TheSurvivalDoctor.com is always full of great medical survival information and this article does not disappoint! One of my biggest concerns in a survival situation would be the death of a loved one because of an injury that we would have never considered a problem now-a-days. Mr. Donner from the Donner Party died of blood poisoning because of a tiny cut he received. It may seem silly to us but the threat is real if we did not have the disinfectants and antibiotics in existence today.
In this article Dr. Hubbard discusses 5 injuries: deep wound to an extremity, bad burn, collapsed lung caused by puncture wound, open fracture, and gunshot wound. Of course he recommends calling 9-1-1 as soon as possible but what if it was not available? Dr. Hubbard has tips for that too. The overwhelming recommendations are to control the bleeding and prevent infection for problems involving a wound. The burn treatment and collapsed lung recommendations are obviously a little different.
When I was in college I trained to be an E.M.T. It was during this time that I learned there is a big difference between learning information and doing a job. I also learned that it takes a special breed of person to do this job day in and day out. My point is you need to learn this information. You need to know what medical steps you need to take to save your loved ones if something should happen but you also need to change your mindset into one of a fixer, no matter how gross it is. You need to get out with your team or your family and practice scenarios so you can use muscle memory to preform the job when it counts. Start by heading over and learning these basics that Dr. Hubbard has presented:Â http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com/2015/02/09/tips-to-survive-injuries/ Dr. Hubbard also has a video educational program available that is worth your time if you want to dive in deeper.
Another great article that Dr. Hubbard did was a collaborative effort that I worked on with him. I gave Dr. Hubbard scenarios from my book, Day After Disaster, and he advised how he would have treated them in a survival situation. Much like Dr. Chamberlin and I did for The Changing Earth Podcast. It was very interesting to see the advice from both Doctors and pick up the tips that they had to share. You can check that article out at: http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com/2014/08/18/basic-survival-medicine-skills/
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