"The
prevailing emotion should be one of a nostalgia for those left behind,
combined with a spirit of bold curiousity for the adventure ahead!"
Herr Dr. Strangelove's Guide To
STAYING
ALIVE AND HAPPY ON THE PLAYA
No, the playa of the Black Rock Desert is not a post-apacolyptic hell on earth. In fact it is a sublimely beautiful place in which you can be both comfortable and inspired. But you have to pay attention, know what can hurt you, and how to avoid it.
What follows is a list of what can kill you -- and what can't. I urge you to take a moment to read it. You might save a life -- maybe even your own.
Click on any of these for some basics do's and don'ts.
The Ultimate in "Final Exams"
"Pause
and Refresh" often
Dehydration
What it is:
the high temperatures (100'F+) and extremely low humidity (<15%) of
the Black Rock Playa wicks water out of all living things at an outrageous
rate -- 6 to 10 times faster than in the cool humid climate of the bay
area. There is no visible life on the playa, and if you don't
be careful you won't live long there either. Signs of dehydration
include dark colored and smelly urine, a rapid and shallow resting pulse,
headaches, mild nausea, and fatigue.
How To Avoid
It: drink plenty of water and plenty of "sports drinks"
containing potassium and other needed salts and minerals (gatorade is considered
the best for playa use). IF YOU WAIT UNTIL
YOU ARE THIRSTY IT IS TOO LATE -- START SIPPING WHEN YOU WAKE AND DON'T
STOP UNTIL YOU SLEEP. a GALLON of water PER DAY is the
minimum required to maintain health; augment that with at least a QUART
of GATORADE each day. Carry water with you at all times -- And drink
from it often. keep an eye on friends, be sure they are drinking
enough water and sports drinks.
-monitor the color of your urine; dark
smelly pee means dehydration -- light (clear) pee is a sign of proper hydration
(unless you are drinking alcohol, which can make you pee a lot of light
colored pee -- then drop dead). if you choose to drink alcholhol,
go easy and drink and additional amount of water equal to 4 times
the volume of alcohol you drink.
How To Respond
to it: sit down in the shade and
spend an hour drinking at least 2 quarts of water. if you find
you don't have a taste for water, drink gatorade or fruit juice.
avoid caffinated or alcoholic beverages as these are diuretics (dehydrating
agents) and only make matters worse. check for the symptoms of heat
exhaustion or heat stroke -- if either is suspected get medical attention
immediately.
Look
out for your buddies on the playa
Heat
Exhaustion (too much body heat)
What it is:a
state of profound overheating marked by profuse sweating; panting, nausea,
and headaches.
How To Avoid
It: get the fook out of the sun before you reach this
state. if you get these symptoms, tell 2 (TWO) sober friends whom
you trust that you are overheated and need their help. Have them
monitor your condition, keep them informed as to whether you are feeling
better or worse with rest in the shade and water intake.
How To Respond
to it: sit down in the shade.
soak your (light cotton) clothes with water and fan yourself.
have your friends fan you as well. drink as much water as you
can swallow. drink gatorade too. stay in the shade. if
you don't feel better within 15 or 20 minutes of rest and water in the
shade, seek medical help. have your friends locate a Ranger, or ask
them to walk you to the REMSA HEALTH TENT located next to the main ranger
headquarters in the center of the encampment.
"I don't feel so good..."
Heat
Stroke (deadly overheating)
What it is: a
truly lethal combination of overheating and dehydration; and the most feared
killer in any desert environment. it occurs when the body looses
its battle to keep appropriately cool and hydrated. it destroys the
liver, kidneys, heart and brain. rather than feeling overheated
(as is the case with heat exhaustion, above), people with heat stroke usually
feel cold. they complain of chills and may shiver. their skin
is not moist and sweaty as with heat exhaustion-- but instead cold
and dry. they look pale. their cognitive functions are often
impaired -- usually noticed first with slurred and confused speech and
disorientation. as the condition worsens, people with heat stroke
stumble and fall. seizures follow, then quickly coma and death.
How To Avoid
It: Stay Hydrated! And respond quickly and profoundly
when the first symptoms of overheating appear (see procedures in Heat Exhaustion
above). Heat stroke often hits those who have been drinking alcohol
or using drugs as both hinder the body's attempts to stay cool, cause significant
dehydration, and often lead to decisions that simply make the condition
worse.
How To Respond
to it: if you encounter
someone showing the symptoms of Heat Stroke act immediately -- you may
have only minutes to save their life! send 2 (TWO) different
and reliable people to locate a Ranger to call in emergency medical care
for the heat stroke victim (use the term "Heat Stroke"). get
a couple of people to help you get the victim into as cool and shady a
location as possible. once there, remove any tight fitting or heavy
clothing. remove their hat. make a "mattress" of
cotton clothing (get others in good health to volunteer that they are wearing
or can locate quickly) 2 or 3 inches deep under the victim and soak it
with the coolest water you have available.
cover any exposed area
of their skin with with a single layer of lightweight cotton rags or clothing
(such as T shirts or better yet, sarongs) from other healthy people nearby.
now soak all of the cloth now on the victim
with the coolest water you have and have a number of people fan the victim
vigorously. keep their hair soaked. massage the victims arms
and legs vigorously to force the cooled blood into the body cavity and
the organs therein (the blood in the extremities cools first). it
is the overheated blood in the kidneys, liver, heart, and brain causes
severe damage to these organs, and this is this damage you need to stop.
keep up this process until trained medical crews arrive. be
sure the victim's airway remains clear and the victim continues to breathe.
talk to them in a calm and confident manner. if breathing or heartbeat
stop, be prepared to administer CPR. loss of breathing usually
occurs first -- and assisting with breathing is easy and safe. simply
tilt the person's head back, hold their nostrils shut, and blow long full
breaths into their mouth. you should see their chest rise as you
fill their lungs with air. try to fill their lungs about 8 times
a minute.
the
standard treatment for sunblindness
Sun
Blindness ("snow blindness")
What it is: sunburn
of the delicate surface of the eyeball and lens. it occurs as or
more often on the light colored desert playa surface as it does on mountain
snow. victims will complain of blurry vision, sensitivity to light,
and above all feeling like they have glass or grit in their eyes.
How To Avoid
It: wear quality sunglasses that are made for bright sun
on snow or similarly bright surfaces as well as a broad brimmed hat at
all times during daylight. note that dehydration exacerbates sun
blindness.
How To Respond
to it: help the victim of
sun blindness cover both eyes (even if only one is bothering them) with
a dark colored cotton cloth soaked with cool water. this will prevent
further damage and the coolness will reduce the pain somewhat. lead
them either directly to the REMSA HEALTH TENT located next to the main
ranger headquarters in the center of the encampment, or to a shady and
safe place where help can be brought to them.
stylin,
but not appropraite nightime playa wear
Hypothermia
(not enough body heat)
What it is:the
results of the body being unable to maintain sufficient body heat.
victims of hypothermia feel cold and shiver profoundly. they may
get either drowsy (more common) or excited and panicked (less common).
How To Avoid
It: dress warmly as night begins to fall -- for the lack
of vegetation and water on the playa keeps it from maintaining the heat
of the day. the playa cools very quickly as the sun sets, temperatures
in the low 40's are common at night, sometimes even colder, even in midsummer.
friends now on the playa report night time temperatures falling into the
mid 30's ('F) remember that dehydration exacerbates hypothermia.
How To Respond
to it: the victim of hypothermia
needs additional body heat -- not just insulation. a warm jacket or a sleeping
bag are simply insulators, they will keep a cold beer cold or a warm person
warm. a cold person needs heat. remove any clothing they
are wearing that is wet (wet clothes cause further cooling by evaporation)
. strip them and yourself down to a single light layer of dry
clothing (such as underwear and a T shirt) and get into a warm dry sleeping
bag with them. move around vigorously to produce heat. massage
their arms and legs to get the warmed blood moving into the torso and head
where it is most needed. monitor their condition -- if they
show rapid improvement stick with it until they are comfortable (not shivering),
coherent, and relaxed at which point they should put on warm clothes and
get into a dry (and ideally pre-warmed) sleeping bag. if their condition
does not improve within 10 or 15 minutes, send 2 (TWO) responsible
people for medical help. you stay in the bag and keep working to
warm them. warm beverages help. alcohol makes things much worse.
"Mein
Fuehrer, I can VALK!"
"Playa
Foot" (dry foot rash caused by the playa salts)
What it is:a
painful drying, cracking, rash caused by prolonged contact (i.e., bare
feet) with the alkali lake bed (the playa).
How To Avoid
It: wear sturdy shoes. polypropylene or silk liner
socks under light wool socks are actually the coolest combination and will
prevent playa foot as well as blisters.
How To Respond
to it: a vigorous foot wash followed
by a liberal coating of Dr. Bronner's Soap -- straight from the
bottle -- several times daily will eventually cure it. Most cases
heal up within a day or two after beginning this treatment.
"The
Stigmata" (foot wounds caused by rebar stakes)
What it is: foot
wounds caused by stepping on rebar or other types of tent and tarp stakes.
How To Avoid
It: wear sturdy shoes and watch where you are walking
-- especially at night. Never run through encampments. Cap
All Tent Stakes With An Empty Plastic Drink Bottle. hang
a bunch of long strips of reflective ribbon or mylar around all guy lines
to make them apparent by flashlight -- as guy lines lead to stakes, right.
(see
the Shelter
page for more on this) if someone bloodies themselves on your
uncapped stake or rebar, you will feel like an asshole, and you should.
don't let this happen to yourself or your neighbours.
How To Respond
to it: if the wound is minor --
wash it carefully with soap and warm clean water, apply an antibiotic ointment
and cover it with a sterile bandage that breathes. if you don't have
these basic supplies (you should) or if the wound seems serious, have someone
help you hobble to the REMSA HEALTH SERVICES TENT -- or ask a Ranger for
assistance as they can call in a vehicle to drive you there.
Burns
What it is: the
result of too much revelry and not enough coherent thought, usually on
the night the man is burned.
How To Avoid
It: Remember that the goal is to
burn the man, not yourself. on the final day of the Burning
Man gathering, some community members also burn their art works.
Some also burn wooden and wicker furniture they have recovered from dumpsters,
repaired temporaily, then brought to the playa. If you choose
to burn appropriate items, be absolutely certain to follow the following
rules:
- Be sure what you burn is far from what you don't want to burn -- including
yourself. Given the winds common on the playa and the density
of the population, this means at least 50 feet from anything that could
possibly burn. This includes vehicles! (as well as the obvious --
tents, tarps, other peoples art, other people...)
- Never burn other people's materials without their permission and
without them actually present.
- Never burn rugs or carpet remnants (as this produces toxic fumes).
An increasing number
of dopes have been seen jumping over burning objects -- particularly the
hay bales placed at the base of the Man himself (herself?). This
is a recipe for disaster. The heat from such fires, even embers,
can easily set fire to your clothing even in the fraction of a second it
takes to leap over them. Another common screwup is having two people
jump from either side of a smokey fire and crash into one another directly
above the flames. The result is two dazed dopes standing -- more
often lying -- in a fire. Demonstrate to all the potential
prom dates around you that you are not a dope -- DON'T LEAP OVER FIRES.
If you avoid this temptation, your chances of making onto someones dance
card go way up. If you see someone whose clothing has been lit
on fire DON'T HESITATE -- immediately put them on the ground
and roll them until the flames are out. Then use a a piece of your
clothing (ideally a wet cloth) to extinguish any lingering embers.
Take the time to be sure any burning clothing or hair is entirely extinguished.
Then speak calmly to the person and keep them sitting or lying still for
a few moments. Convince them of the extreme danger and foolishness
of jumping flames -- politely (but firmly) prevent them from jumping
flames again.
How To Respond
to it: while most people know that
there are 3 degrees of burn severity, they don't know the difference between
them.
1st degree burns
are like severe sunburn. The skin turns red, produces mild pain,
and may swell slightly. Treat 1st degree burns by immediately
submerging or splashing the affected area in cold water; keep doing so
until the pain decreases. Then cover the burned area with a clean,
dry gauze dressing for protection from infection and further irritation.
2nd degree burns are like the worst finger burns that most of us
have experienced. 2nd degree burns go through to the second layer
of skin. The burned area will be rough and red, it will blister
and swell notably and cause extreme pain. Treat 2nd degree
burns by immersing them in or splashing them with cold water. Alternately,
apply cold, wet, clean cloths to the burned area. Once the pain has
subsided a bit (it will last for a few hours), gently blot the affected
area dry. Do not rub it dry as rubbing may break the blisters and leave
them opening to infection. Cover the burned area with a dry,
sterile bandage. If the burn is located on an arm or leg, keep
the limb elevated as much as possible to reduce the pain and swelling.
While most 2nd degree heal within a few weeks, having a physician or appropriate
clinician examine it is a good idea.
3rd degree burns are very serious indeed, and yet usually less
painful than lesser 2nd degree burns because the nerve cells in the burned
tissue are actually destroyed. The damage to the burned tissue is,
howver, much greater. 3rd degree burns right into and through the
3rd or deepest layer of skin and are a very serious, even potentially life
threatening medical emergency. The burned area will appears whitish
if not obviously charred. The first thing to do if you
encounter a poor smuck with 3rd degree burns is to send 2 (TWO) responsible
and sober people to bring medical assistance. Have them locate a
ranger and report a very serious burn. Have them be sure they can
describe the location and bring the ranger back with them. Most
people who suffer 3rd degree burns go into shock -- the blood flow
to their brains is reduced and they may act inappropriately. Do what
you can to calm them. If the burns are not on the back of their torso,
have them lie down on something insulataing (a sleeping bag, rug, or clothing
from you and those nearby). Raise their legs slightly above the lever
of their head. Keep them warm by placing additional clothing over
them -- though not over any burned area on their body. Do not remove
any clothing at or near the site of the burn. Do not in this
case apply cold water or anything else to the burn. If burns are
on arms or legs, keep the limbs elevated above the level of the heart.
If the person has burns on their face, check frequently to confirm that
they are not having difficulty breathing. If they are having
difficulty breathing, check to see that there is nothing obstructing their
airway (their mouth and throat). Reach in and pull away anything
you see blocking this airway. Speak calmly to the burned person,
assure them that help will soon be there. Victems of 3rd degree burns
need to be seen by a physician or other appropraite clinician at once.
Find a ranger to call in appropriate medical assistance; make it clear
to them that the burn is severe.
"Look!
A Flying Beach Chair!"
Storms,
Big Winds, and White-Outs
What it is: The
playa is subject to sudden bouts of fierce, unpredictable weather.
Severe conditions rarely last more than half an hour, but often come with
little or no warning.
Storm cells, fed by thermals rising up
the surrounding mountains, often perk up in the late afternoon or evening
and bring high winds, lightning and sometimes rain. Dust storms
prowl the playa, often in packs, at all times during the day and early
evening. Huge dust storms sometimes sweep in a broad front as wide
as the playa itself, usually coming from the southwest. Whenever
there is wind, the white playa dust is blown everywhere -- often producing
absolute zero visibility conditions called a "white-out."
How To Avoid
It: um... stay home? Avoid getting killed
by your own beach chair or coleman stove by keeping everything in your
camp battened down at all times. This is especially true when you're going
to be away from your camp. Winds can exceed 70 mph and objects
as large as sleeping bags, chairs, card tables, empty ice chests, tarps
and tents have been carried far away by high winds. And when moving
at 70mph a folding chair is lethal. Protect yourself and your neighbours.
How To Respond
to it: Seek shelter immediately
and stay there until the wind dies, secure everything (tables, chairs,
clothing -- everything lighter than a Buick) -- no matter who it belongs
to (we all work together, right!). Secure loose objects (read: potential
missiles) by putting them in a vehicle, wedging them tightly under a vehicle,
or tying them to a stake or something very heavy.
If you get caught outside of camp (and
hence shelter) during a storm or whiteout, simply sit down, button or zipper
up all of your clothing as much as possible, cover your face with your
shirt and wait simple wait it out. do the same in the (less
likely) event of rain -- if you are to far away to make it to an encampment
before the poop hits the prop, sit down, bundle up, and stay put where
you are. Trying to head home during a storm or white out is
far more likely to leave you lost or impaled on something then where you
hoped to go.
NEVER, NEVER
attempt to drive during white out! Visibility drops to
zero in an instant, and people have been hit and killed on the playa (though
not during a Burning Man encampment) by idiots driving during white outs.
"Ho
Boy, This is gonna sting..."
Death
What it is: the
absolute end of at least this round of existence
How To Avoid
It: recognize that you are in a harsh, wild, and demanding
natural environment. take responsibility for yourself and those around
you.
How To Respond
to it: laugh at the dead stiff.
jeer them for being so stupid. sing bleak irish drinking songs.
take their wallet and watch. drag their stiff corpse into one of
the arroyos at the edge of the playa before they smell up the camp so my
brother coyotes can eat them. if it is you who are dead, do nothing
-- wait for others to arrive and goof on you, steal your stuff, and feed
your corpse to the coyotes.
**Note: this is Irish Catholic "black"
humor (and hence unintelligable to the non-irish). If you in
fact find that you are dead, find a ranger and tell them you need immediate
"Green Dot" assistance.
"Do
you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous
communist plot we have ever had to face?"
Things
Not To Loose Sleep Over:
poisonous snakes
-
while there are two types of rattlesnake which can be found (if your really
try) in the surrounding mountains -- there are NO SNAKES on the playa proper.
bears, wolves, coyotes, and other large carnivores - there are no black bears within many miles of the black rock desert (it is too dry). there are no wolves or grizzlies within a thousand miles. there are coyotes, lots of them (hurray!), in the surrounding mountains but you'll never see one -- as they know when you get within miles of them and will high tail it in the opposite direction. promise.
poisonous insects - scorpions can be found at the edges of the playa (where the salt hits the surrounding foothills) and in the foothills proper, the chance of coming upon one in the middle of the playa (where the encampment is) is about zero.
there is however
one insect that hides in the cracks of the playa that will scare the poop
out of you -- but they are not poisonous and will go to great lengths to
avoid you. there are called solifugae -- also known as "Sun
Scorpions". and while they look scary, and something like a scorpion,
they are in fact non-poisonous. they are also nocturnal, so it is
a good idea to shake out your boots before putting them on in the morning
(this is a good idea whenever out in the wilds).
this is a solifugae ("Sun Scorpion"). This is a reduced image
-- they are actually about 45 times this size. But don't
panic, they're not poisonous - they just look it. Below are what
their tracks look like...
Okay, time for the ultimate in "final exams"
Hmm,
What's wrong with this picture?
-No sun hat, no sunglasses.
-Poor choice of sun protective clothing.
-Has water bottle, but not using it.
-Out alone in the sun at midday
-Fallen asleep without shelter
Final Grade: sunblindness, dehydration,
heat exhaustion, heat stroke
Fail --
Bubba, you dead