How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [56]
I do like steel-tube gates. If you strap on (or weld/braze on) some woven wire or a hog panel, the gate will become “sheep tight.”
For the best security, you should mount the hinge pins with at least one pointing upward and one pointing downward. Otherwise, an intruder can simply lift a locked gate off of its hinge pins. You can also tack-weld the nuts onto both the bolt threads and the gate’s hinge-sleeve assemblies to prevent them from being disassembled.
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MEDICAL SUPPLIES AND TRAINING
Medicaltraining and extensive medical supplies are de rigueur for prepared families.
This chapter is to help keep you alive and healthy by reviewing some common medical preparations and practices. Because the chapter will include many topics that go beyond my own expertise, I will rely heavily on articles that have been submitted to SurvivalBlog by medical professionals. Please keep in mind that this advice is in no way meant as a substitute for professional care. You should always check with a medical professional whenever possible in a crisis—and it would be wise to consult one for your personal preparedness plan as well.
Get Training
Regardless of whether your group includes a medical professional, I recommend that all adult group members get as much medical training as time allows. Start out by taking the Red Cross basic and advanced courses and their CPR course. I also recommend that at least one group member get EMT training. This is best accomplished by volunteering with your local emergency medical service. These are usually paid positions, which offsets the training expenses. Then take the field-medic course offered by Medical Corps. Several SurvivalBlog readers have taken this course, and they have all commented about how impressed they are with their training. This modestly priced training, led by an emergency-room doctor with thirty-five years of experience, will teach you many things that the Red Cross doesn’t. For example, their classes place an emphasis on treating gunshot wounds.
Fitness and Body Weight
The best medicine is prevention, so what every well-prepared individual should do is stay in shape. Good muscle tone prevents back injuries and other muscle strains, and leaves you ready for the rigors of an independent, self-sufficient lifestyle. There surely will be plenty of nineteenth-century muscle work involved after TEOTWAWKI. Maintaining a healthy diet and an appropriate body weight is also very important. It will leave you ready for physical challenges, and it falls into the prepper’s “one less stress to worry about” mind-set.
The rigors of a post-collapse world may be too much for some folks, unless they demonstrate the determination to control their weight and get plenty of exercise. For those of you who are overweight and out of shape, start making some changes today. Eliminate junk food from your diet. Eat healthy, catabolic snacks. If you are stuck behind a desk at your job, then at least get out on your lunch hour for a walk. Make that walk part of your routine. Park your car at the far end of the company parking lot. Use the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. Join a fitness club. Buy smaller dinner plates. It is little things like these, collectively, that will gradually make you trim and fit. It just takes some discipline.
Get fit—this includes strength, cardio, and flexibility. Of particular importance will be your hand and forearm strength (hauling five-gallon buckets is no easy task), lower-back strength, and a good, strong heart.
The Prepared Family’s Medical Kit: What Do We Really Need?
Not only should you have an elaborate first-aid kit; you will also need additional supplies “in depth,” at