Most emergencies — in fact, none of them so far — are a world-ending apocalypse. Many emergencies come in one-family size, in fact. When the situation is medical, one of the surprisingly hard things can be deciding if it *is* an emergency. Not always of course. When someone’s bleeding all over, you know you need to stop it Now. But what if someone just ‘feels funny’ all of a sudden? When is it ok for someone who had a fall to ‘just walk it off’? Many people turn to “Dr. Internet” for help with these questions. This can work, but there are some pitfalls to avoid.
Why is this on a prepper website? Salty and I have made no secret of the fact that we think knowledge is more important than Stuff when it comes to prepping. It helps to have a plan and be efficient when you want good information in a hurry.
Why would anyone ask Dr. Internet instead of a Real doctor?
Official advice is always “consult your physician”. And as far as getting reliable answers goes, it’s great advice. I myself am not a physician, so can’t give medical advice, great or otherwise. But I do know the reality of the situation.
Asking questions of real physicians is Expensive. It’s triply expensive if you need an answer in a hurry. Money, time, lost work…it’s an option we often simply can’t afford.
Dr. Internet is nearly free. And it knows practically everything.
The problem with Dr. Internet
Dr. Internet can be a lot like Dr. Jekyll. It can save your bacon, or triple your grief. The problem isn’t ignorance; it’s abundance.
Dr. Internet holds all the right answers. And all the wrong answers. As a bonus, you get Piles and Piles of irrelevant answers. The hard part is finding the first, blowing off the second, and ignoring all the rest.
A case in point: Consulting Dr. Internet
Suppose one chilly day your hands looked like this:
Oh No, my fingers turned white! What’s Wrong?
Wow, that’s kinda weird! Is it dangerous? A sign of a worse problem? Or just a curiosity? Let’s ask Dr. Internet! Type “White fingers” into a search engine, and what comes up?
This being a very distinctive phenomenon, all the top hits agree that it’s a case of Raynaud’s syndrome. Also agreed: it’s from excessive constriction of blood vessels. Cold makes it worse.
Then ole Dr. Internet starts to waffle. One of the top five links from my search emphasizes how holding vibrating schools can cause it. Another wants to talk about how it’s secondary to other disease like lupus. Most of them admit there’s no clear cause.
Ah, but is it dangerous; and what should be done? You’re only a few clicks away from all kinds of suggestions. Here’s six different drug treatments. Try this surgery. Take these supplements. Wear these special “Raynaud’s protection gloves”. Because they’re paid ads, many of these suggestions appear high on the search list. Other places are more chill, claiming it’s not that big a deal.
How to sort Dr. Internet’s wheat from its chaff
The truth is that anybody with an internet connection can say about anything on the net…and some of them do. The key is finding reliable information.
I have two questions about sources: Are they themselves well informed? Are they motivated to share the best information on the net?
The first test isn’t hard to pass. Medical information is freely published. Just stay away from blogs and enthusiasts of whatever’s trendy at the moment. E if a particular diet makes you feel great, not every health claim made in its honor is true.
The most obvious bad motivation is money. People who want to sell you things often want to make you as afraid as possible. Fear makes you willing to shell out for their protections. Or they overstate the values of what they’re hawking while not bothering to point out contra-indications. Sometimes there’s political or cultural bias (looking at you, anti-vax sites) too.
Some prime choices on Dr. Internet
To save time and effort, I’ve found a couple of places that are my ‘go-to’ spots for reliable information. My criteria were: 1) Written by people who know a whale of a lot about medicine. The organizations that sponsor these websites really do attract the top people in the field. 2) The sponsoring organization’s best interest lies in providing the best information. Why? The best asset both of these places have is their professional reputation. They value their reputations far more than they value drumming up a little more business.
When all the facts on any condition aren’t roaming around in my brain, I go to sites run by the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins Hospital. They’ve both got Wonderful reputations in the medical field. They both sponsor public outreach sites that are comprehensive and easy to use. As a nice test, what they say is in line with the “best information in the field” I’ve collected from everywhere from my own college courses to the most recent medical literature.
Obviously, neither the Mayo Clinic nor Johns Hopkins know I exist, much less sponsor us in any way. I just like them.
Your own choices may vary, but I hope this gives you a better feel for how to consider knowledge and motivation as sift through Dr. Internet’s. Check out his pile of good, bad, and indifferent to find the gems. Oh… In case you were worried about the Raynaud’s thing? Both Mayo and Johns Hopkins point out for most people it’s no more than an inconvenience, needing no more treatment than maybe putting on gloves in the cold.
In treating any injury to the hand and fingers, regardless of cause, one of the first things that has to go is that ring. It needs to come off, preferably the normal way, but cut off if swelling has already started. Failure to remove the ring with swelling present, allows that ring to act as a finger tourniquet. Eventually, in an austere setting, the finger tissues will become necrotic and gangrene is a possibility. Plus, it is very painful to the patient. Patients will squawk about cutting their ring off, but a simple explanation why usually calms them down a bit. If you make a clean cut, any competent jeweler can repair the ring.
Ring cutters are available at many on-line medical gear suppliers and not terribly expensive. Any prepper with a good sized medical kit, should have one with spare blades. For an example cutter (just picked at random, not a specific recommendation). https://www.amazon.com/Healthstar-Emergency-Paramedics-Stainless-Protection/dp/B076MBP1BP/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=ring+cutter&qid=1575289375&sr=8-11
When I was a paramedic, I did have to cut a ring off a couple of times. On one it was easy as swelling was still minimal, but the other was harder because swelling was pronounced. I removed many other rings the normal way, and a little KY did the trick when necessary. And NO, you are not allowed to keep the ring as payment.
I hear ya, Zulu. We keep a ring saw at home, as we learned the need after I damaged a finger playing my sport and we had to get the ring off before things started falling off of me. We’re now unlikely to need the saw again, as I’ve started wearing a silicone wedding ring instead. Safer, given my habits of playing hard and working with power tools.