Dental Kits Off The Grid Some folks that consider themselves well-prepared express surprise that we write about dental issues and recommend having a good dental kit as part of their medical storage. Even the few who are otherwise medically prepared don’t devote much time to dental preparedness. Poor dental health, however, can cause issues…
Category: Tactical Medicine
What Would Josey Wales Do?
H/T: The Burning Platform What Would Josey Wales Do? As our political, economic, civic, and social structures continue to degrade, dissolve, and disintegrate before our very eyes, it is easy to become apathetic and surrender to hopelessness. There are relentless powerful forces actively trying to destroy the fabric of our society and force the…
Practical not Tactical: Heavy flow is not massive hemorrhage – Tampons don’t belong in IFAKs
Heavy flow is not massive hemorrhage: Tampons don’t belong in IFAKs Recently we posted a video outlining the challenges of using hemostatic granules as compared to gauze. In response, we were surprised by how many people advocated for tactical tampons to control massive hemorrhage in a gunshot wound. “Depending on the bullet hole size, tampon and…
W.O.F.T. Training
What is W.O.F.T. Training? There is a misconception that simply having a firearm can solve any problem, but this is flatly wrong. If someone approaches you in a dimly lit parking lot yelling out at you, your natural response shouldn’t be to draw your concealed firearm and deposit some hollow points into them. W.O.F.T. is…
Escape and Evasion 201: The Lam
Escape and Evasion 201: The Lam Have you ever considered what it’s like to be hunted by other humans? In E&E2, we discuss trying to actually escape and some of the things you can expect. In Escape and Evasion 101, we discussed some of the conceptual concerns with facing illegal restraint, captivity, and unjust enforcement…
Survival Medicine: Which Antibiotics To Have For Survival Settings?
Which Antibiotics To Have For Survival Settings? If a disaster throws you off the grid, your risk of traumatic injury increases but also that of infection. When someone thinks of an infectious disease event, they envision a deadly epidemic. Any catastrophe, however, can increase the number of people with infections. When I say “catastrophe”,…
Know Your Civil War History: Traditional Plant Remedies of the South Blast Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Lab Tests
H/T: Addis Civil War plant Medicines blast Drug-resistant Bacteria in Lab Tests Confederate field hospitals turned to traditional remedies under Union blockade. During the height of the Civil War, the Confederate Surgeon General commissioned a guide to traditional plant remedies of the South, as battlefield physicians faced high rates of infections among the…
We’ve Lost Another Survival Tool
We’ve Lost Another Survival Tool I’ve mentioned that back in July, the FDA closed the legal loophole that allowed folks to purchase veterinary antibiotics without a prescription. Many companies have ignored the law change and continued to sell the “veterinary” antibiotics. Those companies got a warning letter from the FDA recently and I don’t…
Practical/Tactical Field Medicine: Basic Wound Management – Fundamentals of Sutures and First Aid
Basic Wound Management: Fundamentals of Sutures and First Aid You’ll not learn what you need to know to sew up wounds from reading an article in a magazine, even one as awesome as Be Ready! However, I do hope to whet your appetite. Like plumbing, car repair, or electrical work, suturing wounds isn’t hard,…
Blood-Type and NKA Patches: Worthwhile or “Tacticool”?
Blood-Type and NKA Patches: Worthwhile or “Tacticool”? Greg Ellifritz over at A.R.T. made a comment on this that I agree with 100%: Regardless of what type you have written/ patched/ or stickered, the ER is still going to type your blood before administering. Simply to help avoid that liability. They have no way of…