Book Review: Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd ed.

This free to download book is a joint effort of about a dozen semi-anonymous medical professionals. Despite the fact that it's self-published and written by amateur writers, it’s the best book I’ve seen dealing with medical care in a SHTF situation. Unlike some of the wilderness medicine books that assume help is a helicopter ride away, Survival and Austere Medicine assumes there’s no help coming and tailors its advice to situations where self-care is the only option.

Pros:
1) Useful for both laymen and medical professionals and it usually points out that a procedure is too advanced for someone without formal medical training to perform.
2) The book covers many of the conditions and diseases likely to be encountered in a SHTF situation
3) Detailed assessment and examination instructions
4) A detailed list of recommended medical supplies is given
5) Debunks a few prepper myths such as maggot therapy which results in a 75% mortality rate unless the maggots are sterile

Cons:
1) It wouldn’t hurt to have more detail on the symptoms of diseases. I’ve found this to be an issue with other prepper medical books. Web MD and the Mayo Clinic website do a better job of describing symptoms
2) Book could have used better editing
3) Chapter on veterinary medicine appears out of place

Just Strange
1) The authors seem to be infatuated with rectal rehydration which is discussed in several sections

This is definitely a book worth downloading, and, if you are prepping for a grid down situation, printing out, although the 600+ pages will probably cost you $50 or more to print at a print shop.

Here’s the download address:
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3b311...a4d441b662.pdf

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Book Review: Survival and Austere Medicine, 3rd ed.