The Quarantine Room

A simple room can be devised using plastic drop cloth and duct tape to cover all surfaces of the room and make a wall of it's own so the person inside does not feel totally isolated .
Framework can be precut for a wall to help support the plastic and most of the modifications for life support can be run through that wall , except of course the venting of that air to the out side .
I recommend too that for home security shutters made to fit for all the windows . For now make them appear as decoration but the bottom line is that they are there in the event it is necessary .
As for maintaining surveillance pre EMP cameras are the best alternative to walking around the house.
Post EMP, simple periscopes might give some satisfactory performance in strategic locations around the house..

 

So are we talking safe room or quarantine room? big difference in functionality

 

My goal or first thought for the thread is a quarantine room but I also want to be safe in it. I imagine some would not respect my quarantine so I need to be able to discourage the uninvited.

 

Like Tully we have a filtered positive pressure system which can be switched on as needed and it pumps up the pressure to 14.8 psi. and maintains that with the really good silicon door and window seals ( which were originally installed to deal with ice) and because of the steam power through out, we also have a very effective decon system available, Just need to add it to the warming room of the main entry! The home is pretty trick, we used natural boulders from the area and built up a false wall from the ground level to window height and also re enforced the entries with stone work which also hides the steel door frames and steel doors which are silica sand filled! Originally, it was built to provide really good insulation, and it snow balled to becoming hardened shelter as we realized the advantages it gave us as a bug in place!
As for a separate room, we have no need, we both know the N.B.C. drill top to bottom, and with our training, we can effectively deal with most threats with in that sphere, and man made threats, we are as prepared as we can be!

Those brick weep vents are realetitively new as for code in newer construction, when we built, it wasn't code, and we did something different due to the rock work, but the idea is the same, as the home heats and cools, it builds moisture and it needs to be able to drain it off when the temps cool, a really smart person could rig a collection system from this and capture a few quarts per day. You could do the same with windows too! Might need to do some experiments to see just how effective this might be!

 

@Motomom34 so quarantining your family from other ppl, not necessarily quarantining someone who is sick in your family. We have 2 themes going here.

there was another thread that talked about positive pressure rooms in your home but i cant find it now.

The delima in retreating to one room is that the rest of your house can be contaminated and then the perps have time to work at your defenses without being seen. The whole house delima takes alot more work

its past my pay grade but one positive pressure room set up might not be a bad idea, in my house i could blockade the hall way pretty easily but keeping a seal for 3 rooms would be difficult

 

Actually a separate room for infected family members is something everyone that is thinking along these lines should consider. You either have that set up or risk infecting the rest of the family or kick the infected member to the curb-not very likely. What a person needs to think on first of all is how to power the blower. With out it you have a basic containment area that may or may not be tight enough to keep the contaminates out. HEPA filters need to be stored in such a fashion that they will not be contaminated before use. LOTS of heavy mil visqueen, a good stapler and plenty of duct tape are also some of the things you will need.

 

@Motomom34

I guess you could game your quarantine contingency planning / architecture strategy.

Quarantine: Graysles Anatomy



Perhaps its best use is as a resource that folks placed in quarantine could use to stave off boredom, as they wait their way to discharge from quarantine.

 

I do not have a blower. Actually I have a leaf blower but I am in a rental and have signed a document that I will not alter the premise without owner consent.

So a sick room, a room to hang out to determine that one is not sick is needed. Also in case of chemical spill or toxic cloud basically if there is a pandemic you will be advised to seal you and your family into your home. Since I am frugal I hate spend lots of dollars on sealing up the whole house. I know I could cover everything in visqueen and duct tape but does everyone plan on doing their whole home?

 

No I don't, but I believe I could if I really felt the need. We have other plans in place for a long term pandemic or NBC type event.

 

One thing I have always wondered about is how exactly are you going to breath if you totally seal everything up and I take it that means you won't get the use of your central air conditioning too. Honestly I have to run my air conditioning 24 hours a day to avoid congestion and being without one added to the fact that the residence is all sealed up, sound like slow death to me, Sorry this doesn't help.

 

I think the general idea, is to have an external air supply, which filters the contaminants, so that the occupants can breathe...with some means of exhaust so that levels of CO2 and CO are not above hazardous levels.

Comfort is an important consideration, but considering that in an NBC environment, power outages are likely to become probable, rather than possible sooner or later; so relying on central air conditioning is likely to be iffy at best. Even if you managed to keep the central air conditioning running with a back up generator, assuming that there is adequate fuel for it, and it is not on the fritz because an EMP has fried the circuitry; you would have the benefit of a somewhat quicker death as NBC contaminants freely circulate around you to breathe, while you are enjoying your air conditioned comfort.....choose your poison wisely.

An alternative plan would be to employ a small army of punka wallahs to keep one's perspiring brow cool....naturally they will consume food, water, and air....


the cord is connected to a fan....by pullies

Just a hint....don't leave the punkah wallah outside, in the NBC contaminated environment....their mileage may vary....

 

In the olden days they placed a sliced onion near the patient , seems that it tends to absorb bacteria like a sponge .
Running fans/blowers 24/7 will take significant energy to maintain , seems to me that having passive means of dealing with foul air might be smarter.
Pressurizing air in a room means that, if it is for insuring other are not contaminated with foul air, the room needs to be vented out side via a water barrier, or check valve . none of that air can be circulated through the rest of the house .
The care giver needs to have their own air as they work with the patient, in that environment not just a surgical mask. and a regular change of bunny suit and booties an gloves. or a changing room adjacent the isolation gear is kept . nothing coming from that room can be mingled with every one else out side it. that and it might be advised that that air be piped in the ground rather than in the open air where others might breathe it.
At some point the hard decisions will have to be made, as to if the patient is savable, versus those that need help too. and the means to wash down the room as well and disinfect it ,between patients.
Form a patients perspective in an isolation room I believe that I would have less hope of recovery if left entirely alone . Having a view and the ability to interact with others might be valuable since the sharing of knowledge will become critical .
Put your self in that room . you can aways use a curtain to shield view if necessary.

 

We needn't waste any time, money or effort on a quarantine room.

In the days before antibiotics, infected people were quarantined in order to keep their germs IN, not other peoples' germs out. Not only are no infectious diseases spread by air itself, but germ warfare is essentially a bust because germs are dispersed and diluted so rapidly as they fan out from a source that they are already too dilute to be effective as a weapon within a few feet of release. Many types of infections are spread by contaminated body fluids in a sneeze, cough, blood, etc. Invest in a gun-- to keep sick people/animals away-- not in walls, barriers or fans.

Gamma radiation needs at least 3 ft of concrete to stop it. Are you prepared to pour that much?

Poison gases, if they can be effectively stopped,need only a "respirator" (stupid misnomer).

In case you're wondering about why they put positive pressure rooms in hospitals-- it's only to protect immunocompromised patients from contacting even the very small "routine" inoccula that normal folks can fight off but could cause severe infection & death in the patient. A guy that sick ain't gunna survive a SHTF situation anyways.

 

It might be wise ,in the long run to have surgical masks ,good for many issues . Realize that these masks cannot be effective indefinitely so a significant supply should be in stores as well as in BOBs and GHBs , I cary at lest one in EDC bag .
It has been handy in the event of a fire and the smoke completely covered town due to the winds.
Though a person may not feel the need to mask, breathing smoke from an unknown source can be dangerous.
It is no small wonder that in china so many people wear a mask due to all the contaminations wafting through the cities and sick people still going to work and out among crowds .
Though the particulate levels those masks provide filtration is marginal, it's better than nothing .
Point is any patient that has air borne issues ,needs a mask . Those working with them also need a mask and these need changed regularly. This might help significantly in dealing with those that need to be some what isolated.
To be quite frank , with out proper treatments most people that might have to be put in isolation my not survive any way.
On the other hand having a clean room for medical procedures IS a significant survival issue and having some one fully devoted to learning all there is to know about first aid and minor surgery, for the sake of caring for bullet wounds and other injuries is invaluable .
Having a second person learning medical , for issues in the field would also be of great value.