Unless you are fortunate enough to have an EMT or other medical professional in your family, or have in your circle an 18D, you need one other thing besides as much training as you can get and good kits. That thing is knowledge resources, aka books that you can reference (before ideally) at need. This post is intended to follow up on this post on kits, and a bit on this post on the need to be aware and preparing.
For a true disaster (i.e. something that is lasting 30-days or longer), it won’t hurt to have things like Gray’s Anatomy and some basic diagnostic manuals around. For that matter, it wouldn’t hurt to have some basic public health guides (older ones likely to be much better) as they cover epidemic prevention, where to site and how to build outhouses, and other delights.
For more general use, one of the first books I bought back around 1970 was “Being Your Own Wilderness Doctor.” It was in my pack all through Boy Scouts and afterwards. No idea if my original copy is still intact, but glad to see it is being put out as a classsic, for it is. I used some of the information to treat myself (not sure about others) when we were out away from civilization.
While I’m not a fan of pain, I will admit to having even done some very minor surgery on myself at need. Things that needed a quick fix and could be patched up with bandaids or butterfly clips and (liberal) doses of antiseptic/anti-microbial ointment. Some of the knowing what I could do at need (and what I shouldn’t do) came from that book. Really need to get a new copy and review it to see how it holds up today.
There are a number of books out there now of a similar, but expanded take. Two I’ve seen are “Wilderness First Responder” and “Wilderness Medicine: Beyond First Aid.” Another is “Medicine for the Outdoors.” One of the key things is that they are not just about first aid. They are about prevention, identifying the (real) problem, and then treating. Remember that in any situation you need to accurately assess, stabilize, treat, and evacuate at need. Even better, you need to recognize and prevent potential problems as that is the best first aid you can give in any situation.
For the purposes of the Heads Up post, here are two books that we all (sadly) need to read: “Tactical Combat Care and Wound Treatment” and “Tactical Emergency Combat Care.” Getting and reading the books is a very good idea (adding to my wish list), and if you can get training along these lines, all the better.
Before I do anything else, I do think I need to repost my take on what constitutes an annoyance, an emergency, and a disaster. As I noted in the Preparedness Pays series, there are three types/levels of emergency and they are based on duration. The book-in-progress (sigh, still) breaks it down very nicely, but a rough idea is that 1- to 3-days is an annoyance; 3-days to 4-weeks (or so, forget the exact time frames I used) is an emergency; and anything beyond 4-weeks is a disaster.
A general knowledge of first aid and how to deal with boo-boos will get you through annoyances and even some emergencies. Knowing advanced first aid is essential for emergencies and/or dealing with a mass casualty situation. Having knowledge of (and better yet training in) emergency care and the books to go with it is essential for disasters.
While I mentioned the venerable Gray’s Anatomy earlier, here a few other potential resources: “The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide,” “SOLO Wilderness First Responder” (would LOVE to take that course), and “The Complete Medicine Survival Handbook.”
One reason I keep pushing wilderness medical is that in a true disaster or emergency (as opposed to an annoyance), you may not have access to “normal” medical care even if in an urban area. I live a block away from a major medical center; but, in the event of an emergency or disaster, I don’t count on it being operational. Too many hospitals have adopted ‘just in time’ logistics which work very well when things are going great. When they’re not going great…
Books are always a good investment, and the right books in an emergency or disaster can make a world of difference on several levels. For the record, I don’t get anything off the links here — I want to be free to recommend what I like and for you to know I’m making recommendations off what I think is good, not what is good for my wallet. It’s why I depend on donations, as your gifts help me keep going and keep the blog going.
Feel free to chime in via the comments with books you recommend in regards emergency medicine. Share what’s worked for you, or even what hasn’t. For all the good books out there, there are a lot of junk books as well. It can be a very good thing to help people avoid them.
Meantime, be prepared. Keep your family and friends close, and your things where you can find them in the dark.
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