How to Prepare for Dental and Medical Emergencies When the SHTF (Stuff Hits the Fan)

During a natural disaster, the majority of medical clinics and dental offices have a set of procedures they follow to help the injured quickly and efficiently. These procedures are put in place using guidelines outlined by medical and dental associations and the staff at these clinics should be trained to handle any emergency including a natural disaster.

How Can you Handle Medical Emergencies on Your Own?

It’s possible that some of your family members might become seriously injured during a natural or manmade disaster, and it will be up to you to keep them alive or at least comfortable until help can arrive. You should already know how to handle minor injuries and keep a first aid kit on hand at all times, but what do you do if you have a serious injury?

Unless you have medical training, the most you can do is stop any bleeding by using torn clean rags and wrap them above the injury; this helps to stop the flow of blood to the injured area. If you can, try to protect the area from dirt getting into the wound and lay the affected person down or seat them in a comfortable position.

If your patient has a concussion, you must not let them fall into a deep sleep; you have to wake them every 20 minutes to keep them from falling into a potential coma. Wrap them in blankets to avoid shock and give them pain medications like Advil or Tylenol to help with any pain.

How Can You Handle Dental Emergencies?

It is not advised to perform any at home dental surgery or care, but if one of your family members suffers from an infection or swelling of the gums, there are a few things you can do. You can administer cold cloths from water bottles you have handy to help with the swelling, if you have ice on hand, use ice to take away the pain and swelling. Also, give them Advil or Aleve to help bring the swelling down.

The idea of any of these tips is to keep the patient calm and in as much comfort as you can until you can get them to professional medical or dental help. It is not advisable to perform dental surgery, unless you know what you are doing.