Category: First Aid/Medical

Letter: EMP Effect and Pacemakers

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Hugh, I have an implanted cardiac device (a pacemaker and defibrillator) and, after reading the letter about possible effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) on batteries, became curious as to how an EMP or maybe a strong solar flare could affect my device. I searched SurvivalBlog’s archives and saw that such an event could possibly damage the implanted cardiadefibrillator (ICD). Is there any firm evidence as to what may actually happen to an ICD or similar device in the human body and anything that can be done to counter the effects? It seems it will be a bleak future for the …


How to Prepare a Refugee Bug Out Bag- Part 2, by Charles T.

Cooking Supplies On the road or in a refugee camp you will need ways to prepare food. Preparing food almost always involves heat, usually provided through fire. When thinking about preparing food in a refugee type situation, you need to think a lot farther than you would for a typical camping situation. Anything that runs off gas or some sort of combustible liquid should be disqualified. Why? Because you will run out of fuel and end up throwing it out anyway. Don’t spend money on a fancy gas burning camping stove; it’s a waste, unless you go camping a lot …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 6, by Militant Medic

Let’s Treat Some Patients (continued) 5) Your other grandson (again with no vaccinations) has broken out with a fever, runny nose, and rash, which consists of small fluid-filled blisters on bright red spots on his skin. They itch and when one area gets better another bunch crop up elsewhere. Diagnostic features: fluid-filled blisters on red skin occurring in crops, non-vaccinated. Diagnosis: Chickenpox Treatment: Viral illness- no cure. Supportive care with spontaneous resolution without complication in 99% of kids (80% of adults). 6) Your third grandson (again with no vaccinations) has headache, vomiting, muscle aches, a fever of 104.2, and weakness …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 5, by Militant Medic

Treatment For Specific Diseases So…maybe you’re feeling a little overwhelmed at this point. Yeah, I know how you feel, but we are not done yet. Again, it is my goal to give you good working knowledge of this topic, practical knowledge that hopefully in the bad times to come can save your life or the lives of your friends and family. In a modern hospital when we really want to know which antibiotic is best, we get a sample of your blood, urine, spinal fluid, or puss from a wound and grow the bacteria in the lab with a bunch …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 4, by Militant Medic

Doxycycline (Fish-Doxy) Doxycline is an antibiotic that is a member of the Tetracycline family of drugs. Like so many other bacteria, the tetracyclines come from a soil fungus and were discovered in the 1940’s. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say tetracyclines were rediscovered then because bone analysis of Nubian people who lived about 350AD show they ingested tetracycline likely in a locally brewed beer. The tetracyclines work by binding to and deactivating the ribosomes inside the bacterial cell. Ribosomes are the bacteria’s protein factories, and without it they cannot produce the proteins they need to stay alive. Ribosomal deactivation …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 3, by Militant Medic

How Do Antibiotics Work? (continued) Antibiotics work in a number of different ways, but perhaps it would just be easier to talk about each one individually. I will focus on the pet antibiotics, since these are the ones most of us can stockpile easily. Again trying to make this as simple as I can, I have omitted many technical details. (A cellular biologist may take exception to what I say, saying “He didn’t even discuss peptidoglycan cross linkages by the DD-transpeptidase enzyme!! Who does he think he is!!??” However, I think most of the prepper army will appreciate omission of …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 2, by Militant Medic

Bacteria, Virus, Fungi, Parasites, and Prion Medicine.net defines an infection as “The invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that are not normally present within the body. An infection may cause no symptoms and be subclinical, or it may cause symptoms and be clinically apparent. An infection may remain localized, or it may spread through the blood or lymphatic vessels to become systemic (bodywide). Microorganisms that live naturally in the body are not considered infections. For example, bacteria that normally live within the mouth and intestine are not infections.” There is a lot there, in that …


Infectious Disease in the TEOTWAWKI World- Part 1, by Militant Medic

Before we start, here’s a quick disclaimer: I am a physician who has been practicing for 11 years, so I hope I know what I’m talking about, BUT this information is written for a TEOTWAWKI scenario where routine hospital based care is unavailable and the only antibiotics you have are ones designed for pets. This article is written for the desperate times ahead. Please do not use it as a guide to infectious diseases or how you should provide care to your family now. If you or a family member are ill and the hospitals are still staffed with knowledgeable …


How to Use Paddle Wire for Survival by Prepper Ray

A couple of weeks ago one of my prepper friends stopped by and said: “Check this out” he hands me a small spool of green wire. I was intrigued, what is it? Trip wire? Snare wire? “It’s both and much more,” he said. After he told me a few of the ways it could be used, it became clear to me that Paddle Wire was the one missing component in my survival gear. If you don’t have a good supply of Paddle wire or never even heard of it, you wouldn’t be alone. Paddle wire is a low-cost 22 to …


Choosing a Partner for a Lifetime of Preparedness (A Cautionary Tale), by Bob C.

If you ask 10 different preppers this question you will undoubtedly receive 10 different answers. In the world of prepping this is tantamount to asking what a person’s favorite sports team is. The answers may range from building the right bugout bag, the right escape from the city plan, or buying land in the right location and building a retreat. Most of them may have completely valid points as to why what they say is in fact the most important thing to do but most of them fall short in one main regard. No matter what they do to prepare …


Survive the Drive – Vehicle Survival Preparedness, by Prepper Ray

Where will you be when the SHTF? You need to consider that you may not be at home when the world around you begins to fall apart. You are very likely going to have to travel to get home or a bug out location. You may be at work out shopping or even on vacation. No matter where you are the problem is going to be just being able to get from point A to point B. The type of vehicle you have and the equipment you have in that vehicle may in fact determine your ability to get to …


A SHTF Guide to Mass Casualty Incidents, by W.G. Curry, NRP, TP-C

I’ve written this article with a hypothetical situation interspersed between some factual text: Your eyelids peel apart and allow dust to fall onto your eyes as you force them open and shut while rubbing them with filthy fists in an effort to washout some of the debris. The ringing noise is loud in your ears. “I wish it would stop,” you declare to yourself. A terrible ache forms in the depth of your skull. You ache all over. “What happened, where am I,” you ask? As your blurry vision begins to brighten and sharpen, you can see ash in the …


Letter Re: Traditional Hand Tools

Dear Editor: Here are some observations on non-power tools: Get lots of can openers because they all fail. Older US-made ones from yard sales will last longer. Also stock US-made government issue “P38” openers as backups because they always they always work. Egg beaters and hand drills with an idler gear on the back side are more durable, not just from the support but because they are better quality to begin with. Antique shops are high $ place to shop for hand tools, estate sales are best, next generation often has no clue about grandpa’s “junk”. I found a quality …


Trail Shelters and the Hantavirus Threat, by Zac T.

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There are a number of fantastic hiking trail systems within the U.S. The Appalachian Trail alongside the East Coast, the Continental Divide through the Rockies, and the Pacific Crest along the West Coast immediately come to mind, just to name a few. And if you’ve ever spent a considerable amount of time backpacking through one of these trail systems, you’ve probably passed a prepared shelter or two. Your typical trail shelter is essentially three walls and a roof, meant to really just get you out of the wind and rain. Should you be placed in a survival situation and opt …


Medical Bartering, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Medical bartering is as old as the hills, yet still alive today. Though you may not have encountered medical bartering in your own community, a quick web search will reveal that the days of paying your doctor with chickens continue into the 21st century. Of course, when the grid goes down or our currency collapses, you’ll need to find another method of payment for everything. On the other end, with store shelves empty, medical supplies may become a valuable medium of exchange. When stocking up on medical items for your family, it’s a great idea to purchase extra, currently inexpensive …