The Preparedness Podcast

As you may have already heard, there is a plume of radiation headed our way from Japan and should reach the US west coast today. Don’t Panic! As it looks right now,the amount of radiation is very small, however, the real issue may not be how much radiation exists outside your body, but inside it. In general, the amount of radiation headed our way poses little health risk, but if the any of the particles that are coming here are radioactive iodine-131 (I-131), this can pose an increased threat to the thyroid gland. In short, the thyroid absorbs iodine from the things we eat and if it absorbs I-131, then there is a concentrated level of radiation in the thyroid. Unless the radiation is (relatively) high, adults aren’t likely to be affected by small amounts; if you’re in your 40s or 50s, you’ll likely die of natural causes before developing any issues from the I-131 you may have ingested. However, children are very susceptible to thyroid damage. Again, DON’T PANIC. There are things you can do to mitigate this if you’re concerned. If you’ve been following the news, you have probably heard about people talking about taking potassium iodide or potassium iodate ( aka, KI ) as a way to prevent the thyroid of absorbing radioactive iodine-131. While having this is a good thing to have on hand, the radiation levels aren’t high enough to warrant taking KI tablets, at least, not at this time. If the nuclear crisis in Japan worsens, we could see higher levels here in the US. After the Chernobyl accident, thyroid radiation exposures occurred mainly due to drinking contaminated milk (this contamination was the result of milk cows grazing on fields affected by radioactive fallout) and to a much lesser extent by eating contaminated vegetables. I don’t know if there is any radioactive iodine in the coming radiation cloud, but since kids’ thyroids are so sensitive to this danger and the solution is easy, there’s little risk or danger in taking this simple and easy precaution. That action is to buy, at least, several weeks of dairy product, especially milk, now. Milk, yogurt, butter, eggs, etc. Milk can be stored in the freezer without any issues (we’ve done it many times). Vegetables and fruit should be washed well and/or peeled. Since it generally takes less than 2 days for milk to go from cow to grocery store and pasteurization does not destroy the radiation, you should go out get the dairy products soon. Like, no later than Sunday. Again, there is no need to panic, but if you’re concerned about the potential radiation coming your way, or don’t want to wait to learn that they misjudged or miscalculated what was in the cloud, I recommend that you take these simple and easy precautionary actions now. Also, do not think that you can take iodized salt or nutritional iodine supplements in lieu of KI. There is about 15 micrograms of iodine in a teaspoon of salt, and probably in the average supplement. KI tabs have 130 milligrams for adults and 65 milligrams for children. This means you would need to take about 1000 teaspoons of salt or 1000 supplement pills every day. That much salt would kill you. Another point I want to make is the safety of taking KI tabs, should you ever need to take them. Iodine allergies are rare. If you have an allergy to iodine, you already know about it. The potential side effects of taking KI tabs are no worse than the average OTC medicine, like Tylenol, Benadryl, etc. To me, the bigger issue is taking your KI tabs too soon and not having them when you really need them. Keep in mind that iodine is commonly used, like in military water purification tablets. I have no idea how much iodine is in these tablets, but the water tastes absolutely awful. Hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of people have drank water treated with iodine.

As you may have already heard, there is a plume of radiation headed our way from Japan and should reach the US west coast today. Don't Panic! As it looks right now,the amount of radiation is very small, however, the real issue may not be how much radiation exists outside your body, but inside it.

As you may have already heard, there is a plume of radiation headed our way from Japan and should reach the US west coast today. Don't Panic! As it looks right now,the amount of radiation is very small, however, the real issue may not be how much radiation exists outside your body, but inside it.

Like me, I'm sure a lot of people who are preparing that take advantage of current events to focus on certain aspects of their preparedness planning. For example, the nuclear crisis we're witnessing in Japan is a good reminder that we need to have radiation detection gear and potassium iodide. Some of you may be scrambling to buy these things now, in a sudden realization that you have a void area in your prep plan.

Like me, I'm sure a lot of people who are preparing that take advantage of current events to focus on certain aspects of their preparedness planning. For example, the nuclear crisis we're witnessing in Japan is a good reminder that we need to have radiation detection gear and potassium iodide. Some of you may be scrambling to buy these things now, in a sudden realization that you have a void area in your prep plan.

Every day the crisis of Japan's nuclear reactors that were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami gets worse. Currently, one of the reactors is on fire and there's no way to know how much radiation the reactor is leaking and whether it will stay localized or of it poses a threat to other countries. If you don't have potassium iodide or iodate now, good luck finding any. Probably the only sources available are from the 'greedsters' on eBay. This is why we prepare, so we have the resources available when a disaster or crisis event occurs. Once the event happens, the odds that you'll be able to get what you need drop to nil.

Every day the crisis of Japan's nuclear reactors that were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami gets worse. Currently, one of the reactors is on fire and there's no way to know how much radiation the reactor is leaking and whether it will stay localized or of it poses a threat to other countries. If you don't have potassium iodide or iodate now, good luck finding any. Probably the only sources available are from the 'greedsters' on eBay. This is why we prepare, so we have the resources available when a disaster or crisis event occurs. Once the event happens, the odds that you'll be able to get what you need drop to nil.

Today I recap some of the things that I'm doing to get better prepared and some of the observations that I've noticed with what's going on in the world and how it affects us as preppers.

Today I recap some of the things that I'm doing to get better prepared and some of the observations that I've noticed with what's going on in the world and how it affects us as preppers.

Just some general commentary on what I've been doing to keep getting prepared.

Just some general commentary on what I've been doing to keep getting prepared.

In a nutshell, here is the Strategic Preparedness Plan that I've been using to get ready for the dollar collapse and the coming depression.

In a nutshell, here is the Strategic Preparedness Plan that I've been using to get ready for the dollar collapse and the coming depression.

Welcome to 2011! Hopefully, you had a great holiday season and a happy, yet safe, New Year's. Are you ready or 2011? It's time to buckle down and re-double your prep efforts. By many accounts, this is the year where things start to really go downhill. But wait, it gets better! From the way it looks, no matter how bad it gets this year, it will looks like it'll get even worse sometime in 2012. Gee, doesn't that sound like fun? No? Join me on the latest Episode to hear why I think we're between a rock and a hard place.

Welcome to 2011! Hopefully, you had a great holiday season and a happy, yet safe, New Year's. Are you ready or 2011? It's time to buckle down and re-double your prep efforts. By many accounts, this is the year where things start to really go downhill. But wait, it gets better! From the way it looks, no matter how bad it gets this year, it will looks like it'll get even worse sometime in 2012. Gee, doesn't that sound like fun? No? Join me on the latest Episode to hear why I think we're between a rock and a hard place.