Surviving the Medical Meltdown (22 page)
Read Surviving the Medical Meltdown Online
Authors: Lee Hieb
Water purification tablets
THE AMAL – LARGER SUPPLY BOXES
Any former US Navy medical personnel reading this will find humor in calling these supply boxes AMALs. AMALs – authorized medical allowance lists – were meant to be functional units. You had these big-boxed AMALs for general surgery, for medical clinics, and so on. But they tended to be packed wrong. To get an ear syringe, you would have to unpack pounds of gauze sponges. Or you might have to wade through pounds of ACE wraps to get a few Band-Aids. The Navy may have it figured out now, but that’s the way it was when I was in the service. In our home medical preparation, we’re going to do better by doing smaller. The bigger the package, the harder to get to what you need. But in the general concept, the idea of an AMAL makes some sense. Package items together by their function. In this case, if you want a good, orderly medical supply, I recommend using smaller, functional containers.
IMPORTANT AMALS TO HAVE ON HAND
Do not use open bins. I made that mistake early on. These boxes should be stackable with secure lids, moisture proof, lightweight, and preferably clear so they are easy to search. Each should be clearly labeled and contain a list of items in the box to facilitate routine restocking. Rubbermaid makes a high-quality, good-sized box with a locking lid. But there are others on the market, and the Internet offers many options.
The items contained in the boxes should also reflect your level of medical expertise. (See
appendix B
for itemized contents of AMALs.) As a surgeon, I have two wound care AMALs: one for nonsurgical wound care – Band Aids, Neosporin, topical disinfectant, dressings and ACE wraps, tape – and a surgical add-on pack with suture, suturing kits, sterile drapes, and gloves. You need to keep your reference books handy, and the easiest thing is to put them in a box with your thermometer, blood pressure cuff, and stethoscope, if you have them. Remember that most new thermometers are battery powered and may go dead in your box or when you need them. I am hoarding my father’s old mercury thermometers. In the absence of those, get the kind that do not require batteries. In other words, use the kind with alcohol or some other less accurate fluid the EPA will now allow us to use. (We can’t get mercury thermometers, which are the best, but they force us to use mercury vapor bulbs, which require nine pages in the
Federal Register
outlining how to legally dispose of the toxic suckers.)
NUCLEAR EXPOSURE: MONITORING AND MEDICINE
It may sound paranoid, but these days I feel justified in some paranoia. As a medical provider living within twenty miles of a nuclear power plant, I bought a used, recalibrated FEMA Geiger counter – one of those yellow ones that were kept for possible nuclear attack. Ironically, in an age when we know nuclear plants can be compromised, FEMA got rid of the best testing devices. Many problems in a nuclear meltdown or bombing are caused by ignorance. As a medical provider,
I want to understand which areas are contaminated and which are safe. Unnecessary evacuation of one’s home can be avoided, and mass evacuation can be avoided (or recommended in time) with the right knowledge. For radiation information I recommend the website Ki4U. com. They sell the easiest and cheapest tester – the RadSticker, which fits into your wallet. And they sell potassium iodide and other testing devices. Or you can also buy radiation stickers in small quantities at
http://www.ush2.com/potassium_iodide_radiation_tools.htm
. I keep all my radiation supplies in my “Information and Testing” AMAL (see
appendix B
).
POTASSIUM IODIDE (KI)
