Post SHTF Disease/Healthcare Medical Planning

We received the following comment from a reader,....."I have three kids with insulin-dependent diabetes. In an ice chest, two 2-liter bottles of frozen tap-water will go 2 days without melting. Reserve an area of a open-top, chest-type, freezer to keep as many 2-liter ice bottles as is possible. These provide thermal-capacitance to the chest. In colonial days, ponds would be cut-up in winter -- WHAT?! -- In Northern states ponds could have a 3-ft thickness of ice. These huge slabs of ice would be mule-teamed into underground (giant root-cellars) keeps that stayed at around 55 deg F. Large amounts (actually MASSIVE) amounts of straw would be packed between these huge slabs of ice. Ice could be kept for months like this. With our modern forms of insulation, we can store small items for a long time -- especially if we intermittently get power or have a generator. Regular insulin will keep for a year or better, but ONLY if properly cooled (not frozen). Manufacturers of insulin used to keep a 6 month supply of insulin in powder form -- which could then be re-constituted. They will not sell insulin in powder form. "

UrbanMan's comments::  No doubt the reader with insulin dependent children has read "One Second After", which incidentally just came out in paper back.  This fictional account of survival after a EMP attack does not end well for insulin dependent people in the story.  This is a challenge I am fortunate enough not to have.  It is hard enough to plan for probable routine medical needs and emergency medical situations without having to stock and properly store vital medications for pre-existing diseases or conditions. 

I know of a gent who has a family member in need of home dialysis 3 to 4 times weeks.  Apparently this is through a semi-permanent tube into the body.  This gent's challenge is to procure enough dialysis supplies for a year with the intent at the six month mark to extend the supply by reducing the procedure which in turn would create a bed ridden patient. 

Very tough circumstances to work a solution for.   It seems for the insulin the only solution would be to procure years of supplies and develop a SHTF - Collapse proof cold storage capability.  Which may have to combine cold weather, underground and limited power solutions to work. 

Had anybody out there developed a solution for post STHF storage of vital medications? 

Survival Preparation: Medical Skills - Continuous Chest Compression CPR

UrbanSurvivalSkills.com has been asked to devote more posts to Survival Preparation across the medical skills and material spectrum. I think people realize that in a worst case collapse scenario, the ability to access a competent wide variety of medical care will be greater reduced or non-existent unless we provide it ourselves.

In a perfect pre-collapse world, all members of your survival group would have a robust amount of medical training, with certifications or not, and may include up to EMT-Paramedic training. It may be possiblle for you to recruit a Medical Doctor, specialist or not, into your survival group.

Do you know where Doctors, Nurses, Veternarians, Dentists and other medical professionals live in your vicinity? If not, then maybe that would be a good idea to know where they live. And while you may not want to knock on their door and ask them to be a part of your survival group now, after the life changing events of a collapse this may be a much more viable concept. Certainly you could barter for their services.

Even if medical professionals and their services were available to your survival group after a collapse, it would be not only a great idea but an essential requirements that members of your survival group possess base line, first response medical training at a minimum.

The ability for all your survival group members to be capable in CPR is a basic skill. Guidance and procedures for CPR change from time to time. Continuous Chest Compression CPR, developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, is a hands-only CPR method that doubles a person’s chance of surviving cardiac arrest. It’s easy and does not require mouth-to-mouth contact, making it more easy to learn and more likely that it would be employed when needed.