Any prepper or survivalist worth their salt will fully understand just how important it is to be medically prepared for any type of medical emergency that they may face.
Getting your hands on the right equipment isn’t a big issue these days; first aid kits, for example, are far more comprehensive today than they have ever been, and the choice is massive.
However, just because you are able to go out and buy the best emergency medical kit money can buy it doesn’t mean that you will instantly become the worlds greatest medic!
Having the tools is one thing, knowing how and when to use them is a whole different ball game.
As any prepper would tell you, practising regularly for every kind of emergency scenario is vital when trying to establish if you have all the correct equipment and the skills to survive. But there is no scenario that is more daunting than when dealing with serious casualties without medically trained personel to come to your rescue; certainly not immediately and quite possibly not ever!
In a situation where there are no medically trained professionals, the knowledge and skills you possess will make the difference, and may save someone’s life, if not your own. It makes sense to gain as much medical knowledge as possible, and to then practice those skills regularly (never wait for a medical emergency to happen before stitching up your first wound or setting your first broken arm!)
Nobody is suggesting that you should look at venturing down the path of becoming a professionally qualified medic, nurse, or doctor, as this takes a lot of time, but there is nothing to stop you improving your medical knowledge and skills in readiness for that time when 911 is no longer able to help.
It is possible to achieve a relatively high level of competence with regards to emergency medicine without undergoing an extensive education and there are two ways to do this, ideally you should combine them both.
The first is to sign up for as many medical training courses as you can, this will definitely increase your skill set over time; the other way, which should be the first thing you do, is to purchase a comprehensive emergency medical guide.
Which leads us onto ‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’ by William W. Forgey, M.D
‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’ Review
Pretty much every guide or handbook will cover the same medical emergencies and the same types of treatments. Setting out all this medical information in a way that makes it easier for readers to digest and remember, is what makes one guide stand out from the many others.
This is exactly what ‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’ does well.
This medical handbook covers everything from diagnostics, to suturing, to putting together a comprehensive medical kit ideal for preppers, and is laid out using simple yet detailed instructions alongside uncomplicated and clear line drawings.
All this makes ‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’ one of the best medical guides we at Alpha Survivalist have had the pleasure of reviewing and we believe it would make a fantastic addition to any prepper’s library.
Although this guide has been primarily written for preppers (the title is a bit of a give-away) it also provides all the necessary medical advice and information and more, needed by anyone who is venturing out on a wilderness camping trip, going trekking, or who may be going off grid for any period of time.
Regrettably, most of us at Alpha Survivalist, only possess basic military first aid training but even so, we found this book does a great job of providing medical advice and tuition that is very easy to both understand and to then to confidently follow.
As well as providing a comprehensive medical emergency handbook the author also provides an excellent list of additional guides at the end of his book all of which cover subjects this handbook does cover although not in detail; topics such as natural medicine, and dentistry for example
However, should you be looking for instruction on how to perform emergency field surgery then this book is not what you are looking for!
Preppers being preppers would no doubt ask about training for worse case medical procedures, so we thought we would contact the author, Dr. William W Forgey directly, and ask him why ’emergency field surgery’ isn’t covered in his medical handbook, or in others, he very kindly responded.
William W. Forgey, M.D – I felt it was necessary to provide the user almost all of the treatment required to handle a problem. Usually I will say, this person should be seen by a professional, but if that cannot be done, here is what you should do. In other words, here is how to manage this, but if you can return to the grid, return and have it handled by a professional. I had a long experience, many years, as a wilderness explorer prior to going to medical school. I have a pretty good feel for what a relatively untrained individual can accomplish, and I push this to the limits in my book. But this is not to say that a lay person should even attempt to perform many of the techniques I describe. Just do them if there is no choice. That is generally what prepping is about.
So, in my opinion the techniques I describe take most issues to the conclusion that a Prepper can achieve.
Now, for someone who is a combat medic level, well that person has already been trained to place chest tubes, etc. It has been shown that physicians easily mess up this procedure unless they train specifically for it, repeatedly. I was careful in my book to give the Prepper advanced techniques that should be achievable by anyone reading them.
‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’
‘The Prepper’s Medical Handbook’ is the latest book from Dr. William W Forgey, a former president of the Wilderness Medical Society and fellow of the Explorers Club. An expert in survival and wilderness medicine who you can read more about here.