To be clear, I’m a HUGE fan of the Alton’s. Joe and Amy have done a wonderful service to the prepping community over the years and I can’t say enough good things about anything and everything they’ve ever done. Really! They know their stuff and it certainly shows with their revised an expanded edition of the The Survival Medicine Handbook.
I actually purchased, read, and reviewed their first edition quite a while ago and couldn’t have been happier. Amazingly, they did even more with it in this book. And at a good 500+ pages of quality information, you’re going to be a while reading the new and improved Survival Medicine Handbook. 😉
The Survival Medicine Handbook Contents
If you’re unaware, the book covers a wide variety of medical and first aid topics, including:
- their thoughts on being medically prepared (wilderness medicine, long term survival medicine, etc)
- becoming the “go to” medical resource in your group (assessments, skills, supplies, etc)
- hygiene and sanitation concerns (food and waterborne illnesses, diarrhea diseases, food poisoning, etc)
- infections (they cover the big ones such as UTI’s, hepatitis, cellulitis, tetanus, etc)
- environmental concerns (e.g., hypothermia, heat stroke, radiation sickness, biological warfare, etc)
- assorted injuries (wound treatment, burn treatment, animal/snake bites, sprains/strains and broken bones, etc)
- chronic conditions (diabetes, blood pressure, kidney stones, etc
- other things to know (CPR, eye care, earaches, childbirth and pregnancy, etc)
- medications (OTC meds, pain meds, antibiotics, etc)
I do REALLY like the fact that they take an honest and no-nonsense approach to such a difficult and important topic. They never speak down to you (it’s more like down to earth) and try to explain the God’s-honest truth about what you can expect in a SHTF situation. They don’t throw in a lot of jargon and just talk to you like a normal person.
Even better, the Alton’s tell if you should or should not do something and what to expect as much as they can. I also like the fact that they try to point out alternative treatments (those outside the accepted Western medical philosophy) where it makes sense. After all, this is about all we’re going to have left if/when the SHTF.
There are occasional picture, photos, and diagrams throughout to help with understanding a topic if needed. Moreover, everything is easily referenced so that you can quickly find any major topic of concern. Overall, the second edition of the The Survival Medicine Handbook is a MUST-have book… in your prepping library even if you already have the first.
Please do yourself a favor: if you don’t yet have either the first or second edition then by all means, spend the money and buy the second edition of The Survival Medicine Handbook. If there’s ONE topic that most of us in the prepping community fall way short on, it’s medical preparedness. Once you get it, spend a few days or weeks reading and then do your best to follow their advice to get you and your family (or group) as prepared as possible for life without proper medical support. If there’s anyone that can help you do that, it’s the Alton’s.
Leave a Reply