The Basics: Medical

Perhaps no other aspect of personal readiness is more misunderstood than medical preparedness. Many of us have access to the supplies we need, but it is often the knowledge and mindset that is missing. On top of that, there is more to medical preparedness than treating wounds. Much more.

First, the disclaimer. I am trained in first aid and other minor medical procedures. I used to teach a wide variety of health and safety courses for the American Red Cross and for my own company and I’ve stayed up on this knowledge. I am considered a ‘knowledgeable person’ by the legal definition and, therefore, able to teach minor medical treatments. I am not, however, a ‘trained medical professional’, doctor, nurse, or professional healthcare provider. I do not give professional medical advice. Therefore, this post and all others by me or by non-medical professionals on this site are for information and educational purposes only. You should speak to your trusted healthcare professional for medical advice.

Mindset

As with most preparedness activities, the most important thing is approaching it with the correct mindset. We must be mentally ready to do what needs to be done.

Back in my 20’s I had a girlfriend whose sister was determined to be an Emergency Medical Technician. She loved the aspect of community service and helping people out, especially those who were having what was likely the worst day of their lives. She went to school to learn everything she needed to know and get her certification. Since she was paying her own way, it took a couple of years and in the gaps between class time, she did everything she could to learn more, stay fresh on her knowledge, and even learn the business side of ambulance services.

Finally she completed the schooling and went on her first ride-along with an ambulance. On that first evening, she went to a call for a victim with a gunshot wound.  The amount of blood, level of trauma, and sounds of suffering from the victim were more than she could stand. They got the victim to the hospital, but she found that she was unable to make herself get back in the ambulance. She was too traumatized.

Despite all of her desire and training and preparation, she could not deal with the trauma and never returned to finish her certification. Her mindset failed her.

Don’t get me wrong, people are built differently and I’m not passing judgment on whether her reaction was right or wrong. I’m just saying that she did not have the mindset that allowed her to fulfill her goal.

Make sure that you have the correct mindset to achieve your goals, or that you have a resource who has the mindset as well as the skills needed.

Preventative Medicine

One of the most overlooked portions of medical preparedness for emergency situations is to make sure that you are in the best health possible before the emergency situation.

Proper fitness levels can prevent or delay injuries when your body is called upon to do something outside the norm. If you are in good cardiovascular health, have muscles accustomed to being worked, tendons and ligaments used to be flexed, then you are much less likely to suffer from sprains, strains, and pulls when you’re called into unusual action.

Beyond the normal day-to-day activities you do, ensure that you are getting proper medical advice. Go see your trusted medical professional at least annually to make sure that everything is still good. Heart health issues such as high blood pressure and endocrinological conditions such as diabetes can creep up so slowly that we can be unaware of their onset. According to Mount Sinai Medical Center, those under 30 should get a checkup every two to three years. People between 30 and 40 should get a checkup annually. If you’re over 50, the annual is a must and you’ll likely need additional testing or monitoring if indicators of common health conditions are present. Between 40 and 50, no specific guidance is given, but the annual physical examination is a good idea.

The American Dental Association is a bit less helpful in their recommendations in their statement, ” To maintain optimal oral health, the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends regular dental visits, at intervals determined by a dentist.” If you read a bit further it seems that they recommend a checkup and cleaning at least annually and your dentist may recommend more frequent visits if you are considered high-risk patient. As someone who had a tooth break during Thanksgiving dinner one year (American Thanksgiving is on Thursday for our international readers), when no dentist was available immediately, most were closed the next day and following weekend, I can say that a broken tooth only complicates normal life. I would never want to experience an emergency situation with a broken tooth added on. Get those chompers checked and brush according to your dentist’s recommendation.

The final component of preventative care is diet and nutrition. Ensuring proper nutrition serves as the foundation for the other items. Eating right gives your body the resources necessary to stay fit. A balanced diet ensures that you have the right combination of macronutrients and micronutrients to allow your body to maintain your musculoskeletal structure, and fight infections. Lower acid foods means less wear on your teeth and crunchy foods help strengthen the muscles and ligaments holding your teeth in place. All of this works together help maintain that base level of health that you may have to rely on in an emergency situation.

These three preventative care considerations should help greatly and may actually prevent the onset of an emergency situation. It is an unfortunate fact of life that we don’t know each instance of when something didn’t go wrong. We only know when it did go wrong. Staying healthy should assist in keeping that count low.

First Aid and Trauma Training

This aspect of medical preparedness is what receives most of the attention in preparedness circles. It is important, so we’ll spend some time on it. However, we just can’t go into enough detail in this format to provide training for those who need it and retain interest for those who don’t. So make sure you do follow up with appropriate training.

Strangely, though the Red Cross is considered the premiere agency for delivering First Aid training, they don’t really pause to define first aid. So we’ll go to Wikipedia where it is defined as, “the first and immediate assistance given to any person suffering from either a minor or serious illness or injury, with care provided to preserve life, prevent the condition from worsening, or to promote recovery.”

The United States has a set of laws commonly referred to as the Good Samaritan laws which endeavor to hold harmless those who provide first aid as long as they are not exceeding their level of training and basically do no intentional harm. If the person being treated is conscious, some states require you ask their permission before rendering aid (be aware of your local laws). Those unconscious are generally considered to have given implicit consent. With these stipulations, you can see it is a good idea to take training so you can prove your level of training should it be required as well as potentially understand other legal ramifications of providing treatment.

Certain professions have a duty to render aid with their own laws, regulations and rules. Such discussions are far outside the scope of this article.

The next item to understand is that there is a difference between first aid and trauma treatment. General cuts, scrapes, strains, stresses and even breaks can be treated through first aid. Trauma treatment is often outside the skills of first aid providers and the most those trained in first aid can do for a trauma victim is to attempt to stabilize the person and wait for advanced medical providers to arrive.

In this context trauma is considered major injuries, often with severe blood loss such as from car wrecks, gunshot wounds, or violent attack. In modern, developed nations most people will never see a trauma victim first hand. Those in the military or law enforcement, high-danger jobs, or closely associated with criminal activity will have a higher likelihood of such encounters and may benefit from such training.

Many classes will also teach you ‘expedient’ tricks and techniques you can use if proper equipment is not available. This is good to know, but relying on them is like relying on flint and steel to start a fire to stay warm when you can turn on the heater in your house. To continue the analogy, make sure your ‘heater is working’ by collecting the proper equipment.

Equipment and Medications

There are first aid kits available in a wide variety of styles and contents that will help facilitate such treatments. The costs and contents fluctuate widely. A personal recommendation is that you buy a decent basic kit that has most of what you need and then augment it with additional supplies purchased individually. For instance, many first aid kits will only have a small number of adhesive bandages (and they will often be of low quality). If that kit has a good selection of other items, go ahead and get it and then add adhesive bandages from a box purchased separately so you have enough to meet your needs. Most mass-produced first aid kits don’t come with the very useful triangular bandage. Trying to find a kit with the triangular bandage can be frustrating and expensive. Again, get the basic kit and add this extra item.

Large kits can be kept at the house, where most accidents happen, medium sized kits can be stored in your vehicle, and small kits designed specifically for the activity you’re undertaking can be stored in your office desk or even carried in a backpack or purse.

This idea of activity-based kits is important. There will, of course, be commonly shared items such as adhesive bandages and over-the-counter pain killers. But if you’re going on a hike, adding a mole skin to prevent blisters would be advisable. If you’re going for a night on the town, hand sanitizer may be more helpful. Change the contents of your small kit to fit your needs. By combining small numbers of the ‘extra’ contents you bought to supplement your main kit, you may be able to stock your small kits from existing supplies.

The way to know what these needs are involves planning – which happens to be the subject of the Thursday posts, so make sure you’re checking back for those – or go ahead and subscribe below to be notified of updates.

For most in the medical or trauma professions, first aid kits are considered ‘boo boo kits’. Most will not come with the items necessary to treat severe trauma. The main purpose of a trauma kit is to stop major bleeds. Usually they include pressure bandages, seals for sucking chest wounds, blood clotting dressings and a tourniquet. The user should receive specific training on the use of each of these items as the misuse could result in no assistance being provided or even further injury. Seek out appropriate training for this equipment.

Now that covers some of the ‘sexy’ equipment that can be used, but there are more mundane items which are more commonly used and need just as much – and perhaps more – attention.

So many people need medical equipment these days and that medical equipment relies on electricity. Electricity should, therefore, be considered a medical necessity for these folks. Whether you need an oxygen generator for breathing issues while awake, or a CPAP machine while asleep, you need electricity to keep your devices working. Your first step should be to ensure you have a battery backup for your life-saving equipment. Your next step should be to ensure you have a method to recharge the device or a plan to get to a location where you have access to electricity. If you are reliant on any other medical device for your day-to-day health, ensure that you can keep it operational at least long enough for you to get somewhere else.

Similarly, many people are reliant on life-sustaining medications. One issue that many have is that they are also reliant on the insurance industry to purchase these medications. Insurance companies are notorious for not allowing over-purchasing. So it is difficult to have a supply of these medications for emergency needs.

It is important to follow applicable laws and not falsely report anything to insurance companies, but one method that I have seen that works well for accumulating an emergency supply is fairly simple but takes a while to generate a substantial ‘excess’. Most insurance companies will pay for your next refill about seven days before your current prescription runs out. If you stay on top of it then, you can refill your 30-day prescription every 23 days. That adds a week of ‘additional’ medication every month. If the dates fall correctly, you could potentially have 12 weeks of ‘extra’ medicine by just staying on top of your refills.

I’m not a doctor or a lawyer, but I do know that it is a violation of federal law to take a medication in a manner inconsistent with product labeling. Most (if not all) medications come with a disclaimer discard by a certain date – usually a year after purchase. It may, therefore, be illegal to take medication that is more than a year old. I’m not telling you what to do or not to do, just bringing this to your awareness.

Conclusion

There it is, a thought project on medical preparedness. The general summary is stay fit, eat well and get checked out regularly. Have the skills and equipment you need to help yourself and others. If you can do that, you are many strides ahead of virtually everyone you encounter on a daily basis – which means you are a leader in medical preparedness. Encourage others to become leaders as well so maybe they’ll be there for you should you need it as you would be there for them.