Merging of two great pages

Posted on September 23, 2024 | Leave a comment


It’s been a long time since I posted here. Christine and I have knocked around the idea of just putting TMS to bed. Then things change. The economy, well she’s a changing. Sure, right now gas prices are going down, but that happens every election year. Groceries are going up. At our local Walmart in Barnwell SC, an 18 count of eggs is 5.77 for the large and 6.22 for the 18 count of WM brand eggs. And healthcare costs are up. But the biggest change is our electrophysiology program where I work is being discontinued for an extended time. That’s all I can say right now without getting into trouble with corporate.


So, we’ve decided that we’re going to just say Eff it and do our own thing. We have another page that we’ve been working on for a while. Southern Skills for the Modern Homestead. And we’ve taught an revamped Medic Shack Class. But it doesn’t fit in that page. Sure it was a hit, but it just doesn’t fit. So we’re going to revive The Medic Shack and do medical classes on it. Just like we did before. And SSMH will be more homesteading and crafting. This way we can focus on each one and make each the best they can be. And mirror posts between the two that fit in. So updates will be coming to TMS and SSMH. Classes, Crafts how to’s and homestead geared items.

For the Medic Shack updated classes, blogs that pertain to the changing medical landscape of the 2020’s. Changes in wound care due to new technology. And herbs since the FDA made it illegal to buy “vet meds” (NOTE We do not condone the use of vet meds on humans)
In the coming days and weeks y’all will see new and revamped pages and hopefully some new classes and crafts and good old fashioned southern tips and tricks!
Chuck and Christine Hudson
https://www.themedicshack.net/
https://ssfmh.com/

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Wound Care Part 1

Posted on September 23, 2024 | Leave a comment

Wound care Part 1

Living on a homestead is one of the most rewarding things ever. We’re not where we want to be yet, but we’re getting there. But living out in the woods, off grid and perhaps far from help can be a challenge. On the homestead we do us potentially hazardous equipment. Chainsaws, tiller, axes and hell even shovels. Accidents happen. This is a series of blogs on trauma management.

Wound treatment.

It doesn’t matter what type of wound; the basics are the same.

  1. Stop the bleeding. If you leave out this step the following are redundant

  2. Assess the wound. How deep, how long, how wide. Is anything major missing? Is there an exit or more than one entrance and exit?

  3. Clean the wound. This should be the longest part of wound treatment. If it isn’t cleaned properly then the following is not really needed.

  4. Close the wound. Here choose the method of closing. Steri Strips Glue, Suture or staples. Or a simple bandaid.

  5. Dress the wound. Whether it’s a simple bandaid to a wet to dry drainage dressing to a pressure dressing. Are you going to do antibiotic salves or leave it dry?

  6. Manage the wound. This is where we deviate from the “Tactical ” medicine to a sustainable medicine mind set. In the tactical environment one dresses the wound and over to the next. In a long term situation you have to manage the healing of then patient. Schedule dressing changes, debridement (Trimming excess or dead tissue) therapy to prevent scar tissue from making it difficult to move after it heals.

Time is blood.

Seems like a lot to deal with over a cut. Yes? It should be. A life is at stake here.

Stopping the bleeding. Do what you need to do. Pressure Points Elevation, Direct Pressure, Clot activators. Tourniquet. This must be done first.

Types of Bleeding. Arterial Venous and Capillary

Direct Pressure

Applying direct pressure means placing a dressing over the wound and pressing on it, hard. Direct pressure hurts and a conscious victim will complain (yell) when pressure is applied to a serious wound. Direct pressure is the best way to stop bleeding

Elevation

First off. Yes, I know it’s a silly image. But it makes the point. To elevate a wound means to raise it above the level of the heart. By elevating a wound, gravity helps to stop the blood flow. If possible, have the victim lay down and raise the wound as high as possible. If the wound is in the victim’s torso or abdomen, try to have the victim roll on his side or place padding beneath the victim.

Pressure Points

Pressure points are places within the body where an artery passes close to a bone. In those places, applied pressure can pinch off the artery and stop the blood flow to a limb. Each arm and leg has one main artery that supplies most of the blood to that limb.

The arm’s pressure points are located halfway along the upper arm, on the inside. Press between the bicep (the top muscle) and the tricep (the bottom muscle) until you can feel the bone. The artery is there (the pulse can be felt there, too). Push hard to stop the blood flow.

The leg’s pressure points are located in the hips. They are in the bowl of the hip on either side of the groin, where the leg joins the torso. Press hard on that point with the heel of the hand to stop the blood flow.

Clot Accelerators.

These are products that accelerate clot formation by either mechanical means or by activating certain factors of the clotting cascade. Quick Clot and Celox ™ is the standard that all are measured by. The active ingredient of Quick Clot and Celox is Kaolin clay. Quick Clot comes in a fantastic bandage form that is packed into the wound then the rest is wrapped about it, Celox is the  traditional crystals.

It contains a polymer to keep the dust down. You can make your own preppers quick clot by taking Kaolin and adding water to it to make a thin pancake batter. Line a cookie sheet with foil and pour the batter on it. Bake at 300 degrees til completely dry and a cracked appearance shows. While this is done sterilize some vacuum seal bags. Any method works. I am partial to using boil proof vacuum bags. I boil them for 10 minutes and let them dry completely. Put about 2 tablespoons in each bag and seal. This is NOT 100% sterile. But I have never been able to grow a culture from any of mine.

Quick Clot                                                                          Celox

Pressure Dressing.

A pressure dressing is a bandage that when applied, applies pressure to the wound to control the bleeding. It can range from the old GI battle dressing to an ACE Bandage and a Maxipad. The Israeli and the H are the modern incarnation of that. They both work VERY well, are simple to use. Even one handed on yourself. And worth their weight in gold.

Israeli Bandage                                                                  H- Bandage

In the old days of first aid we were taught that if your pressure dressing is soaking though, don’t remove it. Add another on top. If the bleeding isn’t stopped, it keep’s soaking the bandage. There is a study out Blood Loss Estimation Using Gauze Visual Analogue It uses what we call a lap sponge is folded gauze about 4×4 by 1/2 in thick Unfolded it’s about 12×12. 1 lab sponge can old 160-200 ml of blood before it is super saturated and starts dripping. 200 mi is about 7 ounces. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but stack 5 of those together trying to stop bleeding and you’re at 1 liter. The average human body holds @ 4.5-5.5 liters. The Israeli and the H bandage can hold about 400 ml before they start dripping. Let that sink in a bit.

The Tourniquet.

The Tourniquet is the gold standard of stopping the bleeding. It has changed over the years, but the basics are the same. There are multiple types from making your own to the top-of-the-line SOF-T Tourniquet or CAT tourniquet. There are others, but these two are the ONLY ones to consider. These are truly real-life battle proven and carried by service members, first responders LEO’s. Anyone that potentially has to deal with a bad bleed carries either one of these. Accept no substitutes. Period.

SOF-T                                                                                                     CAT

Historically the Tourniquet has had a bad reputation. In the 80s where it was put on and released every 30 minutes. To the teachings of life or limb. Today the thought is moving to If you THINK you need it USE it. It can ALWAYS be removed. But don’t get the habit of putting one on for every cut. If direct pressure and pressure dressings are not working, then do it.

All of these items we talked about today are well with in the scope of practice of anyone. Well Anyone with the proper training. I will say this point blank. GET THE TRAINING. If not from us, then anyone who is qualified to do so. It’s fine to have the tools in the tool chest. But when it’s time to rebuild that old Small Block and you don’t know how to do it. Well you’re left with a bunch of tools, scattered parts, and a dead engine.

Next time we’ll expand on what we’ve talked about today.

Chuck.

********* DISCLAIMER **********

Use of the information on this newsletter is AT YOUR OWN RISK, intended solely for self-help, in times of emergency, when medical help is not available, or expected to BE available the information on this site is meant to be used only during times when improvisational, last-ditch efforts are all that is possible. The Medic Shack assumes that if you are using this information that you either have the training or that TSHTF and no help other than what YOU have is forth coming. DO NOT USE THIS INFORMATION WHEN YOU CAN GET MORE TRADITIONAL OR PROFESSIONAL CARE.

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Posted in Bleeding control, Uncategorized

ESCAPE!

Posted on August 30, 2023 | Leave a comment

ESCAPE!

Background

I was about to post the blog last week on activate charcoal. Don’t worry it’s still coming.

After seeing the news on what happened to our 50th state, Hawaii,and what happened to people that were trapped by the fires and sad to say road blocks.

I’m going to reference some news articles for back ground

https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-fires-timeline-maui-lahaina-road-block-c8522222f6de587bd14b2da0020c40e9 In deadly Maui fires, many had no warning and no way out. Those who dodged a barricade survived

From the article: “But dozens of others found themselves caught in a hellscape, their cars jammed together on a narrow road, surrounded by flames on three sides and the rocky ocean waves on the fourth. Some died in their cars, while others tried to run for safety.”

I’ve been a first responder, did my time as a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. Being from the desert southwest I’ve dealt with wildfires. We had and have larger fires. Hundreds of thousands of acres. But never the death and destruction of what happened in Maui. This blog isn’t a rehash of what happened. It’s not a how to on how to prevent this from happening. This is about getting you and your family OUT of danger.

Planning.

For decades you all have heard people like me tell you. “You need a BOB, Bug Out Bag” And you need X amount of food, water and change of clothes. Also need Y type of weapons and reloads. You need this brand of radio and you need need need. Mostly we tell you the things you need, is well, you need them. And to be perfectly transparent. We make a little bit of money off purchases you make from the links we research and share with you. Today we’re going to diverge (somewhat) the you need to buy this. To you need to PLAN and RESEARCH this. Folks like me sometimes forget we need not tell you to buy something, When we should be telling ideas on how to find your own answers. This post starts that trend here.

Getting the heck out of Dodge

According to the news articles a lot of people died in their homes and automobiles.

Lets take the sacrifice those people made and learn from them.

So our first bit of planning and research is to put down the computer, phone and tablet. (Well after you read this. Please! ) And GET OUT. By that I mean get out of your home and explore. Really explore. Find those over grown logging roads and dirt tracks. The back alleys side streets and weed choked vacant lots. Take your GPS. You will get lost. And that’s part of this exercise, And get maps. Lots of maps. As was found out in Maui\.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people ran for their lives from wildfires on Maui that killed at least 55 people and wiped out a historic town. Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations — but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/questions-grow-over-wildfire-warnings-as-maui-death-toll-rises

Without cell service your phone GPS won’t work. Stand alone GPS like Garmens will. But batteries die, A protected laminated map will last forever. Learn to read a map and use a compass. If anyone says again “My phone ALWAYS works for Google Maps” read again the above article. Get maps. You can even download and print maps for free from National Geographic. https://www.natgeomaps.com/trail-maps/pdf-quads. Print them. Protect them. And learn to use them. Hmmm, note to self. Looks a good old fashioned land navigation class is in order here.

Moving out. When?

When is it time to move out? That is something you’d have to answer for yourself. IN the above links, the major issue was no warning. And the major reason was power, land line and cellular service was down. A NOAA radio with battery backup is ESSENTIAL. NOAA stations have alternate power and keep broadcasting alerts. Get one like this https://amzn.to/3OPOm9e. That runs normally on household power, but has battery backup. NOAA broadcasts not only weather but disaster inforamtion. It can give size and location of whatever is heading your way. Now when. First most of us preppers are borderline horders. Remember. DO. NOT. TAKE EVERYTHING YOU OWN! Take what you need to survive. And you did remember to place cache’s here and there? If not do so. NOW!

Here in South Carolina we have Hurricane Boxes. It’s a box that we keep packed during hurricane season. In it it has food for 4 days. Water for the same. (Not all is on the same box.) Clothes Ammo, spare 2 meter radios. (I’ll talk about them in a bit) Important papers. Including your pet’s paperwork. Camp gear. It sounds like a lot. We adjust as the weather dictates. But all will fit in the back of either of our Jeeps. And on the rood racks. We have a small 4×8 trailer that holds the gear much easier.

Sounds good but…..

If you have the time to load all that. (Our best time with My wife and I is 10 minutes) You’re set for days, if not weeks out in the rough. If you know how to live off the land. But being from the Southwest, we’re experienced in wildfire, and you have exactly zero minutes to get your stuff and RUN. We always have backpacks in each Jeep. Standard 72 hour bags with MRE’s and a bottle of protein tablets. (link Survival tabs) A case of water and a water filter. And grab on the way out money and your folder of important documents. Things are replaceable. People are not. If you don’t feel like building your own BOB, this is a decent option. https://amzn.to/45tR8Iz

On the road

One thing we saw from Hawaii is that as good intentioned “Government Agencies” are, they may not always have your best interests at heart:

From the AP News Report

As flames tore through a West Maui neighborhood, car after car of fleeing residents headed for the only paved road out of town in a desperate race for safety.

And car after car was turned back toward the rapidly spreading wildfire by a barricade blocking access to Highway 30.

One family swerved around the barricade and was safe in a nearby town 48 minutes later, another drove their four-wheel-drive car down a dirt road to escape. One man took a dirt road uphill, climbing above the fire and watching as Lahaina burned. He later picked his way through the flames, smoke and rubble to pull survivors to safety.

What do you do if you come upon a road barricade as describe in the AP news Article?

Legal Warning.

We at the Medic Shack cannot and will not tell you to ram the barricade.

And.

What I will say is that if you have to, go around it. Do not ram it head on. Back into it. Ramming it head on WILL damage your vehicles cooling system. This leaves you on foot trying to out run a say a fire that is moving at 20-60mph+. Even if you have a super duper monster truck brush guard, there is no guarantee that a stick, screw or nail will not be driven into to your radiator. Backing into it, sure you will damage your rear end, lights, lift or tailgate. Your car is still drivable. Decades ago when I was in the service, we were taught when approaching a barricade, to 1 Put out security and recon the area. (May not have time for this.) 2. If possible go around. 3. Pull it down if you have sufficient vehicle weight. 3. Back though it to protect your engine. And 4. Blow it. (May not be a good option, but…… Remember. Your vehicle is replaceable. You and your family are not.

And of extreme importance. PRACTICE driving your vehicle off road. Learn how it performs, learn how to judge a trail. You don’t need to have a top of the line 4×4 monster off road race ready rig. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken a 2wd pickup though places that made Jeeps cringe. I’m decent. My buddy Cope Reynolds is GOOD! He and I have taken a 2wd F150 completely across mountains in New Mexico that you would have not thought a mountain goat could go. AND most importantly he did it with out tearing the truck up. You can find Cope here, www.SouthwestShootingAuthority.net And his blog is www.SWSAblog.com

Communication.

This is important. As was reported, cellular, land line and power was out. But what worked was ham radio. I CANNOT stress enough how important it is to have radios and spare batteries. At the very least those inexpensive FRS walkie talkies you see on Amazon and Walmart, will allow you communicate between vehicles. There is a better option. Baofeng UV5R or UV82 family of radios. These are real ham radios and you need a license to “legally” operated them. I recommend them because they are inexpensive. Not cheap. There is a difference. With both radios you can have two frequencies set. One for the repeaters that are in operation. And one on what is called Simplex. Non repeater frequencies that allow you to talk to your group on one channel and have the repeaters on the second. Before things go bad.

Get Legal!

Your License. Go to www.hamexam.org, take the tests until you get at least 85% continually. Pay your testing and license fee and get your Technician license. Yes the FCC over looks using a radio with out the proper license in an emergency. But if you have your ticket, you can PRACTICE. That way when something bad happens you will know how to use your radio find the repeaters and communicate. Oh did I mention that the Baofeng and a few others can receive NOAA broadcasts., AND regular FM radio? And have built in flashlight, AND a very loud alarm to alert people to your location if you need rescuing?

Not bad for under $40.00 a radio. And if you happen to drop it in a lake or river, you’re not out hundreds of bucks that a Kenwood or Yeasu would cost. And don’t buy just one. By at least 2 for each person. We have 12. 3 for each person. And 12 UV82’s were still less than ONE Yeasu or Kenwood HT. The UV82 can be found on Amazon here, https://amzn.to/45vkBlr and the UV5R here, also at Amazon https://amzn.to/3El7TcS

In Closing.

This is a work in progress. My way may not be right for YOU. But I hope it sparks a better idea on what is right for you. What I will say is PRACTICE! Go out and explore ALL the ways out of your home and back to it. Get lost NOW. Instead of getting lost when your or your families life is at stake.

Additionally Christine and I, would like to apologize in getting this out late. We had some preps to catch up on. Hurricane Idalia decided to hit Florida as a Cat 4, and wandered over the top of us as a tropical storm. We’ll do better!

 

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Posted in Disaster, Uncategorized

What is going on at The Shack?

Posted on August 4, 2023 | 2 comments

It’s been sometime since I have posted anything. The pandemic is sort of over. We’ve moved from the suburbs of Charleston SC to a little place in the woods between Elko SC and Williston SC. Started a new job in building and running a brand new EP lab in Aiken SC. Moved my mom here with us, and built (well still building) her a tiny house on our land. Oh, our land? Nothing huge. A hair over an acre of grass and trees. A fantastic well. Eight homes are on our dirt road. Our closest neighbor is about 115 yards away to our south. The next nearest is about 200 yards to our north. Surrounded by pines, oaks, gum trees holly trees, wild plums, and persimmons.

The journey starts. Again.

 

My partner in life, my beautiful wife of 31 years, Christine, and my partner in medical shenanigans, Freya Swan, best herbalist you’ve never heard of! And someone new, well not new to anyone who has done ANY sort of prepping, Daisy Luther of The Organic Prepper.  She is on board as an advisor, editor, contributor and as an administrator. And to keep me in line!  Well we have been talking and we decided we need to bring back The Shack. To pull some irons out of the fire and focus…..

Um, irons in the fire? For the 15 past 2 years I was trying my hand at blacksmithing. I did it when I was younger and got pretty dang good. Still do it as a hobby, but health issues (my body) have said it’s not a full-time job for me.

The why.

Back to The Shack. I decided, along with the two special people in my life, that we need to get back to what we know. And that’s helping people. By teaching how to prepare folks for whatever may happen. Blending modern medicine with the skills of the past. When you NEED to use the modern tools, and using the old tools to not so much replace. But to augment the modern.

There are a lot of things, good things that our modern medicines and tools can do. But they cannot do everything. And sometimes, either the side effects are not desirable, or the risk vs benefit does not balance. Or it’s just plain unavailable. Herbal medicine. It’s been with us since the time mankind figured out how to walk upright. But like its modern counterparts, side effects, availability, risk vs benefits and education are not what we need or aren’t there.

Modern medicines can do things that herbs can’t do and vice versa. Antibiotics, for example. We have some fantastic herbs, but for the most part, they can not cope with a serious internal infection. Cat, Christine, and I have done some amazing things with infections. One that comes to mind was treating a lady at a class I was teaching at Shots Ranch in Kingman, Arizona, almost ten years ago.

An Example

Short story we saw this lady limping around the facility, with her left foot wrapped. I asked to see her wound, and she unwrapped it, and we found she had a wet gangrene infection on her ankle. She was (is)diabetic. I suggested she go immediately to the nearest ER and get it treated. She refused to and well you know you can not make anyone do anything they do not wish.

And she already said she had been to her doctor, and they wanted to amputate her foot. Chris and I moved her into the lodge from her tent and treated her wound with a herbal wound wash, poultices, and debridement of the dead tissue. This was the first day, and by day 4, the last day of the class, tissue granulation had started, and pink healthy tissue was closing the wound.

We got LUCKY. I’ll be the first to admit it. But I had a few things going for me. First, my wife, who used to do wound care, knew how to debride the wound and dress it correctly. I had the correct herbs on hand. And the patient was willing to be treated and follow instructions to the letter. I’ll dig up the video of her and post it.

Edited to had this link of the exit interview my friend Jeff made of lady who Christine and I treated. Maggie’s video from the Shots Ranch FB Page

And the how.

This and a lot of other personal and, yes professional reasons are why I decided to pull irons out of the fire and focus on fewer things. Namely, my family, my faith, and teaching from The Medic Shack.

It’s going to be a slower start. We need to build content. See what is needed and wanted. (Two very different things, as you all will come to see.) Make the time to do it. But we’ll get er done!

Some of the plans are new blog posts, and new classes both in person and online. And a new podcast is in the works. As the coming weeks go by, we’ll outline our plans and get new content up.

Thank you all for being patient and hopefully getting some useful information from us, We’re happy as hell to be back!

One thing y’all may have noticed is the page is brand new and basically a clean slate. But don’t worry. Every post going back to our beginning on June 15, 2014 is still here. Just use the search bar on the right side of the page.

Welcome back to the Medic Shack!

I’ll leave y’all with a picture of my new office here in the woods of South Carolina.

 

 

 

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