Prevention

MEDICAL SERIES NUMBER THREE BY ED

I was going to discuss nutrition as it relates to survival situations. However, the subject is complex and will probably be broken down in 2 or 3 parts.

As you know perhaps, the rule of three’s state: a human’s parameters for life are-3 minutes without air; 3 hours without a shelter; 3 days without water; 3 weeks without food. As you can see, water is most important as discussed in Medical Series Number Two.

Sketching my nutrition series breaks down in four categories based on a ruptured societal infrastructure in which the supply chain is totally broken. Number one is nutrition at a fixed site, your home, and what items you will need. Number two is nutrition on the go, in the event that you have to leave your fixed site because of a dangerous situation. This departure to another location would already be part of your plan as discussed in Medical Series Number Two. Number three is nutrition immediately arriving at your temporary camping site, and number four is nutrition at a semi permanent camping location which is safe.

Nutrition in a survival situation is very complex and becomes more so in a field condition. In the interim, I found this excellent pape by CPT Lisa M. Giese, RD, LN on the web. You will find the paper informative and it will whet your appetite for more nutrition information I will provide in my next series. By reading this paper, you will get a feel for nutrition’s complexity. As I learned in my anthropology class when I went to college, hunters and gatherers have a lower ratio of starvation than those who are at a fixed site such as farmers. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

Nutrition will be the subject in my next Medical Series.

PREVENTION-to prevent disease from attacking you.

Your top of the line weapon will not defend you from a microorganism. That invisible enemy will take you down regardless how well prepared you are.

Experts state that smallpox is eradicated from planet earth. Such a statement has made me smile many times, and I still shake my head wondering at the arrogance such a statement conveys. If the end of the world as we know it occurs, your bad boys such as bubonic plague, cholera, smallpox, diphtheria, malaria, etc., will be knocking on your door, saying “we’re baaaack!” And if you are not immunized, you run the risk of inviting one of those bad boys into your body with terrifying consequences.

First, though, I want to talk about pneumonia. It amazes me that pneumonia does not get first page reports on the news. Cancer and other diseases are talked about endlessly yet, pneumonia just gets a token nod. Pneumonia is responsible for many deaths per year. It attacks those with a weakened immune system caused by something else, like the flu. Pneumonia is sneaky, in that it looks like a cold, but it’s a cold that just does not go away. Pneumonia hopes you brush it off as a cold until the symptoms become so severe that you cannot breathe. By the time you get to the ER, it’s too late.

Available today, through your doctor is Pneumovax 23, Pneumococcal Vaccine Polyvalent, or 7-valent conjugate vaccine Prevnar, page 1429 Nursing 2009 Drug Handbook. I believe it’s good for 3 years. It will not prevent viral pneumonia. However, it is a great defense against pneumococcal pneumonia, and I bring it up because in a survival situation, I predict that many will die of pneumonia for many reasons.

The immune system might take a hit because of decreased nutritional requirements; exposure to the elements; stress, both mental and physical. Pneumonia will be a great destructor, especially with the elderly. Pneumonia is no joke, and in a situation where the supply chain is broken, eliminating the availability of antibiotics, everyone will be wide open to pneumonia.

The second dangerous disease is tetanus. The chances that you will get cut in a survival situation are good. It will usually occur in the field by a dirty implement. You can get your tetanus diphtheria booster today from you doctor. Good for 5 years for all wounds other than a clean minor wound; then it’s good for 10 years.

Ok, so what’s left? Well, smallpox (which is “eradicated” per the experts); hepatitis B and A; Cholera vaccine (apparently not available in the US per the internet), yellow fever vaccine, bubonic plague-the big nasties-so how do you get them?

Inquire first thru your doctor and your local public health. Tell them you’re going to dig a well somewhere in the rural third world: make up a country. I know that in the military we got inoculated for everything. Even though cholera, plague and yellow fever are a non threat in our present US of A world, I can guarantee their re-appearance in a situation such as in a end of the world as we know it. Just for starters, sewage, garbage and sanitation will be non-existent, attracting vermin such as rats. Rats are carriers-and it does not take a PhD to figure out that as vermin makes their appearance, disease is not too far behind.

Mosquito control will stop-especially in the south, opening the door for yellow fever. Many do not know this, but yellow fever was a real problem during colonial times in the US. It is here-under wraps, but lurking.

Being healthy, staying healthy through good nutrition and practicing clean habits will prepare you for survival situations. Getting your vaccinations up to date will create a wall of protection around you. Simple tasks such as washing your hands for three minutes with soap and water many times a day will decrease bacterial count on your hands. Staying away from addictive substances is important; if you have to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. Cut back on smoking if you use tobacco-I didn’t say quit, just decrease the amount.

Being healthy and fit will give you a jump on stressful survivor scenarios. Having plans and contingency plans as well to include being up on your skills will give you confidence and a calm attitude in face of adversity.

Prevention: getting your vaccinations up to date; staying healthy through good nutrition; moderation with alcohol and tobacco; and keeping physically fit. As you noticed, I don’t preach the elimination of alcohol and tobacco. Though I don’t smoke, I’m a realist. If I can convince, though, a decrease in tobacco use, then I won a small victory. You will know, by implementing field exercises during your planning how fit you are and what you need to do to either curb or eliminate a habit which slows you down.

You probably noticed that I bring up physical fitness. Physical fitness boosts your immune system. Your immune system is the most powerful internal defense you have.
This concludes Medical Series Number Three. Until next time, Ed signing off.

( I would like the thank Ed for the hard work he has done do expand the medical base of the blog-Thank you.) M.D. Creekmore