Survival Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to rampage throughout the known world, killing close to 100000 and ruining the economies of whole nations. There is no proven treatment, cure, or vaccine, a common but deadly problem whenever a new virus emerges. The lack of an option leaves scientists scrambling to find a medicine that works, immediately if not sooner. Dr. Joe Alton discusses a new treatment using...

COVID-19 tests are now available in larger numbers in the U.S. and the numbers of positives are jumping as a result. That means that it’s the testing that identifying the numbers that are there already, not that there are necessarily factors that are making the virus more contagious. Dr. Joe Alton and Amy Alton ARNP discuss numbers relating to cases and death rates, plus what it will take for Chlo...

Well, we’re in the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., with close to 1000 cases and 30 deaths. Other countries like Iran, Italy are a lot worse off, but the U.S. hasn’t hit its peak, and probably we can expect thousands and maybe tens of thousands more. Old folks like me are advised to stay away from crowds, and we might have to deal with more restrictions before things get better...

In the last few weeks, we have found ourselves challenged by a new virus from a family that is known for being very unfriendly to humans: Coronaviridae. The coronavirus family mostly causes common colds, with four different strains accounting for 15% of more cases reported worldwide. Until very late 2019, there were only two other known coronavirus strains: SARS and MERS. These viruses, however, d...

The latest viral epidemic has been given an official new name! Instead of 2019-nCoV, it’s now COVID-19. World Health Organization officials wanted a name that doesn’t refer to a geographical location, animals, an individual or a group of people, so I guess they’ll be changing the name of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 one day in the name of political correctness. That’s ok, since that flu didn’t...

Unless you just got back from a trip to Mars, you probably know that there’s an epidemic going on in China. I first reported on it briefly in my article on “A new pneumonia” on Jan. 7, 2020, when there were only 60 known cases of an infection of unknown origin. It turned out to be a virus. Viruses are tiny, much smaller than bacteria, and barely meet the definition of a living organism as it must...

Survival Medicine Podcast Reports from Yosemite National Park in California reveal that at least 170 visitors and personnel have experienced a mysterious intestinal ailment. Lab studies have identified a virus called “Norovirus” as the culprit in at least two cases, with most of the rest consistent with the illness. Find out what you need to know about the most common cause of the stomach flu in t...

Health authorities in China are reporting 60-70 cases of a previously unknown viral pneumonia that has put dozens in the hospital. Officials note that victims exhibit fever up to 105(!), difficulty breathing, and abnormal findings on chest X-rays.   Nothing gets my attention like a mysterious, probably viral, pneumonia showing up in some foreign land. The word “pneumonia” is defined as a lung infl...

Survival Medicine Podcast You know, the world isn’t getting any safer these days, and that means that, more than ever, you should be prepared for disasters, whether they be natural disasters or man-made. The family medic must assess their level of preparedness well before a disaster occurs, and now is as good a time as any. We refer to this as a "status assessment”. When performing this assessment...

We often talk about trauma and infection, but less so about chronic diseases. We have to face the fact that in some settings, namely those without some of modern medicine’s miracle technology, some people will long-term issues may end up having life spans similar to those of their ancestors a hundred or more years ago. One category of patient that has less options off the grid are those with COPD,...

Survival Medicine Podcast #379 Today, we talk about a mosquito-borne illness. What? It’s freezing out there, there’s no mosquitoes! Well, Down here in South Florida, we get outbreaks of tropical infections even in wintertime. A while ago, I wrote about a mosquito-borne virus that strikes warm weather regions: Dengue Fever. At that time, I reported that places as far apart from each other as Singap...

In the last couple of days, we’ve read about multiple stabbing incidents, one killed a freshman at a NY college, another killed two young men, and others just seem to pop up in the news pretty much all the time. Any incident like this or any kind of natural or man-made disaster puts your people at risk for injury. When it occurs, trauma may be minor or major; penetrating trauma such as stab wounds...

This episode is broadcast (poorly) from a hotel room in New Yawk City, where we are visiting one of our daughters who's, well, a city girl. Ignore the police sirens and other "technical difficulties"! Hey, from time to time, old dr. bones or the lovely nurse amy are asked to come on other podcasts, radio shows, and even TV to talk about disaster medical preparedness, and just a few days ago, our g...

THE SURVIVAL MEDICINE PODCAST #376 Hey, I’ll bet you’ve wondered from time to time if you’re medically prepared enough. Do you have the supplies to deal with the medical issues you’ll face? To know that, you need to know what medical issues you’ll face. In my research, I’ve taken the experience of those in remote locations with limited supplies as guidance. People like medical missionaries  spend...

Survival Medicine Podcast #375 In survival, the medicines eventually run out no matter how well you’ve prepared if the disaster knock you off the grid for long enough. This is especially true for drugs for which you can only stockpile a limited quantity, simply because they’re too expensive. One item that isn’t too expensive is fish oil, commonly available in supplement or in FDA-approved prescrip...

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 (Alton’s Antibiotics and Infectious Disease: The Layman’s Guide to Available Antibacterials in Austere Settings), we’ve done our research on some of the worst illnesses that can occ...

After a brief hiatus, Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy try out a new format that removes a lot of the up front "housekeeping" and get to the meat of the medical topic for the week immediately. They plan to put out more frequent shows lasting about 15-20 minutes each and stay on one topic to delve into it more deeply. This week, Dr. Alton discusses the Ebola epidemic from the standpoi...

In the midst of a break from their podcast, Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP are interviewed by good friends Glen Tate and Shelby Gallagher from the Prepping 2.0 podcast. The topic is pandemic disease, what infections can become the next major epidemic to push society to the brink, what to do to keep your family safe, and the supplies you'll need to avoid infectious disease from running rampant amo...

A fractured femur or a gunshot wound to the chest are major injuries that affect your chances of survival in disaster settings, but not all injuries are so extreme. “Minor” injuries can also impact the efficiency of a group member off the grid.  Of these, nailbed injuries are some you’ll commonly see. You can imagine that nailbed injuries will be more common when untrained (and perhaps careless) p...

#369 SURVIVAL MEDICINE PODCAST The world is on the brink of destruction and you have all your preps together; You’ve got water, food, you can start a campfire, you’ve got your knife or knives, and you’ve provided for the common defense. You can sterilize water, your vehicle ready for the road if you need to go and your ducks are all in a row. Duck is good eating, by the way. Well, how about some b...

In this episode of the Survival Medicine Hour, Amy Alton ARNP takes over the show! She's got a lot to say about some important medical problems that all of us have to care about: Heart disease, hypertension, and kidney disease. She'll describe risk factors, diet, prevention, treatment, and more. Did you know that frequent ibuprofen usage damages your kidneys? I'll bet you didn't, and Nurse Amy wil...

  A#366 SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST You may have heard the phrase "Gone But Not Forgotten" but how about "Forgotten But Not Gone"? For some time, The Democratic Republic of Congo has been in the throes of a deadly epidemic: Ebola. I wrote a lot about the Ebola virus during the 2014 epidemic in West Africa and even wrote a book  (published by Skyhorse Publishing) about the disease. In West Afric...

Just back from a trip to the United Kingdom, Amy Alton ARNP and Joe Alton MD discuss some topics not recently covered in previous shows. Sleep deprivation is a serious issue: Some researchers believe that it carries health risks approaching that of cigarettes or heart disease. The mental and physical deterioration that sleep deprivation causes can break you: So much so, that it’s been used as a me...

#364 SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST In this info-packed episode of the Survival Medicine Hour, Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP discuss poisonous plants like poison ivy, oak, sumac, and poisonwood; how to identify, treat, and prevent medical issues related to contact with problematic flora! Plus, how to deal with broken bones off the grid, including reducing deformities, placing casts, creating tra...

SURVIVAL MEDICINE HOUR PODCAST Our thoughts and prayers go out to the citizens of the Bahamas affected by the recent hurricane; we have been fortunate enough to escape its wrath here in South Florida, but many are still suffering. We ask our readers, listeners, and viewers to consider donating to the various relief funds aimed at helping our Bahamian friends. In this episode, Joe Alton MD and Amy...