Being a ditch medic is a challenge that needs to be experienced to believe. As an Army Medic in the 1980’s and 90’s some of the soldiers that walked in with some of the most bizarre stories.
One of the most common is, “Doc. It burns when I pee.”
Or “Doc I fell on it and its stuck.
“Doc. What do you mean I can’t march 20 miles with only a quart of water”
But most preppers won’t have to contend with that. Todays Tip of the week is actually a list of minor to moderate prepper medical situations
Prepping for Nausea
Nausea is the most common thing folks in the field have. Bad food, Bad water, bad weather. A lot of things can contribute to it. First line defence is Pheangrin. It is one of the most useful items that should be in your drug box, and an easy script for your doctor to fill for you since it is a non abusable drug. If possible when your doctor writes the prescription for it ask him to write it to be dispensed in the sealed bottle not the regular brown one. Also ask for both oral and suppositories. On the herbal side Ginger and peppermint, or any of the mint family is my top choice
Prepping for Pregnancy
This is actually easy than it sounds. Ladies have been having children for thousands of years prior to the OB field. I’ve delivered only a few babies, but the few I have done have come out just fine. Items to stock are prenatal vitamins and maybe OTC pregnancy test kits. It is safer NOT to take any herbal meds during the first trimester. Now a 72 hour kit for mom and baby needs to be put together, Ginger and Mint are at the top of the list is one of the few herbal treatments that I can safely recommend. My co host Cat Ellis of The Herbal Prepper http://www.herbalprepper.com
will have better and more up to date info on herbal treatments, are ginger tea and candies and mint teas and also B6 added to tea and mint gums.
Pack a HIGH calcium and protein diet. One thought is instead of making a special diet pack for mom, make ALL the packs so mom can eat of them all.
That being said the best diet for a pregnant lasy is one that WON’T make her vomit.
Prepping for Anxiety
Anxiety is going to be a given on any SHTF situation. If a person is already on anti depressants then a method of stocking up on them needs to be found. Now I am NOT a MD nor PhD in mental health. And I can not reccomend any changes in meds.
Now that being said, IF someone in my family had mental health issues, before SHTF I would work to find the triggers and slowly and under supervision find alternatives to the normal mental health drugs.
For folks with out mental health problems having some basic pre made herbal capsules of
Chamomile, Passion flower. There are stronger herbs but need to be approached with caution. Kava and Valrian come to mind.
Prepping for Pain
Pain control is another tough item for preppers. Your front line is NSAIDS. They, store great and are FAIRLY safe. There have been some new studies out showing long term high dose NSAIDS increase the risk for heart attack and stroke. But by keeping a few hundred tablets of Ibuprofen, Naproxin and aspirin on hand is a must. Add in a few hundred of Acetaminophen and you’re covered.
There are a selection on the herbal side, First one to mind is willow bark. It was the predecessor to aspirin. There are stronger, and one that I use is technically illegal in most states is Cannabis tincture. It has t he strength of the opioids but with out a lot of the dangerous side effects. We’ll talk about that more on a future Medic Shack episode
Prepping for Parasites
Parasites are going to be a fact of life in a SHTF world….Unless you remember the basics. First Cleanliness. By keeping your water containers clean keeping your filters clean you are ahead of the came. Chemical water treatments, IE Iodine and Bleach are great. Boiling is your last resort and it is altitude dependent. The higher you are the lower your temp is to boil. Enter in my favorite tool. The Pressure Cooker.
Now if a step was skipped and someone has an internal parasite, Vermox is my first choice. It’s generic name is Mebendazole. Next is Flagyl (Metronidazole) It works almost as will,. The advantage of Flagyl is it is also a fish antibiotic. Fish Zole.
On the herbal side is Oregon Grape Root, or any plant with a high berberine content.
Colloidal Silver in high doses works well also. But remember prevention is better than treatment.