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[trailmom]

Our family has recently moved to 50 acres WAYYY out in the country/woods.  We live 33 miles from the nearest tiny town and 90 miles from a large town.  It takes 2 1/2 hours on good roads to get to the closest medical care. (Yesterday it took me 5 because of the snow) Anyway I am nervous about emergency medical situations.  I am going to buy an air life membership but I am looking for books or other resources that would help me prepare for home treatment of emergency or trauma situations.  Thanks in advance.

[ps100vs5]

Years ago, I took a First Aid course through the local hospital.  It was very basic, but I believe it was helpful.  There are several website available with information. I would also look for survivalist type books.  They are written on the assumption that civilization is a long ways away.  We have a "SAS Survival Guide" pocket book that travels with us. 

Stop by, WellTellMe.com there is lots of home remedy advice there.  HTH

[barngirl]

trailmom,
Have you tried reasearching this on your computer??? I tried it, and came up with so much that I just thought I would pass that on!

hope you find the info you need~

barngirl

[Deb]

A good book to have on hand is WHERE THERE IS NO DOCTOR . And my personal fave place-welltellme.com.LOL.

[Ray Murphy]

A brilliant book. There is a companion to it called " Where there is no dentist". I will be using both in a few weeks time when we are heading for Uganda where I am doing First Aid training courses for the Fire and Police services together with traing clinic workers and also out in some villages.

Ray

[JesiRaine]

You can download each of those titles plus several more VERY helpful ones here

http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php

They're provided free in order to circulate them as widely as possible. 

[amy3js]

You can download each of those titles plus several more VERY helpful ones here

http://www.hesperian.org/publications_download.php

They're provided free in order to circulate them as widely as possible. 

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

[doug-again]

Ditch Medicine is a great book i found at a survival supply store in Englewood, CO.  i have seen it also, at several gun shows, at the book dealer tables.  There's been only one big book dealer per show, in my limited experience. 
$25 is the going rate.  i've never seen it cheaper.  Books by this, as well as other publishers of similar content, are very expensive.  i've found no way around it.
This book includes graphic art, as well as real photos of: amputations, catheter hub insertion, shrapnel riddled bodies and assorted gristle.  It's heavy duty, for real:
nasotracheal intubation, cricothyroidotomy, and other fun stuff.
Frankly, i haven't been able to read it for too long because i have to hold my breath; and i can't do that too long without passing out.  On the back cover it says that its, "a must for ... anyone with an interest in practical field applications," and i totally agree.  Its worth the bread, but $$ouchy$$ for a soft back book, IMO.
As an aside, suture kits and pain killers are really hard to come by; and are highly valuable in the boonies.  If you have a nurse or a Dr. friend that could get you a handful of suture kits, you'll be ahead of me.  i can't get them for the life of me, so to speak.
i have to settle for crazy glue for now.
If you need a more in depth review of the book, let me know, and i'll type some more.  Uh, the author does devote quite a bit of space to i.v. narcotic and sterilization uhhh, stuff for a lack of a better term.  He's super western med. etc..

[David Coles]

Folks -

Good topic - I feel so strongly on the subject that I've actually gone into business with first responder and trauma kits... (this may need to go over into the "home businesses" category, but I promise I'm not just looking for free advertising... )

There are actually several pretty special aspects of the products that I sell - they're the first kits of their kind that I've seen, and I'm 100% behind them...

In a nutshell, there are many many different configurations - but the best setups for remote areas are the kits that come with what's called an EID - Emergency Information Device.  These are relatively new on the market, and the basic premise is that you have a small unit that will give you appropriate audible and written instructions on how to respond to all emergency medical situations.  The types of responses are color coded, say for instance: Seizure/Diabetic Shock is a big yellow button.  Inside the responder kit is a yellow bag that holds all the medical supplies ONLY for that type of emergency - so you're not rooting around through supplies that you're not going to need looking for the ones that are... it also makes it MUCH easier to maintain the contents of the kit, including managing expiration dates on the medicines... they're also pretty customizable for your exact needs...

Another thing to think about (also available as part of the above kits) is having an AED at your house... If you're not familiar with a defibrillator, you've probably seen them in airports and federal buildings - the hospital versions are the ones with the paddles and the doctors shouting "CLEAR" when you're going in cardiac arrest...  They've become very very simple to operate in the last five years, to the point that all you do is stick the sticker-pads on the victim and then let the unit determine if a shock needs to be delivered... they've also come WAY down in price.

Try not to get sticker shock, especially with the AED kits (the units alone run around $1,200)... take a look through and feel free to post any questions or ask me directly... I can't stress enough how important a kit of some kind is to your life in the WAAAYYY back woods - you wouldn't catch me without several guns, and you wouldn't catch me without a way to deliver a child, amputate a leg, treat an infection or perform basic sutures.  Here's the links for more info:

CriticalResponseFirstAid.com


More information on the EIDs

A great responder kit with the EID

A responder kit complete with the EID -and- the AED


As you can see, I'm pretty passionate about this... I'd pray that you'd all consider a well thought out medical kit as part of your lifestyle, regardless of where or who you get it from.  You can build them yourself as well, though it's quite a bit of work.  Just know that all the free books about what to do where there are no doctors won't do much without some basic tools just like all the recipe books aren't much good with out some pots and pans and mechanical manuals are worthless without a set of wrenches...

And in case you're wondering, I've got a full set up in the closet right next to the bug-out bag 

If anyone's interested, drop me a line; I'll offer a 10% urbanexodus/7xsunday/welltellme discount... plus you'll help me stay home with my kids

-Dave

[doug-again]

Hey Dave, i was stunned to find only gauze and non latex rubber gloves listed for treating heart/chestpain and stroke - no cayenne, no nitroglycerine.  Please enlighten me; how could i treat such a patient, with what amounts to cheesecloth and dish gloves out in the sticks?
For bleeding and shock what, no  yunnan paiyao?  - and no wound wash? - i found no DATASHEET that included betadine or iodine, no medical grade super glue - not even the regular stuff.  And STILL, no freaking suture kits; i can believe it.  [i wanna say i can't believe it.]

Seems like folks are paying a lot for the seamstress and the instructions, over on your site.  Uh.....
Ampucare without a hemostat?  No scalpel for debridement? No curved stitching needles?
Ack! i guess 'm not professionaller 'nuf fer that. ahm 'spossed to jus' gauze and wrap er huh?  and wait fer the meat wagon fulla cigarette smoking EMTs to show up and do CPR fer me, and save the day.
Your gig is just way too professional and liability minded for me, man; and i dare say it's so, for most of the folks on here; and i stand to be corrected on that.

If you come up with a guerrilla kit that breaks all the rules, please please let me know. Or hmmm, maybe i just found my nitch.

[Gabriel Anast]

@doug-again... the problem is selling it without getting cross-wise with the medical priesthood. You gotta be a card carrying member in order to make the big bucks...

--gabe

PS: a friend of mine just bought the (quite expensive, but amazing) book called Wilderness Medicine (Amazon, BookFinder w/ Older versions)... it still won't tell you to keep inject-able vitamin C on hand for snake bites and the aforementioned heart attack... but... its a pretty fantastic book especially for wilderness situations.

[David Coles]

Might be a bit of a shade of grey, but has anyone ever considered using/buying veterinary products?  Don't want to open a can of worms, but is this something folks do in the dark of night?

[barngirl]

If we're talking animals here, I suggest keeping the following handy...especially if you have goats/cows/sheep

Nutri Drench
Vitamin B
Some kind of antibiotic(like Penicillan, Draxxen etc.)
Pain Killer (like Banamine)
PeptoBismol
Syringes and Needles
Calcium
Electrolytes
Long plastic gloves
Oral drencher

If you can (I know they're expensive) get a book like "Vetrinary Medicine" on different ailments...be well read on sicknesses like Pnemonia, Milk Fever, Mastitis, poisonous plants, Pregnancy Toxemia and Ketosis. You add things to your medicine cabinet as you go and face different situations.

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