Preparing for Medical Emergencies

In our quest to become as self reliant as we can, our family has started to look into the use of natural remedies instead of drugs to provide relief for common ailments like colds, allergies, and fevers. During one of the last trips to our local book store I found a copy of Better Health through Natural Healing: How to Get Well Without Drugs or Surgery in the sale bin. I figured that for just a few dollars it was worth checking out, and I am so glad I picked it up. It has been a great source of information and I especially appreciate how the authors wrote the book to be as practical for home use as they possibly could while still acknowledging that nothing can fully replace the knowledge and expertise of a trained physician.

While living a more natural and healthy lifestyle is a great reason to switch to more natural healing, that was not my main goal when I picked up this book. You see, a few years back I was confronted with a situation where I wished I had a little bit of basic knowledge about natural healing. I had an infection in my lip and knew that if I went to the doctor they would tell me that I had an infection and perscribe an antibiotic that I wasn't sure I wanted to take. Add in the expense of the doctor's visit and perscription without any medical insurance, and seeing a doctor wasn't really an option at that exact moment. Fortunately, I was able to speak with an acquaintance of ours who uses natural healing methods with their own family. They gave me a treatment plan for my lip and even checked on me a few times to see how it was going. The infection went away a lot quicker than it would have on antibiotics and I was a lot more comfortable. Since then, we have used what we learned at that point to help prevent infections in minor cuts and scrapes and even treat a few infections on our daughter who has really sensitive skin.

I am now confident enough in my abilities to treat minor infection that should an emergency come up I would have no problem doing exactly that, and I even have the tools I need on hand. But what if there were some other medical emergency? Would I know how to respond? Would I have the tools I needed on hand? Would I be confident enough in my abilities to just act without having to think about it or look something up to be sure I remembered right? While the book can't automatically give me the confidence, it will give me the knowledge and at least a list of tools I need to help with the day to day ailments we may come across. The more practice I get with the day to day, and the more I see first hand how our bodies react to the various natural healing methods, the more confidence I can build in my abilities. That's why I decided this book was a good investment for our family.

Whether you prefer natural healing options or a more traditional method doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have the knowledge, tools, and confidence through practice to be able to perform whatever emergency treatment may become necessary.

What resources have you found helpful in preparing yourself and your family for medical emergencies?

Biological Security

I don't think there are any of us who like to think about the potential impact of biological weapons, but the fact remains that there are terrorist groups out there who are working on different strains of bio-weapons and it may only be a matter of time before we are attacked. If attacks like these happen there are likely to be strictly enforced quarantines that will last several months in the areas where these attacks take place. In the worst case scenario utilities will start to break down. Things like power generation and water distribution require daily maintenance and quarantines are likely to impact that maintenance and they will start to fail or be shut down.

If you are prepared for the worst case scenario, then you will have no need to fear or worry about how you will continue to live without power or water. We will cover ways to prepare for living without power, water, or other utilities in other posts. Make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed (link to the right) so you don't miss them. For now, here are some things that you can do to prepare for a biological attack:

1. Keep a gas mask handy at home, at work (especially in high-rise office buildings where the mask can help you escape in smoky or dusty conditions), and in the trunk of your car. A gas mask by your bedside is your best option in a fire for escape and rescue of your family. (See item #5 for more information on gas masks.)

2. If you fear you have been exposed to biological agents (anthrax, plague, tularemia, brucellosis, q fever, smallpox, viral encephalitic, or hemorrhagic fever) do the following during the one to six day incubation period before symptoms arise.

NOTE: This is based on a list of suggestions I received for situations in which you cannot or do not wish to recur to conventional antibiotic treatment, or when such treatment is not available. Copy and implement these suggestions at your own risk. I make no medical claims or guarantees of effectiveness. Your success against these agents will vary according to exposure, the prior state of your immune system, and many other factors.

Do NOT begin antibiotic treatment until symptoms appear. Early or excessive use of antibiotics will destroy the natural bacterial flora in your intestinal tract and render your immune system less effective.

a. Stop eating your normal cooked food diet.
b. Begin a very light diet (almost light fasting) of raw fruits and vegetables and juices (no commercial products with artificial or natural sweeteners).
c. Drink a lot of water, but do not drink water from public water supplies; avoid chlorine or fluoride. (It is recommended that you install or have available a water purifying system in your home before a major biological attack occurs. Once it does, there will be a run on equipment. Make sure you are subscribed to our RSS Feed so you don't miss future posts on the various water purification methods.)
d. Take the following natural and herbal anti-bacterial and anti-viral capsules:
-Natural Vitamin C with bioflavonoids: 1000 mg every two hours, along with natural juice or fruit. (If diarrhea develops, cut dose in half. If symptoms of aches or fever begin, take hourly.)
-Raw garlic (crush into tomato juice): one small clove every six hours.
-Colloidal silver solution: one dropper full every six hours.
-Echinacea: one capsule three times a day.
-Goldenseal: one capsule three times a day.
-Olive leaf extract: one capsule three times a day.
-Grape seed extract (or other high-potency anti-oxidant): one capsule six times a day.
e. Use melaleuca (Tea Tree Oil) as a salve for all lesions, open wounds, or sores.

There are other natural preparations that are effective, including some new detox homeopathic preparations. You can check with the Herbal Healing Academy (click here to visit their website or call 870-269-4177). This academy has excellent prices, information, and products. You may also have access to a local naturopath or herbalist that can make recommendations.

3. If you begin to have symptoms, begin antibiotic treatment immediately, under the care of a physician, if available. Chances are high that despite government assurances, there will not be enough antibiotics to go around in a major biological attack, so it is important to live healthily and stockpile natural alternatives. Learn to live with alternative remedies before your life depends on them since it takes some skill and sensitivity to learn to recognize your own body's feedback signals giving you hints about what it needs. Remember, too, that natural solutions only work well when your body is NOT loaded down with food, especially junk food or cooked food, which have no live enzymes.

4. Leave any area where infection is growing. Find temporary housing in rural areas. It is best to make arrangements with friends and relatives beforehand. This is important to avoid continual exposure even to low levels of contaminants. Wear you gas mask in the car when leaving town. Don't worry about looking silly - it may save your life.

5. If you can't leave the area, close all windows and doors in your home and stay indoors. Wear a gas mask as long as you can do so without undue stress. You must remove it to eat and drink, unless it has a built in water straw.

What to avoid when purchasing a gas mask:
If you have already purchased one of these items (or this is all you can find), go ahead and use the item. But don't pay more than $20 or $30 for the mask or filter.
-Old US M17 series masks with cheek filters. These are hard to replace and tedious to change.
-All Russian, East German surplus masks. The quality is poor for these masks.
-Old, outdated filter cartridges. These filters are still useful, but won't offer close to 100% assured protection, nor do they filter effectively for more than a few hours.
-M9 gas masks with the 60-mm size cartridge. The filters for these masks are oddly sized and are not compatible with the NATO standard.

As always, this is not an all inclusive list. If you have suggestions you would like to add or additional resources for supplies mentioned that you would like to include please add those to the comment section. If any of your recommended resources are available only in certain areas, please remember to mention what those areas are.