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first aid – Homesteader Depot

Homesteader Depot

Tag: first aid

  • Treating Your Homestead Wounds the EASY Way

    Treating Your Homestead Wounds the EASY Way

    As the name suggests, an open wound is an injury that has resulted in an opening in the skin. Minor versions are commonplace and can be treated at home with over the counter first aid products. Fundamental wound care is a useful skill to have in any situation.  Keeping a First Aid Kit handy can go a long way to ensuring they don’t develop complications.

    In this post, we’re going to take a quick look at the different types of open wounds that can happen as well as basic instructions on how to care for them.

    TYPES

    There are four different types of open wounds.  Knowing their classification can be very helpful in an emergency situation.  Often when calling 911, the operator will ask you the nature of the injury.  The ability to accurately describe the different types of open wounds will help EMT’s prepare for what they will be dealing with on arrival.

    Abrasion

    Probably the most common, an abrasion is essentially a scrape.  Most of us probably had scraped knees (and elbows, and ankles, etc.) more than once growing up. If you were one of us, you probably remember there isn’t a lot of bleeding.

    Avulsion

    This type is probably the least common since they usually happen as a result of violent incidents such as explosions, gunshots, or severe traffic accidents.  Avulsions involve a partial or complete tearing away of the skin as well as the tissue underneath. They bleed heavily. These injuries should definitely be treated by a professional.

    Laceration

    Deep cuts or tearing of the skin are referred to as lacerations.  They usually involve sharp tools, knives or broken glass.  Shallow versions will have mild to moderate bleeding, while deep cuts can bleed much more quickly and at a faster rate, especially if an artery is severe in the process.

    Puncture

    Just like in a tire, punctures are small holes through the skin into the underlying tissue.  They can be a result of nails, needles, or any other thin sharp objects.

    Punctures may not bleed excessively.  You should determine if the wound is deep enough to damage any internal tissue or organs.  If it is, or you’re not sure, seek medical help immediately.

    TREATMENT

    For minor wounds, such as shallow scrapes, cuts, and tiny punctures, home treatment is usually standard. The primary concern is generally to make sure its cleaned thoroughly to get rid of all dirt and other debris.

    To control bleeding, just apply light pressure until it stops. Smaller scrapes can be covered with an antibiotic ointment and finished with an adhesive bandage.  If the area of the scrape is more extensive, an antibiotic ointment can still be used.  After application, a sterile dressing created from gauze, and medical tape can protect the whole area.

    Any pain management can be accomplished by taking over the counter non-aspirin products like acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

    Just avoid aspirin since it is also a blood thinner that can make bleeding more challenging to keep under control.

    If bruising or swelling also occurs, treat with an ice pack.

    When to see a doctor (If Possible)

    If any of the following can be answered with a “Yes” about the wound in question, seek medical care instead of trying to address it yourself.

    • Is the open wound deeper than 1/2 inch?
    • Does the bleeding continue despite applying direct pressure?
    • Has the bleeding lasted longer than 20 minutes?
    • Is the bleeding a result of a severe accident?

    If any of the above applies to your situation, or if you aren’t sure, its best to let a professional assess and treat the injuries to help avoid any complications in the future.

  • How to Use Activated Charcoal

    How to Use Activated Charcoal

    I’ve mentioned activated charcoal a few times on this site as a great natural first aid product to have on hand, which it definitely is.

    It’s probably on my top 5 list of things to have in a natural medicine cabinet, because it can be used in a number of different ways, and is great for homesteaders.

    Activated charcoal has been used for centuries due to its ability to absorb toxins and impurities. In many emergency rooms, poison victims may be treated using a large dose of activated charcoal, which can absorb the toxin to be passed naturally through the bowels.

    For this reason, it is an excellent first aid item to have on hand at all times. If someone in your home ingests toxins or potentially spoiled food, activated charcoal can be taken internally to reduce the absorption of the poisons. You will always want to check with poison control or a medical practitioner in the case of anything seriously life-threatening, but if you have a simple case of food poisoning from some bad Chinese food, activated charcoal will definitely reduce your symptoms greatly.

    It is also a great beauty product; you can use activated charcoal to naturally whiten teeth on a regular basis. Simply sprinkle some on your toothbrush, brush all over your teeth, let sit for 10 minutes, and rinse. This is an incredibly effective and simple method of teeth whitening that’s far, far safer, not to mention cheaper, than your average drug store solution.

    Activated charcoal can also be used in face masks to naturally remove impurities and blemishes from the skin.

    Mixed with baking soda, activated charcoal can draw out poison from bug bites, so it’s great to have on the homestead for the occasional wasp sting or spider bite. You can also use it as the base for an old-fashioned drawing salve.

    Activated charcoal can be easily purchased at most drug stores or health food stores, or ordered online. It’s quite affordable, and always prudent to keep a bottle in your cabinet. You’ll be glad you did!

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  • Are Fish Antibiotics Safe for Humans? (Video)

    Are Fish Antibiotics Safe for Humans? (Video)

    Fish antibiotics are a really popular item for preppers who want to stock up on crucial, life-saving medical supplies. Antibiotics can be incredibly crucial when disaster strikes, and might be particularly appealing for homesteaders, especially those that live in rural areas who might get caught with an infection, miles away from the nearest hospital.

    For this reason, it’s worth looking into whether or not fish antibiotics are a viable option for you. Being concerned as to whether or not fish antibiotics are safe for human consumption is a reasonable concern, so this video from one of my favorite YouTubers, Patriot Nurse, explains it quite well.

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  • Dollar Store First Aid Supplies

    Dollar Store First Aid Supplies

    It’s really important to keep a well-stocked first aid kit on the homestead. Scrapes, scratches, and bruises are common, and you also might live far away from a medical clinic or hospital and will need to tend to more serious wounds or illnesses yourself at times.

    There are a multitude of pre-made first aid kits out there, of course, but sometimes these are value-added products that are not worth your money. It’s better to build one yourself, for a few reasons. It’s more affordable, it’s easier to replace items as they diminish, and you can tailor it for the injuries and conditions you most anticipate in your area.

    Dollar stores are a great place to get your first aid kit going. You might want to invest a bit more money in a sturdy box for your first aid kit at Walmart or from Amazon, just so you can get something durable that will last, and then fill it with supplies from a dollar store.

    Here are some items to keep an eye out for, to stock your first aid kit and also to hoard for emergencies or disasters:

    Bandaids & Bandages 

    Usually the #1 item you run to your first aid kit for, you can almost never have too many. You can stuff them into Ziplock or vacuum-seal bags to have a backup for your first aid kit so you don’t fill it up with bandages and bandaids.

    Hydrogen Peroxide 

    This is another great item to get from the dollar store, as it’s cheap and also great to have a good supply of. You can use it to sanitize wounds and surfaces.

    Isopropol Alcohol 

    Isopropol, or rubbing alcohol, is another great item to have that you can get dirt cheap at a dollar store. It can be used to clean wounds and keep equipment like tweezers or needles (if you need them) sanitary.

    Vinyl Gloves

    Continuing in the trend of keeping things sanitary, vinyl gloves are also very important for treating wounds, and especially if you anticipate needing to do your own minor medical procedures like delivering a baby or sewing up a wound. Vinyl gloves have all kinds of general uses on the homestead, too!

    Painkillers

    You can usually find cheap, generic painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin at dollar stores, and these are always great to have in your first aid kit.

     

    Other items you could stock up on would be things like q-tips, medical tape, antibacterial soap, etc. Just check your local dollar store out and see what they have!

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  • 3 Homesteading Skills to Learn

    3 Homesteading Skills to Learn

    Whether you have been merely thinking about homesteading, or you’ve given it a go for a while now, it is vital that you have a good and varied skillset. The goal of homesteading is to be as self-sufficient as possible, and the following skills are all good to have under your belt. You will find that some of them can be quite fun as well.

    Candle Making

    Making candles has several advantages. First, if you’ve considered buying any decent candles lately, you’ve probably been struck by just how expensive they are. When you learn how to make your own candles, you will see that it’s one of the cheaper hobbies that you can enjoy and skills you can acquire. In fact, this and soap making could even be a good side business if you choose to make and sell the products.

    In addition, you can determine just how much scent, if any, goes into the candle. Many of the store-bought candles today are oversaturated with scent, and you and your family might prefer something a little less offensive to your nostrils. Understanding how to make your own candles also means you will never run out of them. When the lights go out, you will have a supply of your own handmade candles ready to go no matter how long they stay out.

    Soap Making

    Keeping clean is important if you want to stay healthy, and having some quality soap is one of the best ways to keep clean. You don’t have to stock up on Dove though. Instead, you can learn how to make your own soap. It’s generally a good idea to learn several different techniques and how to use different ingredients.

    While you can experiment, and make some nice and wonderful smelling soap right now, it’s also a good idea to learn how to make “survival soap” from simple ingredients. All you need is wood ash, water, animal fats or plant oils, and salt.

    First Aid

    While it is always a good idea to seek out a medical professional when it comes to serious health issues, you should still learn some basic first aid that you can employ at home. If you live in an out of the way area that could get snowed in or if it could take you a long time to reach civilization for whatever reason, understanding how to perform first aid becomes truly essential. You should certainly learn the basics, but you might want to go beyond and learn how to suture as well.

    Since we’re on this subject, it’s a good idea to know some basic animal first aid and care as well, especially if you are raising animals. It can make a huge difference in the health of your livestock in those times when you can’t get to the vet or the vet can’t come to you.

    Of course, these are certainly not the only skills you should try to learn when you are homesteading. You want to become a repository of knowledge with many different types of skills. Also, be sure to share this knowledge so more people in the family have the same skills. It’s much easier when you can share in all these tasks and more.

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  • Building a Natural First Aid Kit

    Building a Natural First Aid Kit

    On the homestead, one is subject to bumps, bruises, rashes, and other maladies and injuries. It’s very important to have a well-stocked first aid kit. But what about the homesteader who wants more natural, holistic options for home remedies, rather than simply OTC medicine that might be expensive and hard to stock up on for people who live in the country?

    Here is a simple list on how to get started restocking your first aid kit. There are so many wonderful DIY natural remedies available these days (thank you, Pinterest!) it can be almost overwhelming to know which natural remedies to stock up on. So this list will help you figure out what will work best for your needs.

    1. Take inventory

    If you already have a first aid kit or first aid items scattered around the house, gather them all together and see what you have. What have you used recently? Which items do you find particularly helpful? What items have you had since the first Bush presidency? What items are useful, but might have harmful parabens or petroleum products in them? Also, think about the herbs and plants you have on your property and in your garden that might have healing properties of their own.

    2. Reduce, reuse, and find replacements

    Throw away old, expired, and unused items. Keep what you like and see if anything needs replenishing. Items like band-aids, gauze, and medical tape are great to keep a healthy stock of, especially if you live far away from stores at which they can be purchased. If you have items you like but maybe would like to find natural alternatives, set them aside for emergencies and make a list of the injuries or issues they address and research healthy and safe alternatives. If you are a Pinterest user, make a board just for natural remedy ideas.

    3. Plan ahead

    Think about the first aid emergencies you’re most concerned about on the homestead. Issues like splinters, rashes, sunburns, cuts, scrapes, and common colds and flus are probably going to be at the top of your list. Then add to your list or Pinterest board possible natural remedies that will help with these. The simpler the better, and anything that works double-duty is great. For instance, coconut oil and aloe are great for anything skin-related, raw honey is a multi-purpose antibiotic and cold remedy, activated charcoal can help with stomach issues, skin issues and to pull out splinters, etc.

    4. Create

    Get started making some of the remedies for issues you’re already dealing with. You’d be surprised how long a jar of homemade herbal salve can last, for example. You don’t have to make everything all at once, just try to plan for some all-natural remedy ingredients that you can stock up on to make what you need when you need it.

     

     

     

  • Easy Poison Ivy Remedy

    Easy Poison Ivy Remedy

    Poison ivy is such a drag to get. It can debilitate you almost as much as an actual injury. Depending on where you get it on your body, it can make it difficult and even painful to move and get work done, and especially for little ones, can make life very uncomfortable. The uncontrollable itchiness makes it hard to heal, also, as resisting the urge to scratch can be very difficult.

    There are a number of good poison ivy remedies out there, but I love this one because it is super simple, very cheap to make and will last you a long time. It’s the kind of thing you can make a big batch of and leave in your medicine cabinet for years, always ready to use.

    It is a remedy that is best made ahead of time, but there’s also a quick shortcut if you need it on the spot, which I’ll include at the bottom. Let’s begin:

    Ingredients: 

    1 quart raw organic apple cider vinegar (you probably won’t use all of this)

    1-2 bunches fresh organic sage

    1-2 bunches fresh organic plantain herb

    1 quart mason jar with lid

    *A quick note on plantain: this herb (not to be confused with plantain fruit) is most commonly found growing in your yard rather than in your herb garden or grocery store, so to ensure you do have “organic”, pick some that you know has not been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides. If you can’t find any plantain, it can easily be omitted or replaced with an equal amount of sage if desired. 

    Directions: 

    1. Wash and dry your herbs, the chop roughly. You want to make sure every leaf is cut at least once, but it doesn’t have to be diced. You can also put them in a blender with a little apple cider vinegar to make sure the essential oils in the herbs are properly released.
    2. Stuff your herbs into the mason jar.
    3. Cover the herbs with the apple cider vinegar, making sure there are no air bubbles in between the leaves. You can ensure this by pressing down on the herbs with a wooden spoon, releasing any air bubbles (here’s the cheat if you need this ready faster: heat up your apple cider vinegar and then steep the herbs in the hot vinegar as you would tea, then proceed to step 5)
    4. Cover and store in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks.
    5. After your waiting period (or when the mixture has cooled, if you are doing the quick version), strain out the herbs and return to the jar, or a smaller jar if needed, for storage.
    6. Dab the mixture gently onto the infected area as needed, using a cotton ball or soft cotton cloth. This will sting a bit when applied, but it is incredibly effective!

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  • Household Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide

    Household Uses for Hydrogen Peroxide

    Every knows that hydrogen peroxide can be used as an antiseptic to treat wounds, but hydrogen peroxide can be used for more than just wound care.  Here is a brief list of other ways you can use this cheap, versatile, and safe product.

     

    Oral Care

    H202 (hydrogen peroxide) can be diluted with an equal amount of water and be used as a mouthwash to kill gingivitis and help with toothaches.  A bonus is that it will help whiten your teeth.  Don’t go overboard with this, though, using it too regularly can damage tooth enamel.

    Laundry Boost

    Do you remember the infomercials that sold cleaning products that used oxygen to lift stains?  H2O2 works similarly.  Just treat tough stains with it directly and wash them as usual, or add it to your load with the regular detergent for an added boost.

    Antifungal

    If you are living off grid then you are probably going to be wearing clothing more than once, maybe more than twice.  This could lead to fungal infections in your skin such as athlete’s feet, ring worm, and dandruff.  Along with changing out your clothing more frequently, as your resources allow, H2O2 can be diluted with equal parts water and rubbed on affected areas to kill the fungus.

    Sprouting

    Keeping your beans, grains, or seeds from molding while sprouting them can be difficult.  One way is to add an ounce of H2O2 to the water every day when you change it out.

    Shower Cleaner

    When less diluted, or even straight out of the bottle if necessary, H2O2 can help kill mold in the shower than lead to health issues.  It is much easier on the lungs of the person doing the cleaning, or those in the area, than bleach.  If you plan on using it in a spray bottle, make sure you use one that blocks out light, or that you put in the bottle just before use, as light will break down H2O2 and decrease its effectiveness.

     

    Hydrogen peroxide has been around for a long time, and has proven itself.  Keep yourself stocked up, since with so many uses you will be going through it quickly.

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