hello, I am medic mark,ask me a question.

[medicmark]

Hi everyone, my names mark and I am an Emergency nurse, I have over 20 years pre hospital care experience and 19 years in nursing.
I have an extensive background also in civil contingency planning including MCI and CBRNE as well as search and rescue and also flood and swiftwater rescue.
So if theres any questions you would like me to answer, I will give it a whirl, please note I wont give advice on do i need to go to a doctor etc in a non SHTF or WROL situation.

look forward to your questions many thanks.

Mark

[Kentsurvival]

Hi Mark, thanks for the offer, i might just post tomorrow for an opinion on my first aid kit that i put together over time, thank you.

[Alloneword]

Hello Mark, well given your past in "civil contingency planning" I wonder if you could advise me on something, I live below the water line of the River Thames and flooding is becoming more of an issue for me (known breach points are being breached more and more often), I have been trying for over 6 months to get my local council give me some kind of information on what is the planning for when the Thames floods.

This includes plans for evacuation, how the plan to house people, not to mention feed & water them, also what are Govt plans for rehousing of people especially people like me in social housing. I presume it would be mass migration to other parts of the county with spare housing or mass tent cities, i suspect i may well run into "security" issues or in another words we have no plan and call it "Top Secret".

If you could be me in the right direct to go dept names or something that it would be handy, also while i have your ear what is best to buy for burns treatment, this will be burns from open fire or maybe burns from a motorcycle exhaust

All1

[medicmark]

Hi thanks for the question.
heres a link to the plan

https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default ... lic%29.pdf

under the civil contingencies act 2004 local and national government have a responsibility to give access to the public their emergency plans.

Obviously some details may be withheld for security reasons, but the basic stuff is in all of them.

all county based plans also fit in with the national flood plan.
link here :https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 201412.pdf.

All plans are fluid (pardon the pun) but the flooding plans more so because for example it could be stated that if london floods we will evacuate to surrey, but they are also flooded, so what I am trying to convey is that every county,region and nation has a plan and its regularly tested and updated,

in relation to your specific question re housing/feeding short term it would be in emergency shelters, longer term would be working in conjunction with the housing agencies, either local council or private agencies to see what is available, very worst case scenario where millions of people evacuated they could set up camps.

I hope this answer has been useful.

in relation to burns thats easy where theres a supply of water, keep it cool for at least 10 - 20 mins, then clingfilm, nice and simple and cheep. in a non SHTF situation and you have access to A/E go and get it checked out. in a shtf situation and no liquids available to cool go for burn dressings that will cool and protect, theres a few to chose from but dont go mad buying hundreds because after the initial cooling cling film is just as good.
I have a burns teaching pack if people are interested just let me know and I will put it up.

I hope I have answered your questions, any more just let me know.

Mark

[sethorly]

Well that's very generous of you medicmark. If, in a SHTF scenario, you could grab one antibiotic, which would it be and why?

Also, under what circumstances would you cauterize a wound and how (when SHTF) would you do it?

[medicmark]

Hi Sethorly, good questions.

thats really hard to chose just 1 because there are 6 different types of anti biotic, if it was for me being allergic to penicillin it would be doxycycline as it treats a wide range of infections, its easier to get hold of than some other medications especially in a shtf situation as those who can have penecillin will have that rather than doxy. also it is tablet form so you would not need to be cannulated for treatment.

For information the types of anti biotics are:
penicillins (such as penicillin and amoxicillin) – widely used to treat a variety of infections, including skin infections, chest infections and urinary tract infections
cephalosporins (such as cephalexin) – used to treat a wide range of infections, but some are also effective for treating more serious infections, such as septicaemia and meningitis
aminoglycosides (such as gentamicin and tobramycin) – tend to only be used in hospital to treat very serious illnesses such as septicaemia, as they can cause serious side effects, including hearing loss and kidney damage; they're usually given by injection, but may be given as drops for some ear or eye infections
tetracyclines (such as tetracycline and doxycycline)– can be used to treat a wide range of infections, but are commonly used to treat moderate to severe acne and rosacea
macrolides (such as erythromycin and clarithromycin) – can be particularly useful for treating lung and chest infections, or an alternative for people with a penicillin allergy, or to treat penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria
fluoroquinolones (such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin) – broad-spectrum antibiotics that can be used to treat a wide range of infections.

at work patients with sepsis get banged with I.V Tazocin.

Again this is my preference, but Ideally would like to give the correct antibiotic for the condition as they can all have side effects and may not aleve your initial infection.

for the second question cauterizing a wound, when & how.

well cauterization is a bad idea in most situations,especially in a SHTF situation and heres a link to why
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/how-cauterizi ... 1540569493

basically you are going to get major systemic infections and die as oral antibiotics are not going to do the job, you need I.V. therapy but realistically in a SHTF situation is that going to be viable- is there a hospital still there to treat the casualty, could you get them there? is the medication there or has it been looted.
friends in this situation you need to triage your patients, some are going to be left to die because you may not be able to get the person the advanced help or they may require all of the equipment/resources and you still have to look after many others.

I would not cauterize out in the field, I would utilise thrombolytics such as quickclot etc and tourniquets, but always in my mind is is this a viable save. its not a position I would like to be in but in a SHTF situation you may need to consider this especially if your providing the medical care for a large group.

I hope this answers your questions.
Any more topics you would like me to look at, I have a few ideas:whats in your med kit, what level of training is feasible, whats your medical plan also maybe put up a few presentations on basic first aid, nursing skills etc.

hope you all have a great day. Mark.

[Deeps]

Hi Sethorly, good questions.

thats really hard to chose just 1 because there are 6 different types of anti biotic, if it was for me being allergic to penicillin it would be doxycycline as it treats a wide range of infections, its easier to get hold of than some other medications especially in a shtf situation as those who can have penecillin will have that rather than doxy. also it is tablet form so you would not need to be cannulated for treatment.

For information the types of anti biotics are:
penicillins (such as penicillin and amoxicillin) – widely used to treat a variety of infections, including skin infections, chest infections and urinary tract infections
cephalosporins (such as cephalexin) – used to treat a wide range of infections, but some are also effective for treating more serious infections, such as septicaemia and meningitis
aminoglycosides (such as gentamicin and tobramycin) – tend to only be used in hospital to treat very serious illnesses such as septicaemia, as they can cause serious side effects, including hearing loss and kidney damage; they're usually given by injection, but may be given as drops for some ear or eye infections
tetracyclines (such as tetracycline and doxycycline)– can be used to treat a wide range of infections, but are commonly used to treat moderate to severe acne and rosacea
macrolides (such as erythromycin and clarithromycin) – can be particularly useful for treating lung and chest infections, or an alternative for people with a penicillin allergy, or to treat penicillin-resistant strains of bacteria
fluoroquinolones (such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin) – broad-spectrum antibiotics that can be used to treat a wide range of infections.

at work patients with sepsis get banged with I.V Tazocin.

Again this is my preference, but Ideally would like to give the correct antibiotic for the condition as they can all have side effects and may not aleve your initial infection.

for the second question cauterizing a wound, when & how.

well cauterization is a bad idea in most situations,especially in a SHTF situation and heres a link to why
http://sploid.gizmodo.com/how-cauterizi ... 1540569493

basically you are going to get major systemic infections and die as oral antibiotics are not going to do the job, you need I.V. therapy but realistically in a SHTF situation is that going to be viable- is there a hospital still there to treat the casualty, could you get them there? is the medication there or has it been looted.
friends in this situation you need to triage your patients, some are going to be left to die because you may not be able to get the person the advanced help or they may require all of the equipment/resources and you still have to look after many others.

I would not cauterize out in the field, I would utilise thrombolytics such as quickclot etc and tourniquets, but always in my mind is is this a viable save. its not a position I would like to be in but in a SHTF situation you may need to consider this especially if your providing the medical care for a large group.

I hope this answers your questions.
Any more topics you would like me to look at, I have a few ideas:whats in your med kit, what level of training is feasible, whats your medical plan also maybe put up a few presentations on basic first aid, nursing skills etc.

hope you all have a great day. Mark.

Thanks for the info so far mate, looking forward to the next instalments, get posting.

[Citizen H]

Hello Mark and its great to have this opportunity to get some medical info

in my group theres a diabetic, in the event of the shtf and he runs out insulin is there any herbal or plant matter that would help the condition?

another question that's quite random is about mental heath, in the event of adverse advents its possible that group members wont be able to cope with the stress and crack up also if the prescribed medication are not available to them that need it, how best to deal with this situation?

All the best Citizen "H"

[medicmark]

many thanks for the kind words.

having members of your group with medical issues should be seen as pretty normal situation, I dont think many people in this day and age are not suffering from some medical condition.

in a SHTF situation, unless you can get hold of your medication or have a stock, honestly your knackered.
I would suggest getting a little stockpile if you can of your regular medications.

one thing to be very aware of is storage of medications, insulin once opened needs to be refrigerated, in a shtf situation how can that be achieved? well short term it could be in a freezer bag with ice packs if you are bugging out to a place of safety, long term without water/electric I suppose you could utilise a stream/river to cool but would need to watch out for contaminants.

in a shtf situation I would try and find a hospital or pharmacy and get what I needed, I recall in my search and rescue roll back in 2006 a major fire in the next street, it was a car garage in between other units and for good measure it was during the euros and England where playing, that info is important as it eludes to why we where utilised, the police where worried about violence and their tsg units where deployed. we where utilised for roadblocks and also in conjunction with the fire service evacuating approximately 500 premises including a nursing home and the majority of residents elderly with medical conditions, once the shtf they self evacuated and left everything including meds, they where only out for 24 hours but that caused major issues and bringing in a pharmacist via health and ambulance services, my department was really happy when I rang the emergency phone and declared a major incident, they where more happy when I told them I had 20 casualties including 10 fire fighters with eye issues but I had set up a med centre and was treating on site.

Apologies if i digress but it highlights using very real experience how society is made up now.

I dont know of any thing herbal that would be a substitute for insulin, I certainly would not like to give it a try in a bad situation.


as for your second question you are correct people will shit themselves and loose it, if they already have issues such as anxiety or depression this could mean that they may become virtually catatonic, IF your the kind of prepper who thinks working in a team is the way to go then spending time and trying to be inclusive will help these people, it will give them a purpose alternatively you may decide that you havent got time to support them, only you can decide at that time.

one story from 9/11 comes to mind of people in world trade centre simply being exhausted and giving up... until police and fire basicaly said move your ass or you are going to die.
many people simply because a person in authority shouted told them the cold hard facts lived.

people who suffer from psychosis and off their meds may be a risk to you, most often they are more risk to themselves, it may as you would now avoid this type of behaviour.

also in a SHTF situation we need to be aware that prisons or mental health facilities may be breached and these people are out... and theres no police or army.
other people we need to watch out for are alcohol and drug dependent groups they can be involved in criminal behaviour to get what they want.. and we have no police so we need to develop a group who can fit the many roles required.


I hope this goes some way to answer your questions and gives you a few thinking points.
many thanks. Mark. keep the questions rolling.......

[Yorkshire Andy]

Hi Mark, thanks for the offer, i might just post tomorrow for an opinion on my first aid kit that i put together over time, thank you.

Why wait till tomorrow


Lidl had some good "basic" kits in last Sunday For less than £5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgH_xFnSyPI

(not my vid)

got a good selection of dressings and a good starter point...






Medic Mark you got any info on the latest European Resus guidence on CAT FFD and Celox as Last year on my annual First aid at work i got stonewalled when i fetched up the subject of the above especially CAT tourniquets

http://www.qualsafeawards.org/2015Resus ... Guidelines

and this year on my 2 day Requal all of a sudden its all included but the trainer seemed very veigue and didn't even mention one bone compartments until i fetched it up.. and got the idea i seemed to know more than him about it...


viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13167#p153840


he got the israili dressing mixed with the OLAES dressings too


We await going back to splinting broken limbs as no doubt it will be back in, in a few years time (not that it would stop me SAM splinting the Kids if they broke a limb remember breaking my wrist as a kid playing football and that ride 2 miles to hospital was bloody horrid every lump and bump hurt