Medical Preparedness

[Aesop]

Under the heading of Medical Reference, there's a book you should add to your list, and your library:

The Survival Medicine Handbook: A guide for when help is NOT on the way

Written by the Altons, AKA Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy of the Doom and Bloom blog and podcast fame, this book is 588 pages of medical gold, for times when 9-1-1 is a fantasy, or a distant hope, and now it's all on you.

This book is a huge expansion and improvement on the 1st Ed., largely due to numerous questions, and some serious dedication to upgrade and improvement by the authors.

You are well advised to get this book, consult it, and get your medical preparations for any major disaster you foresee up to the point where you could take advantage of the information provided. You can store food and water, but there's no Start Trek medical hologram you're going to boot up, on the day.

This book, in your head and on your bookshelf, backed up by a careful and thoughtful acquisition of inmportant medical supplies is the next best thing.

$35 and change on Amazon, and a steal at twice the price.
Really.

[Termite]

My company is supposed to be sending me to the 40 hr certified first responder course in the next few weeks. IIRC, it's the same one that fire fighters go to.

Aesop,

What do you think of this book: http://www.amazon.com/Where-There-Is-No ... 0942364155

[Aesop]

It's a good second-tier reference.

It's a layman's medical care manual written by and for Birkenstock-wearing tofu-munching hippies working for the Peace Corps in some third world trashcanistan, which is both its strength, and its weakness.
Strength, because a third world trashcanistan is what you're in after a Cat. V tornado./hurricane, or a good 7.0 earthquake, and hordes of untrained layman are all you're likely to have to use as medical resources.
Weakness, because while it covers a lot of medical territory, it does so a mile wide and an inch deep.
It wouldn't be my first choice (but this one would be), but it's in the top ten, because it's a great non-threatening training resource for breaking in newbs to a complex subject.

A good companion is Where There Is No Dentist, because when it came out, the standard reference guide chapter for dental emergencies was "Get patient to dentist". Not a summary, but actually the entire chapter. Which may be a distant fantasy in anything between the zombie apocalypse, or just being a three day hike from the trailhead, so it's nice to have options between either an actual dentist, or a pair of rusty pliers, a strong assistant, and a bottle of Old Horse Bladder for anesthesia.


Good luck with the first responder course. Once upon a time, that was what passed for Red Cross Advanced First Aid, back when they actually taught bandaging, splinting, and other treatment. Now it's generally been dumbed down to 8 hours of CPR, and 32 hours of telling you "Bandage the wound, and activate 9-1-1" in new and interesting ways for 4 days. Thank the American Bar Association.

If you glean anything more from it than that, or it's taught to a better standard, rock on. If not, get what you can, and take the opportunity for additional training when the opportunity arises.

[workinwifdakids]

Once upon a time, that was what passed for Red Cross Advanced First Aid, back when they actually taught bandaging, splinting, and other treatment. Now it's generally been dumbed down to 8 hours of CPR, and 32 hours of telling you "Bandage the wound, and activate 9-1-1" in new and interesting ways for 4 days. Thank the American Bar Association.

If you glean anything more from it than that, or it's taught to a better standard, rock on. If not, get what you can, and take the opportunity for additional training when the opportunity arises.

Thank you for finally explaining this one to me! I had advanced first aid courses in the early 80s taught by both the Boy Scouts and the Red Cross; my first BSA first aid course was taught by an Army medic. He ran the course that way, but the skills required did not deviate from the standards of either the BSA or the Red Cross.

And now, all these years later, whenever I take a basic first aid (even through a trainer approved by law enforcement), the training is a watered-down version of what I got as a 10-year-old. Do I need a refresher? Always. And, you never know when you can learn a new technique. But I've always wondered why I get nothing but a C- presentation of what I used to get. Thanks for explaining it!

[Aesop]

No prob.
The ARC has no institutional memory, because of volunteer instructor and staff turnover (and staff quality when you pay non-profit wages: When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys).

I had mom's Advanced First Aid coursebooks from her time w/Pacific Bell in the '50s and '60s, plus 1950s BSA first aid and handbooks for references.

Anybody who took courses after the 1980s doesn't know what they don't know.
But obviously, the difference isn't just your imagination. The organization made a conscious decision to teach to the public high school graduate level, which necessitated a 5th grade average reader standard, and made most of the concepts too hard to teach. So they dropped them.

In the '90s, one hopeful sign was when they had medical textbook publisher Mosby re-do their FA and CPR materials, but all they got for the trouble was better medical graphics, and dumber basic concepts, per ARC request. It's the equivalent of hiring Industrial Light & Magic do a kid's show.

[workinwifdakids]

Ugh. Well, my next step is EMT, which is both good and bad.

Good because my first aid/cpr knowledge is good enough to take the next step, and bad because I don't have the time to make it happen.

[blackeagle603]

Basic First aid course in the 70's taught to our Explorer SAR troop by the EMT's and Paramedics at the local volunteer fire house was really practical/involved. First Aid in Aircrew school was pretty good but the best part was field remedy stuff taught in the field during survival course.

[Aesop]

Ugh. Well, my next step is EMT, which is both good and bad.

Good because my first aid/cpr knowledge is good enough to take the next step, and bad because I don't have the time to make it happen.

The "Orange Book".
$75 on amazon, and worth every penny.
Take your time working your way through it, and an EMT class will be a walk in the park.

[Rumpshot]

:jacked: Aesop, that is the first time I have seen prices on Amazon for a book so closely aligned. The beginning prices are closer (in value) than most that I post. Of course there is always that one or two dealers that go overboard with their high price.

Just an interested observation. / :jacked:

[blackeagle603]

going to bookmark this for the S&H. His EAOS is Jan 4 and he's already thinking about filler work while he's in college years. Will be some downtime getting back to Cal Maritime or wherever he winds up. One option is recerting and getting back to lifeguarding. EMT would be a differentiator when applying for better gigs with the city or state (i.e. beaches).