SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. The Patriot Nurse has an important message for you today regarding survival medicine reality. This is a video that you need to watch.
Survival Medicine
Reader T.J. sent in this video from the Patriot Nurse that goes over the three most important factors in knowing when to use your Survival/Disaster medical protocols.
- Normal medical infrastructure is degraded or non-existent.
- Household medical supplies are scarce.
- Medical knowledge is limited.
Remember that even if you have planned for survival medicine and are prepared to perform your own surgery or whatever, if the current medical infrastructure is up and running, you are far better off seeking that professional care. You need to know when the appropriate time to use your skills in a real life situation.
Escape from New York
Reader J.W. sent in this comment:
Just saw a news clip on the Drudge Report of a man crossing the Hudson River (about a mile wide at that point) on a paddleboard, wearing a business suit. He was trying not to be late for a meeting. It was hilarious, but also made me realize that for people trying to get out of large cities that are located on rivers, or even just trying to get across rivers when bridges are blocked or too dangerous, a paddleboard is a portable, fairly lightweight, and cheap method. It should work for small lakes too. This is one form of prepper Get Out Of Dodge training that should be fun.
Macabre Party
Perhaps our society has too much free time on it’s hands. There was a time when the goth subculture was an outcast in society, but that is apparently no more according to this article sent in by DSV. Death cafes, death doulas, DealthLab, and many other organizations are sponsoring death themed parties. I see this as propaganda by the progressive left to get the American culture to be more accepting of death. If your more comfortable with the great mystery, then you are less likely to fight or complain when your insurance decides that they won’t cover the expenses of your treatment (that you paid good premiums for for 20 years) or when the government subsidized health care determines that your number is up.
David Hogg
Showing the absolute hypocrisy of the progressive left, David Hogg, the current poster child for the gun control movement has been photographed surrounded by armed body guards. Remember that that gun control is only for the masses, not the elite. I almost feel sorry for this kid who has been so exploited by the political process – not quite, but almost. He apparently has a new book (I expect it was actually ghost written just like the rest of his political progress) and he admits that he was/is a narcissist. Thanks to D.V. for the link.
Illegal Separation of Children
With all the imaginary and overblown hype about the U.S. government separating illegal immigrant children from their families at the border, I have to wonder where the outcry is for those U.S. citizens who have their children illegally separated from their families. Unlike the border situation which involves the illegal act of sneaking across the border and only asking for asylum after they have been caught by the border agents. the U.S. families have generally done nothing wrong. Medical kidnapping is a huge problem in many, if not most states across the U.S. While I will not complain about authorities removing children from abusive homes, all too often the state authorities are abusing their power and using the removal of children to force parents into conforming to their will. Thanks to DSV for the link.
The Twilight Zone
Reader G.P. sent in this article he found on The Daily Caller. Apparently, a California Muslim man who calls himself the “Caliph of God” is officially running for president in 2020 on a platform against the Islamic State and limiting federal government. Mosheh Eesho Muhammad Fabio Luis Edwardo Correa Rodriguez Hiraldo Al-faraj Thezion also claims to be the Caliph (leader of all Islam). I did say he believed in small government right? He plans to declare a two-year state of emergency in the first 10 days of his presidency and force congress into constitutional convention and will end homelessness in those same 10 days. Ugh. I had trouble getting past that name, let alone a self-declared “small government” guy using big government tactics. My head hurts now.
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Please send your news tips to HJL. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) These are often especially relevant, because they come from folks who watch news that is important to them. Due to their diligence and focus, we benefit from fresh “on target” news. We often “get the scoop” on news that is most likely ignored (or reported late) by mainstream American news outlets. Thanks!
The Macabre Party may be from the progressive left but is Luciferian through and through. So maybe the progressive left is….
Re: KidSep
The illegal criminal aliens have full responsibility for everything that happens to them and their families. The kids are (sometimes) innocent victims of their parents’ unlawful activity? That’s too bad. Actions have consequences. Let them fall like rain.
Mosheh Eesho Muhammad Fabio Luis Edwardo Correa Rodriguez Hiraldo Al-faraj Thezion
I want to know how he’s gonna get that name on a bumper sticker…..
I cannot understand why we do not immediately deport these immigrants and their children if they do not apply through the proper channels. Catch them and immediately put them back on the south side of the wall, ops, we cannot get one built with control of both houses and the presidency? Something stinks. Just pass a bill funding the wall only and re-fund it. It was funded in the past and building commenced and then stopped. The biggest problem in DC is that to many unrelated items are attached to the bills, they should be single issue only.
This is snide, but irresistable. David Hogg…look attentively at his nose. Oink.
David Hogg,
It is easy to feel some sympathy for David Hogg and his kind, but you have to remember that folks like them murdered tens of millions, during the twentieth century, in the Soviet Union, Germany, Communist China, Cambodia, etc… They are a clear and present danger to freedom loving peoples. They have already managed to push tyrannical gun control measures through a Republican controlled Florida Legislature, which were signed into law by a Republican Governor. He and his group are well funded and coordinated by the likes of the Spielbergs, Clooneys and other elites. The narrative of some poor young kids getting together for a political cause is very wrong.
Having said that, he must not be made a Martyr. With all the technology available, I find it hard to believe that LE doesn’t know who did the swatting against his family residence a few weeks ago. I suspect that it might have been done to keep Hogg’s name in the news… They are very effective propagandists, but need to be more effectively opposed in the political arena.
We need to remember that Gov. Rick Scott promised no gun control, and then broke that promise, when voting in the FL Senatorial elections this Fall. We don’t need that kind of thinking representing us in Washington and inflicting more gun control on the whole nation. I wish we had more options. And the other legislators who voted for gun control need to feel some political consequences as well.
All the bureaucratic mistakes made leading up to and during the Parkland shooting, the FBI, BCSO, and School Board, and the only result is more gun control legislation, punishing law abiding citizens.
Regarding the Macrabe Party comment regarding insurance etc.
Death is on my mind a bit as my mother-in-law who lived with us for 24 years recently passed from cancer. A few thoughts.
Her last treatment drug cost her Medicare Advantage plan $53k per treatment. Treatments were once every two weeks. Her share was only a very small fraction of that. I do not know what the first drug cost but I suspect it was not cheap. Between two surgeries one bout of radiation treatment and two drug treatments I would estimate the insurance cost between $500k and $1M. I suspect $1M was closer although she only shared her bills with me when a bigger than normal copay came in that she did not understand.
She did not do chemo. The drugs were those which encourage your immune system to fight the cancer and the were quite effective for four years at stage four. For most of that time the cancer levels in her blood were below that of a healthy person. We all have cancer cells in our blood all the time. Our bodies fight it of continually. Her actual tumors shrank but did not go away.
She had very little in personal assets but without long term care insurance (which she did not have) what little she had (cash value in a $50k life insurance policy) would have been taken to pay for nursing home expenses had she ended up there. My wife took care of her performing in home hospice most of the way. My mother-in-law reached a stage called Terminal Agitation where this was impossible for approximately a week. My mother-in-law was admitted to an in patient hospice facility during that time, stabilized and the sent home. She passed less than 24 hours after coming home. Hospice/Medicare applied quite a bit of pressure for the entire week to discharge her from the hospice facility to somewhere else cheaper and at someone else’s expense.
Despite our county being dominated by medical facilities my mother-in-law was forced to have her first surgery and the in patient hospice care about two hours away. The first surgery was botched and repairs done locally. They hospice facility was awesome but time consuming to visit. This was all because my mother-in-law was a member of Kaiser and although Kaiser has a good size facility in our county most of the major medical in our county is operated by two other organizations.
I could go on more but I will get to my points.
Death is a lot more complicated than I thought. We found ourselves dealing with three separate organizations through this. Kaiser, Medicare and the Hospice contracted facility. We could have been faced with one more (state Medicaid) had my mother-in-law needed that.
Your assets are not safe until you are actually passed on. I recommend everyone seek the counsel of an elder care/estate planning lawyer now before you need it. This is far more complicated than I would have dreamed even for a woman with virtually no assets. If you have assets you need knowledge and pre-planning to protect them.
Our medical care by and large is excellent technically. However some decisions are driven by administrators not doctors. Hospice was also excellent technically and mostly emotionally but again the underlying costs put pressure on this relationship.
Know if you insurance works well in your local area and what that will mean if you need major treatment.
Read up on Terminal Agitation. This is something you need to prepare for if taking care of a loved one dying.
If one woman costs in the neighborhood of $1M dollars in her final four years it is no wonder our health system is under such financial pressure. Again by and large the care is great but the cost and complications are incredible.
All that said I am thankful that my mother-in-law had a good long life and passed peacefully with relatively little suffering. This is a credit to her actual health care providers. In the old days this her type of cancer usually resulted in an agonizing death. I am thankful for modern medicine.
Instead of a paddleboard, how about using a poncho raft? Even more lightweight then a paddleboard. Takes up less space. Keeps your clothing and equipment dry. And the two ponchos per raft have other uses. Also you can substitute a tarp for a poncho.
Felix, I have wondered how my family would get across the Mississippi to my sister’s farm on the West side, if the bridges weren’t available (New Madrid Earthquake or other SHTF scenario). I have a jon boat with oars and a canoe with paddles, which could transfer the people and backpacks, and possibly bicycles, but without bridges or ferrys, our gasoline GOOD or BOV would have to be left on the banks.
I have a freind who had an accident on a mass transit bus. He’s now an incomplete quadriplegic and has incurred over a million dollars of health care in the last three years. If a settlement would of been had, the hospital would of settled for a payback of roughly 25-35%. Which is the price that insurance company’s pay. In other words, the bills are inflated by 65-75%. It’s criminal for those uninsured who get hit with the smaller bills and having to pay the entire amount. Not many have that extra 25G for that emergency operation. Usually those without insurance are the one’s it hit’s hardest. Every hospital I see is growing exponentially. There’s money in that business.
As unaffordable ObamaCare goes away we see the old system of people dealing with unaffordable insurance plans coming back. Most people I know can’t afford the monthly premium that includes a copay they cant afford. Usually about fifteen thousand dollars. it’s basically catastrophic healthcare, It only really works for something major and then the copay might as well be a million dollars for the average American. They just can’t afford it.
I would guess that half the people I talk to go without health insurance. I, unfortunately, have dealt with a family member who has cancer. The cost of the drugs is insane. President Trump could get elected again if he could come up with some solutions to our healthcare mess we are in. I wish him luck!
@Ron
All insurance premiums have increased substantially under Obamacare and many people have lost the doctors they preferred. I have lost access to my preferred pharmacy unless I want to pay completely out-of-pocket for medications.
Those that were getting free or heavily subsidized insurance were getting it off the backs of those who were forced to pay for it. There was no free lunch there. Someone had to pay for it. Socialized medicine is just another wealth distribution plan.
“Illegal Separation of Children”
Let’s reword that to “Separation of Illegal Children”
Much better, and more accurate.
@Deplorable
In the case of this article, it is “illegal separation of children”. Those in question are U.S. citizens and the children are being taken from their homes illegally.
The Twilight Zone
“…. a California Muslim man…is officially running for president in 2020 on a platform against the Islamic State and limiting federal government. Mosheh Eesho Muhammad Fabio Luis Edwardo Correa Rodriguez Hiraldo Al-faraj Thezion ………..”
I call not only BS on this follower of Islam, but also taqiyya, tawriya, kitman and muruna.
This Kalifornian’s goal is to further sharia, and end the Constitution.
http://hotheads.com.au/d-islam-four-arabic-words.pdf
Limiting federal government? Sure……….limiting it to himself and his fellow muslims.