Survival Medicine

#354  Survival Medicine Hour podcast Ask anyone on the street which of the five senses they would least be willing to sacrifice. They probably will tell you that their vision is the sense they would most want to preserve. Imagine a world where a disaster has taken society to the brink, what would you do with less than perfect vision? Would you know how to treat common eye infections and other conditions? Would you know what to do when an eye is injured due to trauma? Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP devote this episode to eye issues that might face the medic in austere settings. They discuss how to deal with various problems likely to be part and parcel of situations where modern medicine and technology are not an option. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Hey, don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits, supplies, and books/DVDs at store.doomandbloom.net. Subscribe to our newsletter for special offers at doomandbloom.net!

Public support for the legalization of both medical and recreational marijuana is at an all-time “high”. Many believe that the effects of products made from the Cannabis sativa plant are all “psychoactive”; that is, mind-altering. Studies, however, suggest that some substances in Cannabis plants have little or no psychoactive action at all, but might have other medicinal benefits. What's the real deal? Amy and Joe, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, tell you what you need to know. Whether you’re a hiker, camper, or survivalist, you’ll be spending a lot of time in the Great Outdoors.  During your off-grid adventures, you’ll be exposed to all sorts of critters that want a piece of you (watch an episode of “Naked and Afraid” to see what I mean). One of these is the lowly tick. Learn more about these critters and the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease, and what to do. Plus, Nurse Amy answers a listener question about what birthing supplies should be in your medical storage for disaster situations. Lastly, a Very Special Feature: Is prepping dead? As we go further into Donald Trump’s presidential term, many citizens that were previously interested in preparedness seem to have dropped off the map and a number of popular websites and supply stores have become inactive or just aren’t there anymore. Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton give their thoughts... Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy Don't forget to check out our books, DVDs, supplies, and kits at store.doomandbloom.net...

The school year has ended, and families are planning this summer’s campouts. Camping trips are a great way to create bonds and memories that will last a lifetime, also a great way to get kids off their smartphones and annoy the heck out of them, but once they’re in the great outdoors, they’ll come around, most of them, at least. A poorly planned camp out, however, can also become memorable, but in a very bad way, especially if someone gets injured. A few preparations, though, will help you enjoy a terrific experience with the people you care about. Dr. Alton gives you his take on camping safety. Also, Nurse Amy talks about home remedies, this time for GI complaints like diarrhea. If you're worried about long-term medical issues in disasters, you'll want to know about some of these options. Plus, Dr. Bones gives useful information about boils and abscesses, plus a how-to on how to safely drain one if you didn't have access to modern medical care. Of course, seek modern professional medical help whenever and wherever it is available. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Don't forget to check out our books, DVDs, medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!

You might associate armed attacks with wars or survival scenarios, but they can occur in normal times as well. The recent mass shooting in the public facility in Virginia Beach is a reminder that, in these toxic times, no one is safe from those with bad intentions. Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, discuss strategies that give you a better chance of avoiding a bad outcome. Plus, everything you need to know about storing your medications for the most longevity and potency with advice from Nurse Amy and Dr. Alton. Lastly, infections that cause dehydration by diarrhea can rapidly become life-threatening in a situation where no IV rehydration is available and antibiotics aren't accessible. Dr. Alton discusses Cholera as one disease that still kills 100,000 people every year worldwide and could easily a major pandemic outbreak. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!

Last week, the Altons discussed less invasive methods of wound closure off the grid  like steri-strips, butterfly closures, and medical or industrial glues. Those are great for minor injuries, but they aren’t solid enough to keep some wounds, say over a joint, closed. For that, you need staples or sutures. It's not hard to learn how to use these items, but how much do you know about the different types of suture materials available. What do you use internally and what do you use on the skin? Also, a discussion on water disinfection, especially by boiling and with filters. Ask a bunch of survivalists and you'll get a bunch of answers about how long to boil water and other important aspects of disinfection. What's the real deal? The Altons let you know current CDC and WHO recommendations and much more! All this and lots of other important information on the Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy. Wishing the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits, books, DVDs, and individual supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!  

#349 Occasionally, we have the honor of a mention in books that are of benefit and interest to the preparedness community. We have authors like James Wesley Rawles, Franklin Horton, A. J. Powers, Patrick Shier, and Charley Hogwood to thank for including us in some of their fiction and non-fiction. Joe Ordia of P.E.G. Solar, author of "Built To Survive: How we designed and built a sustainable, secure, and survivable custom home", has done us a similar honor, so we bring him on to talk about his journey to preparedness and his series of solar solutions for a safe and comfortable retreat for good times or bad. Also, Nurse Amy talks about recent videos and webinars on SWAT and SAM XT tourniquets, as well as the many medical uses for the trusty triangular bandages, all items you should have in multiples in your medical storage. Dr. Alton also discusses when to use staples vs. sutures for wounds in survival scenarios, plus much more! All this in the latest episode of the Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP! Don't forget to fill those holes in your medical supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST with JOE ALTON MD and AMY ALTON ARNP   In survival scenarios, you can bet that there will be lots of injuries that break the skin, your body's natural barrier. Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, discuss various considerations with regards to wound closure in austere settings, including infection, bleeding, delayed closure, and some different would closure techniques. Also, Amy Alton ARNP talks about her recent video on the newly approved tourniquet by the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care, the SAM XT tourniquet, and her opinions regarding its usefulness for the average person. Another concern involves the constant battle between natural healers and conventional healthcare providers, and why it's ridiculous to be dogmatic about what medical therapies make the most sense in times of trouble. Joe Alton MD suggests the active use of all the tools in the medical woodshed. Lastly, Dr. Alton welcomes Wes Peters of Gold Wealth International to discuss some concerning events on the world stage, plus the advantages of physical gold in the uncertain future. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Don't forget to stock up on medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!    

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST The use of tourniquets to control bleeding has been in use for centuries, sometimes praised and sometimes reviled as a tool of the devil. We learned a few very painful lessons, though, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now we believe that tourniquets save lives that would otherwise be lost to hemorrhage. In civilian life, the rapid and effective use of a tourniquet by those at the scene gives valuable time for emergency medical personnel  to arrive. Now, the TCCC committee has widened the range of options acceptable when it comes to tourniquets for the effective control of bleeding. Dr. Alton discusses the additions and more... Also, Nurse Amy is asked by a listener about the differences with regards to different types of face masks. She explains each one and what you should have in your medical storage generally and in times of epidemics. The Altons also go into detail about how to treat fractures, both on and off the grid: The importance of "reducing" the deformity caused by the fracture, realigning broken ends of bone, and even placing a cast! All this and more on the Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP Don't forget to check out store.doomandbloom.net for the highest quality medical kits and individual supplies, plus books and DVDs!

It’s a rare individual who passes an entire lifetime without breaking a bone. Accidents happen, and trauma can occur with such force that even bones may be damaged. Injuries to bones present in the form of breaks in the skeletal structure called “fractures”.  In the U.S., it is estimated that the average person will experience two fractures during their lifetime, not including broken teeth. The Altons tell you all about the different types of fractures, how a bone heals, and much more you didn't know about treating a break. Also, a special report on Kissing Bugs. No, not kissing bugs, as in how to kiss bugs, I mean kissing bugs, an invasive species from south of the border that is now found here in Tennessee and as far north as Pennsylvania and Illinois. They cause a potentially fatal infection called "Chagas Disease". Dr.Alton, aka Dr. Bones, tell you all you need to know about the insect and the parasite it carries that can get you sick. Medics in areas of conflict are always at risk for violence. There are circumstances where non-military personnel on humanitarian missions become targets in times of “peace”. This is currently the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo; health workers combatting the Ebola epidemic there are being attacked and looted by armed groups under the control of local warlords. Recently, a World Health Organization (WHO) physician, Dr. Richard Mouzoko Kiboung, was killed at a treatment center. Would you be safe if you were the medic in a world without the rule of law? All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Don't forget to check out our books, DVDs, medical kits, and more at store.doomandbloom.net!

Todd Sepulveda is the founder of PrepperWebsite.com , a popular round-up of all the prepper articles on the web and a great place to keep an eye on all things preparedness. Todd interviewed Dr. Alton for his podcast last month, and since Amy and Dr. Bones are on the road in North Carolina, we thought we'd air his interview, which had a lot of thoughts on medications you should have in disaster settings. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad,   Joe and Amy Alton For books, DVDs, and medical supplies, go to store.doomandbloom.net!  

For years, Dr. Bones has been writing about antibiotics and how important  they are as part of your survival medicine cabinet. In survival scenarios, there will be a lot of people that will owe their lives to you because you were wise enough to include antibiotics in your supplies. Besides killing the bad bacteria, though, they also kill good bacteria in your gut. If the good bacteria becomes collateral damage in your war against infection, the lack of them can  have negative effects on your body’s immunity, digestion, and detoxification ability. This pales as a concern compared to withholding antibiotics and having a patient DIE of a bacterial infection, but it's still a big deal. Fortunately, there are ways to replace your body's good bacteria after taking antibiotics. Ingesting, as you suggest, probiotics is one of them. Find out all you need to know about probiotics and antibiotics and get some how-to on how to produce your own probiotics off the grid from Nurse Amy! Plus, Dr. Alton wrote an article two years on building fires (not building a fire) in response to a 100 year old building going up in flames and killing several people. Notre Dame was built 850 years ago with what they say is 52 acres of wood, and you can imagine that, after 8 centuries, that wood was bone dry. The church was closed at the time, just closed a short time before the fire started, otherwise there may have been hundreds of deaths. So why are we talking about this? It’s important to know how to escape a forest fire, but most of us  live in a house or apartment building. Many of us, probably most, will stay in place if the you-know-what hits the fan, and we should know a little about the nature of fire if we are to survive them. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton

In off-grid settings, you can expect there to be concerns about food preparation. Outbreaks of bacterial disease, however, can occur even in the most developed country due to contamination. A recent example is the salmonella outbreak that’s sickened close to 100 people, putting 23 of them in the hospital. The culprit appears to be pre-cut melon from CAITO foods, the kind sold in those plastic clamshell-looking containers and sold at places where you probably shop. Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, Target, and others.  the recalled products include watermelon, honeydew and cantaloupe. Dr. Joe Alton tells you how to identify salmonella symptoms, typhoid fever, and much more... Also, A major disaster can easily take away access to a functioning modern medical system. In that circumstance, caring for the sick and injured becomes the responsibility of a brave soul with some knowledge and supplies; that brave soul is probably going to be you. Even in bad times, a caregiver’s responsibility usually involves dealing with one ill or injured individual at a time. There may come a day, however, when all hell breaks loose and you’re confronted with multiple casualties at once. This is known as a Mass Casualty Incident (MCI). An MCI is any event in which the existing medical resources are inadequate for the number and severity of injuries incurred. Situations where this might be the case include everything from a multi-car accident to a nuclear detonation. Find out what to do if you're the first on the scene with Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Hour with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP!   Hey, don't forget to check out our Survival Medicine Handbook, Alton's Antibiotics and Infectious Disease, and our kit and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!

You may have read some of my articles where I talk about the latest military methods used to save more lives on the battlefield. Then you say, how does an old country surgeon and obstetrician, of all things, have any idea of what the military is doing. The guys an old geezer, for pete’s sake, is he some kind of geriatric navy seal corpsman or combat medic or big-city trauma surgeon? No, I respect those guys too much to pretend I’m in their league, but I do know a thing of two that’s worked for me over a long career, and I keep up with the latest thinking in military, EMS, and wilderness medical journals, certifying in advanced wilderness provider topics whenever possible. Amy’s the same. We discuss some core principles of tactical combat casualty care, including phases of care and the MARCH/PAWS paradigm. Plus, have people ever given you the impression that preparedness is not for "normal" folks? Well, we'll talk about what "normal" means and whether it's sane to not be actively preparing for natural and man-made disasters. We also welcome Gold Wealth Management as a sponsor! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Don't forget to check out our book, DVDs, medical kits, and individual supplies at our store at store.doomandbloom.net!  

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST Spring is tornado season, and all up and down Tornado Alley, families are making plans in case a twister crosses their paths. Joe and Amy Alton discuss all you need to know about tornadoes and how to survive them with a little planning and wise action. Also, Joe Alton MD's recent video on expiration dates included some recent new evidence that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to your survival medicine cabinet. When the government and the scientific evidence agree, it's time to add some of those meds in pill, capsule or powder form to your survival storage. (of course, in normal times, call your doctor for a refill!). Plus, Nurse Amy discusses some of the medicinal benefits of a very inconvenient plant, the stinging nettle. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! Don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits, books, DVDs, and individual items at store.doomandbloom.net!

THE SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST When a storm knocks out the power for a week, there may be medical emergencies. It’s unlikely, however, that the family medic will need to deal with a dental emergency. If a disaster disables the grid long term, though, the medically responsible person should have a plan of action when it comes to tooth issues. Dental problems are inevitable in any prolonged off-the-grid settings; one of the most dangerous are tooth abscesses.When a storm knocks out the power for a week, there may be medical emergencies. It’s unlikely, however, that the family medic will need to deal with a dental emergency. If a disaster disables the grid long term, though, the medically responsible person should have a plan of action when it comes to tooth issues. Dental problems are inevitable in any prolonged off-the-grid settings; one of the most dangerous are tooth abscesses. Joe and Amy Alton discuss some off-grid strategies to deal with this possibly life-threatening issue. Plus, Joe and Amy welcome Tom Rader and John Stokes, managing and deputy editor of ThePrepared.com, an up-and-coming preparedness website with lots of great information for those concerned about the uncertain future. All this and more on the Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times and bad, Joe and Amy Don't forget to check out our books, DVDs, medical kits, and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!