Survival Medicine

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST It’s important to realize that the majority of respiratory infections, including the flu and the common cold, are caused by viruses and do not improve with the use of antibiotics. Some infections of the respiratory tract are bacterial in origin, however; others are secondary infections that invade a weakened victim of a viral illness. These tend to be in the lower airways (called “bronchitis”) or in the lung tissue itself (called “pneumonia”). Find out from Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, what respiratory infections can be treated with antibiotics and which drugs are best. Also, we are in the midst of an opioid epidemic and regulations to giving only 3-7 days of medicine at a time have decreased the number of overdoses from prescriptions opioids but have also cause users to enter the black market. This has resulted in a 10% increase in deaths from drugs purchased from cartels in Mexico and...China! Find out more about this plague that is raging like an epidemic in the United States. Also, those medicinal herbs in Dr. Bones' and Nurse Amy's garden are under attack by snails! Find out about some ways to decrease the snail population in your garden with some clever traps and other items. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton!   Check out our store at store.doomandbloom.net for the best medical kits and supplies, plus the Alton's Survival Medicine Handbook, 1st place winner of the Book Excellence Award in Medicine!

We’ve mentioned that we’re finishing up a book on antibiotics and the diseases they treat, and I hope you’ve made some provisions for having some antibiotics in your medical storage, even if they’re the fish antibiotics that we write about. If you really believe there might be some event that’s going to take our society to the brink one day, you’ve got to know that this stuff is just not going to be as available as it was, and whatever you have is going to be hard to replace. So while you’re getting prepared this national preparedness month, think about getting our book when it comes out and some antibiotics. When our infrastructure is working, we are able to provide clean water for drinking and food that’s safe to eat. We also have ways to easily flush waste from our immediate surroundings. When that infrastructure is damaged, however, we become easy prey for infectious disease. Joe and Amy Alton discuss how to deal with human waste issues in primitive off-grid settings. Also, face masks have been in use since Plague times, and every medically-prepared family should have a lot of them to stay safe in times of trouble. Joe Alton MD discusses what face masks are all about and what types you should have in your medical storage. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe and Amy Alton!   Follow us on twitter @preppershow, YouTube at DrBones NurseAmy Channel, and facebook at our Doom and Bloom(tm) page! Check out our books, medical kits, and individual items at our store at store.doomandbloom.net!

Our body is a fortress that is constantly under siege by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Every day, we fight off attempts by one or another of these germs to gain a foothold. Luckily, our immune system is usually aware of the presence of substances not recognizable as part of the body. The human response to infection involves the actions of certain cells and other substances called “antibodies” in blood. Find out from Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP about how your body works to fight infection. Few, however, consider the possibility that a major disaster may wipe out the ability to manufacture these drugs in mass quantities. Severe restrictions exist which put these drugs out of the reach of the average person.  What would happen if we are struck by a catastrophe that knocks out the power grid? Joe and Amy Alton tell you about ways to avoid infection that don't involve pharmaceuticals. Plus, a rare look by the Altons at sexually transmitted diseases and how you could treat these with antibiotics available for storage in long-term disasters. All this and more on the Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe and Amy Alton!   Keep up with us on twitter @preppershow, YouTube at DrBonesNurseAmy channel, and Facebook at the Doom and Bloom(tm) page! Don't forget our entire line of kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy

Hurricane Florence is making landfall in the Carolinas as we’re recording, and they’re expecting a lot of wind, rain, and storm surge. Every year around this time, the U.S. can expect storms like this to menace the East and Gulf coasts, yet many citizens still find a way to be caught by surprise. Joe and Amy Alton put together 30 safety tips that will give your family the best chance of preparing for and surviving that storm. The family caregiver has to be able to handle problems that occur in times of disaster and good times as well. One common issue they’ll encounter is that of styes. Later in the show, Joe and Amy discuss a minor problem that can be a huge annoyance: Styes. A stye, also known as a “hordeolum”, is a bump on the eyelid. It’s a pimple that can be outside or inside the lid and is caused by a blocked gland near an eyelash. Styes are associated with redness and pain that, due to “what’s that on your eye?” comments you get, can be especially annoying. Plus, Nurse Amy talks about some of her favorite natural remedies for coughs!  All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Hour Podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP... Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Hey, do us a great big favor by subscribing to our website at doomandbloom.net! You'll get a monthly newsletter with lots of great content and special offers that can save you a bundle on your medical supplies! Also, follow us on Twitter @preppershow, Facebook at Doom and Bloom(tm) page, and YouTube at drbones nurseamy channel.

In good times, we have the luxury of modern medical facilities and advanced techniques to isolate a sick patient from healthy people. If we ever find ourselves in a grid-down scenario, most of these advantages will go the way of the dinosaur, and we will be placed in, essentially, the same medical environment we experienced in the 19th century. It should be possible for the medically prepared to put together a “sick room” or “hospital tent” that will minimize the chance of infectious disease running rampant through your community. It’s important to care effectively for the sick while keeping the healthy out of the reach of contagion. Joe and Amy Alton tell you the basics of what makes an effective sick room for epidemic settings off the grid, plus discuss a number of infectious diseases that might become rampant in survival settings. Also, new fires on the California/Oregon border, 20 people sickened on a 14 hour flight from the Middle East, and much more! Plus, September is National Preparedness Month! Don't forget to get your medical kits up to snuff with Nurse Amy's entire line at store.doomandbloom.net!

Happy National Preparedness Month! Joe and Amy Alton often  talk about the risk of infectious diseases and some of the antibiotics that I’ve been able to find in veterinary form that you can access without a prescription. Of course,  in normal times, you should seek out a qualified medical professional first. One of the antibiotics we think is most useful in survival settings is something called metronidazole, brand name Flagyl). Metronidazole (aquatic equivalent: Fish-Zole) 250mg is an antibiotic in the Nitroimidazole family that is used primarily to treat infections caused by anaerobic bacteria and protozoa. Find out more! The diligent medic will be successful in accumulating various medicines that will help keep his family healthy.  What happens, however, when all these stockpiled drugs pass their expiration date”?  The short answer is:  In most cases, not very much. Shocked? Find out why Joe Alton MD says so in this episode. Plus, a short talk about endemic, epidemic, and pandemic diseases. What makes something endemic and something else an epdemic or pandemic. Plus, Nurse Amy talks about a new compact kit she's designed! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Find us on Facebook at Doom and Bloom(tm), Twitter @preppershow, and YouTube at drbones nurseamychannel! And don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits @store.doomandbloom.net!

Recently, we certified as Advanced Wilderness Expedition Providers, and many of the training scenarios involved dealing with those who are injured in falls. Whether you’re on a backcountry trail or in your own bathroom, a fall can seriously damage you, causing orthopedic injuries, bleeding, traumatic brain injuries, and more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that one in five falls results in a major injury. All told, falls account for millions of emergency room visits and over 800,000 hospitalizations a year in the U.S. Joe and Amy Alton discuss some of the more common fall injuries and how to treat and prevent them. California wildfires have claimed at least a dozen lives and destroyed more than 1,200 homes. Forest fires are horrible, but a building fire is also. Every year, millions are at risk for, and thousands of people are killed or injured by, fires in the U.S. Many of these deaths and injuries can be prevented with some knowledge of the nature of fire. Joe Alton MD tells you several things that we'll bet you didn't know about the nature of home fires, and how to prevent and survive them. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Hour podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad! Follow us on Twitter @preppershow, YouTube at DrBones NurseAmy Channel, and Facebook on our Doom and Bloom(tm) page and/or our Survival Medicine DrBones NurseAmy pages!

Most of us have dutifully gone to get a Tetanus shot when we stepped on a rusty nail, but few have any real concept of what Tetanus is and why it is dangerous. Tetanus (from the Greek word tetanos, meaning tight)  is an infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium Tetani.  The bacteria produces spores (inactive bacteria-to-be) that primarily live in the soil or the feces of animals. These spores are capable of living for years and are resistant to extremes in temperature. Tetanus is now rare in the U.S. but what if you're thrown off the grid by a disaster? Expect a resurgence of this possibly deadly infection as times goes on. Joe and Amy discuss. An especially persistent cause of diarrheal disease from contaminated recreational waters is Cryptosporidium. Also known as “Crypto”, the organism survives for a longer time than other pathogens and is not uncommon in waterways. In high-density areas like pools, hot tubs, and water parks, Crypto is responsible for the grand majority of those made ill from contaminated water. Find out more about what it is and what you should do to stay safe from Dr. Joe Alton. Hemostasis is just another word for bleeding control. Knowledge of the appropriate use of these agents in an emergency will increase the injured patient’s chance of survival. Despite this, few people have a reasonable supply in their medical kits, and in times of trouble, they might wish they did. Joe and Amy discuss the most popular products. All this and more in the latest episode of the Survival Medicine Hour with Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy!   Follow us on twitter @preppershow or our newest account @survivalmeddoc Follow us on Facebook at Doom and Bloom(tm) page Follow us on YouTube at drbones nurseamy channel We appreciate your subscribing to our social media more than you know! Please retweet articles and shows you find interesting....

Joe and Amy Alton return home to South Florida after almost two weeks in Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming! While they were in Grand Teton National Park, everyone was wondering why it was so hazy. Well sure enough, it was smoke from hundreds of miles away in California. Evidence of smoke has actually gone as far as New York City, yes, new Yorkers, it’s not just smog, at least right now, it’s smoke from the coast, the west coast, that is! Find out more about wildfires and how to create a defensible space that will give your property the best chance to survive. For your family, though, the best chance is by getting out of Dodge! Also, an upcoming book by Joe Alton MD will address infectious disease, antibiotics, and their use in austere settings such as the aftermath of disasters, remote locations, ocean voyages, and other situations where modern medical help is not on the way. In addition, Dr. Alton discusses some of the uses for the popular antibiotic Keflex, aka Cephalexin. All this and more on the Survival Medicine Hour with Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! Follow the Altons on twitter @preppershow, Facebook at their Doom and Bloom page, and Youtube at DrBones NurseAmy channel! If you like this show, please share on social media. Also, check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net...

We have talked a lot about natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, but not as much about the complications that go along with them. Flooding is one of the most common disasters to affect the United States, and there’s flash flooding in the Eastern part of the country as we speak.   It’s part and parcel of many different catastrophes, from the aftermath of blizzards to mudslides. Matter of fact, it’s the reason for almost 75% of presidential disaster proclamations. As such, it’s important to know how to keep your family safe during these events. Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy tell you how. There are nearly 4000 drownings each year and young children are overly represented as victims. Find out how to keep heartbreaking tragedies like this from affecting your family. Plus, some disease-causing organisms can cause major illnesses in the long hot summer, especially when germs invade recreational water areas, both natural and man-made. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Hour with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton