A manual for emergency medical surgery...surgery for dummies.

Can you imagine when the sh!t has hit the fan and all hospitals are abandoned after some months and a family member, a friend or yourself needs the appendix removed. Not doing so can be deathly ....what will you do? Ofcourse there is no MD around and you have no idea where to find one......I guess all you can do is pray.

This is just an example...it can be anything. I am aware that succesfully performing an open heart surgery with just a bottle of wiskey and a blunt knife will be out of the question but I belief that it is possible to save someones life if there is something like a surgery for dummies present.

There must be loads of experiance with MD's in emergency millitairy field surgery. Has anybody writen a book on such performances with basic tools. The emergency field hospital of today is probably equiped with tools to perform complicated surgery but that is not what I am after.

What I mean is a manual which is able to explain to a fairly intelligent person with no previous surgery experiance how to perform minor surgery....which can save somebody his life.

Originally posted by zatara
Can you imagine when the sh!t has hit the fan and all hospitals are abandoned after some months and a family member, a friend or yourself needs the appendix removed. Not doing so can be deathly ....what will you do? Ofcourse there is no MD around and you have no idea where to find one......I guess all you can do is pray.

This is just an example...it can be anything. I am aware that succesfully performing an open heart surgery with just a bottle of wiskey and a blunt knife will be out of the question but I belief that it is possible to save someones life if there is something like a surgery for dummies present.

There must be loads of experiance with MD's in emergency millitairy field surgery. Has anybody writen a book on such performances with basic tools. The emergency field hospital of today is probably equiped with tools to perform complicated surgery but that is not what I am after.

What I mean is a manual which is able to explain to a fairly intelligent person with no previous surgery experiance how to perform minor surgery....which can save somebody his life.

I for one even having a quick to guide or manuel, most likely could not remove someones
appendix.. There dead man!!

Maybe take out a bullet, make sure cuts do not get infected, put a shoulder back in place,
if someone needs a surgery in SHTF scenario, I consider it major if you have to open them up at all, they most likly they will die..

There is no quick to guide on heart surgery.. Or removing a bad kidney..

This reminds me of that part in Stephen King's "The Stand", where they had to perform and emergency appendectomy. What they did, because they were somewhat close to a town, was go to a doctor’s office and retrieve the medical literature and instruments. They then attempted the procedure. Did it work out? You gotta read the book!

As far as a "for dummies", I'd think that book would be quite big, considering all that could go wrong with our bodies, and geeze, the circumstaces that surround the issue too.

Cool idea though.

Well, this is available at Amazon.com

www.amazon.com...

Medical Handbook - US Army Special Forces Field Manual Guide
by Heartland GreatDeals

Originally posted by Juston
This reminds me of that part in Stephen King's "The Stand", where they had to perform and emergency appendectomy. What they did, because they were somewhat close to a town, was go to a doctor’s office and retrieve the medical literature and instruments. They then attempted the procedure. Did it work out? You gotta read the book!

Ahaha i was of exactly the same thing. That book is certainly his masterpiece.

reply to post by popsmcgee


I am no MD and have no idea what it takes to perform surgery but what I do know is that if there is a chance to save somebodies life or to let him die I will take that chance and I am sure that the patient will in most cases agree with me.

As I said in the OP complicated surgeries are most likely out of the question but removing an appendix must be do-able if you know where to find it in a human body. Ofcourse it would be a godsent if you have some anaesthetic and something against infection. But these are things you can buy before the shtf.....order them together with your manual.

Originally posted by davidchin
Well, this is available at Amazon.com

www.amazon.com...

Medical Handbook - US Army Special Forces Field Manual Guide
by Heartland GreatDeals

Thanks...I will most certainly check it out.

second line

Originally posted by zatara
reply to post by popsmcgee

 

I am no MD and have no idea what it takes to perform surgery but what I do know is that if there is a chance to save somebodies life or to let him die I will take that chance and I am sure that the patient will in most cases agree with me.

As I said in the OP complicated surgeries are most likely out of the question but removing an appendix must be do-able if you know where to find it in a human body. Ofcourse it would be a godsent if you have some anaesthetic and something against infection. But these are things you can buy before the shtf.....order them together with your manual.

edit on 8/9/2011 by zatara because: (no reason given)

If SHTF the sick who need certain meds will run out at some point taking into
consideration how long the SHTF for.. The sick will die, the injured will most likly die.

Yes it is a good idea to keep a stockpile of some supplies that would be your best hope,
and pray you do not get injured..

I for one would rather them put one in my head before an unqualified person disected me..
That is just me..

Sorry, but you are not being realistic.

MDs go to school for extensive training for at least 8 yrs before they even begin to practice basic medicine. They then have what, two or more years on-the-job training before being considered worthy of actually performing surgery?

Removing an appendix may be thought of as a routine procedure, but it is anything but simple. Do you even know where it is? Do you know what it looks like? Even with a detailed diagram, if you managed to cut open the abdomen in the right place, get through all the layers (without nicking the intestine that would lead to a slow and painful death)....odds are you wouldnt be able to find it amid all the slimy, writhing mass. Even if you DID locate if due to it being enlarged, making it more obvious (it would still be tiny)..then what? if you didn't do everything exactly right, they would die of massive infection, bleeding or shock. They would HAVE to be sedated. It's not like chopping of a limb...nothing quick about it. It is a delicate procedure taking at least half an hour in ideal conditions with a trained professional. If you didn't tie it off right, cut it right, clean out the abdominal cavity right, suture it up right...they would die.

backing this up....how would you even diagnose it? Quite often, ER's will get it wrong. The best way to tell is with an elevated white blood cell count, in conjuncture with presenting pain and a cat scan. even then they find a normal looking appendix.

Yes...this is just an example, but I want to paint a more accurate picture. I think some movies of late have given a very misleading impression.

Like another poster said: There are books on field medicine that include stopping bleeding, suturing, amputations, etc. Surgeries however are a completely different ball park. So no, I do NOT think there is or should be a book for it. you would be better off learning about different medicines. What they do, what they look like and dosage. They already have books for this. Even better: natural medicine....it might be all that is available.

probably the only 'surgery' that could be successfully performed by someone without training, would be to pull an abcessed tooth. Even then, without the correct antibiotics, they may not recover. People used to die all the time from tooth infections and kidney stones. Antibiotics and medication to help push stones through are the best bet....

There is a difference between emergency medicine and surgery. You can even take classes on learning some of the skills for emergency medicine or become an EMT (my certification)...where we learn how to use a few life-saving drugs.

reply to post by westcoast


I take it you are a MD?

The stuff you mentioned is exactly what I need to read in such a manual...thanks.

Why do you think there is this...

Medical Handbook - US Army Special Forces Field Manual Guide
by Heartland GreatDeals

Writen for unrealistic people?

Dont look at me....
I'll go boil you water or tear up sheets...
Okay so maybe I have set a leg before splinted a broken arm...

but if your talking about picking up a scalpel... oh no... not me... I'll hold the book open for you

reply to post by DaddyBare


Last year I did purchase some suture needles and suture thread for my "emergency box". I was thinking that if I had too I could sew somebody up but hey.............. that remains to be seen. I'm one of those people who only has to hear somebody barfing and Im barfing too so God help anyone I have to sew up one day.

reply to post by zatara


What a great idea for a book. Survival surgery for dummies. Wow. I'd buy it in a heartbeat for my brothers.

Originally posted by DaddyBare
Dont look at me....
I'll go boil you water or tear up sheets...
Okay so maybe I have set a leg before splinted a broken arm...

but if your talking about picking up a scalpel... oh no... not me... I'll hold the book open for you

I understand that it is scary to open up somebody up but are you as an indian not afraid to take a scalpel

No but serious..I notice that a lot of people rather choose to die than for the "surgery by novice" option. I am aware that there are risks involved and maybe you will die because of infection anyway. But these things happen in a hospital too...

Let me clear that I said in the OP the surgery will be performed by a fairly inteligent person and not by a clumsy moron.

I think that when most people who are cry babies now will choose for the surgery last than to die. If you do not like the stitches we can always discuss death by bullet later.

Just out of curiousity, can you explain to me why you started your own thead when you found info about ditch emergecy surgery? Is that how it works on ATS that when you have valuable info for a thread to start your own on the subject? Maybe that is a good idea.....when somebody is in need of emergency surgery..

reply to post by zatara


there are limits to what I will and wont do...

But due to my combat and other life experiences I have a touch of PTSD and one of my triggers is blood....
funny I can still dress field dress an animal but when it comes to people... I don't trust myself not to have a flash backs and remember that horrible time when my son took a shotgun blast to his cheat and bleed to death in my arms....

no I am not the guy you want working on you in that situation.... best to know and live with your own limitations... knowing what you can and cant do saves lives too