Category: First Aid/Medical

Budget Preparedness–Survival Isn’t About Stuff, It is About Skills

I often stress that a key to survival is not what you have, but rather what you know. (See my Precepts of Rawlesian Survivalist Philosophy web page.) In part, I wrote: Skills Beat Gadgets and Practicality Beats Style. The modern world is full of pundits, poseurs, and Mall Ninjas. Preparedness is not just about accumulating a pile of stuff. You need practical skills, and those only come with study, training, and practice. Any armchair survivalist can buy a set of stylish camouflage fatigues and an M4gery Carbine encrusted with umpteen accessories. Style points should not be mistaken for genuine skills …


Letter Re: The Importance of Storing Vitamin C

Humans along with a few other creatures do not produce Vitamin C. (We also do not make uricase [Urate oxidase] so are prone to Gout, a human disease). As such we must get Vitamin C from our diet. We have already discussed the need of vitamin C to prevent scurvy. Since it is water soluble and [unlike Vitamins A, D, E, and K, is] not fat soluble, we must take it continually. One important time that you need Vitamin C is in the case of trauma or infection. Animals that make their own Vitamin C increase production immensely in these …


A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Oils, by Paul C.

Any basic care kit in a WTSHTF scenario would be lacking if it did not include several essential oils. Aromatherapy has been used since ancient times for medical and religious purposes; its proponents have included Galen (personal physician to Marcus Aurelius), Avicenna (an Arab physician at the turn of the first millennium) and Rene Gattefosse (the father of modern aromatherapy). Essential oils are mentioned in Chinese medical texts dating back over 4,000 years; they were utilized by the Egyptians to embalm their dead. When the Black Death (bubonic plague) ravaged Europe during the Middle Ages, aromatherapists were largely unaffected (probably …


Letter Re: Potassium Iodide Versus Potassium Iodate for Post-Nuke Thyroid Gland Protection

James, You mentioned stocking up on Potassium Iodide (KI). The head trainer at Medical Corps–(I took their awesome class, thanks for giving it kudos)–developed Potassium Iodate (KI03). It has a huge benefit over KI, in that it doesn’t upset the stomachs of the people taking it [as much as KI]. Medicine is much more beneficial if you don’t involuntarily purge it. Another thing I’d like to mention to SurvivalBlog readers is that KI and KI03 don’t expire, even if the bottles have expiration dates marked. Since it is not an organic–it a very basic chemical compound. Iodine might leach out …


Two Letters Re: Beyond First Aid–Where to Learn Medical Skills

James, It’s funny how life gets in the way. I was in the process of writing a fairly long (I stopped at 15 pages) discussion of pandemics and medical care at home when the report in Chest came out. Suffice it to say that the wind was somewhat taken from my sails. And my take-home messages would have been 1) Hospitals are terrible places to be in a pandemic so stay away (I plan to), 2) Since you’re not going to the hospital, people at home better learn how to do basic nursing care (so finding older nursing textbooks and …


Letter Re: Beyond First Aid–Where to Learn Medical Skills

Jim, There has been a recent thread on learning medical skills. Studying the disasters like the recent Chinese earthquake, Myanmar storm and Tsunami teach us that in mass casualty situations like these, you can go a long way knowing how to deal with broken bones, lacerations and infections. Imagine the help you could be if you could: Apply a cast Run an IV Clean and dress a wound Do minor suturing Administer antibiotics from your medical kit These skills can each be learned in a weekend. Sure, knowing how to manage an airway, insert a chest tube, decompress a pneumothorax …


How To Prepare for Radiation Emergencies, by KLK

Scenario 1 You are sitting at your retreat, enjoying the scenery, when you hear on the radio that there has just been a nuclear weapon that has detonated in a contiguous State . You decide to run into your shelter. After a few days in there, you start to wonder when it might be safe to come out. You also wonder if you would have been better off evacuating and getting as far away from the radiation source as possible. A radiation disaster is a scenario for which we must be prepared. It may be from a radiological source, such …


Two Letters Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Events

Jim: Two minor notes:regarding the letter from DS in Wisconsin: Pulse Oximeters are cheaper now than ever. Some drug companies give them away as promo’s. You can find them online starting well under $100, some nearer to $50. These are battery operated self-contained finger clamp units, but I’ve seen nurses at more than one hospital using them to take vitals. Secondly, while it is possible to ventilate a patient by hand for long term, it is not very practical. You’d need a staff of dedicated people that are willing to perform a laborious and painful task for hours on end, …


Two Letters Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Events

Dear Jim, This letter is in response to NC Bluedog’s very informative article that appeared today. Here in rural Wisconsin, we have the same problems as he noted–shortage of high-technology life-saving devices. This is due to the overall situation that our medical care industry is dollar-driven. He have a small hospital, and two more within a 15 minute dash via ambulance. Each hospital has at least a four-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with a ventilator per bed, and at least two extra ventilators that can be used outside of their ICUs. Beyond that, there are none available. Extra units would …


Letter Re: Triage in Emergency Mass Critical Care (EMCC) Event

Dear JWR: I feel that there is a strong premonition in the article you flagged on Wednesday (Who Should Doctors Let Die in a Pandemic?) This hit the Main Stream Media (MSM) early this week and quickly fell off the news cycle. The topic is simply too uncomfortable. The original articles were published in the medical journal Chest (The Journal of the American College of Chest Physicians and are very dry and difficult reading even for a physician. This is unfortunate because it is a salient topic which needs to be vigorously publicly debated (instead of who got voted off …


Four Letters Re: Advanced Medical Training and Facilities for Retreat Groups

James In response to BES in Washington’s comment on Paramedics and EMTs I must say that I agree when it comes to workaday medics. A great benefit to having the years of training as a paramedic is that it earns you some credibility. My advice to paramedics and long time EMTs is to speak to your training officers and EMS directors and find out if your supervising physician or another doctor would be willing to mentor you in surgery[, though observation]. I had the opportunity starting with my paramedic internship to make relationships with quality doctors who wanted to mentor …


Letter Re: Advanced Medical Training and Facilities for Retreat Groups

Jim, I have been enjoying and appreciating the letters and replies throughout the blog, and I am compelled to respond to “Advanced Medical Training and Facilities for Retreat Groups”. The letter contained very accurate and useful information, but I must comment on medical skills available to survivalists. First of all, need to say that I am a professional Emergency Medical Technician – and have been for 25 years. I have treated dozens of real-life gunshot wounds, hundreds of knife wounds, and thousands of other cases of trauma that I would prefer to not remember. As a 911 responder, I appreciate …


Letter Re: Advanced Medical Training and Facilities for Retreat Groups

Mr. Rawles, Last month I wrote to SurvivalBlog about what do one would do medically in TEOTWAWKI, when all systems are down. I had received three very good replies, and have ben thinking about what was said. I want to thank those people for their valued replies. Now, I have more questions and concerns. From what I’ve read concerning medical advice leaves me wondering. All of the advice given has stated to get a good quality Field Surgical Kit, and two books: “Emergency War Surgery”; and, “Where there is no Doctor”. Then these articles went on to [imply that] when …


Letter Re: An Overlooked Aspect of Preparedness–Crutches and Canes

Mr. Rawles, Hi again and thanks again for the wonderful blog! I wanted to address the request for more information about splinting injuries and stretchers. Before I begin discussing methods of splinting we need to first address the degree of injury. I once “sprained” my wrist playing sports. It swelled, hurt, was sensitive, caused immense pain, and was hot to the touch. Our sports trainer pulled me out of the game, three hours after a “minor injury.” [X-rays showed that] I had two hairline fractures and went home with a cast. The doctor was shocked that I waited till halftime …


Letter Re: An Overlooked Aspect of Preparedness–Crutches and Canes

Dear JWR; A week ago, I did the first big spring mowing with a push mower “for the exercise” (3 acres). The next morning, my knee was swollen, wouldn’t bend, and the pain was breathtaking. I’m now down to limping around with a cane, and should be fine in a few more days. I discovered a weakness in my first-aid preparedness the hard way: I had no crutches, canes, or aids to mobility for the injured. I now own a fine set of crutches, two durable walking canes/livestock sticks, and have a Cold Steel Heavy Duty Sword Cane on the …