How much med supplies should we be stocking???

[alco141]

you cant stock too much in the way of bandage material, you will be amazed at how fast you use up all you have ,or what you think you have.

alex

[610Alpha]

I get a kick out of the classes that teach you how to start an IV. Okay they are fine and everything, but really, I can teach a teenager the skills to start and IV in probably an hour or two. The real skill is knowing when it is appropriate, what type of fluid is needed and the rate of the fluid you will be infusing. When you are losing fluid like your wife was, she was not only losing fluid volume but was also losing some key electrolytes. Those electrolytes are key for muscles (heart is a muscle) and other critical functions. If she was that fluid depleted, they were probably monitoring her blood work for electrolytes and adding what was needed to the IV bag. The fluid was probably being infused at a specific rate to bring those electrolytes back up to normal. Unfortunately, we won't have those capabilities, so that is where experience will be key. Too much fluid in some situations can put your patient into fluid overload which could possibly be worse than what you were trying to correct. You may have to titrate the IV fluid rate based on your patients vital signs, lung sounds, heart sounds and neurological status. I applaud you for seeing what we will be missing in a PAW, and the fact that you need additional training. I would guess that most people that have taken an IV class a year ago would not be very proficient at it today. Those IV arms are great for practice, but when someone is hemorrhaging or sick with the flu and vomiting and such (like your wife), their veins are going to be very hard to find especially when all you have practiced on is a rubber arm or a group mate with normal vital signs. You do have the capability to perform an intraosseous infusion, central line or a cut down, right? LOL, just kidding.... Keep attending classes. Start with the basics and practice continually. I have been in medicine treating patients for 30+ years and I can tell you experience counts but even with my experience there will be times that in a PAW I will only be able to do so much. Patients die today with the best equipment, so they will die in a PAW without equipment. Get that into your mind now, as we all will see death when TSHTF. The best scenario would be to try and find someone that is in medicine, vet them and get them into your group. If that is not an option, take classes, volunteer at the hospital (you may not be able to do things, but you may see things and can learn), join your Fire Department as a volunteer, CERT, etc. get out and experience patients sick, wounded and dying. Sorry to be a Debbie downer about the death stuff, but that will be reality if it gets to that PAW place.

Sorry for the thread drift but felt that it was important to say since we were talking about supplies and training.



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My is back to work as an RN and she is going back through the ACLS class after a 4 year hiatus being a SAHM. They were talking about IV's and what to do if you can't get the AC or forearm.....Intraosseous infusion...aka IO...you drill into the bone!!!! She had to tell me all about it and of course show me video...made me squirm. It apparently doesn't hurt like you would think but it is very unsettling to watch and think about.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Oh it still hurts. Just most of the time when you get to that point the patient is pretty close to being out. Thinks about it. If you are any good at getting an IV started even if you have a reasonable blood pressure, you should be able to get a stick. Once the patient tanks and the pressure drops for whatever reason, the stick will get much harder. That's when knowing the venous anatomy can be very helpful and if needed an IO or external jugular can come into play.


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[610Alpha]

Oh it still hurts. Just most of the time when you get to that point the patient is pretty close to being out. Thinks about it. If you are any good at getting an IV started even if you have a reasonable blood pressure, you should be able to get a stick. Once the patient tanks and the pressure drops for whatever reason, the stick will get much harder. That's when knowing the venous anatomy can be very helpful and if needed an IO or external jugular can come into play.


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In case people wanted to see it. She doesn't even flinch.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Being a med guy, I wanted to bring this thread back to life to those that may have missed it from 2013. We are talking about food, homesteading, gear and stuff, but med supplies fall to the bottom of the list. As I said in this thread, there will be many people that will succumb to an infection due to a laceration or burn that wasn't bandaged and cared for properly due to lack of medical supplies.

I challenge you to take what you would spend on a case of ammo, and buy medical supplies. You can get a good start with $200-$300 worth of med supplies.

[Lowdown3]

Amen to that. And not just for SHTF but common sickness and med issues around the house. Been a fun summer here, a few weeks after sinus surgery I go to my second followup and the doc and assistants are putting long instruments up my nose and into my sinuses along with a scope. I noticed these just came out of a big wooded drawer. No autoclave package, not even little plastic wrap like at the dentist, no signs of sterilization. Next followup about a week to ten day later he does the same and then announces I have an infection. Pulls a little bit of it and says he's going to send it to the lab. Sends me home with a script for Bacrtim which ends up being total BS that I'm allergic to. So I end up getting STAPH from that 2nd followup. Worse couple weeks of my life, crap manifests itself out of the front of my nose and also I can feel it inside my ear canal.

Because we had an otoscope, my wife was able to look and confirm the crap inside my ears was the same as the crap that manifested itself out the front of my nose.

The doc and staff was completely unresponsive to us telling him the bactrim was doing nothing, possibly causing allergic reactions, etc. "Just keep taking it". Sluffing me off on my local doc (but HE didn't cause this problem, your unclean practices did!!) Finally via telemedicine with an old friend who by just hearing the symptoms and seeing the pic over text, directs me to go and get a shot of Rocephrin. I go to my local doc, he agrees 100% and also gives me a shot of steroids. My 104 temp goes down to 98 by the time we get back home.

Having basic medical supplies and some basic idea of what's going on with your body is important whether SHTF or not. I knew this was manifesting in the sinuses but I repeatedly told the sinus doc- "this is not like any sinus infection I've ever had, and I had about a dozen in the last couple years." Too often they think the patient is an idiot or they have the small g god complex.

[Bill Foster]

On the subject of supplies, is this a good deal?

Gauze Bandages
Genuine Surplus Military Issue. $6.99
http://armysurpluswarehouse.com/gauze-bandages/

http://armysurpluswarehouse.com/gauze-bandages/

[protus]

Bill..I think better is out there....
Looks like just rolled gauze or ace wrap.
7$ per roll? I'd pass.7$ a case....then sure.

[protus]

LD.
I had a nasty rash/msra/poison ivy/lepersy outbreak last month.
Most insane thing I've had. I've never had issues with ivy. If it was that. But it went full blown contact dermatitis.
Had to go on a steroid dose pack, and two different creams . To knock it down.
Wanna know what popped in my head.
" this would suck in the paw "
It was on my face,back,the twig and berries lol you name it.
All the areas gear would rub...it was crazy.

But I agree some docs have no idea or just don't care..

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

......Having basic medical supplies and some basic idea of what's going on with your body is important whether SHTF or not. I knew this was manifesting in the sinuses but I repeatedly told the sinus doc- "this is not like any sinus infection I've ever had, and I had about a dozen in the last couple years." Too often they think the patient is an idiot or they have the small g god complex.

Here is the bottom line, just as LD says, know your body and have some supplies and the knowledge on how to use them. Also, get healthy now as the healthcare system isn't getting better from what I am seeing. We use to have a system where the providers actually practiced medicine and tried to cure you, a lot of times with natural products, but now the system is set up to keep you coming back. Get your weight down (if you are overweight) by not eating the "pyramid". Do your research on what is a healthy diet and what is not...and stay with it. The healthcare system is broken, and soon will be bankrupt as it use to be the baby boomers were fat and unhealthy, but now the children are unhealthy. What does this mean? Well, instead of being 40 years old and needing diabetic, cholesterol, blood pressure meds, you are now seeing children 12-15 years old on these same meds...plus ADHD, anxiety and depression meds. The system will not be able to afford this, or the budget will be so high we will be running trillion dollar deficits...oh wait we are close to that now....