How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It - James Wesley Rawles [66]
In my opinion, it would be better to err on the side of caution. To be absolutely safe, I recommend that you avoid both overdosing and out-of-date or otherwise deteriorated antibiotics. As a prepper who anticipates the possibility of infrastructure breakdown and widespread power failures, the last thing that I want is to see anyone become dependent on scheduled kidney dialysis because they saved money on antibiotics.
Alternative treatment, such as using herbs or acupuncture, is a touchy subject. Again, it is something that will take considerable research and qualified consultation, and in effect making yourself your own guinea pig. If you decide to use this approach, I recommend that you make any transition gradually, with plenty of qualified supervision. If it takes a lot of extra visits to your doctor for tests, then so be it. Just do your best to make the transition, before everything hits the fan.
I have seen some folks in preparedness circles on the Internet recommend stockpiling low-cost veterinary medications, but I advise using such medications only in extremis (when your only other option is certain death).
Elective Surgery
If you have an existing problem that could be cured with elective surgery, then I strongly recommend that you go do so if you have the means. If your condition worsens after medical facilities become unavailable, it could turn a simple inconvenience into something life threatening.
I’ve heard of several wealthy preppers who have had their nearsightedness cured by LASIK or PRK, just for the sake of being better prepared for a foreseen new era that will not have the benefit of ophthalmologists and a handy shopping mall “eyeglasses in about an hour” shop. Living free of eyeglasses or contact lenses also makes wearing night-vision goggles and protective masks much easier, and makes shooting—particularly at long range—more accurate.
Buy a Food Grinder
Many injuries and illnesses cause difficulty chewing and digesting solid foods, because of the patients’ weakness, dental problems, or jaw/palate/throat trauma. It is important to have a hand-cranked food grinder available so that you can accommodate the needs of these patients. Old-fashioned grinders (the type that clamp onto the edge of a kitchen table) can often be found used for just a few dollars at yard sales. If you want to buy a new one, they are available from both Ready Made Resources and Lehmans.
Survival Dentistry
The most important dental resource that I can recommend is the book Where There Is No Dentist, available for free download from the Hesperian Foundation (snipurl.com/hrpdg). (But I recommend getting a bound hard copy. Ditto for their book Where There Is No Doctor. Used copies can be found on Amazon.com for little more than the cost of shipping.)
Dental instruments may be bought through online auctions. It would also be wise to stock up on other dentistry supplies such as gauze, oil of cloves, and so forth. Unless you are stranded in the backcountry, I do not recommend that you put in temporary fillings under present-day circumstances. If a filling leaks, it could cause an infection. However, in a genuine TEOTWAWKI situation, temporary fillings may be your only alternative to suffice for weeks or even months until you can get to a qualified dentist. For this reason, you should stock up on temporary-filling material such as Cimpat, Tempanol, or Cavit. There are also temporary-filling materials packaged for the consumer market that contain very small quantities (under brand names such as DenTek and Temparin), but the per-unit cost is relatively high. With those, you are mostly paying for the packaging.
I do not recommend do-it-yourself tooth extraction, except, again, in extremis. Without the support of a crown or bridge, the gap left by an extraction can cause a chain reaction, as other teeth shift to compensate