Sometimes, diseases that are rare today pop up unexpectedly, such as the recent outbreak of mumps on the warship U.S.S. Fort McHenry, where 25 sailors came down with the illness. This led to the quarantine of the ship at sea for two months. If you’re concerned about medical issues in long-term survival scenarios, it’s important to recognize the ...…

One of the most frequent questions I receive from readers, listeners, and viewers is which antibiotics to have on hand in survival settings. I have received a flurry of these lately in response to our new book “Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease”: The Layman’s Guide To Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings. In the book, I discuss ...…

In this episode of the Survival Medicine Hour, Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP discuss what their plans are for the garden this year, plus a review of the antibiotic cephalexin (Keflex, Fish-Flex) and its potential as a tool in the medical woodshed for long-term survival settings. Keflex is useful for various infectious diseases you might encou ...…

Yesterday a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador, part of the "rim of fire" that circles the Pacific (but certainly not pacified) ocean. There's no season for earthquakes like there are for hurricanes, and you can't see an earthquake coming like you could a tornado. So how do you survive one? Joe and Amy Alton talk about strategies that will gi ...…

We don’t often get to report good news these days, but here’s something that’s making the authorities celebrate and may have saved hundreds of lives in, of all places, Australia. In a joint drug bust, Australian and u.s. agents seize record-setting 1.7 tons of meth worth $1.29 billion in Los Angeles, right at the sea port before sailing. Dr. Al ...…

You may think that preparedness is purely an American passion but there are folks from all over the world that contact us to ask questions or tell us about their medical preps. One of these is our good friend Tom, who lives in Germany and volunteers with a first responder team. Joe Alton talks a little about his volunteer medical team and wonde ...…

You may think that preparedness is purely an American passion but there are folks from all over the world that contact us to ask questions or tell us about their medical preps. One of these is our good friend Tom, who lives in Germany and volunteers with a first responder team. Joe Alton talks a little about his volunteer medical team and wonde ...…

In a long term survival situation, it will be an extremely fortunate family or group that has a physician or other formally trained medical professional among its members. When there is no doctor, however, someone in your group should be assigned the responsibilities of group medic. That person will make the difference between success and failu ...…

Today, we have advanced laboratory studies that allow identification of many pathogens. Despite this, it can be a challenge for healthcare providers to tell a bacterial disease from a viral one. Bacteria and virus can attack the same organ systems. For example, pneumonia can be bacterial or viral. Both produce similar symptoms like cough and fe ...…

This week, Winter Storm Gia, they’ve been naming them for a few years now, will spread a swath of snow and ice from parts of the Rockies, Plains and Midwest to the mid-Atlantic into this weekend, hopefully not causing more than a few travel delays. Yeah, I know, winter storms occur every year in the United States, but if you don’t take them ser ...…

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST Infectious disease is of major concern in good times or bad, and the family medic must be able to identify some of the deadliest. Having just written a book on the subject, we’ve done our research on some of the worst illnesses that can occur even in countries with advanced medical systems. There are infections ou ...…

Infectious disease is of major concern in good times or bad, and the family medic must be able to identify some of the deadliest. Having just written a book about infectious diseases and the antibiotics that treat them, we’ve done our research on some of the worst illnesses that can occur even in countries with advanced medical systems. There a ...…

Ask people about the last pandemic and most will say it was the “Spanish Flu” of 1918-9. Certainly, that outbreak is a well-known example, but pandemics have occurred throughout history. At least three or four are identified every century. It can even be argued that we’ve experienced more than one just in the last few years. We all do our best ...…

Upon the passing of President George H. W. Bush, we should remember and honor his military service in World War II as a navy pilot. Having flown 58 missions, Lieutenant Bush was often under enemy fire. On September 2, 1944, his plane was shot down off an island called Chi Chi Jima. He was the only survivor. He swam about 50 yards to a small lif ...…

An outbreak of food poisoning with Escherischia coli (E. coli) has hospitalized 43 people in 11 U.S. states and another 18 in Canada, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The agency reports no deaths as of yet, although one individual has developed kidney failure. Joe and Amy Alton discuss the increase of multistat ...…

Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP are pleased to announce their new book: Alton's Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman's Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings, a plain English guide to veterinary antibiotics and their potential uses to treat infections in survival scenarios (only). Learn about various infectious disease ...…

To better understand current events, it’s useful to know the history behind them. The same can be said of the developments through time that led humans to learn about bacteria. Bacteria have played their part in the evolution of the planet for eons. Fossils of microorganisms have been discovered in stone dating more than 400 million years old. ...…

A gunman opened fire on a crowd at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. The shooter, named Ian David Long, who killed 12 people and himself was a 28 year old former U.S. Marine who may have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the Ventura County sheriff said. Ian David Long, 28, apparently threw smoke bombs and methodically fired ...…

It’s around Halloween, so I figured I’d tell you a horror story. In centuries past, women married as teenagers and often had 8 to 10 children, that might sound like a horror story to you as it is, but what if I told that the big question was, would that woman survive pregnancy and childbirth at all? It happened in the past, but what if some lon ...…

Anyone who has done any hiking like we have or has bought the wrong pair of shoes has experienced a friction blister. For a relatively small soft tissue injury, a blister can certainly cause more than its share of problems. More than one hike has come to a screeching halt because the terrain was more rugged than the footwear could handle. Joe a ...…

In our upcoming book “Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: A Guide to the Wise Use of Drugs in Austere Settings, we include a section about epidemic infectious diseases that aren’t common now, but will be if a disaster makes it impossible to maintain good hygiene. One of these is typhus, a disease transmitted by body lice, fleas, and tic ...…

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST o our store for HSA-approved medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net! When modern medical care isn’t available, many deaths would be prevented by the availability of antibiotics in your disaster medicine cabinet. Indeed, you should consider having a supply of these drugs in your storage if you believe ...…

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST It’s important to realize that the majority of respiratory infections, including the flu and the common cold, are caused by viruses and do not improve with the use of antibiotics. Some infections of the respiratory tract are bacterial in origin, however; others are secondary infections that invade a weakened victi ...…

We’ve mentioned that we’re finishing up a book on antibiotics and the diseases they treat, and I hope you’ve made some provisions for having some antibiotics in your medical storage, even if they’re the fish antibiotics that we write about. If you really believe there might be some event that’s going to take our society to the brink one day, yo ...…

Our body is a fortress that is constantly under siege by bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens. Every day, we fight off attempts by one or another of these germs to gain a foothold. Luckily, our immune system is usually aware of the presence of substances not recognizable as part of the body. The human response to infection involves the action ...…

Hurricane Florence is making landfall in the Carolinas as we’re recording, and they’re expecting a lot of wind, rain, and storm surge. Every year around this time, the U.S. can expect storms like this to menace the East and Gulf coasts, yet many citizens still find a way to be caught by surprise. Joe and Amy Alton put together 30 safety tips th ...…

In good times, we have the luxury of modern medical facilities and advanced techniques to isolate a sick patient from healthy people. If we ever find ourselves in a grid-down scenario, most of these advantages will go the way of the dinosaur, and we will be placed in, essentially, the same medical environment we experienced in the 19th century. ...…

Happy National Preparedness Month! Joe and Amy Alton often talk about the risk of infectious diseases and some of the antibiotics that I’ve been able to find in veterinary form that you can access without a prescription. Of course, in normal times, you should seek out a qualified medical professional first. One of the antibiotics we think is mo ...…

Recently, we certified as Advanced Wilderness Expedition Providers, and many of the training scenarios involved dealing with those who are injured in falls. Whether you’re on a backcountry trail or in your own bathroom, a fall can seriously damage you, causing orthopedic injuries, bleeding, traumatic brain injuries, and more. The Centers for Di ...…

Most of us have dutifully gone to get a Tetanus shot when we stepped on a rusty nail, but few have any real concept of what Tetanus is and why it is dangerous. Tetanus (from the Greek word tetanos, meaning tight) is an infection caused by the bacteria Clostridium Tetani. The bacteria produces spores (inactive bacteria-to-be) that primarily live ...…

Joe and Amy Alton return home to South Florida after almost two weeks in Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming! While they were in Grand Teton National Park, everyone was wondering why it was so hazy. Well sure enough, it was smoke from hundreds of miles away in California. Evidence of smoke has actually gone as far as New York City, yes, new Yorke ...…

We have talked a lot about natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes, but not as much about the complications that go along with them. Flooding is one of the most common disasters to affect the United States, and there’s flash flooding in the Eastern part of the country as we speak. It’s part and parcel of many different catastrophes, fro ...…

Recent reports suggest that the West coast is at high risk for a big earthquake. They’ve found a new stress area in the San Andreas fault and predict a 75% chance, not a chance, a 75% chance, that the big one will hit anytime in the next 30 years or so. Of all the creepy-crawlies that cause trouble in a household, few are worse than bed bugs. A ...…

A friend recently asked us to write about injuries that might be incurred in an earthquake scenario in the Pacific Northwest, so we decided to do a show on the various kinds of wounds you can expect in any major disaster, from a mudslide to a tornado to a major seismic event. Joe Alton MD recounts an incredible survival story of a woman who liv ...…

The human body is a marvel of biologic engineering. Its immune system usually kills bacteria and other harmful germs before they can multiply and cause symptoms. Our blood contains white cells, also known as “leukocytes” that attack bacteria. Even if we do experience symptoms, our bodies can usually cope and fight off the infection. It’s though ...…

Many consider a heat wave to be just a time to put an extra ice cube in the lemonade, but it’s a deadly natural disaster. More people die in heat waves in the U.S. than just about any recent weather event short of hurricane Katrina. Find out from Joe Alton MD about what causes and worsens a heat wave, and some advice from the Arizona state gove ...…

Last week on the Survival Medicine Hour podcast, Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP talked about some basics on sprains, strains, and fractures, and this week they continue the subject, especially how to tell the difference between a sprain and a fracture, including something called the Ottawa Rules. The Ottawa Rules were meant to discourage unnec ...…

This week, Joe and Amy Alton go to Sanibel Island, where good friends and popular podcasters Jack and Dorothy Spirko are vacationing, for an interview on the occasion of Jack's 10th anniversary of his popular "Survival Podcast". Plus, here we are in the first days of summer, and you can be sure it’ll be a cruel one in most of the country this y ...…

An infection is defined as the invasion of the body by microscopic organisms. A pathogen is any agent that can cause a disease, but the term is usually used to describe a microbe. Microscopic germs cause injury to tissues in a number of ways, often by producing toxic substances that damage the cells. Joe Alton MD discusses the different types o ...…

School's out and a great way to teach your family survival basics is by taking them camping. The skills needed for successful camping are akin to those required for the activities of daily survival. Once learned, these lessons last a lifetime. There’s no greater gift that you can give young people than the ability to be self-reliant. Camping tr ...…

Recently, Joe Alton MD wrote about school safety solutions in the wake of mass killings perpetrated by the disgruntled and deranged. Some of these strategies aren't expensive, and those that are should make you ask: How much is it worth to save the lives of our young people by aborting these murderers? Find out what simple changes would lead to ...…

In 2014, Joe Alton MD began reporting on an outbreak of a little-known disease called Ebola in West Africa. At the time, there were less than 100 cases, but eventually became a major epidemic with 28000 cases and 11000 deaths. Now Ebola has broken out in urban areas in Congo, where it was first identified. With cities of 1 and 11 million in the ...…

Can you prepare for a day at the beach? Can you prepare for an asteroid strike? Well, preparing for volcanic eruptions is in the middle, actually closer to an asteroid strike that anyone would like. Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP discuss what can and can't be done to prepare for a volcano, and whether volcano preparedness is an oxymoron! Also, ...…

Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP often talk about infectious diseases on the Survival Medicine Hour, a number of which are called emerging infectious diseases. Emerging infectious diseases are infections that have recently appeared within a population or those whose frequency or geographic range is increasing or likely to increase in the near fu ...…

After a disaster or at a remote homestead, we all know that the medic for the family may not have ready access to modern medical technology. That means many conditions that are commonly identified with ultrasounds or CAT scans may be more challenging to diagnose. One of these challenges is abdominal pain. There are various medical issues that c ...…

School is winding down, and families are starting to think about that camping trip to the mountains or shore. Camping safety is important, and a lot of factors need to be considered like weather, gear, and more to make a camping trip memorable (and I mean in a good way, not a bad way). What you need to do to deal with common injuries, supplies ...…

Spring has sprung, and snowmelt plus heavy rains may increase the risk of mudslides, aka debris flows, in many areas. Find out more about this dangerous natural phenomenom which is akin to a river of wet concrete, plus some early warning signs that you property is at risk. Joe and Amy, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, also discuss a new E. Coli out ...…

In certain seasons, like Spring, pollens and other substances are at high levels. For most, it's a great time of year to be outside, but for allergy sufferers, well, not so much. Joe Alton, MD,aka Dr. Bones, and Amy Alton, ARNP, aka Nurse Amy, go into detail to tell you the history of allergies (the word didn't even exist in the year 1900!), wh ...…

Injuries occur in disaster and other off-grid settings, and some of those break the skin or even go into deeper layers, like subcutaneous fat and muscle. When do you close a wound and when is it wiser to keep it open? Also, if you're going to close it, what materials should you use and why? Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP, aka Dr. Bones and Nur ...…

We've been supporters of and speakers at the Self-Reliance Expo for many years, and we thought it might be interesting to talk to some of the speakers and exhibitors at the event. You'll hear our friend Rich Beresford of AroundtheCabin.com, 17 year old survivalist Blake Alma, and other popular YouTubers and celebs of the survival community. Lis ...…