# Need some help with my med kit



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

I'm a surgical tec/1st assist so my medical knowledge is not something I really stress about, I'm fairly sure I know enough to care for my family and even barter medical care if I needed to. My problem lays with my medical kit. I have antibiotics, a basic surgical set, bandages ect...but I'm not sure of just how much I will/would need. I think my job is getting the better of me. I'm thinking of buying more surgical instruments (retractors, bovie, ect) because I know how important all those things are in the OR. I can and would use them but they are pretty expensive. Am I leaning to heavily on the surgical side of things because that's what I'm used to? What do you all think?


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Do you have the meds needed to do that level of surgery?


----------



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

To some extent I do, IV caths, multiple bags of solutions, intubation kits. I do not have the narcotics required and have no access to them, i assume if I had to preform a procedure it would be a life or death situation. With that level of pain I would expect the person to eventually pass out. Or already be unconscious.


----------



## DKRinAK (Nov 21, 2011)

*Bad idea*

Please give this some more thought.

Let's say the apocalypse really does hit (damn unlikely, but for the sake of argument...) and now you present yourself as a doctor/surgeon.

What happens when your first patient dies? And the surviving family decides YOU are at fault - IOW, you _killed_ Billy Bob? Life for you could get pretty exciting. Then real short.

Because last I saw an OR, there was a large crew of folks and some pretty high tech equipment operating in a sterile environment. Stuff that will definitely be in your "None of the above available" column.

Perhaps a better plan would be to decide now you'll provide care, at the level you are currently licensed/certified at and also do what health education you can pass along?

Just some food for thought - and the money spent on those high end medical supplies could be used for more stuff like long shelf life food, energy to heat your home and so on.


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Do you have the supplies to maintain a sterile field? Do you have what you need to handle post op situations like infection, wound healing, drainage tubes, an abundance of sterile dressings, etc.? If not, I would focus on those things first as they can be used for less dire situations as well. Without them, you may very well be trading immediate death for a slow, painful one in which valuable resources are used to no avail. I would really work on the pain meds & antibiotics. My intent is only to brainstorm with you as my expertise is not surgery! I have, however, dealt with a lot of post op complications.


----------



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

DKRinAK said:


> Please give this some more thought.
> 
> Let's say the apocalypse really does hit (damn unlikely, but for the sake of argument...) and now you present yourself as a doctor/surgeon.
> 
> ...


Very valid point!! You are right it takes a team in the OR in a very strict sterile environment, right down to air quality and air exchanges. Though My thoughts are something along the lines of my family member has been shot and will die unless I try my damnedest to do something. Chances are they would get an infection and die anyway but how do I not try.

You have opened my eyes a bit on presenting my self as a doctor or surgeon. I most defiantly am neither of those, although bear in mind the surgeon must by law make the first incision, then an assist may operate, so I do have some skill...more than just watching Grey's Anatomy lol!


----------



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> Do you have the supplies to maintain a sterile field? Do you have what you need to handle post op situations like infection, wound healing, drainage tubes, an abundance of sterile dressings, etc.? If not, I would focus on those things first as they can be used for less dire situations as well. Without them, you may very well be trading immediate death for a slow, painful one in which valuable resources are used to no avail. I would really work on the pain meds & antibiotics. My intent is only to brainstorm with you as my expertise is not surgery! I have, however, dealt with a lot of post op complications.


I can create and maintain a sterile field to the best of my ability (by no means perfect but I do have plenty of gowns, gloves, drapes, iodine ect) although after care is not my strong suit. I have book knowledge but very limited hands on knowledge regarding dressing changes and drainage tubes post-op.

I appreciate the help with brainstorming! To be honest I hadn't given after care much thought! Probably a side effect of my job, once we close and dress I'm done and ready to flip the room for the next patient!


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

katen said:


> I can create and maintain a sterile field to the best of my ability (by no means perfect but I do have plenty of gowns, gloves, drapes, iodine ect) although after care is not my strong suit. I have book knowledge but very limited hands on knowledge regarding dressing changes and drainage tubes post-op.
> 
> I appreciate the help with brainstorming! To be honest I hadn't given after care much thought! Probably a side effect of my job, once we close and dress I'm done and ready to flip the room for the next patient!


If you can, spend some time in the wound healing clinic. Even a day or two would definitely be beneficial. Same with the med-surge floor. Or hang out with a skilled home health nurse, she likely can show you much of what you need to know. Successful healing of the wound is every bit as important as the surgery itself. If the wound kills them, the surgery didn't matter.


----------



## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

There is a reason why surgery is so expensive. I am the only member of my family who doesn't work in the medical field, so I can't give you much in the way of specific advise, but as the family prepper I will share the ways I have prepared for medical situations. First of all as I have a Doc in the family its my hope that while others are shopping for food and water I can be shopping for drugs and medical supplies with my docs prescription pad at my disposal.

That being said, I want to be preppared and so when I was putting my supplies together I thought in terms of concentric circles (or levels) of care, with level one being (hopefully) the most common issues:

1) First aid--you want to have a kit that allows you to provide first aid for a long time without resupply, here you should also think of OTC drugs that might not normally be contained in a first aid kit, such as drugs for for things like fever, diarrhea, and dehydration, etc. 
2) Second level care, minor/moderate cuts, broken bones, and the antibiotics to keep these wounds clean. Also of course drugs for sicknesses cause by bacterial infections, however unlike today where we throw drugs at every bug (including viruses that are unaffected by antibiotics) post-SHTF you really are going to have to let the body fight off most infections hold your drugs in reserve for ones the body can't fight off .
3) Minor surgery--compound fractures, non-critical gunshot wounds, major lacerations, child delivery.

In all likelihood this is the most complicated surgery you could pull off post SHTF. I think you are wasting your time if you are prepping for more complicated procedures, simply because the lack of diagnostic tests, varieties of antibiotics and pain meds, cloting factors, blood thinners, medical devices, and teams of skilled personnel, etc. will make survival difficult even for what I labeled minor surgery. What you really need to prepare yourself for is the reality that MANY patients that you could save today, are going to die.

PatriotNurse has a great video about the first to die and William R. Forstchen, in his fiction "One Second After" paints a bleak picture of medicine post collapse, and while medical prepping is very prudent all of us need to disabuse ourselves of the (false even today) mythology that medical science can "fix" anything (which I am sure you already know is not true).


----------



## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

DKRinAK said:


> Please give this some more thought.
> 
> Let's say the apocalypse really does hit (damn unlikely, but for the sake of argument...) and now you present yourself as a doctor/surgeon.
> 
> ...


 LOL,kill Bily Bob!:2thumb:

Snake bites if you have snakes,allegy meds like benedyrl.I like the liquid one for children,gets into the systen faster ,which comes in handy if your smothering to death.A tracal tube also is good.

Of course I don't have much surgical or anythign for opening up throats,so it would have to be barbaric first aid.


----------



## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

when you say that you have antibiotics what do you mean? I understand that their are no OTC antibiotics. Im not trying to get you in any trouble Ive just been thinking about this myself and when i looked I found that their are no "legal" OTC's.


----------



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

katen said:


> I'm a surgical tec/1st assist so my medical knowledge is not something I really stress about, I'm fairly sure I know enough to care for my family and even barter medical care if I needed to. My problem lays with my medical kit. I have antibiotics, a basic surgical set, bandages ect...but I'm not sure of just how much I will/would need. I think my job is getting the better of me. I'm thinking of buying more surgical instruments (retractors, bovie, ect) because I know how important all those things are in the OR. I can and would use them but they are pretty expensive. Am I leaning to heavily on the surgical side of things because that's what I'm used to? What do you all think?


Sounds like you have skills, good skills to have but need some "home" tools that might help your skills. What you might want to do is "volunteer" for ride-alongs with your local EMTs as they work in non-sterile environments all the time and they do deal with things like deep wounds (car accident / knife / gun / etc) and broken bones and such. They do their best to both stabilize patients and do the prelim's before arrival at the hospital.

If / when you do this, you may notice certain things where the tools are not as important as the skills are and you might be able to come up with ways to work-around the lack of tools in an emergency situation.

The reason I bring that up is because my medical training is based on wilderness firstaid where it might be hours or even days of first aid before being able to reach a hospital where the skills and tools of the hospital may or may not be needed / required.


----------



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

Padre said:


> What you really need to prepare yourself for is the reality that MANY patients that you could save today, are going to die.]


I think you have probably hit the nail on the head. I am having a very hard time convincing myself that if something happens there could be a chance my kids or hubby could die. So being the momma bear that I am, I was ready to tap into the savings to buy any and all equipment that I could use to prevent that outcome if at all possible. Rational...no...I know it's not, but something I have a hard time adjusting to I guess. Glad I brought it up on this site. Even though it's common sense I wasn't "getting" it till I saw all of you respond the same way.
Thank you guys!


----------



## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Meerkat said:


> LOL,kill Bily Bob!:2thumb:
> 
> Snake bites if you have snakes,allegy meds like benedyrl.I like the liquid one for children,gets into the systen faster ,which comes in handy if your smothering to death.A tracal tube also is good.
> 
> Of course I don't have much surgical or anythign for opening up throats,so it would have to be barbaric first aid.


Meerkat coming at me to do a tracheostomy will certainly keep me up tonight.


----------



## katen (Aug 25, 2012)

biobacon said:


> when you say that you have antibiotics what do you mean? I understand that their are no OTC antibiotics. Im not trying to get you in any trouble Ive just been thinking about this myself and when i looked I found that their are no "legal" OTC's.


No worries you won't get me into any trouble  you are right there aren't any OTC antibiotics, our supply is made up of fish antibiotics. Just google it and you will be overwhelmed with information. I am in NO way telling you that's what you should buy just trying to share info with ya


----------



## Jim1590 (Jul 11, 2012)

Meerkat said:


> I like the liquid one for children,gets into the systen faster ,which comes in handy if your smothering to death.


Uhhhh say what??? 

As for the poster, really you have to look at what is the best you can do in a bad situation. Eventually you will run out of supplies, no matter how much you stock. And then you have portability, can you really transport everything you want? How would you decide what to take? Could you really just be setting yourself up as a target to kidnap (to treat someone) or to steal from?

Think more right now on prevention and long term survival. Chances are, if you get shot to the point of needing a surgery, you won't survive long post-SHTF anyways unless help comes real quick.


----------

