Hi everyone,

Been a while since I have been on this forum and can see it is very active.

I am a doctor here in Vancouver Canada. I have been watching CNN who had a seismic doc on who talked about increased risk for other areas on the pacific ring of fire, including the west coast of BC, stating that it is more likely than not that a large earthquake would hit our west coast now given Japans.

My go bag is hopelessly out of date, especially with a 2 year old here now, and I will be updating this for warmth, shelter, and water purification (considering looking to see if RO filters can convert seawater to drinkable water, not sure if this is possible).

For meds, I am thinking appropriate antibiotics for gastrointestinal infections, including parasitic, and respiratory antibiotics as well. For those with a medicine background, thinking ciprofloxacin for me and my wife, sulfa (bactrim) for me and my wife and my son (both for GI, and sulfa can cover parasitic bugs as well, safe for the son). Amoxicillin with clavulanic acid in dosing for both kids and adults.

Thinking SSKI or KI pills for radiation (highly unlikely anything from Japan would reach here).

Hydration salts (non prescription of course).

Antidiarrheals, antiemetics (nausea), pain killers.

That's all I can think of. Anything I might be missing?

Eric

Welcome back - An edc med for me is ibuprofen or similar pain killer/ anti inflammatory

teacher

Eric ... I'll get back to you here and post some general meds that we carry in our bags when we are working overseas. Basic stuff. Everyone here is welcome to look at the list.

Can I ask you a couple of questions? This might turn out to be research for you - but it would be helpful if you could report back to the forum on these issues.

PAIN MEDS: This is a big problem for people who are working overseas in remote areas, or in disaster zones. There are situations where both local people, and volunteers, could have accidents that create a lot of pain. Evacuation might be delayed and could take a long time. Probably no need to tell you that Tylenol and Aspirin are not going to do the trick for people with very high levels of pain. One option is codeine, which is legal as an over-the-counter drug in some countries (it is a controlled substance in others). Otherwise, it appears that the advanced painkillers are all derivatives of opiate drugs and are highly controlled (morphine, oxycodone etc.). If you come across any other options for pain relief, please post them.

RADIOACTIVITY: I'm hearing a lot on the press about Japan giving "iodine" to people who have some risk of exposure to radioactivity. This is a totally new area for me - I am not familiar with this treatment at all. Can you check and find out what form the iodine is actually in, and whether there are any possible complications from using it? That would be helpful to know.

thanks for your inputs,
other Pete

Hi Pete

For pain, no, I have not come across options other than opiates or codeine. Codeine is over the counter in small doses in Canada (Tylenol 1) but adequate doses for pain without too much acetaminophen from the tylenol would require a prescription. Moot point if codeine is controlled in most countries.

Radioactivity: going by memory it is potassium iodide. The iodide saturates the thyroid preventing thyroid uptake of radioactive iodide. I don't believe iodine used in water purification would work unless it was reduced to the colorless form with vitamin c, but then dosing is hard.

As for my med list, forgot to include allergies, including benadryl, prednisone (prescription), and epi pens.

Eric

I concure on KI being a no-go for water purification, it is too stable a compound.

Also, for KI to really work, it already has to be in your system and replacing the normal form of iodine in your thyroid. And you can only take it for limited duration. The real trick is getting solid numbers for both- it seems to vary, 3-4 for pretreat and 15-30 days for negative effects, in the various materials I've read. It's better than nothing, but it's really only looking after you thyroid.

Eric, short of Rx items, what are you thinking for an antihistamine?

you might try the YouTube vids by The Patriot Nurse

While a bit beyond me, there seems an extended discussion of emergency meds [and everything else first aid] here:

http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post217217

If you Know someone that,Visits Mexico on a Daily/Weekly basis,there is the Possibility they can obtain Meds,Of which are Not Obtainable Here in the States,Same Goes for Canada,They sell things there,That are Not sold here.This is Only a Suggestion,& I am Not Advocating Anything Illegal!YMMV!

A few more things to consider.

Sticking with Over the Counter (OTC) medicines limits things a lot (for us non-medical types). Most of what follows is for those without general access to prescription medicines.

With that in mind make sure you have any prescription meds you need with you, at least a week supply.

If you have severe allergies keep some fast melt Benadryl (or equivalent) on hand along with Zantac (or equivalent) and your epi-pens. The Zantac was recommended by my wife's doctor since it is a histamine blocker and works well with benadryl. If you don't have professional help handy immediately for an anaphylactic reaction these meds can buy you a fair bit of time.

Benadryl also makes most people sleepy so while it isn't a pain med it might help take the edge off if OTC pain meds aren't enough.

Aspirin has lots of uses, even if not as a primary pain med so you should have some along.

A little saline has a lot of uses (eye wash, wound wash, sinus wash etc.).

Not really a medicine but pedialite (and the generic versions) now have powder you can add to water. Very good for dealing with dehydration.

Thats what comes immediately to mind.

- Eric

Eric ... I think that my standard list of meds is on my computer at work. I'll bring it home and try to send it to you tonight.

This is a good time for me to brush up on this area anyway - I am always trying to improve what's on this list of meds. Thanks for your answers to the questions above!!

Watch for a PM from me.

other Pete