What to do with the bodies

This one is kind of touchy, hits a nerve for most... so if this topic is hard for you please move on...

First understand I'm not just talking about people... There will be animals as well that need to be properly disposed of. the rules for both are pretty much the same but those rules vary depending on the cause of death...
These rules are also dictated by location, soil types, ground water depths and so on and so on and so on...

Now I'm no expert on the subject so I'll refer all to this site. Carcass Disposal Issues in Recent Disasters, Accepted Methods, and Suggested Plan to Mitigate Future Events
this 137 page pdf from Texas State is available to download. This Ebook is a worthy resource as it was compiled as result of identifying common carcass disposal problems, delineating appropriate disposal methods, and assimilating interview results from public managers involved in recent carcass disposal activities from recent emergencies, such as Hurricane Katrina and Floyd.

In my day when we had a dead cow, they taught us just to dig a hole deep enough so the critters don't dig it up then toss in a sack of lime so it don't stink... times have changed and in the case of dealing with diseased carcasses, the methods are very different.. I urge you to download this very important Ebook

From Mother Shipton Poems

Of rotting bodies of beast and man.
Of vegetation crisped on land.

But the land that rises from the sea
will be dry and clean.

www.crystalinks.com...

Sounds like their will be no place on earth.

Bury what you can, burn the rest.

I know this is touchy with a lot of people, especially when cultural perspective comes into play.

But, I will be damned if I can survive SHTF just to die from disease do to rotting bodies.

If you live in an area with little access to food...well...food for thought.

reply to post by peck420
burning is the best option, digging a hole will take time, gas and match, spreed of diseases and smells is not what we the survivor's should have to deal with, there will be a lot of them, smells around.

reply to post by bekod


Agreed. However, make sure that the fire won't spread or get out of control. Use a mask, or just put something over your mouth and nose to make sure that you don't get any airborn thingys in your lungs, before you burn the body.

reply to post by JDBlack


The "thingys" you are referencing to are commonly known as "Airborne Pathogens". You are correct. "Rack em", "stack em". "pack em", and burn them. There is no shame in removing the threat. The dead are dead. Remember to preserve the living.


Scoutsniper

Great post, i never studied this but I also think burning would be the best.

wood chippem into a hog pen feed lot or into the wild bore hollers, they will be quickly cleaned up

Yes i would burn them, not well educated in the area but would it be possible to feed bodies to other animals? That seems a much more efficient and productive way to dispose of them if possible, we are talking a SHTF scenario here after all.

reply to post by Solomons


Aliengenes is being sarcastic, facetious, and at the same time trying to be humorous.

We know that the decease could be transmitted to other creatures by allowing the creatures to "feed" on these dead bodies. During the "Black Plague" in Europe, they also cremated the bodies in an attempt to curb the spread of "ring around the posy". That is where the "little" rhyme" started.

How do I know all this? I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night and watched it all on TV. (just kidding). What ever is infected that could spread needs to be addressed in the most intelligent and correct manner.


Scoutsniper

Actually it isn't the dead you have to worry about spreading disease. It's the survivors.
Granted corpses are very unattractive and don't smell that good; worry about the living that will be infected with all sorts of gnarly stuff when antibiotics go bad from not being refrigerated.

rangelmd.com...

Human infection is just phase II of what we have to look forward to. All the guns, shells, knives, numbchucks and all the gear, won't help you a goddamn bit against microbes, viruses, germs, bacteria, parasites, etc. except to take the easy way out when you are to weak from puking your guts out or diarrhea, to do anything except pull the trigger.

www.cbc.ca...

To truly prepare for a shtf event.... Study infectious diseases because that will be the main enemy to survival.
I know it's not nearly as romantic as fantasizing about shooting it out with the hungry marauders but much more practical.

Have a nice day.

In rural areas the sewer system is usually septic tanks find one of these behind a unuseable or destroyed home
After SHTF with a prob you can find the top of the tank and dig down, pull the lid and stuff the bodies in. and recover the lid.
no odour no mess plus no graves if the PTB return to power.

Small towns go to the fire station most have hazmat suits with respirators that can be worn while collecting bodies and in most cases someone in town has a backhoe to dig a mass grave. Check the water company yard for a backhoe.

If you are hiding in the hills take the bodies a couple miles away along the roads or trails into the area and hang them from trees as a warning to gangs or others that might attack you.

In big cities forget it, there will be way to many bodies to deal with, Give it 6 months for the bodies to decompose or mummify
and then it will be safe.
Before that time full hazmat suit if you have to enter the city. if youb can smell them from the street you need a hazmat suit.

I have the hazmat suit and i will be working the edge of big cities looking for homes with solar power systems i can salvage for use in a rural area.

Any bodies are largely going to be concentrated around urban areas, and once all the shops have been looted, you don't want to be anywhere near there anyway. I'd just leave the bodies as they were. Neither burying or burning are easy, both incredibly labour intensive, time that should be spent getting out of the urban environment and into a more sustainable situation. Plus leaving carcasses where they are draws in predators and aids in keeping disease to those that feed on the weak and dead, thus further ensuring that they won't be in a fit state to trouble you when they too realise the urban environment is unsustainable.

Shelter, security and water should be your only concerns, food will come with those things, worry too much about the dead and you'll join them. Life is for the living.

This thread is begging for the attention of serial killers. If a situation like this happens,the proper authorities will know what to do. I know many methods on what to do,but i would hate to help a would be killer learn a technique that would help him get away.

Don't worry, it sounds like FEMA has it taken care of.....

In a normal catastrophe such as the 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia, this is what you get:



Victims are photographed, bagged, and placed in a mass grave roughly 5-6 feet down and dug with a backhoe. However, in this case, this was an Indonesian Marine who died of Malaria during cleanup in Sumatra. So he got his own grave.

In the event of an infectious disease, however, you burn the bodies to stop the spread of the disease. Otherwise flies and mosquitos are going to create an even bigger catastrophe.

Hmmm If I were to just come across a body or smell it from a distance I would just leave it were it was and keep going. Its losing a family member or someone in the group that worries me. So burning would be the way I would go. Its been done for thousands of years and seems a fitting funeral. Plus I dont have access to a back hoe nor know how to operate one and digging a hole by hand???? I think I would rather gather wood instead.

I would say, bury em 6 feet down. The reason..bacteria nad viruss, like plague. remember, when plague hit Europe, people wernt using coffins..bodys were simply piled and covered with dirt. it took the plague, a wooden box, to help contain it in areas. Going by the 6 feet down even without a coffin, keeps scavengers like animals away form diggin it up completely, and cotnains at that depth, more or less any infectious bacteria or diseases that they may have or might devlop due to rotting organs/

If they're zombies, don't eat them or let any animals eat them.

Thanks for this information. Seems like common sense, but....