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Medic Kits - The Survivor's clinic in a bag
Note from the webmaster, the medic kit described below is not currently sold by savvysurvivor.com, please contact mdmmedicplus@hotmail.com to purchase one of the medic kits.
One of the most overlooked, insufficient, neglected and misunderstood aspects
of a good survival plan is a portable medical kit. A fairly complete
kit is going to be overkill for an individual, but probably fairly
important for a small to medium sized group. Basically, the larger
the group, the more supplies you should have. Regardless of the
supplies you have, it is important to have people who are versed in the use of
some of the more sensitive items and complex treatments. A lot of
the stuff can be used by anyone who can use common sense and read the labels,
but more risky treatments require the judgment of trained personnel.
This is also a cause for concern over liability when it is possible for various
treatments to cause more harm than good. If at all possible, you
want emergency treatment to focus on stabilizing the patient until they can be
given professional medical care, but there is another important issue to
remember: any minor injuries or sickness that you can fully treat with
your medical kit will reduce the strained workload given to the medical
professionals during a widespread crisis situation. Even having
professional level supplies can help reduce the cost that would conceivably be
put on a strained medical infrastructure that would possibly be inclined to
consider you or your personnel unacceptably low on their priorities for
treatment in a crisis. The brutal realities of war and large natural
disasters often see people dying not for lack of care, but for lack of supplies
that would otherwise have been easily and cheaply obtained and stored before
they were needed. This includes certain lifesaving drugs and
antibiotics that can literally save your life for pennies, but can be priceless
when there is little to go around.
For most survival scenarios, the medic kit is going to serve two
purposes. First, it contains first aid supplies used to treat minor
injuries and sickness without the need for costly or time consuming medical
treatment. While the safe advice is to always see a doctor after any
injury, many of us see the common sense that the cost of even a very short visit
to an emergency room for a treatable injury will pay for an extensive medical
kit. The second major reason to have a medic kit is to have the
supplies necessary to stabilize and treat a victim for transport to a medical
facility. In normal modern urban society, it is rare for this to
require much more than what is necessary for a few minutes trip to a hospital or
until an ambulance arrives with qualified experts in emergency medical
care. For survivors who often find themselves in the
wilderness far from easy access to emergency medical help, sufficient supplies
for longer term aid can be the critical difference between survival of a team
mate and a preventable death. Actual GI medic kits can be hard
to get with all of the "correct" contents, but paramedic type trauma
kits can be combined with a basic first aid kit to approximate or surpass the
capabilities of a military kit. Note how most of the more important
items in the military kit are sealed in plastic to prevent contamination and
dirt from getting in. One thing to keep in mind is that although
these items are usually sealed in plastic, thy are not waterproof. Kits to
be used in and around the ocean must be double sealed to keep corrosive salt air
out.
Obviously, it is usually unrealistic to be able to travel as well stocked as
a professional ambulance or EMT crew, but, it is entirely realistic to travel in
the wilderness with one person trained and equipped to a level similar to
military medics. In many ways, higher threat scenario survival
situations will dictate a package nearly identical to that used by special
forces. Not only would such a package be important for traveling,
but it would play an important role at the homestead or retreat where you may
lack access to better medical facilities in a crisis situation.
We have done a lot of research on medical kits, likely treatable injuries and supplies and equipment available on the open market. Some of our findings have been encouraging, others have been disturbing. What is encouraging is that most professional quality medical supplies are available one way or another on the open market, but in many cases, there are legal ramifications of the use and possession of certain medical supplies. This is especially the case with certain medications which have different legal status in different places.
That said, one of the best "open source" medical kits I have found
that follows a military pattern, is both portable and durable, is the kit
assembled by a Canadian guy named Mike Gulenchyn. He can be
contacted by email at mdmmedicplus@hotmail.com
The contents of the bags do vary a bit according to climate and time of the
year. Don't consider one of the kits to be fully complete with everything
you would possibly need when you get it, but the kit makes what I consider one
of the best starting points you can have when assembling a real survival medic
kit equal to that used by any military unit. Pricing varies
since the cost of the bags and contents is partially dictated by currency
exchange rates, but the prices usually hover in the $250 (US) range.
The smaller kits usually run in the $90 range and are packed in either a USGI M3
medic bag or the improved Specops brand medic bag.
This is the Medicman M17 medic
bag. It is based on the USGI M17 medic bag, but made from more durable
materials. Contents vary on availability, but this layout is typical of
what would be carried in a platoon kit, minus perishables and meds.
The bag is very durable and has six main compartments, plus one smaller compartment for surgical instruments (some are included).
The layout of the bag (below) shows the contents to include most bandaging that would normally be used in the field to treat a number of injuries.
The kit does not come complete as it is imported from Canada and certain medications and ointments would have a problem in customs. You will need to ad an assortment of antibiotics, pain killers, ointments and specialized meds members of your group might need. That said, all of the items We examined in the bag are all current production modern items and materials, none of which appears to be older surplus. The bag comes full, but there is sufficient room left to include some other items.
More info will be added on the inventory of the bag and use of the contents later.
As
you can see from the pictures here, the medic kits include a good assortment of
bandages, splints, instruments some ointments and disenfectants.
Since the kits are shipped from Canada, they will not always include certain
medications that might be a problem in customs.
Given that the kits come well stocked with new production supplies, unlike those from other suppliers that have out of date or surplus supplies, you still need to add a few things (and there is room in the bag). Most of these items can be found at a larger discount drug store.
A mid size bottle of saline solution eye wash. This is normally used for cleaning contact lenses, but more importantly, it is used for flushing wounds and is usually safe for flusing debris out of the eyes.
Anti-biotics. These will usually come in pill form. There are now more advanced and specific versions of penicillin, but they are all mostly related. Obtain what you can and get familiar with the warning labels since some of these meds can be dangerous to some people.
Anti-histamine inhaler and or tablets. This stuff is used on people suffering from asthma, but can also be a quick and dirty way of reviving anybody who is really short on breath since the drugs enhance the lung's ability to process oxygen. It is sometimes used by endurance athletes for this purpose. Be careful though, overdo it or mix with the wrong drugs and you will be doubled over coughing blood.
Anti-bacterial wash. Iodine is getting out of fashion, but you have to have some sort of liquid for sterilizing and cleaning wounds and instruments if you need to deal with a wound that will not be in front of a well equipped doctor within a half hour.
Ointments for dealing with toxic plants. I prefer Tecnu which is a fairly effective poison Oak treatment used in the western US.
A snake bite kit
Pills - general recommendations: In general, you want to get multiples of smaller bottles of pills and leave them sealed rather than get large size bottles and dispense from them. The reason being that pills can be contaminated when the bottle is opened and contents handled. Note that blister packs are not going to be waterproof.
Pain killer pills, the preferred medication is Motrin or something similar. If possible, get both over the counter dosages and the lowest of the prescription dosage pills. Again, store brands and generics are usually going to be just as good.
Caffeine pills - used to keep people awake, this can be important for people
suffering from certain exposure related injuries where you cannot afford to let
their body shut down for sleep. More effective, but controversial
"wake up" pills contain Ephedrine extracts. This is a
fairly strong herbal stimulant that comes from the bark of an exotic
tree. Some negative side effects include insomnia, shivers, a
metallic taste in the mouth, and complications if the user is pregnant, has
heart trouble or thyroid problems. Ephedrine is used in the
manufacture of met amphetamine, so the purchase of products containing Ephedrine
is sometimes regulated or monitored. Exercise caution when using
products containing Ephedrine since it can be addictive (although I can't see
how someone can actually like being a nervous insomniac). Psychological
effects of long term use include paranoia, hallucinations and other symptoms
similar to amphetamine use. That said, there are situations where
the need to become quickly alert and stay alert are more important than risks of
side effects. Pills like the "Yellow Jacket" and
"Stacker 2" from NV Pharmaceuticals and their various vendors.
NV Pharmaceuticals has a website with direct sales at www.NVEUSA.com,
but the product can usually be found cheaper from vendors. On
the useful side, these stimulants can be used by a person who has not built up a
tolerance to stay awake for as long as three days at a time, and to be fully
alert within minutes of taking a pill upon waking up. These pills
are the dirty little secret of many military personnel who undergo rigorous
training with little sleep.
Sleeping pills - used to help people go to sleep, this can be important for people with injuries or sicknesses that can be healed while sleeping, or people under stress who are unable to fall asleep when the situation allows for needed rest. In looking over the ingredients, they seem to be pretty similar regardless of manufacture and local drug store generics seem to be better priced for the same dosages.
Activated Charcoal, powder or capsules. This is a special fine powder charcoal that is reported to help remove poisons and toxins from a person's system. It is not an antibiotic and I don't fully understand the logic of how it works, but experts tell me that it does help in detoxification and removing poisons from someone's system by absorbing them into a form that is not easily assimilated into the human body. It is apparently some special charcoal and not something just scraped out of the campfire. Pretty cheap anyway.
More to be added later