How to Avoid Being Killed in a War Zone Read online

  Acting stupid, intentionally or otherwise, can sometimes get you far. Mary O’Shea

  9/ Surviving Extremes

  I got through the stress and the smell of the Indonesian tsunami with a combination of Xanax and Tiger Balm. Marc Laban

  This book is not for people who are setting off into the jungle with nothing but a penknife and two sticks to rub together. But all of us have found ourselves out of our comfort zone at one point or another, and this chapter should help you to win the battle against nature.

  It is amazing what a little effort in the short term can achieve in the long run. In the army it was drummed into me that it was ‘easy to be uncomfortable’. In other words, they taught us how to be as comfortable as possible, such as how to bunker down in icy conditions and how to conserve water in hot conditions.

  It was in the army that I learnt how to make a mobile refrigerator in a desert. Simply, wet a sock, pop your hot can of Coke or bottle of water inside and let the wind blow against it. The evaporation will cool your drink by a couple of degrees. Do it a few times and you have something that is far enough below body temperature to be refreshing. Genius!

  /BASIC SURVIVAL

  Assuming you have been dropped in the middle of nowhere with little or no kit, your four top priorities will be:

  1. Finding a source of water

  If there is no stream or lake at hand, head for lowlands, such as a valley.

  • Look for pools in rocks. If the water is too shallow to scoop up in your hands, use your clothes to soak up the water, then wring them out into your mouth or a cup, or suck on them to get the water.

  • If you have the right tools, dig down until you find water.

  • Look for where animals are headed – there will be water nearby. And don’t forget to collect rainwater.

  • Try plants for water. Test them first and avoid any with milky sap as it could be poisonous. Even in the driest of deserts you can find water in cactus plants, or even come across prickly pears (see Safe to Eat).

  Warning: Ration whatever water you have. Don’t drink urine or salt water, and boil all the water you find to drink: diarrhoea will only dehydrate you further. (see making fire and sterilizing water.)

  2. Finding food

  There is a whole chapter devoted to the subject of finding food (see here).

  3. Finding shelter

  Maybe you’ll be lucky and find something ideal for sheltering you from the elements, such as a cave. If not, it might be necessary to make a shelter.

  • Use a fallen log as the topside of a roof, using long sticks to make the structure – one end on the log, the other on the ground – covered in mud or leaves.

  • Make a wigwam by binding saplings or sticks together and covering it with plastic sheeting, if you have some, or branches if you don’t.

  • Dig a hole in the ground and cover it with plastic sheeting weighted at the corners with rocks.

  • In snowy conditions, dig a snow hole in packed snow and in open, flat areas to avoid avalanches. Use a snowdrift if there is one big enough (see below).

  Use every resource you have to hand, plus a little strength and imagination.

  Warning: If you light a fire inside your shelter (you can even do this in a snow hole), make sure there is ventilation for the smoke to escape so that you don’t suffer carbon monoxide poisoning or breathing problems.

  4. Finding rescue or civilization

  • If people know where you are, stay put. If you had a car or plane crash, always stay with the wreckage – this makes it easier for rescuers to find you.

  • If no one has a clue that you are even missing, let alone where you were going, you need to move yourself towards civilization. Or find a spot where you can signal rescuers using smoky fires or reflection (if you’re lucky enough to have a mirror, glass or space blanket).

  • If you set off on foot, make sure you’re not walking around in circles. Take a bearing on a landmark in the distance and stick to it. If there are no landmarks in sight, you are probably better staying still and conserving your water, unless there is no hope at all of rescue.

  • A good tip is to follow rivers downhill as civilization is likely to be found at some point along the way. Also, the river will be a ready source of water.

  /COPING WITH COLD

  There are a few benefits to living in a desert as I do in Doha. One of them is warmth – I hate being cold. My friends look to me like a canary for a warning of gathering frost. When I start shivering inside my carefully chosen five layers of ultimate manmade materials, they put on their jackets. I don’t mind lying under a duvet or in front of a fire with a gale blowing outside, or trekking through the snow to a warm restaurant. But if I am cold and I can see no end to it, I become grumpy and miserable. Not great company.

  There are a few tricks I have learnt along the way about coping with cold, and I’ve discovered many more in writing this book. The first one is to eat – a lot – something that Dr Carl Hallam agrees with:

  ‘I was in north Norway for three months every winter as a British Royal Marine, learning how to cope with cold weather from the bossy staff sergeants, who had a saying – “Any idiot can be cold”. You will cool down just like any other object in the environment unless you are prepared for it. We would eat around 5000 calories a day: one big meal in the morning and one in the evening, with a rest after both of them because the blood goes to the stomach after eating. You have to give it time to get back to the limbs.’

  CLOTHING TO KEEP OUT THE COLD

  There are some other survival basics to remember, and Kamal Hyder has them all down to a T:

  ‘One thing you should never take for granted is the weather. If you are going to the desert, it’s going to be hot in the day, but freezing at night. Be ready for both extremes. Carry extra jackets if necessary. The weather is very unforgiving in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The one big thing is to have protection from rain, water or snow. If you are wet, you can’t do very much.

  ‘We were doing a trip up in the tribal territories as part of a peace caravan that was travelling from Pakistan into Afghanistan. It was so cold that I lost 7 kilos in 10 days. If it wasn’t for my Gore-Tex jacket, I would have died on the trip.

  ‘We took a four-wheel drive along with us, filled purely with wood, causing giggles amongst our fellow hardy trekkers. Whenever we had a chance, we would get together and have a big bonfire. The same people who had been laughing at us were all there enjoying its warmth. It is so important to bring basic things that keep you warm and dry.’

  There are more hi-tech ways of keeping warm if you are staying for a long period. Shelley Thakral has some useful advice:

  ‘We were revisiting the site of the 2005 Kashmir–Pakistan earthquake as the snows were coming in. People were still living in tents. We were there with the British Army, who had brought fantastic kit – tankers with ski-grips on them and things like that. But I’d never been so cold in my life. I was going to bed wearing every bit of clothing I possessed. But we had to go on. You have to use your frozen fingers and thumbs to work the computers.

  ‘There are always going to be times when you are cold. Be prepared to be unprepared. There are tricks you can learn from the experts about kit – the right shoes, the best socks… Consider taking a small generator so you have heating and light at some point in the day. And most of all, if you can, always try to stay with the UN. Their camps are more long-term, and aimed at comfort-loving civilians.’

  Finally, always assume that you might be forced to spend the night in the cold and go prepared. Leith Mushtaq says: ‘I was born in a furnace – I am Iraqi. In Afghanistan it was minus 20. I always travel with a sleeping bag.’

  /HYPOTHERMIA

  You are a small, warm thing competing with the huge, cold outdoors. You will be cooling by degrees all the time unless you take preventive measures.

  Preventing hypothermia

  • Keep clothing dry by wearing the appropriate protective layer – a
wind-cheater, something waterproof but breathable.

  • Wear a hat at all times.

  • If you do have to go into water, take off as many clothes as possible and hold them above your head or wrap them in something waterproof while you make the crossing.

  • If someone has an injury that means they cannot move, try to find a way of keeping them moving at least one limb or another with response games – like trying to slap a hand before it moves away.

  • Watch for signs of hypothermia in yourself and your team (see below).

  Signs of hypothermia

  • Slowed responses and unnatural bursts and hollows of energy.

  • Uncontrollable shivering and impaired eyesight.

  • The sufferer will be making mistakes all the time.

  • Dexterity will be low and the person will be stumbling while walking.

  • Headaches and stomach-aches will develop before complete collapse and unconsciousness.

  • The pulse will slow and eventually stop if not treated.

  Treatment of hypothermia

  • Protect the casualty from the elements, out of the wind and rain.

  • Replace any wet clothes with dry ones.

  • If the person is awake, feed them sugary foods and water. Hot tea, coffee or soup are ideal. Do not give alcohol – it will cool them down in the long run.

  • Start to warm the person up. Separate them from the cold ground with clothing or a mat. Add your body warmth to theirs. Get inside a sleeping bag with them. Put heat sources, such as warm rocks or hot-water bottles, on any parts of the body where the blood is close to the skin – think pressure points (see Pressure points to control bleeding). If they are severely cold, their body might take hours to re-warm – it has lost the ability to do so itself. It must carry your warmth via their blood to their core.

  Warning: Do not apply anything very hot to the body: it might cause burns that go unnoticed because the body is not able to react to protect itself as it normally would. Also, if you try to heat the body up too quickly, the cold blood will head into the core as a form of protection, making the problem worse.

  /FROSTBITE

  In extremely cold conditions a major concern is frostbite, which is when the skin actually freezes. The water in your cells expands, bursting the cell walls and ruining the affected area. The further a body part is away from the heart, the bigger the risk of it getting frostbitten. Nose, ears, feet and hands are all particularly vulnerable.

  There is a hotel in Nepal called the Yak & Yeti. It’s popular with climbers returning from ascents of Everest. One morning I went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast after working through the night on a last-minute edit. I was starving. A group of Japanese climbers joined the queue behind me for a fry-up. I turned and looked at them, put down my still-empty plate and returned to my room. Their faces were black with frostbite. They reminded me of a Peruvian mummified woman I’d seen in the Andes. One of climbers had lost his nose, and two had bandages around the stump they had left for one arm; their other hand, bandaged too, was clearly missing fingers.

  I am not going to provide gruesome drawings of frostbite. I hope you have all seen it before on television or in a textbook somewhere. Please read the description carefully to work out the level of seriousness.

  Preventing frostbite

  • Keep making regular checks of the vulnerable body parts. As the area numbs, it will be harder to feel what is happening.

  • Keep the problematic areas moving. Wiggle your fingers, wiggle your toes, massage your face or pull faces.

  • If someone is injured and can’t move around much, massage their feet, hands and face. Keep all the mobile limbs moving.

  Signs of frostbite

  • Numbness or a prickly sensation in the skin.

  • The affected part will go white, then harden.

  • The part will swell with the frost, then break into blisters before turning black and dropping off.

  Treatment for frostbite

  The good news is that if you catch it early enough, frostbite is totally reversible.

  The bad news is that the cure – thawing out – is very, very painful. Give the casualty painkillers to help take the edge off.

  • If frostbite is at the first level (numbness or prickliness), you need to put the affected area somewhere warm to heat up slowly. Try your crotch or armpits. If you can’t because your feet are affected, try someone else’s crotch or armpits. Don’t put the frostbitten part close to a fire – it will scream with pain.

  • If the frostbite is deep and you cannot warm the area with body heat, warm up some water to just below body temperature, around 30°C – the temperature you bathe a baby in (test it with your elbow) – and put the affected area in it. If it is unbearable, let the water cool and try again, increasing the heat of the water gradually until the area is thawed.

  • If the area has started to blister or turn grey or black, you need to protect it from further damage. Do not try to rub the area warm, or burst the blisters, or expose the area to extreme heat. Simply expose the area to body warmth, even if it takes hours. When it has no chance of getting better, blackened areas will just fall off.

  Warning: If you are in an enclosed space and trying to warm up with a fire or any other uncovered flame, be aware of the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning. You must keep the area ventilated.

  /TRENCH FOOT

  When the feet have been exposed to damp and cold for too long, they develop a condition known as trench foot, which causes them to swell, blister and crack. This makes walking very painful, if not impossible.

  One of the most important pieces of kit in a soldier’s bag is a pair of clean socks. The priorities, after water, are feet, food, gun and feet – that’s what you are taught in the British Army.

  Preventing trench foot

  • Change your socks every day, no matter how tired or wet and cold you are. This will give you a chance to inspect your feet.

  • Socks need washing and drying as often as possible. Sleep with them on your hands inside a sleeping bag to help them dry. (It is amazing what you can dry inside a warm sleeping bag overnight.)

  • Take plenty of socks if you want to avoid constant laundering.

  • Take your shoes and socks off as often as possible and air your feet.

  Signs of trench foot

  • Feet start to feel numb.

  • Pins and needles will develop.

  • Sharp pain will rush through your feet.

  • The feet will turn purple and blister and crack.

  Treatment for trench foot

  • Dry the feet and keep them dry.

  • Protect the blisters with a dressing. Do not pop them.

  • Do not rub or massage the affected area.

  • Raise the feet and wrap them loosely in a dry rug or clothing.

  • Rest. There is no quick cure for trench foot.

  /COPING WITH HEAT

  In a very hot environment, water is going to be your main concern. If you’re in an arid desert and have none, the only places worth looking for some are dry streambeds and the lowest area you can find among the dunes. Dig at night, but be careful you are not losing more water (in the form of perspiration) than you are gaining in your efforts to find it. Wadis, oases and bore-holes will be dry and often covered up for most of the year, waiting for the rains to come, but it is worth digging in these places too if you come across them.

  Any cuts or sores should be treated and bandaged immediately as they will quickly become infected.

  Make a point of finding shelter because without it, your hard-won water will be in vain. Exposure to the heat of the day will soon cause health problems and see you dehydrated even more quickly. At night, when the temperature drops, use the shelter to keep warm.

  /DEHYDRATION

  You will not believe how much water you can get through under certain conditions. When I was in Basra in 2003 the temperature hit 63°C on a day of riots ac
ross the city. I was terrified and I was melting. That day I drank eight large bottles of water and I still felt dehydrated after all the kerfuffle was over. My clothes were soaked through, apart from the clear outline of my bra, which – as an extra layer – had absorbed some of the sweat and left a bra-shaped dry patch. My friend Seb’s trousers went from dark blue to white with salt over just a few days in Basra. My trousers eventually disintegrated from being constantly damp, ripping apart as I pulled myself out of a taxi for the tenth time that day. They are a very hardy lot, the Basrawi.

  Caroline Hawley was the main BBC correspondent in Iraq while I was out there. I met her once and that was when I first learnt just how swan-like TV reporters really are – calm and authoritative on air, but paddling like crazy things underneath to make the broadcast on time and with the right information at their fingertips. The whole team is working at full speed. And when they’re not working, they are travelling to the next story. As Caroline points out, it is easy to forget the simple parts of life in the rush:

  ‘I got heatstroke in the summer of 2004. I think it was cumulative. After several days of going out in 45°C heat, I started to feel sick and dizzy. I became delirious and kept telling colleagues, “If my brain goes, put me down.” I could see that what I was saying alarmed them, but I couldn’t help myself repeating the same sentence again and again. I don’t remember ever having felt so ill, and I wound up briefly in the American combat hospital in Iraq. After a break in the cool of the UK, we were out trying to film with an American medical air evacuation team and, unusually, a morning went by with no casualties. We twiddled our thumbs in a stifling pre-fab building with a broken air conditioner. Soon they were laughing at me as I became their first casualty of the day. Three bags of intra-venal fluid later, I was helicoptered back to central Baghdad. I definitely recommend the IV drip – it significantly shortened the recovery time.’