Survival Medicine: 4 Deadly Diseases Unleashed In A Disaster… And How To Treat Them!



It was the deadliest disaster since 1928…
Hurricane Katrina hit an area of approximately 90,000 square miles and resulted in the displacement of approximately 1 million citizens.
We all know of the horror stories these “refugees” faced in the Super Dome (theft, violence, even rape, and murder!) but few people realize the horrific health problems that ripped through families because of all the sewage, chemicals, and other contaminants that polluted every drop of water in the area.

Here are some secrets that will help you avoid

The 4 Deadly Diseases You And Your Family Will Face During A Disaster

When it comes to “disaster diseases”, the biggest threats don’t come from dead or decaying bodies or spoiled food.

They mainly come from the complete FAILURE of basic public-health services like sewage disposal and water purification.

And it can come from ANY disaster – not just hurricanes or flooding – even just a major blackout power outage (I’ve seen this during combat when sanitation workers aren’t able to get to work).

No power means no air conditioning… no fans as back-up… no refrigeration to keep life-saving medicines stable… and no open pharmacies to dispense medications.

No transportation means no access to hospitals – and during Katrina, even the people who reached them found that many had no power, no supplies, and no water to drink.
Without these basic infrastructure services, medical care goes back to the 1800’s and you and your family are prone to illness from:
E. Coli Contamination

E. Coli is a very common bacteria that can have devastating effects – including diarrhea and severe cramping – especially for those already weakened by malnutrition and dehydration.

Normally, washing your hands and food can prevent exposure, but disasters aren’t “normal” and everything you touch can be laced with fecal matter – even in your home if sanitation services stop. The bacteria that cause infection can enter into your body in a number of ways.


  • failing to wash hands completely before preparing or eating food
  • using utensils, cutting boards, or serving dishes that aren’t clean, causing cross-contamination
  • consuming dairy products or food containing mayonnaise that has been left out too long
  • consuming foods that haven’t been stored at the right temperature
  • consuming foods that aren’t cooked to the right temperature or duration of time, especially meats and poultry
  • consuming raw seafood products
  • drinking unpasteurized milk
  • consuming raw produce that hasn’t been properly washed



Symptoms of intestinal infection generally begin between 1 and 10 days after you’ve been infected with E. coli. This is known as the incubation period. Once symptoms appear, they usually last around 5 to 10 days.

Symptoms can include:

  • abdominal cramping
  • sudden, severe watery diarrhea that may change to bloody stools
  • gas
  • loss of appetite or nausea
  • vomiting (uncommon)
  • fatigue
  • fever

Symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to more than a week.
Symptoms of a severe E. coli infection may include:

  • bloody urine
  • decreased urine output
  • pale skin
  • bruising
  • dehydration


In most cases, home care is all that’s required to treat an E. coli infection. Drink plenty of water, get lots of rest, and keep an eye out for more severe symptoms that require a find a doctor. Avoid taking an anti-diarrheal medication — this slows your digestive system down, preventing your body from getting rid of the toxins. Antibiotics generally aren’t recommended because they can increase the risk of serious complications.

Dysentery

In survival scenarios, many believe that trauma from gunfights at the OK corral will cause the most deaths. The truth, however, is that many avoidable losses will occur due to more basic issues, such as dehydration from infectious diarrheal diseases. These most often occur from failure to assure the sterilization of water, proper preparation of food, and safe disposal of human waste. One of the many duties of the medic in austere settings is to supervise these activities.

I remember getting Dysentery when on a mission in Honduras many years ago from drinking just 1 cup of what I “thought” was safe water.
I was wrong (BIG TIME!) and thought I was going to die because there wasn’t even a hospital in the area I was at (kind of what you might experience in a real disaster when medical help is over-strained, eh?).

I managed to pull through… but trust me, you don’t want to experience this problem where it’s hard to even keep water inside your body!
Dysentery was the cause of death of many soldiers in the Civil War. In total, infectious diseases like Cholera, Typhoid, and others killed more men than bullets or shrapnel.

About 2-10 days after infection, the patient will begin to show symptoms. Some will experience mild effects but others will progress to more severe disease. Besides frequent watery stools mixed with blood and mucus (sometimes 20-30 times a day!), you may see:


  • high fevers
  • Abdominal pain and bloating
  • Excessive gas
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weakness and fatigue
  • An urgent need to evacuate
  • Vomiting



All of the above leads to significant dehydration, which is complicated in severe bacillary dysentery by erosion of the lining of the gut, leading to ulcers that cause bleeding from the rectum.

It’s especially important to rehydrate victims aggressively. Oral rehydration salts contain electrolytes that will more effectively aid recovery. These can be purchased commercially or improvised using the following formula:

To one liter of water (2 liters for children), add:

  • 6-8 teaspoons of sugar
  • ½-3/4 teaspoons of salt
  • ¼-1/2 teaspoons of salt substitute (used by people who can’t use regular salt. This item has potassium, an important electrolyte, and can be found wherever regular salt is found.)
  • A pinch of baking soda for bicarbonate



Cholera

In some cases, you can be exposed to the germ “Vibrio Cholera” and diarrhea can be so uncontrollable that you or someone you love could literally go from “perfect health” to DEATH in just a matter of a few hours from severe dehydration!

Actually, we rarely see cholera in the United States because we have proper-working sewage and water treatment systems.

But remember… during a disaster or collapse, these protective systems go down and germs run rampant throughout your environment.

Symptoms of cholera present themselves within a few hours to a few days after infection. The patient will experience the rapid onset of watery diarrhea, historically called “rice-water stools”. In a certain percentage, this will be severe enough to cause major dehydration, the major cause of death. This can happen in an alarmingly rapid fashion, within hours in some cases. Even the mild cases are problematic, as they increase the risk of spread of the illness.

Other symptoms related to dehydration include:
• Nausea and vomiting
• Low blood pressure
• Tachycardia (rapid heart rate greater than 100 beats per minute)
• Severe thirst
• Muscle cramps
• Restlessness, irritability, confusion, mood swings
• Loss of skin turgor (elasticity)

Typhoid Fever

More than 100 years ago, a female cook in NYC (you may have heard of her – “Typhoid Mary”) infected about 50 fellow co-workers, starting the spread of this dangerous disease.

Typhoid is always a threat due to carriers already in our society… but at a much greater risk when sewage and water purification controls are wiped out – and can cause high fever, collapse, and death.

Treatment Of Deadly Water-Borne Diseases In A Disaster…

Given that medical treatment in the after-effects of a disaster will be scarce (or non-existent), you will most likely have to provide self-care for yourself or a loved one who had fallen ill from these horrible illnesses.

For the most part, you can get by with antibiotics and LOTS of hydration.

Of course, BOTH of those could be a real problem to get your hands on when hospitals are overrun, pharmacies have been looted and picked clean, and water sources are contaminated (which got you in this trouble, to begin with).

This is why I always advise people to stockpile antibiotics for your own personal use in a crisis.

I buy mine on visits to Mexico where I can get them cheap at any local pharmacy without a prescription… or you can pick up some Fish-Mox (best for Typhoid) and Fish-Zole (best for Cholera) at a pet store that sells fish products since these “fish versions” are the same as our medical prescription antibiotics.

But the real key is to stop diarrhea and stay hydrated… or you WILL die!
Having anti-diarrheal medicine is a MUST for your home supply (and your bug-out bag).

For hydration, an IV is really helpful here, but few people have several bags of IV solution for hydration, nor do they know how to administer it.

Again, this is why it’s so critical to have an endless source of clean, drinkable water to avoid deadly dehydration.
Filters can really help, but most don’t work where there are chemical spills contaminating water – a really big problem people don’t realize happens in “super storms”.

The best thing you can do is be sure you have filters that can truly clean your water, no matter what the contaminant.

If you can’t have an endless supply of clean water, then at the very least be sure at all times to have a good supply of bottled water in your home, and make sure you rotate the stock every so often so that it’s good and fresh.

For so many people in the U.S., clean water is so plentiful and readily available that we rarely, if ever, pause to consider what life would be like without it…and once it’s unavailable things can (and will) go south FAST.

As you can imagine, any form of this disease will greatly decrease the chance of survival off the grid. As the well-prepared medic can intervene early with certain medicines, a high index of suspicion will decrease avoidable deaths.

But if you remember these tips and plan ahead, you can be ready BEFORE things go bad!

http://www.survivaldan101.com/survival-deadly-diseases/