Category: First Aid/Medical

Larry in Kansas on Lasik Eye Surgery for Preparedness

First, this is not an endorsement of any kind. I really want that to be clear to the readers of SurvivalBlog. I’ve been wearing glasses for the better part of 35 years. I had myopia and astigmatism. I was wearing bifocals. For many reasons wearing glasses can be a big pain in the “six”. I had been considering Lasik surgery for several years and just didn’t have the money, justification and/or the courage to get the procedure done. To me the decision was made several weeks ago when I heard a noise in the house and I went to investigate. …


From Dr. November Re: Useful Medical References on the Web

Jim, good point about those two ‘Where There is no…” books. Here’s another, which I’ve had a small part in: http://www.aussurvivalist.com/downloads/AM%20Final%202.pdf The download is free. A printed and bound copy is also available for $13.60 at http://www.cafepress.com/austeremed. The cost covers the printing, nobody is making a dime off of it. This is a work in progress, and the April 2005 revision of the original misc.survivalism medical faq. Highly recommended. Here are a couple of sites that have more medical info on them: http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1582&lo=d&sl=0 A link to the online 1918 version of Gray’s Anatomy (no, not the insipid TV show) is …


Letter Re: Free E-Books “Where There is No Doctor” and “Where There Is No Dentist”

Sir: Thanks for the link to Where There is No Doctor on line but did you know that Where There Is No Dentist is also on line at http://healthwrights.org/books/WTINDentistonline.htm and over books at http://www.healthwrights.org/booksonline.htm.  The Sierra Madre newsletter is at http://www.healthwrights.org/newsletters.htm. Hope this helps and hope you never need these books. – Simon


“Where There is No Doctor” Now Available as a Free E-Book

In a recent evening of web surfing, I found that one of my favorite little references Where There is No Doctor by David Werner, is now available as a public domain e-book.  See:  http://www.healthwrights.org/books/WTINDonline.htm This is a very useful no-nonsense book, written for folks living in Third World countries. It has also been translated into Spanish. Since you obviously won’t have access to e-books in the event of a power failure, I highly recommend that you pick up one or more paperback copies. See: http://www.healthwrights.org/publications.htm.  I should mention that the companion volume Where There is No Dentist is also highly recommended.  …


Letter Re: Understanding Human Immune System Response to Infection

Hello! I just finished reading Patriots   for a third time – INCREDIBLE book. I’m also a good friend of “Dr. Buckaroo Banzai.” I have a master’s degree in immunology and teach in a nursing program at a local college. My comments are aimed at the general education of the readership of your blog. The immune system operates largely on the function of T-helper cells. There are two main T-helper varieties. One variety (T-h1) deals with intracellular pathogens (viruses, few bacteria) and the other (T-h2) deals with extra-cellular pathogens (majority of bacteria, protozoa, fungi).  What separates these two groups are …


Letter From “Dr. Buckaroo Banzai” Re: Pneumonia Risk–Time for Your Pneumovax?

Dear Mr. Rawles, I think the pneumovax is a good idea. However, there are simply no data to support your statement that “pneumonia co-infections are the biggest killer associated with the Asian Avian flu.” Whether even a single victim of the current H5N1 avian flu in Asia has even developed pneumococcal pneumonia has not been reported. I doubt it. These people appear to be dying too quickly for that to be the problem. I think they are simply dying from viral pneumonia. In 1918-1919 many flu victims died within 24-48 hours of becoming febrile. Those deaths certainly had nothing to …


Letter Re: Asian Avian Flu

Hi Jim, Thanks for your excellent site. I read it every day but Sunday and enjoy most every article. However, while I believe it is important to be as prepared as possible for pandemics and every other kind of emergency, I’m convinced that the Avian “Bird” flu is contrived and a needless scare. Bill Sardi, on his excellent website, has numerous excellent articles, all well researched and documented, showing that this crisis is hysteria being fanned by government authorities (http://www.knowledgeofhealth.com/report.asp?story=Bird%20Flu%20Hysteria%20Fanned%20By%20Inaccurate%20News%20Reports.). I heartily recommend this site to all your readers. – G.M. in North Carolina JWR Replies: There may be some …


Letter Re: Source for Sambucol

Hello Jim, While I am relatively new to the path of self-reliance, I have enjoyed related hobbies all my life, and I must commend you on a stunning website. I have never found a place to have such diverse information so organized and diligently explained. A day does not go by that I do not visit to read your daily posts and often look back and re-read the archives which I glean even more data from. I am writing because I found that Amazon.com has Sambucol for sale from third-party vendors cheaper than those very same vendors have posted on …



Richard S. Goss on Free Education (Or at Least Cheap)

The old saying is that if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. Being a proponent of a self-reliant lifestyle like most readers of SurvivalBlog, I find it is sometimes costly to get the training we need to make ourselves better informed. Being basically frugal (read: cheap) I’ve searched out some ways to get the knowledge I wanted without a large outlay of money. My first stop in my hunt for knowledge was at the Human Resources office at my place of employment. I discovered that there were several American Red Cross (ARC) first aid and CPR classes offered. The …



Letter Re: Sambucol for Asian Avian Flu

Jim, Your link to the Sambucol page recommends 4 tablespoons daily for flu treatment. That equals one-half bottle (4oz./120ml bottle) each day per adult. Say you have 2 adults and 2 grown children, all being treated for symptoms. That equals 2 bottles per day. Readers may want to get right on this. Drugstore.com gives free shipping on $50+ orders. They are currently out of stock but promise delivery of Sambucol with two week order fulfillment.




Protecting Your Family From an Influenza Pandemic

The emerging threat of the Asian Avian Flu Virus (AAV H5N1) brings into sharp focus the vulnerability of modern, highly mobile and technological societies to viral or bacterial infectious diseases. The last major Asian flu outbreak, (H2N2 in 1957, which killed 69,800 people in the United States) took five months to reach the United States. With the advent of global jet travel, it is now likely that highly virulent disease strains will be transmitted to population centers around the world in a matter of just a few days. In this article, I will describe how you can protect yourself and …