I have a book, "Desert Survival Skills" written by David Alloway. A few years ago, after reading the book, I Googled him and found a web page that said he had died of an infection contracted when a horse stepped on his foot far from medical attention. I have since then wondered whether to carry antibiotics in my first aid kit.

After further sniffing around I wondered which antibiotic I should carry. I'm a little fuzzy on the differences but there are scads of antibiotics. There are those that work on gram negative bacteria, those that work on aerobic bacteria, those that work only on some particular infections and those that work only on Tuesdays. Some also can have quite serious side-effects (see the link below for more).

My girlfriend seems to keep Cipro stashed somewhere for some eventuality. Probably because she heard the name at the peak of the anthrax scare in 2001. But what if you are trying to prepare should you get stranded somewhere and then get infected? It seems I would want to protect myself against diarrhea and also against whatever might infect a wound for example. I suppose, ultimately, I'll ask my doctor but I would like to some more knowledge so I know what to ask for (if it is indeed a good idea).

Anybody have any thoughts on this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_classes