Medical Action Sheets by K.B., M.D. Part 3

 Print This Post Email This Post Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit Google LinkedIn LinkedIn

Preppers are concerned about scenarios that can prevent access, such as weather extremes (hurricanes, ice storms, blizzards), civil unrest (riots, curfews), EMP, TEOTWAWKI, or pandemics/disasters, which can swamp the medical system. When illness or injury strikes, you will not have the time or inclination to read books or articles. I, therefore, propose the use of medical action sheets, and I am sharing a few of those that I have written. In truth, I have given binders of these to my loved ones with the caveat that they use them only in a genuine situation as listed above and if I am unavailable to help them. As you read these lists, remember that I am not prescribing and urge you to review any plans with your medical professional who will tailor medical action sheets to your specific medical needs, conditions, allergies, and abilities.

Last time we studied influenza, colds, and pneumonia. Today we will study tick-borne illnesses, which can be quite serious and difficult to diagnose correctly even by experts. Nevertheless, you can save yourself or your loved ones a lot of grief by knowing certain warning signs and situations.

New Type of Tick Sweeping the USA

There is even a new type of tick sweeping the USA that you should be aware of. It is called the Asian longhorned tick and arrived state-side in 2017. A female Asian longhorned tick can lay approximately 2,000 eggs without even mating, has a faster life-cycle generating more ticks, and survives freezing winters by digging into the ground. This is bad news.

How To Combat Any Type of Tick-Borne Disease

To combat any type of tick-borne disease, consider the following:

  1. Use DEET and wear protective clothing
  2. Remove ticks ASAP by grabbing the head with tweezers and pulling. Consider it contaminated and place it in a bottle of rubbing alcohol or zip-lock bag, in case it is needed for medical evaluation later. Cleanse the bite with rubbing alcohol, then soap and water. Cleanse hands and tweezers too.
  3. Cats decrease the tick-carrying rodent population.
  4. Fill up cardboard tubes with permethrin-soaked cotton balls and place them outdoors. Mice will construct nests using the treated cotton balls, thus killing ticks.

Ticks can carry several types of disease. We will next mention three kinds and supply medical actions sheets for two. (Remember to see your medical professional if you become ill after a tick bite!)

The first disease is alpha-gal syndrome in which a person becomes allergic to red meat due to an immunological reaction resulting from a Lone Star tick bite. The second is Lyme disease, and the third is Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Overview of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is due to Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria transmitted by a tick that has been attached for at least 36 hours. You may never even see the tick because it is so tiny, and medical blood tests may be negative during the early stages of this disease. Early symptoms are flu-like, and the classic bull’s eye/target rash at the bite appears in only 20% of patients within the first 3-32 days. More frequently seen is an expanding redness at the bite site. However, 20 to 30% of patients have no rash at all. Arthritis, especially of the knees, may develop. Later, neurological and cardiac problems may appear. The sooner this illness is treated with antibiotics, the faster and more complete the recovery will be. Lyme disease can mimic many different autoimmune illnesses and prove difficult to diagnose and treat. Get professional help.

Medical Action Sheet- Lyme Disease

Below is the medical action sheet on lyme disease for adults.

Symptoms

Symptoms may include headache, fatigue, muscle aches, maybe fever, maybe rash (days 3-32), classic bulls-eye in 20%, others expanding redness, no rash in 20-30%, arthritis (especially knees), memory problems, heart arrhythmia, neurological complications, and mimics autoimmune diseases

Treatment

For treatment of adults, supply doxycycline 100mg twice daily for 10 to 21 days. If pregnant, use amoxicillin 500mg three times daily for 14-21 days. The antibiotics stop bacterial replication, but they don’t kill the organism. Get professional help. Excessive use of antibiotics can result in becoming permanently allergic to the drug.

Overview of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Last is Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is serious and can be fatal. Note that it is not limited to the Rocky Mountain region. Get medical help ASAP if suspected. It is due to Rickettsia rickettsii bacteria transmitted from tick to human in as little as six hours of attachment. Soak the removed tick in rubbing alcohol, treat it as contaminated, and save it for medical testing. Up to 50% of patients exhibit flu-like symptoms and high fever within 3-5 days post bite. Treatment with antibiotics needs to begin early on to decrease the mortality rate and should commence within five days of the appearance of first symptoms. Waiting for the typical rash, if it appears, is too late. A red-spotted rash may show up on wrists and ankles and then spread up the arms and legs to the torso. Classic involvement of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet is evident in only 43% by day five. There are tests that can be performed on both patient and tick. This is a serious disease. Get professional help.

Medical Action Sheet- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Below is the medical action sheet on Rocky Mountain spotted fever for adults.

Symptoms

Symptoms may include a severe headache, fever often over 102, chills, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, confusion, flu-like symptoms in 50% of people by 3-5 days post bite. Rash spreads from wrists/ankles to torso (43% by day five). Check palms and soles.

Treatment

Adult treatment: Doxycycline begun within 5 days of first symptoms drops mortality from 20% to 5%. An adult dosage is 100mg twice daily until the patient improves, is afebrile (without fever) three days, and treated for a minimum of 5-7 days. Get professional help ASAP.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow, in Part 4, we will study “Acute Sinusitis Treatments” and what you can do about it with or without prescription medications.

See Also:

SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

This has been part three of a four part entry for Round 80 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A $3000 gift certificate towards a Sol-Ark Solar Generator from Veteran owned Portable Solar LLC. The only EMP Hardened Solar Generator System available to the public.
  2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,095 value),
  3. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses, excluding those restricted for military or government teams. Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  4. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper. These have hammer forged, chrome-lined barrels and a hard case, to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR-type rifle to have a quick change barrel. This can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools. It also provides a compact carry capability in a hard case or in 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
  7. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.

Second Prize:

  1. A Model 175 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $439 value),
  2. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  3. A gift certificate for any two or three-day class from Max Velocity Tactical (a $600 value),
  4. A Three-Day Deluxe Emergency Kit from Emergency Essentials (a $190 value),
  5. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
  6. An assortment of products along with a one hour consultation on health and wellness from Pruitt’s Tree Resin (a $265 value).

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances.

Round 80 ends on January 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.


16 Comments

  1. Here in Lyme, CT our large yard was swept for some years for ticks by the State. 24% of the ticks POSITIVE for Lyme! Book came out some years back, “Lab 257” strongly points to origin of Lyme Disease to Plum Island in Long Island Sound. For decades secret Government Testing Lab, all kinds of diseases. Well researched and many of us believe that the birds somehow got the ticks, flew across the Sound to Lyme on the Shore. The mice carry it and they are everywhere, and the deer, also plentiful are a vector. The ticks also transmit Babesiosis and Ehrlichioses which can even sometimes be deadly. Almost every adult and child I know in Lyme and surrounding towns has had Lyme, sometimes more than once. I have had it at least 3 times. I now keep Fishmox Doxy in refrigerator, and when bitten, or even see the speck I know is a tick not yet embedded, I take it for 3 days (look up the dosage to easily translate the powder to equal what the prescribed pills from your doctor would be.) I DO toss out on expiration date, and order more. I no longer go out into the yard if I can help it. Back in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s there was no Lyme that I know about, and on our 100 CT farm, I was a FREE RANGE CHILD. I was always in the wood, the swamp, everywhere. All of us were. Another reason I strongly suspect that the book Lab 257 is CORRECT. Government closed the lab a few years back, it is OFF limits to people, and moved the Lab to OKLAHOMA. Let us hope as that is just about Ground Zero for tornadoes, that they had the sense to build most of it UNDERGROUND! Government and common sense often do not know each other!

    1. I lived on Long Island, NY, in the early 1980’s, and went to a prayer meeting there. A woman scientist who worked on Plum Island also attended. She as a lovely, intelligent, very devout Christian. She also had bugs crawling over her.

      At the time, none of us had a clue about Plum Island, or I would have been screaming bloody murder.

      I don’t think it was just the birds.

    1. I have/had Alpha Gal. I was bitten by a tick in 2013 and the site swelled up much more than normal, there was a large bubble, but there was no “ring” around the bite like they describe for Lime. About a month later I went into anaphylactic shock about 4 hours after eating a hamburger. Fortunately, it happened while I was visiting a relative at the hospital. A couple weeks later, I had some sausages and hamburgers for the 4th of July, and 4 hours later when into anaphylactic shock again and took an ambulance ride. Repeat, repeat, repeat, and finally an allergist gave me a blood test that found the Alpha Gal antibody. They told me that some people who totally abstain from red meat for 5 years can be rid of the disease, but there is no treatment other than avoiding all red mammal meat. The reaction can be sporadic, solid meat like steak or roast is less likely to produce a reaction, while processed meats, like burgers or sausages, are more likely to produce a reaction. I have not eaten any red meat for 5 years, and I just went to an allergist and they couldn’t find any Alpha Gal antibodies in my blood, and I have been re-introducing beef and pork into my diet, but very slowly. I have not had a reaction yet after about 10 bites of red meat (beef and pork steak/chops). Hopefully, I am cured, but the near death experience of anaphylaxis is making me proceed cautiously, and I may never eat hamburger or sausage again, but bacon is next!

  4. Thanks for the great information. A few years ago, I removed a tick from my waistline and disposed of it. Within 3 days I had a fever over 102. I visited my family physician and he injected antibiotics. After 2 days, the fever was not any better. He admitted me to the local hospital where I received IV antibiotics. I stayed in the hospital 4 days. Lab test were inconclusive, possibly because of the earlier injection, but the doctor was convinced it was tick borne illness. Since I am in the fields and woods many hours a day in warmer months, I have had to take preventative measures. First, before I get into the shower each night, I do a full body check. Any tick found is removed and put into a plastic sandwich bag with the date and kept a couple of weeks. Second, I keep 10% permethrin on hand. During warm months, I mix 1 gallon of water and 3 ounces of the permethrin in a hand sprayer. All of my work trousers are sprayed thoroughly and allowed to dry. This spray is active for several washings. The trousers are sprayed about once a month or six weeks. If I get a tick, liquid Campho-Phenique applied to the area after the tick is carefully removed (not squeezed) and bagged helps with itching and redness. Over the years, I have had hundreds of tick bites, but that one made a believer of me.

  5. It appears to me that foreign diseases and foreign disease carrying insects are appearing in the U.S. Some from illegal immigration, some from legal travel but is any of this from intentional “terrorism”?

  6. The best book I have ever read on the subject is Healing Lyme, by Buhner. He covers the life history of the lyme carrying tick and the lyme spirochete, and without understanding that, both prevention and treatment are more difficult.

    The tick has a two year life cycle. The first year, it is very small, and lives on rodents. That is why keeping outdoor cats on your property is such an efficient way of prevention, as the author mentions. No mice, no ticks. I have outdoor cats, live in a heavily forested and infested area, and had one tick last summer.

    The second year, when it is larger, it moves to larger animals such as deer or dogs.

    The lyme spirochete has a four week life cycle. Therefore, the usual recommendation to take doxycycline or amoxycilin for 10 to 21 days allows many of the spirochetes to survive, reproduce, and reinfect the person. Taking antibiotics for six weeks overlaps the spirochete’s life cycle by 50 percent, killing off all the newly “hatched” ones.

    Since a Lyme victim practically assaulted me with the book years ago, I read it, did what Buhner advised, and although I have been tick bitten and had Lyme several times, it always went away after the six weeks of antibiotic treatment.

    Taking vitamin D and elderberry daily helped with the symptoms in the meantime.

  7. GOOD, EASY TO READ GUIDES FOR EMERGENCY FIRST AID
    Yesterday someone asked if anybody knew of any other quick action guides to emergencies and illnesses, I Have literally probably 100 books on the above, I looked through today and here is a list of very user friendly, in layman’s terms (for the most part) books and “cheat sheets”.
    1. First Aid for Gunshot Wounds – pocket guide. This is a great guide for gunshot wounds, it takes you quickly to the section you may need, and has excellent information for quick reaction time. This is a first edition book (printed on blood and water resistant paper) put out by U.S. Law Shield, Firearms program. To order this book call (877) 448-6839, I think I paid about $35 for it, but worth every penny, I was very impressed. It also has about 100 photos that help to further explain each section.

    2. Pocket guides put out by Ron Cordes, he has many different titles for outdoors, I have several versions including “Pocket Guide to Emergency First Aid”. These are very small pocket size, again on water resistant paper.
    Pocket Guides Publishing LLC, 1-866-748-4337, or http://www.pocketguides.net

    3. For drug info try “Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia, shirt pocket edition, these are great quick reference guides for proper drug administration. http://www.tarascon.com
    They have adult and pediatric versions.

    4. The Michigan Association of School Nurses, puts out a very easy to read flip page version of First Aid Emergencies. I have a friend who was a District head nurse here in Tx, and found these, I have one from 1994, and I still think it’s good. I looked them up and they have a more recent version.
    https://nursingnetwork.wufoo.com/forms/masn-first-aid-and-emergency-guide-flip-chart/

    5. Nursing 2018 Drug Handbook, these come out every year and are more in depth for drug info.

    6. If you can afford a “Merck Manual” (the doctor’s edition, not the family version) these are great books for most everything you need to know about diseases and treatments.

    This is a small sampling, but there are many great guides out there. I feel these books listed are a really good start. I have no affiliation with any of the above listed, just think they are good for non-medical and medical people.

  8. My wife got Lyme decease and went to the doctor.. The doctor was able to confirm that it was Lyme after ordering a special lab test that the doc said she needed but would be expensive. My wife thought ‘OH well” I have Blue Cross Blue Shield and they will no doubt pay for the test since it is ordered by the doctor. Wrong! The insurance would not pay it for some reason that I can’t even begin to explain because the medical jargon is so complicated I can’t understand it, much less repeat it. IMO the insurance commissioner here in OK is so deep in the pockets of the insurance companies that we insured don’t have an advocate on our side. So $1800 later we now finally have the lab bill paid ourselves. My point? I don’t have one, just wanted to gripe.

  9. @M-ray. I don’t know your situation, but hopefully you are aware that most insurance carriers provide coverage that meets the conditions set by employers, etc. Please don’t fall into the insurance company bashing mentality, they are simply providing the service that is requested by the purchaser. Insurance companies are not evil, they provide a service that attempts to fulfill the requests of whoever is purchasing a policy.

  10. Once you have Lyme, you NEVER get rid of it. The spirochete hides in the brain and the eye. Meds cannot pass the Blood Brain Barrier. Lyme is incurable. Symptoms come and go but you will NEVER be rid of it.

  12. Never use tweezers to remove a tick. Use a Tick Twister. You slide the prongs under the tick, twist the implement, and the tick backs its way out of your skin. There are several different variations of the Tick Twister, but it works fantastically.

    Using tweezers increases the risk of the tick’s body breaking off from the head, and leaving the head or other tick body parts in or under your skin.

    Buy the Tick Twister in bulk and always have one in your car(s), your home, your first aid kit, your pet/animal first aid kit, and give them away to your friends and relatives.

Comments are closed.