Doom and Bloom (TM)

      After what I thought was a quiet spring, we have experienced a horrific tornado in Oklahoma with more than 50 killed.  Loss of life from disasters, both natural and man-made, is an ever-present danger, and we must be prepared to deal with these issues are they present. Given the unpredictable nature of [...]

  This week’s Doom and Bloom Hour welcomes Bryan and Daron Payne of Pioneer Productions, LLC, founders of the Prepare2Endure Expo next June 8-9 in Bakersfield, California. Bryan and Daron will talk about the ins and outs of putting these events together, what you can get out of them, and how they foster a sense [...]

Last time, we talked about how to set up a well-planned sick room in a bug-out camp or if staying in place.  Now, let’s talk a little about the medic. How does the medic avoid becoming the patient? As a caregiver, what can you do to protect your health? Most medics are concerned about contracting [...]

In good times, we have the luxury of modern medical facilities and advanced techniques to isolate a sick patient from healthy people. If we ever find ourselves in a grid-down scenario, most of these advantages will go the way of the dinosaur, and we will be placed in, essentially, the same medical environment we experienced [...]

       PART 2 OF INSECT BITES AND STINGS by Joe Alton, M.D. aka Dr. Bones Spring is in the air, and so are a lot of flying bugs. We talked recently about the stings of bees and wasps. Unlike these, bites by mosquitos are common vectors of various infectious diseases.  The good thing [...]

Email   I recently received the following message from a nice lady who had her thyroid removed a number of years ago as a result of thyroid cancer. She warns me about a little-publicized but medically concerning report indicating that thyroid medications are becoming harder and harder to get.  It appears that several companies that [...]

We now know that the Boston Marathon bombings were caused by pressure cookers filled with nails and other shrapnel.  There were 2 bombs; this is not uncommon as a tactic of terrorists. It is my suspicion that the idea was that the larger bomb was supposed to go off first, then followed by a second [...]

In a survival scenario, you will see a million insects for every snake; so many, indeed, that you can expect to regularly get bitten by them. Insect bites usually cause pain with local redness, itching, and swelling but are rarely life-threatening. The exceptions are black widow spiders, brown recluse spiders, and various caterpillars and scorpions.  [...]

We were at the recent USA Prepares event in Missouri and many of the questions that we fielded during our time there related to the stockpiling of medicines and what each medicine was useful for in times of trouble. There isn’t a 60 second answer to this. Actually, there isn’t a 60 MINUTE answer to [...]

The diagnosis of a broken bone can be simple, as when the bone is obviously deformed, or difficult, as in a minimal, “hairline” fracture.  X-rays can be helpful to differentiate a small fracture from a severe sprain, but that technology won’t be available in a power-down situation. In any long-term survival scenario, you will be [...]

  Hey Prepper Nation, Part of your duties as a medical caregiver is to deal with minor issues that don’t threaten your patients’ lives, but can seriously decrease their quality of life or work efficiency.  In times of trouble, you’ll need your people at 110%, and many issues such as toothaches or foot infections will [...]

  As a medical doctor/registered nurse practitioner team, we received conventional medical training at university hospitals while getting our degrees.  Since that time, however, we have explored various alternative methods of healing; this is not to replace our education, but as a supplement and as an additional tool in the medical woodshed.   Before you say [...]

      Few of us are blessed with perfect skin in normal times, and the circumstances surrounding a disaster are unlikely to improve that.  Given that the preparedness community is composed of  rugged individualists who may not put nice skin at the top of their survival priorities, you can expect to deal with a number of [...]

      In circumstances when you have lost access to modern medicine, there is no substitute for being medically prepared. Any disaster, short term or long term, puts your loved ones in jeopardy.  History tells us that these types of calamities CAN happen.  From tornados in Joplin, Missouri, to hurricanes on the gulf coast, [...]

Southern Black Widow Spider   Anyone spending time in the outdoors is subject to the risk that they might encounter a creepy-crawly or two during their travels.  In survival situations, you can expect that risk to be multiplied if you’re bugging out and hiking through the wilderness. Spider bites Although large spiders, such as tarantulas, [...]

Varicose veins are dilated blood vessels, usually in the legs, which have lost tone in the valves that control blood flow.  This swelling of the vascular structures occurs in about 15% of the population, and becomes more common with age (50% over age 50).  Women are several times more likely to have this problem than [...]

We spend a lot of time talking about natural and alternative remedies, and we often make recommendations of what herbal medicines to have in your storage.  We’ve also discussed antibiotics and a number of other prescription medications you should stockpile and how to obtain them.  We haven’t spent much time, however, on which over-the-counter medications [...]

Recently, Nurse Amy published her (very ambitious) list of medical supplies for the post-SHTF (link provided) caregiver. Here you’ll find a list of useful medications that fight infection. Infectious disease will be more of an issue in hard times, especially in a long-term survival situation. You don’t have to be a doctor to know that issues [...]

 (Dr. Bones says: Today we have a guest post by Alex Smith, author of the new book “GETTING HOME“.  Today, he discusses the Get Home Bag (GHB) and how to select the right bag for your supplies.  This is useful information for the survival medic, who may carry a lot of important items to keep [...]

  In a grid-down scenario, some medical issues involve conditions that aren’t life-threatening by themselves but can affect work efficiency, thus decreasing your chances of survival in the long run. One of these is the plantar wart. Warts are rough, round skin lesions found most commonly on the hands or soles of the feet; the [...]

We spend a lot of time discussing how to accumulate medical supplies for times of trouble.  Despite your best efforts, however, you may find yourself running out of commercially manufactured medicines.  In this case, you might feel like you’re out of luck, but there are options that might be growing in your own backyard.  Many [...]

Although we focus on long term survival situations, many of our strategies will be useful on a long hike or camping trip. During a wilderness outing, it stands to reason that you won’t have ready access to modern medical care.  As such, it makes sense to have some idea of how to deal with the [...]

In our travels, we often speak at preparedness conferences and other events where there a lot of people attending.  If you go to enough of these, you might eventually find yourself in a situation where someone has collapsed and you are at hand. This happened at one of our lectures recently where a nice lady [...]

Coral Snake In a grid-down scenario, you will find yourself out in the woods a lot more frequently, gathering firewood, hunting, and foraging for edible wild plants.  As such, we will likely encounter a snake or two.  Most snakes aren’t poisonous, but even non-venomous snake bites have potential for infection. Poison is, perhaps, the wrong [...]

  (As the main proponent of aquatic antibiotics as alternatives in times of trouble, I have discussed these medications but do not sell them.  If you are interested in antibiotics to treat your sick fish, consider visiting www.fishmoxfishflex.com, where they have a wide variety of aquatic and avian medication for purchase at reasonable prices. Click [...]

  Seizures occur when the brain’s electrical system misfires. Instead of sending out signals in a controlled manner, a surge of haphazard energy goes through the brain.  These abnormal signals can cause involuntary muscle contractions, poor control of certain organs, and loss of consciousness.  A person with chronic problems with convulsions is sometimes said to [...]

Headaches are one of the most common medical symptoms that you will see in your role as medic.  The brain matter itself doesn’t have pain receptors, but there are several structures around the brain that are sensitive.  Muscles, blood vessels, sinuses, lining tissue, and others can be the site for significant discomfort. Many consider headaches [...]

Head injuries can be soft tissue injuries (brain, scalp, blood vessels) or bony injuries (skull, facial bones), so I’ve placed this section between soft tissue and orthopedic problems.  Damage is usually caused by direct impact, such as a laceration in the scalp or a fracture of the part of the skull that contains the brain [...]

In a long-term survival situation or in a remote setting, it may be difficult to control what you’ll be eating on a regular basis.  If your family is not getting a lot of fiber their, you may find that constipation will be a common issue.  Constipation, if long-standing, may cause the formation of a large [...]

In our last two articles, we discussed how (and why) to prevent pregnancy in a long-term survival situation, as well as how to monitor a pregnancy for complications throughout the entire nine months. Now it’s time to discuss the actual physical process of delivery and how you, as medic, can help deliver a healthy baby.  [...]