March 29, 2020

Survivalist First Aid Checklist

By Joseph Parish

One can search the internet all day long and continually come up with another first aid checklist. Usually they all seem to contain similar items. Granted the products listed are critical in the event of a crisis but often the notations can provide a new insight into what otherwise appears as redundant. Hopefully, I have a least included some hints in my list that may have been missing from the others. If that's the case then I feel I have accomplished my goal.

Suppose you and your family have finally arrived at your emergency retreat. Since you have brought the family here in the past the children are likely familiar with the area and the terrain, so while you and the wife empty the BOV, the children are off running around the retreat location. It's usually during these early moments of arrival at the retreat that we get overly excited and perhaps even a bit prone to minor mishaps such as cuts or scrapes. With that thought clearly in mind you should be prepared for any sort of accidents and come equipped with a sufficiently stocked medical supply kit. At a bare minimize I feel the well-stocked kit should contain the following supplies:

• Antiseptic cream or ointment

• A variety of bandages and gauze

• Diarrhea medicine

• Hydrogen peroxide

• Pain medications

• Q-Tips

• Saline solution

• Scissors, tweezers and knife

• Sterile wipes as well as a suitable rinse solution

• Sunburn spray if your bug out is during the summer

• Tylenol or aspirin

The above list is merely a starter and would never be able to contend with all your medical needs. Be sure to add your additions to it as they are discovered and according to your particular needs.

The next question I would like to pose to you would be what kind of accidents can you reasonably anticipate while bugging out? Naturally, we have already considered the usual cuts, scratches and scrapes but we need to dig deeper in order to be properly prepared. Remember now we have small children who are actively playing outdoors and with not being familiar with our new chores they can often be a source of hazardous potential. Hiking through the brush, thorns or even cactus cam bring about minor problems. We will likely become involved in excursions to review the status of the area and to ensure our privacy. This will involve hikes to various sectors of our retreat grounds. Unlike at home we will have an open fire for heating or for cooking whereas we have been used to the electric range. We will now be exposing ourselves to a host of merciless insects with only one thought in mind - use us as dinner. These are merely a few samples of the activities which could necessitate the use of our first aid supplies.

We have included a variety of bandages, antiseptic wipes and antibiotic creams to deal with the assortment of cuts, scratches and scrapes. The hydrogen peroxide listed will come in handy to clean out cuts while the saline solution would be a great benefit for washing out irritated eyes from the fires etc. The Q-tips and pain relief solution are handy when dealing with the bug bites and the occasional small cut or scratch. Tweezers are a lifesaver when it's necessary to remove splinters.

Don't forget to include Tylenol or aspirin as a headaches remedy and general pain relief. For any sort of intestinal difficulties include some Imodium or some other kind of anti-diarrhea medicine in your kit. A few additional items that you may wish to add include a sunburn spray such as an Aloe Vera solution, several Chap stick's, a burn cream, and if necessary, a snakebite kit. Check your kit on a yearly basis and make certain that you replenish any used or outdated supplies.