About the Author

Sherry Legge has been a Physical Therapist since 1979. Very early in her career, due to some medical problems of her own, she realized that traditional medicine did not have all of the answers. In her life, pharmaceutical medications had caused some irreparable damage and caused her years of suffering. She began to explore holistic therapies and was treated by a pioneering Medical Doctor in Pennsylvania that changed her life and her husband’s life dramatically using homeopathic remedies, herbal and vitamin supplements, and alternative treatments. Realizing that there was a vast amount of knowledge that was not being utilized by MD’s to treat chronic diseases, it became her mission in life to learn about these treatments and share them with others. Believing in a mind/body connection, she went to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh for a Master’s Degree in Psychology. After moving from Pennsylvania back to their home state of Virginia, she and her husband, David, opened up a holistic therapy clinic and a chain of 3 health food stores. Her husband started a radio talk show called “The Health and Nutrition Show” in the local Virginia Beach area which broadcast for 5 years. This show helped to enlighten the entire area and gave David a wealth of knowledge by bringing on expert guests from all over the country. In 2001, they moved to Florida and started a brokerage representing numerous nutritional supplement companies, expanding their knowledge and expertise in the Natural Products Industry. In 2014, with a partner, they started One Planet Nutrition, LLC to bring high quality supplements to the market. Sherry wrote this book to share knowledge about natural supplements and treatment, combining first aid with natural supplements as an adjunct to Emergency Care if available. This book is intended to be the first in a series of books to bring their knowledge to as many people as possible. Over the years, Sherry and David have watched the gradual acceptance and knowledge of the general public about natural products and alternative, holistic treatments. Many medical professionals are embracing natural treatments, and by combining them with traditional treatment, health care is improving dramatically.

Introduction

This book has been written to provide useful information that may be instrumental in saving your life or the life of someone you love in the event of an emergency. The information is designed as a reference guide that is easy to read and to access in order to assist you with preparing for and dealing with an emergency medical situation. It is not intended to replace any medical assistance that is available. However, during an emergency situation medical help may not be available due to a variety of reasons such as distance to the nearest hospital, gasoline shortages, road conditions, overwhelmed emergency response teams, lack of funds, etc. Therefore, whatever information and supplies that you have on hand might save your life or keep you alive until you can get the help that you need. Also, if you are prepared, you may be able to prevent problems from occurring such as dehydration and infection. Emergency situations may be personal or public and vary in intensity and duration ranging from a temporary power outage and loss of water due to a storm or to a long term loss of all infrastructure as would happen in an EMP attack or a long term financial crisis such as the Great Depression of 1929. In the case of a long term crisis, most people will be caught unprepared and this will result in unnecessary loss of life. The length and type of emergency situation will dictate the type of supplies and the amount of supplies that will be needed. This manual is designed to assist everyone in assessing and treating life threatening situations. Even if emergency assistance is available, in some situations, it may take too long for the Rescue Squad to get there. Sometimes, early intervention makes the difference between life and death, and could prevent serious complications. It is time for everyone to take personal responsibility for their own life and health. This manual is one tool to do just that in one area of your life that can be critical. It is recommended to read the manual one time all the way through prior to having an emergency situation. This will give you some valuable knowledge and help you to feel more confident should you ever need to use it. When reading it for the first time, you will realize that much of the information is redundant. That is because if you need it, all of the information for a particular problem is located in one area or a reference is made to another section if needed so that the information is easily obtained. References are available for each section at the end of the book.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

I. Assessing the Emergency Situation 2

A. Assessing the Environment 2

B. Assessing the Emergency Victim 3

C. Assessing the Vital Signs 8

1. Blood Pressure 8

2. Pulse (Heart Rate and Rhythm) 9

3. Oxygen Levels 10

4. Temperature 11

5. Blood Sugar 12

6. pH 13

II. Pulmonary (Lungs) Problems 15

A.Choking 15

Heimlich Technique 15

B.Near Drowning 18

C.Asthma Attacks 20

D.Allergic Anaphylactic Reactions 22

E. Drug Overdose 25

F. Pneumonia 27

III. Cardiovascular Problems 28

A.Heart Attack (Cardiac Arrest) 28

Symptoms of a Heart Attack 29

1. Without loss of Consciousness 29

2. With Loss of Consciousness 31

CPR Steps-CAB (Compressions, Airway, Breathing 32

Using an AED 33

B. Cerebrovascular Accident - Stroke 34

1. Severity of Strokes 34

2. Symptoms of a Stroke 35 F.A.S.T. 36

3. Two types of Strokes 36

4. Treatment for Strokes 37

C. Shock 38

1. Symptoms of Shock 38

2. Types/Causes of Shock 38

3. Treatment for Shock 39

a. General Treatment 39

b. Septic Shock 40

c. Anaphylactic Shock 41

d. Cardiogenic Shock 43

e. Hypovolemic Shock 44

f. Neurogenic Shock 47

IV. Neurological Problems 48

A.Brain Anoxia 48

B.Spinal Cord/Nerve Injury 50

1. Assessing Spinal Cord Injury 50

2. Treatment for Spinal Cord/Nerve Injury 50

C. Seizures 53

1. Type/Severity of Seizures 53

2. Treatment for Seizures 54

First Aid for Seizures 56

D. Fainting 57

1. Causes of Fainting 57

2. Treatment for Fainting 57

V. Head Injuries 59

A. Types of Traumatic Brain Injuries 59

B. Glasgow Coma Scale 60

C. Treatment of Head Injuries 62

VI. Wounds 64

A.Open Wounds with Bleeding 64

1. Treatment for Arterial Bleeding 65

2. Treatment for Venous Bleeding 67

3. Treatment for Capillary Wounds 69

B.Treatment depending on depth of the Wound 69

C.Treatment depending on location of the Wound 70

D.Penetrating Objects 71

E. Signs of Infection of the Wounds 73

F. Treatment of Infection of Wounds 74

G.Closed Wounds with bruising and swelling 75

1. Closed Abdominal Injuries 75

2. Signs of Internal Bleeding 76

3. Treatment for Internal Bleeding 77

VII. Thermal Injuries 78

A. Excessive Heat Injuries (Burns & Hyperthermia) 78

1. Assess the Thermal Injury 78

a. Types of Heat Injuries 78

b. Depth of the Burns 78

c. Size of the Burns 79

2. Treating Burns 79

3. Hyperthermia 82

a. Stages of Dehydration 83

b. Treatment for Hyperthermia 83

B. Cold Injuries (Hypothermia and Frostbite) 85

1. Hypothermia 85

2. Stages of Frostbite 85

3. Assess and Treat the Cold Injury 86

VIII. Bone and Joint Injuries 88

A.Types of Fractures 88

1. Open Fractures 88

2. Closed Fractures 88

B.Assessment and Treatment of Fractures 90

C.Assessment and Treatment of Joint & Muscle Sprains/Strains 93

IX. Poisoning 96

A.Treating Poisonous Animals/Insects 96

1. Poisonous Spiders 96

2. Snake Bites 100

3. Poisonous Red Ants 104

4. Bees and Wasps 106

5. Jellyfish Stings 109

B.Treatment for Poisonous Plants/Mushrooms 110

1. Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac 110

a. Treatment for contact with Poisonous Plants 110

2. Ingestion of Poisonous Mushrooms 111

3. Ingestion of Poisonous Berries and Herbs 113

C.Ingesting Toxic Substances 115

1. Inhaling Toxic Gases 116

2. Drug Overdose 116

3. Petroleum Based Products (Hydrocarbons) 118

a. Additional Treatment for Hydrocarbons 121

D. Food Poisoning 122

X. Acute Infections 124

A. General Guidelines for treating Infections 125

B. Treating different types of Infections 127

1. Upper Respiratory 127

2. Gastrointestinal 128

3. Urinary Tract 129

4. Eye & Ear 129

5. Skin 129

6. Teeth & Mouth 130

XI. References 131