ice, then shatter it with a hammer!… It presumes the hair is long enough to avoid injury of course… Never seen it done.
C

By: Roy

Roy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:02:07 +0000

Well how about that,my professor was full of the proverbial. Why am I not surprised?

Although you probably don’t consider that chewing gum stuck in the hair counts as an emergency, some small children and their parents might not agree with you, and I am reliably informed that smooth peanut butter is an excellent detangler in that circumstance.

By: Chris Nickson

Chris Nickson — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:31:37 +0000

Roy, I think your Professor’s advice needs to be seriously diluted and taken with a few grains of salt… Cola is way too hyperosmolar, has way too much carbohydtrate and minimal sodium. Water is a better option in the absence of a suitable oral rehydration solution.

Cola: CHO 112g/L, Na 1.6 mmol/L, Osm 650 mOsm/kg
WHO ORS: CHO 13.5g/L, Na 75 mmol/L, K 20 mmol/L, Cl 65 mmol/L and Osm 245 mOsm/kg

Cheers,
Chris

By: Roy

Roy — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:30:37 +0000

I remember a physiology professor teaching us that flat Coca-Cola was used as an electrolyte-glucose therapy for some cholera victims on an island in Fiji, when weather prevented delivery of better therapy, and that it kept them alive. I have no reference and I don’t know if physiology professors count as reliable sources.

By: Chris Nickson

Chris Nickson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:41:06 +0000

Cheers Merle and PJ (not you Tor…) -

Some good tips there on tar (petroleum-based asphalt) removal with food.

A quick perusal of Rosen’s and Roberts & Hedges’ suggests the following for the removal of tar (in addition to aromatic hydrocarbon solvents and water-soluble surfactants):

- Sunflower oil
- mayonnaise
- butter
- baby oil

I’d probably go with Sunflower Oil given the choice.

They need to be in contact with the tar for at least 30-90 minutes (sometimes repeated applications with dressings applied over many hours is necessary for complete removal). Removal is important because tar occludes the skin and promotes bacterial growth. But first, water needs to be poured all over the tar so that it cools and prevents ongoing thermal damage to the skin. Dry the skin with towels afterwards to prevent excessive cooling leading to hypothermia.

The tar is enmeshed in the hair on the skin, not the skin itself. Roofing asphalt -- especially out of the ‘mother pot’ on the back of the truck -- is most dangerous because it is heated to over 230C. The tar doesn’t necessarily need to be completely removed on the initial visit, but the underlying burn needs to treated like any other burn of equivalent severity. Most tar and asphalt burns are superficial or partial thickness -- but falling into the ‘mother pot’ of roofing asphalt would be a very very bad idea…

Coal tars are best removed with antibiotic ointments (e.g. bacitracin, neomycin) -- even in the eye -- and are soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons, not aliphatic hydrocarbons.

So, there you have it.

By: PJ

PJ — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:12:00 +0000

I seem to recall mayonnaise for tar removal.

By: Merle

Merle — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:31:00 +0000

Butter for bitumen/tar removal. Rub on, rub off. Wax on, wax off.

Wax on, right hand. Wax off, left hand. Wax on, wax off. Breathe in through nose, out the mouth. Wax on, wax off. Don’t forget to breathe, very important.

Salted vs. Unsalted?

By: Tor Ercleve

Tor Ercleve — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:22:00 +0000

I can’t belive that you called me a not-so-reliable source. That incident with your mother happened a long time ago. And I did say that “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”, which is strictly speaking, true.
And by the way. Butter and lard are excellent for burns. If poured directly from a hot frying pan or griddle it is quite easy to cause deep partial thickness, and sometimes even full thickness burns.