In a post apocalyptic world, things will be different to say the least. Doctors that are not murdered and looted by drug addicts will soon run out of supplies, and with no shipments coming in to refill the need, most would be as useless as tits on a boar hog. Whole regions could be isolated with no medical services available for years if ever. Under those conditions a quack doctor will be better than no doctor. That’s where you, can step up and take your place in this brave new world as a medical care provider.
Collect all the reference books and gain as much knowledge as possible. A knowledge of herbal medicine and chemistry, would be most useful, as would training as an EMT. Two books I would recommend to anyone interested in this are “Where there is no doctor” and “Granddad’s Wonderful book of Chemistry”. Basic medicine is not difficult to learn, if you put forth the effort and time to study the needed information.
You should also get a few uniforms such as nurses outfits and smocks. Wearing a uniform would be of great help in calming the sick and will compel someone to come see you for medical care services, after other more common practices have been used up, destroyed or no longer available in your area of operations.
A doctor with limited experience and no medical degree after teotwawki will be better than no doctor at all. And who knows if you do your homework before the time of need and plan ahead, you just might save a life or two. One thing is certain you will be in high demand, and will have little trouble bartering your services for whatever you need.
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Houstonems – good post. Quick Clot et. al. are for massive exernal bleeding that cannot be stopped by direct pressure. If these people don't make it to a real operating room, they die, so forget about putting them in your first aid kit.. Direct pressure, elevation, and pressure points work! There is a lot of good info in the good old Boy Scout manual – read it before you read anything else.
Here are some suggestions for your first aid kit. First of all, a big mistake people make is buying TOO SMALL bandaging supplies. A 2"x2" sterile gauze pad cannot be made bigger. A 4" x 4" sterile gauze pad will cover a pretty big wound, or can be cut down to size. I would have a good supply of 4" x 4" sterile gauze pads, 6" King or Kerlix gauze, one or two 6" ACE bandages, regular old Band-Aids, 1" silk tape, a pair of EMT scissors, a pair of tweezers or forceps, old fashioned razor blades, plain old hand soap, betadine solution (NOT SOAP!), a tube of triple antibiotic ointment, some over the counter allergy pills, caffeine pills, and some antibiotics – cephalexin 500mg twice a day is good for skin and soft tissue infections, doxycycline 100mg twice a day (with food, it causes nausea), for pneumonia, also bioweapons such as anthrax. If I could have only one antibiotic it would be Levaquin 500mg (two immediately then one a day), but it is fairly expensive.
Both of these are dirt cheap, you just need a cooperative doctor. Agree 101% with the poster who suggested getting as many immunizations as possible and keeping them up to date – by the way, Prevnar is for babies, Pneumovax is the one you want to get – it's for children and adults. There is also vaccine for typhoid fever (which killed a LOT of soldiers in the trenches in WWI). The southeastern U.S. used to be basically uninhabitable due to yellow fever, and malaria (ovale type) used to be prevalent from Florida to as far north as Boston in colonial days. Mosquito netting and insect repellent will be worth their weight in gold. As for a pain killer, I would stick to acetaminophen (Tylenol) as aspirin, Motrin, Naproxen etc. all make you bleed easier, which is NOT what you want in a survival situation.
Finally, nurses used to be able to bandage any body part with just squares or rectangles of cotton gauze. Try this on you shoulder or hip, then move around….If you can find one, an old nursing text that shows how to make these bandages is very useful, and they can all be made up from bedsheets.
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