A Quick Emergency Stretcher

Rule 1: Don't move an injured patient, unless his life is in immediate danger. You can do more damage moving them, so in most cases wait for the paramedics. If, however, the injured person is in a dangerous place like near a fire, rising water or bad weather or dangerous animals are approaching you absolutely have to move an injured person, here's a way to make a quick sturdy stretcher using stuff that's easily available.

Gather up these two items.

1. A blanket, tarpaulin, sheet of plastic or something blanket-like. On a beach you could use a couple of large beach towels, a sail from a sailboard or some pull the cover off the umbrella.
2. A couple of poles, two tree limbs or long pipes or rods to use for the handles. Two sailboard masts could provide your poles or the umbrella posts. Anything long and straight can work.

Making the Stretcher:

1. Lay out the blanket on a flat place so that the long edge of the blanket is toward you with the short edges to your left and right.
2. Lay one pole on top of the blanket about 1/3 of the way over from the right edge of the blanket.
3. Fold the right flap over the top of the first pole and lay it across the blanket toward the left side.
4. Lay the second pole on top of the left edge of the blanket that was folded over about a third of the way from the left edge of the blanket. 
5. Fold the left flap over the top of the pole and lay it all the way across the top of both poles.

Moving the Patient:

The best way to move the patient is carefully. Here are the steps.

1. Lay the improvised stretcher next to the injured person, parallel to their body. 
2. Get as many people as possible to help you lift. The more hands you have helping you, the easier it is to move the patient's body as a single unit. 
3. Be careful not to allow damaged body parts to move. I could cause further injury if you try to straighten a broken limb or bend a damaged spine. 
4. Lift the patient straight up and move his body slowly and lower it onto the top of the blanket. The patient's weight on top of the blankets will hold the blankets in place and prevent them from slipping from the poles. 
5. Put two people on either end of the stretcher or four people, two on each end and lift by the poles. 
6. When you carry the stretcher away, make sure everyone carrying it walks out of step with each other. This prevents the stretcher from swinging. If you walk in a march step, the rhythm of your step will cause the stretcher to swing back and fort and can cause those carrying it to stumble or drop the handle.
7. If you have four people carrying the stretcher, put one on each end holding the poles and the other two walking alongside holding the poles at the center. 

Note:  Before you lift and go, practice a few times quickly so everyone knows what they are going to do. It's a good idea, if you work with kids and/or in wooded or isolated places, to practice making one of these stretchers so you can do it quickly.

© 2017 by Tom King

Recycling Candle Jars

Bathroom Epsom salts storage jar.

 
Thrifty folks like me just hate to throw away those lovely candle jars when the candle is burned away to nothing but a puddle of candle wax, a little metal square and the black smoky residue on the sides. These things make nice canisters for all sorts of things like canisters for dry ingredients like Epsom salts, coffee creamer, sugar, salt, and even flour and dried beans. You can also refill the jar with wax and string and make another candle.  Here's how:
 
CANISTER:

Coffee creamer jar ready for label.

My Sweet Baboo wanted something decorative to go with her driftwood and rock collection on the bathroom cabinet. We had a small candle that was burned down all the way. Here's how we did the glass container shown in the photo above.

Materials:

• Burned out glass candle jar and lid
• Boiling water
• Bottle brush
• Microwave
• WD-40
• Decorative stickers
• Label

Direction:

1. Heat the candle jar in the microwave until the candle wax is liquified.
2. Pour off the wax. Pour boiling water in the candle jar while the jar is still very warm from the microwave. Add a little dish soap.
3. Scrub the inside of the jar with the bottle brush.
4. If there is any wax residue left inside the jar, spray the inside of the jar with WD-40. Wipe it out with a rag or paper towel and the wash again with a brush, soap and water.
5. Repeat until the jar is clean.
6. Our bathroom decorative scheme is nautical. Sheila planned to put Epsom Salts in the jar, so I made a clear label on my computer that had a border and put "Sea Salt" on the label.
7. Next we put shells and starfish stickers strategically on the outside of the jar as shown.
8. Position attractively in your bathroom or kitchen or whatever spot you have in mind for your new sealed container.

NEW CANDLE:

Materials:

• Old candle jar
• Candle string
• Small washer
• Candle wax or paraffin
• Scented oil 
• Pencil
• Old pan

Directions:

1. Melt the old wax and remove the stub of string and metal weight.
2. Clean out the jar as shown above. 
3. Melt the wax slowly in the pan on the stove. Stop when it liquifies. Don't boil.
4. Add scented oil till it smells as strong as you like and stir it in.
5. Tie one end of the candle string to the small washer. Cut the string so it is a few inches longer than you need to reach the top.
6. With the washer on the bottom of jar, lay the pencil on top of the open jar across the center and tie the string to the center of the pencil to hold the string vertical.
7. Gently pour the hot wax into the jar and fill to a half inch or so from the top of the jar. 
8. Allow to sit and cool and when hardened, trim the the string level with the top of the jar. 
9. Your new candle is ready to go. 

Uses:
 
The nice thing about old candle jars is that they have a seal so that the jars can be made relatively airtight.  They're handy for a lot of things and you get that lovely smell when you burn the candle the first time before you reuse the jar.

REFERENCES:

Swan Creek Candle Company - (wax, scent and supplies)

Alternate Jar Cleaning Method (Youtube)

Three More Ways To Clean Candle Jars


© 2017 by Tom King