Survival & Austere Medicine: An Introduction 3rd Edition



by: Remote, Austere, Wilderness & Third World Medicine Discussion Board Moderators


(azw3,epub,mobi,pdf)


Medicine at the End of the World

With no antibiotics, there would be no treatment for bacterial infections;
pneumonia or a simple cut could kill again, contagious diseases (including those
sexually transmitted) would make a comeback, and high mortality rates would be
associated with any surgery. Poor hygiene and disrupted water supplies would
lead to an increase in diseases such as typhoid and cholera. Without vaccines,
there would be a progressive return of infectious diseases such as polio, tetanus,
whooping cough, diphtheria, mumps, etc. especially among children. People
suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy would be
severely affected with many dying (especially insulin-dependent diabetics). There
would be no anaesthetic agents resulting in a return to torturous surgical
procedures with the patient awake or, if they were lucky, drunk or stoned. The
same would apply to painkillers; a broken leg would be agony, and dying of cancer
would be distressing for the patient and their family. Without reliable oral
contraceptives or condoms, the pregnancy rate would rise and with it the
maternal and neonatal death rates, women would die during pregnancy and
delivery again, and premature babies would die. Women would still seek
abortions, and without proper instruments or antibiotics death from septic
abortion would be common again. In the absence of proper dental care teeth
would rot, and painful extractions would have to be performed. What limited
medical supplies available would have to be recycled, resulting in increasing risks
of hepatitis and HIV infection.
The practice of medicine would go back 200 years.

“With the breakdown of infrastructure, access to advanced medical help would be, at best, limited. Poor hygiene & disrupted water supplies would lead to an increase in diseases such as typhoid fever and cholera. People suffering from chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, or epilepsy would be severely affected, with many dying. With no antibiotics, there would be no treatment for bacterial infections- pneumonia or a simple cut could kill again and high mortality rates would be associated with any surgery. The same would apply to painkillers- a broken leg would be agony, and dying of cancer would be distressing for both the patient and their family. Vaccine preventable diseases would make a comeback- polio, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria and mumps would be commonplace again. In the absence of oral contraceptives or condoms the pregnancy rate would rise and, with it, the maternal and neonatal death rates. Teeth would rot without proper dental care and painful extractions would have to be performed without anaesthesia. The limited medical supplies available would have to be recycled, resulting in an increase in the spread of hepatitis and HIV infection.
We take health care for granted.

We wish to provide you with the knowledge needed to approach health care after large scale, long-term, grid-down disaster. This book will equip you to deal with many common medical problems when modern health care facilities are not available.”


- The Remote, Austere, Wilderness and Third world Medicine Forum



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