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Survivalist Anthologies Volume 1

Page 29

by George Shepherd


  If you don’t work to achieve these goals, all of your preparations will be useless. If you damage your heart and lungs by smoking, for example, how will you be able to function in a situation where your fitness and stamina will be continually tested. In a collapse situation, you will be chopping wood, walking long distances to find food and protect your perimeter, and many other activities that will test you physically. Be sure to start off reasonably fit and at an appropriate weight. Even just a daily walk around the block will help keep you active and mobile.

  When there is no doctor, someone in your group should be assigned the responsibilities of group medic. Some people feel that this is a daunting task, and it certainly will be a challenge to accumulate adequate medical stores and obtain the medical knowledge necessary to be a healthcare provider. If you’re going to be the medic, the more you learn the better! Start off learning basic first aid. Then try and learn as much anatomy and physiology as possible. Anatomy is the blueprint of the body, and physiology is the operating manual. They will be the building blocks of your medical knowledge. Once you understand how the body is put together, and how it works, you’re in a much better position to understand disease and injury. With this understanding, you will be a successful medic.

  The most important asset in becoming a competent healthcare provider for your group is just having common sense! A sensible person with good medical supplies, a few medical books and a willingness to learn will be a fine medic. Another useful attribute of a good medic is the dedication to teach other members of his/her group some of the skills that he/she has learned. Cross-training is important, as the medic may one day need a medic!

  The first thing that the group medic should perform in preparation for a collapse situation is a needs assessment. You will be asking yourself, among other things, the following questions:

  What will my responsibilities be?

  It goes without saying that, as group medic, you will be responsible for the medical well-being of your survival group. But what does that mean? It means that, as well as healthcare provider, you will be the chief sanitation officer, chief counselor, dentist, and medical ordinance officer. These roles may be modified somewhat by the makeup of your group. If you have a pastor or other clergy in your group, they can take some of the burden of psychological counseling away from you. If you have someone skilled in engineering, water treatment, or waste disposal, they might be able to use their knowledge to help you maintain sanitary conditions at your retreat or camp, or assure healthy filtered water.

  What scenario are you preparing for?

  It’s important to accumulate medical supplies and knowledge that will work in any collapse situation, but what are you expecting to happen? Your preparations should be modified to accommodate the particular situation that you believe will cause modern medical care to be unavailable. If you feel that we are on the verge of an economic collapse, you probably believe that the reliable transport of food from farms to the public will no longer exist (nobody is paying the truckers!). In that case, malnutrition will be rampant. Your responsibility as medic would be to make sure that your group’s food storage includes everything required to maintain good nutrition. Stockpiling vitamin supplements, commercial or natural, would be a good strategy in this situation. Are you concerned about civil unrest? In that case, tailor your supplies and training to equip you to deal with traumatic injuries. How about a pandemic? If you’re worried about a super-flu descending upon your area, stock up on masks and gloves as well as antiviral drugs. To take this to extremes, perhaps you live near an army base, a large city or a nuclear plant and you’re concerned about a terrorist group setting off a nuclear bomb. In that scenario, you want medications like Potassium Iodide, to counteract some of the effects of radiation. So you can see that your supplies and training change somewhat, depending on the course of events.

  How many people will you be responsible for?

  Your store of medical supplies will depend somewhat on the number of persons that you will be responsible for. If you have stockpiled 5 treatment courses of antibiotics, it might be enough for a couple or a sole individual, but it will go fast if you are taking care of 20 people. It only makes sense to accumulate as much as you possibly can, as you might wind up dealing with more survivors than you expected. You can never have too many medical supplies. Excess items will always be highly sought after for barter purposes.

  What special needs will you be required to care for?

  The special issues you will deal with depends on who is in your group. The medical needs of children or those who are elderly will be different from an average adult. Women have different health problems than men. You will need to know if group members have a chronic condition, such as asthma or diabetes. All of these variables will modify the supplies and medical knowledge you must obtain.

  What physical environment will you be living in?

  Is your retreat is a cold climate? If so, you will need to know how to keep people warm and how to treat hypothermia. If you’re located in a hot climate, you will need to know how to treat heat stroke. Is your environment wet and humid? People who are chronically wet generally don’t stay healthy, so you will have to have a strategy to keep your group members dry. Are you in a dry, desert-like environment? If you are, you have to provide strategies to prevent dehydration.

  How long do you expect to have to provide medical care in an austere environment?

  Some catastrophes like major damage from tornadoes or hurricanes may limit access to medical care for a relatively short period of time, but a societal collapse could mean that there is no availability to advanced medical care for the foreseeable future. The longer you will be the healthcare resource for your group, the more supplies you will have to stockpile and the more varied your supplies should be. If the catastrophe means a few weeks without medical care, you probably can get away without, for example, equipment to extract a diseased tooth. If it’s a true collapse, however, that equipment will be quite important.

  What reference materials will I need to be an effective healthcare provider?

  A good library of medical, dental, survival and nutritional books will give you the tools to be an effective medic. Even if you were already a doctor, (say, a general practitioner) you would need various references to learn how to perform surgical procedures that you ordinarily would send to the local surgeon. Even the most resourceful prepper can’t know everything! Luckily, medical reference books are all over, with tens of thousands on sale on online auction sites like Ebay on any given day. Often, they are deeply discounted. Start with a good anatomy book like Gray’s Anatomy, and a good medical handbook such as the Merck Manual.

  Keeping your family or survival group healthy in a collapse isn’t just keeping them fed and sheltered. You can have an arsenal for defense, but that won’t matter in the least to a bacteria or virus. Obtain some medical knowledge and supplies, and you will be ready for whatever comes down the pike. Make sure you succeed when everything else fails!

  Dr. Bones is a retired physician, surgeon and obstetrician with 25 years experience in patient care. Along with his wife, “Nurse Amy” Alton, he co-hosts the “Doom & Bloom Show". Their goal is to promote medical preparedness, and to identify strategies that will keep people healthy in a post-apocalyptic setting

  Product Spotlight

  Maxpedition Lunada Gearslinger

  The LUNADA GEARSLINGER is a step up in size from the bestselling Remora. A longer padded ambidextrous shoulder strap provides more comfort in carrying heavier loads while an additional retention cross strap (also ambidextrous) prevents bag from swinging around during rapid movement. This is our most advanced Gearslinger design to date. Manufacturer: Maxpedition Hard Use Gear (www.maxpedition.com) Retail Price: $99.00

  Crovel Extreme

  ALL-IN-ONE: Like its predecessor; The Crovel, The Crovel EXTREME eliminates the need for several tools- eliminating extra weight and increasing versatility. Everyone knows the benefits of a goo
d shovel and pick for shelter building, and fighting. A crowbar is also a great survival tool when faced with prying open a lock, door, or using it as a lever to lift heavy objects. As a fighting tool, it can have some devastating results. Gear Up Center has combined these two tools to make an irreplaceable survival must have.

  Available at: www.gearupcenter.com – Retail Price: $109

  KIO3 Potassium Iodide Tablets

  Anti-Radiation tablets from Medical Corps. If there is a “nuclear event,” and you are down-wind, you need to take KIO3 before the radioactive plume reaches you. If you don’t have KIO3 at the time of the event, then it’s probably too late. Please note: KIO3 is FDA approved. Manufacturer: Medical Corps (www.medicalcorps.org) Retail Price: $17.95 (90ct. - 85mg) $19.95 (60ct. - 170mg)

  Duke Traps

  Whether you are a Professional Trapper, Part Time Trapper, Hobbyist, Distributor or Retailer, Duke Traps has the solution to take care of your needs. With the largest and most complete product line of game traps in the world, you are guaranteed the best selection and best value anywhere. Manufacturer – Duke Company (www.duketraps.com) Retail Prices start at $5.97

  Randal’s Adventure Training (RAT) Fire Kit

  The ESEE Fire Kit is a “last-ditch” fire starter and mini survival kit container that includes a 20mm button compass in the cap and survival tips printed on the body. The watertight capsule has plenty of storage space for tinder, fishhooks, line and other essential survival tools (user supplied). The Fire Kit can be clipped to a belt or vest, carried in your pack or put in the glove box of your vehicle. The compact size and light weight make this kit a very unique survival tool for hikers, adventurers, campers, hunters or anyone else who ventures into the wilds. Available at: www.eseeknives.com – Retail Price: $37.99

  Global Sun Oven

  Bakes, Boils or Steams Any Kind of Food with the Power of the Sun. Global Sun Ovens® have a number of unique qualities and features that are not in other solar cooking devices. The materials utilized in manufacturing a Global Sun Oven® have been carefully researched to include the most efficient materials available. In order to capture the maximum amount of energy, achieve the highest possible temperature, and retain the greatest amount of heat possible, while minimizing the weight, the materials utilized have been selected based on efficiency and quality. Other than cleaning, no other ongoing maintenance is required.

  Manufacturer: Sun Ovens International, Inc. (www.sunoven.com) - Retail Price: $299

  Surviving Martial Law

  Will You be Prepared?

  by Corcceigh Green

  Survivalists have always been realists. We have gauged a number of possible crisis situations and have prepared to protect ourselves and our families against them. We analyze current events and prepare for what we determine to be possible or even inevitable crises. If those situations never arise we consider ourselves fortunate. Should any one of those situations arise, however, we are indeed fortunate to be prepared. In the past, survivalists have prepared for all manner of major events including nuclear, biological and chemical warfare between superpowers, earthquakes, tidal waves, famine, disease and hurricanes. Today’s climate has developed another scenario that survivalists must address as well.

  Though, the above mentioned scenario is controversial when looked at in the emotional and political spectrums, the rationality for preparation is quite apparent when looked at reasonably. We are speaking here, of the possibility of internal disorder, strife and/or outright civil war and the ensuing martial law within these United States of America. As realists, we must put aside the emotional first response that wishes to placate us into thinking that “it will never happen here”. A lot of people have thought the same before and were dead wrong. The fact is that civil strife and martial law is a definite possibility in our future.

  Our old, familiar America has undergone a deep philosophical split in the last few decades. Entrenched within established politics are those that wish to re-engineer and order society through one of several doctrines of socialism. Opposed to such a re-engineering of society are those which favor a system based more on individual freedom and unalienable rights. Entrenched more within the working class populous, those favoring unalienable rights will never agree to be governed by a totalitarian regime and may actively oppose such a regime. Those favoring the socialist agenda will never allow unalienable rights to be expressed as long as they have the power to suppress them.

  Two completely opposite viewpoints so well entrenched, historically leads to conflict. As protectors of our families and survivalists it is our duty to be prepared and to take actions that will save our lives and those of our families. This article is not considering politics, rather it is a guideline for survival of a possible internal conflict. No-one is calling for a civil war and no-one wants such a conflict to occur. Unfortunately, as a society we don’t always get what we want or what we vote for. The declaration of martial law and the suspension of unalienable rights has the very real potential of transpiring. Should this happen when you are unprepared it is very likely that you and your family will become refugees... or much worse.

  Preparation for martial law is much like preparation for any disaster. Mental attitude is highly important. If you refuse to think about a martial law scenario because it is too frightening, you will not be able to plan a course of action to protect yourself and family. First of all, decide for yourself right now where you stand. Do you believe that you will be adequately provided for by a powerful government under martial law? Or do you believe that such a system could be detrimental to your family’s well being? Bear in mind that under some circumstances members of your family may be taken from you to be held or incarcerated. Would you allow this to happen? If not, what would you do to prevent it? Are you willing to follow every rule arbitrarily dictated, which may change daily and cause your family’s day-to-day life to degrade?

  The alternative would be resistance, escape from government control and evasion. You and yours could be cut off from the grocery store, utilities and even the shelter of your own home. Are you prepared for such a situation? Realize that the only way to re-supply your family with necessaries is to find, make or grow everything they will need. There will be no stores other than your own caches, and certainly, no government assistance.

  Beyond the practical considerations you must also consider the ramifications to your children and their children. Are you willing to lay down their rights and freedom to comply with the new order brought about during a martial law scenario? If you are one who favors a powerful central government there may be no need for any preparations or considerations on your part. A government with the power to enforce its every edict is merely the natural outcome of such an ideology.

  Martial law declared by a totalitarian regime would be considered a great danger not only to freedom, but to the very lives of our family members. Food, firearms, ammo and other survival supplies will certainly be declared contraband and confiscated. Many readers will choose to prepare to survive this disaster. Whichever course of action you decide, you will either be all in or all out. Do not think you can appear to comply with martial law, yet hide contraband items for yourself, or take action secretly that is not allowed. If you are found to have taken actions counter to martial law or are found hiding contraband items, you may be summarily executed or incarcerated. On the other hand, do not think you can evade or resist military/police action, yet re-supply at your nearest Super-Mart or grocery store and maintain all of the conveniences of modern life. Both courses of actions will bring hardships.

  Once you have decided that the suspension of constitutional government and declaration of martial law is harmful to yourself and family, there are steps you must begin taking. Begin with the basics. You will need shelter, food, water and heat to survive at the very basic level. As with any other situation, you will also need the ability to defend yourself and family as well as advanced methods of escape and evasion.

  I have addressed this proble
m by locating myself in the backwoods of a very rural community. I am growing gardens and raising livestock for food. I provide my own heat in the winter by burning wood and can provide most of the necessities of life for myself. This solution is not for everyone, as fewer jobs are found in rural communities. It is necessary to maintain a job, as you will always need money. Even if you don’t need money to feed yourself, you need money to pay the taxes on your property or it will be taken from you. A rural, self-sufficient homestead would be ideal, but still subject to police/military action under a martial law scenario.

  The rural homestead would give you a cushion in the amount of time you’d have to react to the situation. In an urban setting, streets will be locked down and movement restricted in a matter of minutes. Escape routes through wooded creeks and valleys and into mountainous game trails will allow rural survivalists to outmaneuver martial assets before clampdowns can be completely initialized. Cities can be easily bottled up and controlled through the flow of water, food, utilities and essential services. If you live in an urban or suburban area you must always have at least one go-bag per person on each person in your family or group at all times. No matter where you are at any time in the city, you will need to be ready to leave for a safe retreat area from wherever you are standing at the moment a martial law situation arises. Each of your family members and group members must understand this as well.

 

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