First Aid
A great part of survival is knowing how to take care of yourself and your group. It may just be you and your wife, your wife and children or maybe even wife, children and grandchildren. You may also be a part of a loosely knit group that is more of a mutual aid society than anything else. It is almost a sure bet that if a survival situation lasts long enough someone is going to get sick or injured. Should there be anarchy and martial law as I expect, there could be gunshot wounds or knife wounds. Having invaders from Mexico and other parts of the world on our soil, with the gangs they bring along will not help. These people are not here to become Americans, they are here to take what they can get and they do not care how they go about taking it. They are already illegal so what is the difference if the kill, steal and rape?
Let us take a look at what is needed. First, someone needs to be in charge of first aid supplies and everyone involved should know where they are and what to do in an emergency. Personally, I like to have a fairly complete medical kit rather than just a first aid kit. I actually have both, a first aid kit to carry along in the car or in the woods and a full scale medical kit. Many people that I talk to have something between a full scale medical kit and a small first aid kit. If you purchase a first aid kit, you will want to add a number of things. For instance, you will want to have everyone's perscription medicines in the kit. This is especially if you have any idea of bugging out in an emergency. During the warm weather I keep my medical kit in my pop-up camper. In that way, I have it along on any camping trip and if I did have to leave in a hurry, it would be there.
In my medical kit I not only have the normal bandages and other necessities but I have a set of scalpel, suteres and other things for working on major wounds. I also carry things like antacids, keopectate and other over-the-counter medicines. These can be very important if the stores are out of them or will not sell them to you. Do you or anyone in your group wear glasses? If you cannot afford a second pair to keep in the kit, go to a drugstore and purchase a pair of reading glasses that you can cope with. They may not be ideal, but in a pinch they will be better than nothing. Make sure there are ear drops, eye drops and nose drops in the kit. A little bit of olive oil in a small bottle is probably the best ear drops in the world. For the eyes boric acid is great. When you do things in this way, many items can be used for multiple things. Over-the-counter allergy medicines are another thing that should be in the kit. Even if no one thinks that they have allergies, you never know when one may develop. If you are changing locations, it may be something that one never has been exposed to. I could go on with things to put in the kit but I think most people that want to be survivalists know how to build a kit to meet their own needs. Each kit will be slightly different as each of us is different.
What I do about perscription medicines is to try to always have a months worth in my medical kit. I get my meds through the VA and they send them to me three months at a time. I always order one month before I run out and keep a months worth in the medical kit. When doing this with any medicine whether it is over-the-counter or perscription, you need to rotate your meds. With over-the-counter drugs try to purchase them with as long a expiration date as possible. Now if it is anything you normally use at home, each time you buy that med for home use, rotate. One problem you may have is if you are on any perscription which contains a narcotic. Certain pain pills and pill for depression are examples of these pills. Doctors do not want to write perscriptions for more than one months worth. These types of pills the VA will only issue one month at a time rather than the usual three month refills. I found that when I was on one of these narcotics, that I could order so that I gained three of four days each month. I believe it took me either seven or eight months to get my month supply in the med kit.
One other thing that I have done and suggest to everyone is; I have a list in both the first aid kit and the med kit of various natural, wild items that can be used a medicine. Someone in your group needs to be able to identify and know how to use plants in case you run out of something. I have a short list of some common things like; plantain to help draw out infections, chewing willow inner bark as a replacement for asprin, etc. While I know many that I did not write down, I did write down the ones that can be easily identified by most anyone. You do not need a mistake in an emergency. I have taped a copy of these to the inner cover of both kits.
Once you have assembled everything you think you are going to need, you are going to need a good container to keep it in. the first aid kit is no problem but the med kit can be. I would wait until you have everything on hand that you are going to have. In that way you will know exactly how large a container you will need. With the first aid kit I actually pruchased a ready made one and then customized it. With the med kit, I started with one container and had to purchase a larger one because I kept adding to the kit. Make sure the container is sturdy and is waterproof. There are various ammo boxes and other containers on the surplus market that make excellent med kits.
Remember, we are looking at a survival scenario in the very near future in my opinion. Do not wait too long to get you medical gear in order. Survive!!
Let us take a look at what is needed. First, someone needs to be in charge of first aid supplies and everyone involved should know where they are and what to do in an emergency. Personally, I like to have a fairly complete medical kit rather than just a first aid kit. I actually have both, a first aid kit to carry along in the car or in the woods and a full scale medical kit. Many people that I talk to have something between a full scale medical kit and a small first aid kit. If you purchase a first aid kit, you will want to add a number of things. For instance, you will want to have everyone's perscription medicines in the kit. This is especially if you have any idea of bugging out in an emergency. During the warm weather I keep my medical kit in my pop-up camper. In that way, I have it along on any camping trip and if I did have to leave in a hurry, it would be there.
In my medical kit I not only have the normal bandages and other necessities but I have a set of scalpel, suteres and other things for working on major wounds. I also carry things like antacids, keopectate and other over-the-counter medicines. These can be very important if the stores are out of them or will not sell them to you. Do you or anyone in your group wear glasses? If you cannot afford a second pair to keep in the kit, go to a drugstore and purchase a pair of reading glasses that you can cope with. They may not be ideal, but in a pinch they will be better than nothing. Make sure there are ear drops, eye drops and nose drops in the kit. A little bit of olive oil in a small bottle is probably the best ear drops in the world. For the eyes boric acid is great. When you do things in this way, many items can be used for multiple things. Over-the-counter allergy medicines are another thing that should be in the kit. Even if no one thinks that they have allergies, you never know when one may develop. If you are changing locations, it may be something that one never has been exposed to. I could go on with things to put in the kit but I think most people that want to be survivalists know how to build a kit to meet their own needs. Each kit will be slightly different as each of us is different.
What I do about perscription medicines is to try to always have a months worth in my medical kit. I get my meds through the VA and they send them to me three months at a time. I always order one month before I run out and keep a months worth in the medical kit. When doing this with any medicine whether it is over-the-counter or perscription, you need to rotate your meds. With over-the-counter drugs try to purchase them with as long a expiration date as possible. Now if it is anything you normally use at home, each time you buy that med for home use, rotate. One problem you may have is if you are on any perscription which contains a narcotic. Certain pain pills and pill for depression are examples of these pills. Doctors do not want to write perscriptions for more than one months worth. These types of pills the VA will only issue one month at a time rather than the usual three month refills. I found that when I was on one of these narcotics, that I could order so that I gained three of four days each month. I believe it took me either seven or eight months to get my month supply in the med kit.
One other thing that I have done and suggest to everyone is; I have a list in both the first aid kit and the med kit of various natural, wild items that can be used a medicine. Someone in your group needs to be able to identify and know how to use plants in case you run out of something. I have a short list of some common things like; plantain to help draw out infections, chewing willow inner bark as a replacement for asprin, etc. While I know many that I did not write down, I did write down the ones that can be easily identified by most anyone. You do not need a mistake in an emergency. I have taped a copy of these to the inner cover of both kits.
Once you have assembled everything you think you are going to need, you are going to need a good container to keep it in. the first aid kit is no problem but the med kit can be. I would wait until you have everything on hand that you are going to have. In that way you will know exactly how large a container you will need. With the first aid kit I actually pruchased a ready made one and then customized it. With the med kit, I started with one container and had to purchase a larger one because I kept adding to the kit. Make sure the container is sturdy and is waterproof. There are various ammo boxes and other containers on the surplus market that make excellent med kits.
Remember, we are looking at a survival scenario in the very near future in my opinion. Do not wait too long to get you medical gear in order. Survive!!
posted by Knifeman | 7:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home