Survival Medical Care:

Keeping your body at its best,

while the world is at it’s worst.

Shawn McIntosh,
109th Ohio Frontiersmen
 Objectives
In this lesson, we will discuss:
•What is needed for •Bites & Stings.
survival. •Wound Care.
•Medical Emergencies. •Environmental
•Life-Saving Steps. Injuries.
•Bone & Joint Injuries. •Herbal Medicine.
 Water
The average adult loses 2 to 3 liters of water daily.
Other factors, such as heat/cold exposure, intense
activity, high altitude, burns, or illness, can cause your
body to lose more. You must replace this water as you
lose it. Trying to make up a deficit is difficult in a
survival situation, and thirst is not a sign of how much
water you need.
 Physiology of Dehydration:
• A 5 percent loss of body fluids results in thirst, irritability,
nausea, and weakness.
• A 10 percent loss results in dizziness, headache, inability to
walk, and a tingling sensation in the limbs.
• A 15 percent loss results in dim vision, painful urination,
swollen tongue, deafness, and a numb feeling in the skin.

• A loss greater than 15 percent of body fluids may result in

death.
 Preventing Dehydration
• Always drink water when eating. Water is used and consumed as a part of the digestion
process and can lead to dehydration.

• Acclimatize. The body performs more efficiently in extreme conditions when

acclimatized.

• Conserve sweat not water. Limit sweat-producing activities but drink water. If you lose a
lot of sweat, add ¼ teaspoon of salt to 1 liter of water.

• Ration water. Until you find a suitable source, ration your water sensibly. A daily intake of
½ liter of a sugar-water mixture (2 teaspoons per liter) will suffice to prevent severe
dehydration for at least a week, provided you keep water losses to a minimum by
limiting activity and heat gain or loss.
 Food
Although you can live for several weeks without food,
you need an adequate amount to stay healthy. It provides
your body with vitamins, minerals, salts, and other things
essential to good health. You need about 2,000 calories
per day to function at a minimum level.
Without an adequate caloric intake, your body will begin
to cannibalise on its own tissues.
 Plant Foods
•Excellent source of carbohydrates, your body’s main source of
energy.
•Nuts and seeds will give you protein and oils for normal
efficiency.
•Roots, green vegetables, and plant food containing natural sugar
will provide calories and carbohydrates for energy.
•Dry plants by wind, air, sun, or fire. This retards spoilage so that
you can store or carry the plant food with you to use when
needed.
•You can obtain plants more easily and more quietly than meat.
This is extremely important when the enemy is near.
 Animal Foods
Meat is more nourishing than plant food. In fact, it may
even be more readily available in some places.
However, to get meat, you need to know the habits of,
and how to capture, the various wildlife.
To satisfy your immediate food needs, first seek the
more abundant and more easily obtained wildlife, such
as insects, crustaceans, mollusks, fish, and reptiles. These
can satisfy your immediate hunger while you are
preparing traps and snares for larger game.
 Hygiene

Keep your hands, hair, clothing, & teeth clean.

Take care of your feet. Wash/massage your feet daily,
change socks often. Get sufficient rest. 10 mins/hour of
work, sleep any chance you get. Keep your camp clean.
Bury feces, & collect water upstream.
 Medical Emergencies:
Breathing
Your brain begins to Use abdominal thrusts,
die after 4-6 minutes finger sweeps, tilting
without oxygen. This the head, or rescue
can be caused by breaths as needed to
choking, neck ensure breathing is
injuries, swelling in restored.
the throat & tongue,
etc.
 Medical Emergencies:
Bleeding
1 liter lost = Apply direct pressure, or a
minor shock tourniquet to control any
2 liters lost = major bleeding. Be sure to
severe shock “dress” the wound to
3 liters lost = prevent pathogens form
can be fatal. entering the body.

Arterial: Bright red

blood in spurts.
Venous: Dark red blood
that oozes.
 Medical Emergencies:
Shock

Elevate the feet to keep If found unconscious, place

blood toward the brain.
the body in the recovery
Cover the patient to
preserve warmth. position.
Restore fluids if possible.
Shock: Life-threatening
condition that occurs when
the body is not getting
enough blood flow.
 Bone Injury: Fractures
There are two types of
fractures.
Open: Bone is sticking out
of the body and also
creates a wound.
Closed: Bone is somewhat
in place, and skin is intact.
Treating a Fracture
Check for pulse and
movement.
Dress any wounds
near the site.
Secure rigid object
above and below
the fracture. (not on
it)
Check for pulse
again.
 Bone Injury: Dislocations
Separations of bone
joints causing the bones
to go out of proper
alignment. When setting
the bone, manual
traction or the use of
weights to pull the bones Once performed,
are the safest and easiest. reduction decreases
the victim's pain and
allows for normal
function and
circulation.
Bone Injury: Sprains
Overstretching of a
tendon or ligament
causes sprains. To treat,
think “RICE”. Rest, Ice
(for first 24 hours),
Compression bandage
(Ace Wrap), and Elevate.
 Bites & Stings
Not only do they cause irritations, many insects carry
disease and can cause severe anaphylaxis or CNS failure.
Inspect your body daily for any insects attached to you.
• The common fly-borne diseases are
usually treatable with penicillins or
erythromycin.
• Most tick-, flea-, louse-, and mite-
borne diseases are treatable with
tetracycline.
• Rule of thumb for antibiotics: 2 tablets
per QID, for 10-14 days
You will want to apply a cold compress, as well as a salve if
available.
 Snake Bites
The primary concern in the treatment of snakebite is
to limit the amount of eventual tissue destruction
around the bite area. A bite wound, regardless of the
type of animal that inflicted it, can become infected
from bacteria in the animal's mouth. This can cause a
very large area of tissue death, leaving a large open
wound.
Venomous or Not?
Before you start treating a
snakebite, determine
whether the snake was
venomous or non-
venomous. Bites from a
non-venomous snake will
show rows of teeth. Bites
from a venomous snake
may have rows of teeth
showing, but will have one
or more distinctive
puncture marks caused by
fang penetration.
 Treating a snake bite
•Keep calm.
•Treat for shock.
•Remove restrictive clothing.
•Clean the bite area.
•Maintain airway.
•Tourniquet between wound and heart.
•Suction or squeeze out venom.
•Keep the wound clean and dressed.
•Force Liquids.
An average of 5-15 people
die of snake bites in the
US annually.
 Open Wounds

Be concerned with tissue damage, blood loss, and

infection with any open wound. After bleeding is
controlled, thoroughly clean the area by flushing, not
scrubbing the wound. If water is not available, urine is
sterile immediately after it is released form the body.
 Open Wounds
Open Treatment is the safest way to manage an open
wound in a survival situation. To some degree, infection
will be inevitable, and closing a wound will prevent
infections from draining. If a wound is gaping, you can
secure it with a butterfly bandage, or cover it up with
gauze and bandage. Be sure to clean the wound and
change the dressing daily.
 Treating an Infected Wound
• Place a warm, moist compress directly onto infected wound.
Change the compress when it cools, keeping a warm compress
on the wound for a total of 30 minutes.
• Drain the wound. Open and gently probe the infected wound
with a sterile instrument.
• Dress and bandage the wound.
• Drink a lot of water.
• Continue this treatment daily until all signs of infection have
disappeared.
 Maggot
Therapy
• Expose the wound to flies for one day and then cover it.
• Check daily for maggots.
• Once maggots develop, keep wound covered but check daily.
• Remove all maggots when they have cleaned out all dead tissue and
before they start on healthy tissue. Increased pain and bright red blood
in the wound indicate that the maggots have reached healthy tissue.
• Flush the wound repeatedly with sterile water or fresh urine to remove
the maggots.
• Check the wound every four hours for several days to ensure all maggots
have been removed.
• Bandage the wound and treat it as any other wound. It should heal
normally.
 This condition results from
Trench Foot many hours or days of
exposure to wet or damp
conditions at a temperature
just above freezing. The nerves
and muscles sustain the main
damage, but gangrene can
occur. In extreme cases the
flesh dies and it may become
necessary to have the foot or
leg amputated. The best
prevention is to keep your feet
dry. Carry extra socks with you
in a waterproof packet. Dry
wet socks against your body.
Wash your feet daily and put
on dry socks.
Frostbite This injury results from
frozen tissues. Light frostbite
involves only the skin that
takes on a dull, whitish
pallor. Deep frostbite extends
to a depth below the skin.
The tissues become solid and
immovable. Do not try to
thaw the affected areas by
placing them close to an
open flame. Gently rub them
in lukewarm water. Dry the
part and place it next to your
skin to warm it at body
temperature.
 • First-degree burns affect only the
Burns outer layer of the skin. They cause
pain, redness, and swelling.
• Second-degree (partial thickness)
burns affect both the outer and
underlying layer of skin. They cause
pain, redness, swelling, and blistering.
• Third-degree (full thickness) burns
extend into deeper tissues. They
cause white or blackened, charred
skin that may be numb.
•Cool the burning skin with
ice or water.
•Soak dressing in a boiling
tannic acid solution for 10
minutes.
•Cool the dressing and apply
wet and loose to the burn.
•Treat for shock.
 Heat Exhaustion
Symptoms:
Treatment:
• Confusion
• Move to a cool location.
• Dark-colored urine
• Drink plenty of fluid (avoid
• Dizziness
caffeine and alcohol).
• Fainting
• Remove any tight or
• Fatigue
unnecessary clothing.
• Headache
• Take a cool shower, bath, or
• Muscle cramps
sponge bath.
• Nausea
• Apply other cooling
• Pale skin
measures such as fans or ice
• Profuse sweating
towels.
• Rapid heartbeat

If left untreated, this

will lead to Heat
Stroke.
 Heat Stroke
Heat stroke occurs when the body’s regulatory system
fails, and damage to the brain begins.
Move to a cool area.
Fever of 105° or more Remove clothes.
dizziness Cool to below 102°.
lack of sweating Place ice packs in
hot, dry skin armpits and groin.
nausea/vomiting Hydrate!
rapid heart rate & breathing
seizures or coma Expect, during cooling--
death • Vomiting.
• Diarrhea.
• Struggling.
• Shivering.
• Shouting.
• Prolonged unconsciousness.
• Rebound heatstroke within 48 hours.
• Cardiac arrest; be ready to perform CPR.
 Hypothermia
Defined as the body's failure to maintain a temperature of 95°.
Exposure to cool or cold temperature over a short or long time
can cause hypothermia. Dehydration and lack of food and rest
predispose the survivor to hypothermia.
Unlike heatstroke, you must
gradually warm the hypothermia
victim. Get the victim into dry
clothing. Replace lost fluids, and
warm him.
 Diarrhea
•Good and bad, diarrhea is your body’s means of expelling
pathogens from your digestive tract.
•In a healthy person, this will end in 24-48 hours.
•Prevention (fully cooked food, wash hands/dishes, purify water)
is your best defense.
•Try to assess a cause, and let it runs it’s course at first.
•Be sure to hydrate with electrolytes, not plain water.
•Use anti-diarrheal medicine ONLY if diarrhea is prolonged,
dehydration is likely, or dysentary.
•Immodium should NOT be used, as it slows down the intestines.
Use bismuth subsalicylate, a bulking agent.
 Herbal Medicine
In a survival situation you will have to use what is
available. In using plants and other natural
remedies, positive identification of the plants
involved is as critical as in using them for food.
Proper use of these plants is equally important.

Poultice Decoction Infusion

crushed leaves or other plant parts,
possibly heated, that you apply to a
wound or sore either directly or
wrapped in cloth or paper.
The extract of a boiled down
herb leaf or root. You add herb
leaf/root to water, and bring
them to a sustained boil or
simmer to draw their chemicals
into the water.
The preparation of medicinal herbs for
internal or external application. You
place a small quantity of a herb in a
container, pour hot water over it, and let
it steep (covered or uncovered) before
use.

Expressed Juice Liquids or

saps squeezed from plant material and either
applied to the wound or made into another
medicine.
 Diarrhea. Drink tea made from the roots of
blackberries and their relatives to stop diarrhea.
White oak bark and other barks containing tannin
are also effective. However, use them with caution
when nothing else is available because of possible
negative effects on the kidneys. You can also stop
diarrhea by eating white clay or campfire ashes. Tea
made from cowberry or cranberry or hazel leaves
works too.
Antiseptics. Use to cleanse wounds, sores, or rashes.
You can make them from the expressed juice from
wild onion or garlic, or expressed juice from
chickweed leaves or the crushed leaves of dock. You
can also make antiseptics from a decoction of
burdock root, mallow leaves or roots, or white oak
bark. All these medications are for external use only.
 Aches, pains, and sprains. Treat with externally
applied poultices of dock, plantain, chickweed,
willow bark, garlic, or sorrel. You can also use salves
made by mixing the expressed juices of these plants
in animal fat or vegetable oils.
 Itching. Relieve the itch from insect bites, sunburn, or
plant poisoning rashes by applying a poultice of
jewelweed (Impatiens biflora) or witch hazel leaves
(Hamamelis virginiana). The jewelweed juice will help
when applied to poison ivy rashes or insect stings. It
works on sunburn as well as aloe vera.
 Constipation. Relieve constipation by drinking
decoctions from dandelion leaves, rose hips, or
walnut bark. Eating raw daylily flowers will also
help.

Antifungal washes. Make a decoction of walnut

leaves or oak bark or acorns to treat ringworm and
athlete's foot. Apply frequently to the site,
alternating with exposure to direct sunlight.
Questions?