Category: First Aid/Medical

Dirty Medicine, Part 2, by J.V. in Tacoma, Washington

Welcome to the second installment of Dirty Medicine.  Today we are going to be discussing something that will be beneficial on a few different levels.  It can help you stop uncontrolled bleeding, prevent infection, and repair skin.  That’s right, we are going to talk about sutures, also called stitches, today. Starting off we are going to need to define what materials will be needed, both for practice and for real life situations.  The most obvious item needed is going to be some sort of suture material.  Suture materials come in various thread compositions as well as sizes.  Something like Chromic …


Dealing With Diarrhoeal Diseases, by Nomad Medic

The recent news of confirmed cases of cholera after the massive flooding in Pakistan highlights a potential threat that anyone could be faced with after a disaster. While cholera has been cited specifically, there are several other diarrhoeal diseases that have similar symptoms and can also kill. These include such pathogens as Rotavirus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi (responsible for Typhoid Fever) and Shigellosis (dysentery). These illnesses are responsible for a huge number of deaths every year. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that there are approximately two billion cases annually. Diarrhoeal diseases account for the deaths of 1.5 …


Letter Re: Growing Poppies for a Long Term Societal Collapse

Sir: The letter about opium poppies (P. Somniferum) had too many oversimplifications for safety. While poppies are easy enough to grow to enjoy the big flowers, it’s not so easy to get good pods or sap, and the quality of the drug depends a good deal on growing conditions, i.e., where you live. There’s a reason why so much opium comes from the middle east, and you may note that the poppies in pictures from the regions are 3′ high at least and lavender, not Chinese red. This doesn’t mean there’s no drug in other poppies – there is – …


Letter Re: Growing Poppies for a Long Term Societal Collapse

James Wesley; Long-Term Preparedness and the Eight Mechanical Arts by J.D. was an excellent article. I just wanted to point out that there are very effective herbal painkillers. [Papaver somniferum] poppies are the source for morphine. (See: Poppies.org.) It is not currently legal to process poppy sap at home, but it is legal to grow poppies. Poppy seeds can be used to make a pain-killing tea. Yes, poppy tea, morphine and heroin are dangerous addictive drugs, but they have a legitimate place in a long term/multi-generational scenario. I think it is worthwhile to grow the best quality [opium] poppies you …


Two Letters Re: How to Get Your Doctor to Help You Stockpile Medicine

Greetings Jim, I just wanted to offer a few words about my experience with my doctor in helping me to stockpile prescription medication I take daily. A couple years ago while undergoing treatment for migraines, my neurologist prescribed nortriptylene, a rather old antidepressant that can also help treat some types of migraines. My doctor originally prescribed up to 100 milligrams every night at bedtime, but she advised me that if a lower dose kept my migraines away, go with the lowest effective dose. Over time I realized that 50 milligrams every night was sufficient and told my neurologist that on …


How to Get Your Doctor to Help You Stockpile Medicine, by Cynthia J. Koelker, MD

Picture this: Your doctor enters the room and asks, “How can I help you today?” “I’d like enough medicine to survive the end of the world as we know it,” you reply. He narrows his eyes and responds, “Just how much Prozac would you need?” . . . Finding a physician to help you stockpile medications will be a challenge. Unless your doctor, too, believes Armageddon is nigh, he’s not likely to grant your request. Why not? Doctors are responsible for the medications we prescribe and the consequences, intended or unintended. Remember, every medication is a potential poison. You’re probably …


Long-Term Preparedness and the Eight Mechanical Arts, by J.D.

It’s one thing to prepare for an unexpected event that you can ride out in the course of a week or two; secure, defensible shelter that functions without the grid, a store of food and water, and stockpiles of essentials such as ammo and medical supplies may be more than enough to last until the disaster passes and social order is restored. But what about long-term survival in the face of TEOTWAWKI?  I’ve always found it instructive to study how we lived before 20th-century innovations such as electricity and refrigeration and potable water piped right into the kitchen. It wasn’t …


Convince Your Loved Ones To Prepare–Even When They’re Kicking and Screaming, by Patriot Chick

Becoming self-sufficient during a financial meltdown is difficult enough, but trying to convince reluctant loved ones to prepare can be doubly frustrating. It’s hard to understand how anyone wouldn’t want to start stockpiling their pantries after watching the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, and more recently the devastating floods in Pakistan. We all watched the newsreels; millions of homeless and hungry fighting for a spot in breadlines. If that isn’t reason enough, the U.S. continues to be threatened with nuclear attack. Meanwhile, most of us are hanging by a gossamer thread between solvency and financial ruin. We …


Letter Re: A New Edition of Where There is No Doctor is Now Available

James, Thank you for your excellent blog. It is one of my daily read sites, no matter where in the world I am. The Hesperian Foundation just published their updated 2010 version of Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner. It is 450 pages and has lots of excellent updated information. The download version is free, but I highly reccomend purchasing the paper copy for $22 USD The last I heard paper books are still EMP proof. It will be nice to have a useable reference, if and when the computer is fried! Best …


Managing Medication Withdrawal in a Prolonged Crisis, by Charles D.

As a pastoral and chemical dependency counselor who has worked in a variety of mental health, ministry and addiction settings, I would like to address one of the unique mental and behavioral health needs that may be experienced in a prolonged disaster. More specifically, I will speak to the possibility of running out of psychiatric and pain medication, and the non-medical ways of dealing with pain and mental health symptoms as well as medication withdrawal. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, almost 58 million adults in the US (one in four) suffer from mental illness, and 45% of …


Dirty Medicine, by J.V. in Tacoma, Washington

Everyone of the survival mindset has thought many times over about what tactical items they may need, whether it is in a BoB, in a patrol configuration, or in a secure retreat location.  However with my various talks with numerous survivalists, not too many have given any sort of extensive thought to how to perform some basic medical procedures.  Sure everyone knows that a minor surgical kit might be beneficial or that some Lactated Ringers intravenous solutions would help out.  However many individuals do not actually know how to use these items, at least from my experience. Starting off one …


Effects of an EMP Attack or Severe Solar Storm on Nuclear Power Plants, by B.Z.

It is with some trepidation that I write this article, since what I write will be controversial and will alarm some members of the public as well as your readers. Some of my colleagues have urged me not to bring this subject into the open or to even discuss it in public. However, I think the topic is important and needs to be brought to the attention of the public. The issue is the effect that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, or for that matter, even a great geomagnetic storm created by a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun, …


Letter Re: Prepping and Pregnancy

Good Morning Mr. Rawles, Last year my former boss–with whom we used to have a Bible study–and who is a former Marine, called me up on a Saturday morning, and inquired about a firearm that I would recommend for a semiautomatic sidearm that he and his wife would be able and to shoot comfortably. Without knowing much about what he had in mind, I told him about the top companies, and that a 9mm would be sufficient for his wife, as long as they used +P or +P+ defensive hollow-points with a heavy bullet weight, and if even this was …


Letter Re: Purslane: Portulaca Oleracea

Jim: Today, I’m writing about Purslane, also known by farm folk as “Pigweed”, (because pigs just love it). It’s one of the earlier wild herbs, (wild edible) found in springtime , but thrives throughout early and mid-summer. By most people, It’s considered a nuisance weed that pops up everywhere in late spring. It grows well in disturbed soils, and can be found mostly in old garden plots, meadows fields and along trails, stone walls and fence rows. It’s a small inconspicuous looking weed [see photos] that grows to about 6 inches to a foot tall, sometimes lying down to assume …


Letter Re: Returns on Investments

James: Being married to an accountant, former government financial inspector and a finance director for a company opened my eyes to the concept of getting a return for my investment. For large tangible items, that concept is important. Oh, I certainly could fill a wall with a 55 inch plasma television, but what do I get in return for that investment? A wannabe movie screen that has a limited lifespan and sucks a chunk of energy? Will it help my long term bottom line of being financially independent and ready? The idea of investing in tangibles in a serious downturn …