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The last two posts have focused on nutrition for the long term, now we need to look at one final component to ensuring your health: medications. I’m going to include OTC in this as well, as they are going to be more important long-term than you may realize.
One result of getting hit by lightning is that I now take an impressive array of supplements and medications. Not as many as some, but I went from a couple of antihistamines to several cardiac-related drugs. The good news is my blood work and blood pressure (which was the truly nasty thing post-strike) are doing very well. Which means I want to maintain that as much as possible.
The problem is, between costs and insurance, I’m limited in how much of a stock I can build up for emergencies. Doesn’t mean I’m not working to do so, but it is limited. One would hope federal officials would release renewals of such in the face of nuclear or other disaster, as DeSantis did in Florida before Ian, but competence is not a hallmark of our so-called elites and elite institutions.
What you can stock up on are your OTC medicines including but not limited to: anti-diarrhea, anti-nausea, antacids, cold/flu, etc. If you have allergies, stock up on antihistamines. Whatever the condition, if there are OTC meds that can work for it, get them. In terms of first aid, get bandages, ointments, cleaning supplies (betadyne, etc.), burn bandages, etc. In a true disaster, such things are worth their weight in gold.
Also look into a good trauma kit or kits (every bugout bag should have one as well as basic first aid) as in a disaster the likelihood of major trauma rises rather significantly. A small kit that can easily be carried on you at all times is a good idea, especially if you do carry concealed. Also comes in handy for car trips given accidents.
Don’t forget foot care as well, as in a major disaster if you have to do the bugout boogie the odds of you having to go shank’s mare at some point is pretty good. Moleskin can be your friend, along with foot powders and other delights. Always take care of your feet before, during, and after any disaster.
In addition to instruction if at all possible, be sure to pick-up some good self-help guides. Many decades ago I came across a book called (I think) ‘Be Your Own Wilderness Doctor’ and it was focused on backpackers and others who could find themselves deep in the wilderness in the days before cell and sat phones. It basically covered how to do enough to get by and stay alive until you could get to real medical help. Guess what. In a major disaster your ability to get to real medical help is likely to be very limited. Find the modern equivalents and keep them with you.
Before I forget, invest in good freezer bags. Store important books and documents in them, and put multiple bags into a larger bag for redundancy. When I’ve backpacked or even traveled, I tend to pack everything I can in high-quality storage bags as caca occureth at the best of times. If something leaks in the luggage, if something leaks onto my luggage and it’s not as waterproof as claimed, or if it simply rains, my gear tends to stay dry and clean. FYI, I’ve been paranoid enough to augment the bags with wet-boxes of various types just to be safe, particularly with documents and copies of critical documents.
Now, let’s approach a potentially delicate matter. Consider what’s below as an intellectual exercise on creating a backup plan for your first few backup plans. This is not recommended for any reason other than as an intellectual exercise.
First up, if you’ve waited until the last possible minute and are doing the boogie, don’t stop for any reason until well past minimum safe distance. I don’t care if they are giving away free gold, ice cream, drugs, or anything else, it is not worth your life. Move out!
Now, once you are past minimum safe distance, and/or the disaster has occurred, and if you are relatively safe at the moment, you may want to plan to consider the possibility of breaking the law. Let the idiots loot the appliance stores and grab the televisions, if you loot anything, let it be a good hardware or camping store, and a pharmacy or doctor’s office.
Forget the junky’s dream, concentrate on what you need: the prescriptions for you and yours; local and other anesthetics along with basic surgical supplies such as scalpels, sutures, etc.; antibiotics; anti-diarrhea and anti-nausea medications; pre-natal items (Pro-tip: in disasters large and small, humans procreate and there is a boom in births about 9-10 months after. Be prepared); gabapentin and other non-narcotic pain meds; and, only if room and time, heavy-duty pain relief. If there are field medications, as in what you might find in a combat medic’s bag, grab those.
At a hardware or home supply, respirators and masks are a good start along with plastic, tape, and related. Camping and sporting goods, look for more filters for your water system and other gear that will help ensure your long-term survival.
Hopefully you will never need to even consider doing anything like this, as you have planned ahead and the civil authorities will have released stocks and done what is needed to help you deal with the disaster. However, it’s always good to have a backup plan to the first few backup plans and doing the above is just that: a mental exercise to create a backup plan that is hopefully well down the list even as an intellectual exercise.
I will say this as well. We’ve talked a bit before about the desirability to have a group of good people with whom to rally and/or bugout with at need. Consider that having a good GP, surgeon, surgical or similar nurse, EMT, former/current combat medic, or other competent medical professional as part of that group is a very, very, good idea. Have the chance to add such during a bugout? Take it and them.
Also, as you are doing the above purely intellectual exercise, consider the following as well. If the location of a doctor’s office or pharmacy is defensible and offers the needed levels of shelter for the situation, consider making it a temporary or long-term base. If there are people there, offer to help take on security and other duties and see if they are willing to partner or join in. If not, move on.
Moving on from purely intellectual exercises, stock up on the OTCs, and work the rest as you can. Just keep in mind that the health/medical supplies you have may be all you have for a very long time. Make your supplies both count and last.
Preparedness On The Fly Series
Preparedness On The Fly (Food)
Preparedness On The Fly: Water
Preparedness On The Fly: Light
Preparedness On The Fly: Cooking
Preparedness On The Fly: Protection
Preparedness On The Fly: General Thoughts
Preparedness On The Fly II: Complete Nutrition I
Preparedness On The Fly II: Complete Nutrition II
Of Interest
Start Of All Posts On Preparedness
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Specifically on antidiarrheal medicines, although this probably applies to things like antacids in all their wonderful forms too, They recently stopped selling Imodium or generics in large bottles. You used to be able to buy a 250 tablet bottle of 2mg loperamide at Costco for 5 or 10 bucks. I think the revenooers has got the idea that you could make meth or oxy or fentanyl from the stuff maybe?
Anyway, it’s easy peasy to buy a box of 500 now. As long as you don’t mind an Indian supplier. I think I may have paid 12 bucks for a box of 500 earlier this year. Also, their tabs are in 10 cards of 50 bubble packs with the easy metal foil, so protected, but not child safe or senior frustrating where you have to tear plastic, separate layers, break fingernails etc. You just push the pill from the plastic side out through the foil side.
Easy enough to cut/break that into 5 waterproof 10 packs about the size of a matchbook apiece. Stick a 10 pack anywhere, I’d expect that to get you home and back even if you had a Suburban full of people who ordered the fish.
I don’t know what other medicines that make sense for, but before that occurred to me I was thinking of sending to Mexico or Canada or wherever for stockpiles of your prescription meds, if you cannot buy stockpiles on insurance. I know that when I was contemplating a trip to Colombia many years ago, my cousin’s doctor offered to write me a whole slew of prescriptions to take with. Of course, even stuff like doxycycline is pricey nowadays.
You know, I could see sending crap jobs overseas, low end stuff, unpleasant work, not well paid…but why would we have burnt out the US onshore pharmaceutical industry? We should have maybe found some way to push back on the pirates like in India.
I suspect that in some cases it went overseas not for good reasons, but to hurt us. Then again, I’m even more cynical these days than I used to be.