The Prepper Pages: A Surgeon’s Guide to Scavenging Items for a Medical Kit, and Putting Them to Use While Bugging Out

I was recently sent this book The Prepper Pages: A Surgeon’s Guide to Scavenging Items for a Medical Kit, and Putting Them to Use While Bugging Out (as a Kindle edition) to review. I quickly obliged.

First, so you understand the book, here’s the Amazon description:

“In the two hours it takes to read our book, you’ll learn more about survival medicine, and feel more comfortable handling emergencies, than ever before. Our guide is not about stabilizing injuries until help arrives. It’s about learning to treat injuries and illnesses definitively. It’s a confidence builder, and we guarantee it to be one of the most valuable resources in your prepper bookshelf! Welcome to the 2nd edition of The Prepper Pages! In this edition we’ve added image and video links for quick and easy reference. Written by a Trauma Surgeon and contributing physicians, doctors of ThePrepperPages.com are obsessed with teaching you easy, effective treatments for medical conditions preppers most worry about. Conditions we’re all likely to face when the world and everything in it goes sideways…”

I definitely concur! At over 200+ pages it’s a relatively fast read but also quite interesting too. Here, take a look at the table of contents:

• Getting Your Bearings
• Bagging Treasures
• Shanking – Scalpels & Box Cutters
• Gloving Up and Cutting Down
• Stitching up Sorrows – Sutures & Suture Material
• Pilfering Pills & Pen Lights
• Picking up Pickups & Forceps
• Taping Life Back Together
• Slinging Back Splints & Swaths
• Finding Needles & Syringes in a Haystack
• Intravenous Needles & Catheters for the Home and Office
• The Science of Looting & Sterilizing
• Special Supplies for Common Injuries
• Wounding Abscesses
• Lacerations & Skin Injuries – Anesthesia & Irrigation
• Lacerations & Skin Injuries – Stitches & Equipment
• Handling Flesh
• Super-gluing Americans & Stapling Soviets
• Crushing Runners Toe
• Burns
• Shanking & Shotgunning – Treating Projectile Wounds
• Field Sterilization & Sanitation
• Making Potable Water
• Heat Exhaustion & Heat Stroke
• Dealing with Cold Injuries – Hypothermia & Frostbite
• Wet & Dry Gangrene
• Sprains, Strains & Automobiles
• Breaking Bones Bad
• Insects & Arachnids
• Cellulitis & Bacteria Eating Flesh
• Snakes & Drunks Playing with Snakes
• Plants from Hell – Poison Ivy, Oak & Sumac
• Fish Antibiotics – “Fish-i-cillin”
• Colds, Sore Throats, & Common Infections
• Poisoning Food
• Clubbing Depression
• Felling Better When You’re Sick

There’s also ten appendices mostly about types of suture techniques but the real heart of the book is in the wisdom found throughout. Time and again Dr. Chamberlin offers loads of practical advice as to what you can and should do when confronted with many common and expected first aid scenarios.

Not only does the book provide common sense advice as to what should be done for typical first aid problem but there are plenty of text boxes scattered throughout the book that offer unexpected alternatives to necessary medical equipment and supplies, many of which can be found in the average home, pet stores, and elsewhere.

The really interesting thing is that the advice comes from the perspective of somebody bugging out and having to scavenge a home or business for these items…. as is stated in the title, no less. 😉

Most of the advice is spot on and great but a few times I wondered to myself how in the world that would work out. For instance, one suggestion is to ask your doctor for a few scalpels for your emergency kit the next time you visit. If your doctor knows you well then maybe this is no problem but if you don’t know your doctor well then he or she may well wonder about such a request… I know I would feel a bit strange asking. Of course, I haven’t tried so what do I know!

Regardless, the VAST majority of the book is great advice and I guarantee I learned quite a bit more than I thought I would. As an example, I never realized that there’s such a huge difference in the efficacy of disposable gloves for preventing contamination from diseases caused by bacteria and viruses… I always figured that vinyl gloves were simply invented because people were allergic to latex gloves but, sadly, they are quite inferior!

Anyway, that’s just a few tidbits from the first two or three chapters. I learned so much more from the rest of the book… I’m positive you will too.

Ultimately, what I liked most about The Prepper Pages (or as a Kindle edition) beyond common sense advice was Dr. Chamberlin’s honesty and subtle humor both of which surely made the book a great read.

My advice is to add this book to your survival library ASAP!