United States Air Force: Survival Medicine

Objective:Know basic survival

medical procedures, treatments, and prevention measures when faced with medical encounters

The Elements of SurvivingMedical EncountersHealth RequirementRules for Avoiding IllnessMedical Emergencies

Goals of a SurvivorThe two fundamental goals of

a survivor:

Maintain LifeReturn

And in survival medicine, the goals have not changed

Survivor Medicine: The BasicsThe most frequent injuries are

fractures, strains, sprains, and dislocations, as well as burns and other types of wounds.

Many survivors have difficulty in treating injuries and illness due to the lack of training and medical supplies.

Injuries and illnesses complicated certain environments can reduce survival expectancy.

Survivor Medicine: The BasicsSurvival medicine encompasses procedures and expedients that are:Required and available for the preservation of health and the prevention, improvement, or treatment of injuries and illness encountered during survival.Suitable for application by nonmedical personnel in the circumstances of the survival situation.Survival medicine is more than first aid in the conventional sense…why?

Survivor Medicine: Hygene In a survival situation,

cleanliness is essential to prevent infection. Adequate personal cleanliness will not only protect against disease germs that are present in individual’s surroundings, but will also protect the group by reducing the spread of these germs.

The principal means of infecting food and open wounds is contact with unclean hands

Why the feet?

Survivor Medicine: HygeneSoap, although an aid, is not essential

to keeping clean. Ashes, sand, and fertile soil may be used to clean the body and cooking utensils.

Hair provides a surface for the attachment of parasites and the growth of bacteria. Hence, it should be kept trimmed.

Survivor Medicine: Rest

Rest is necessary for the survivor because it not only restores physical and mental energy, but also promotes healing during an illness or after an injury.

If possible, regular rest periods should be planned in each day’s activities.

Survivor Medicine: General RulesAll water obtained from natural

sources should be purified before consumption.

The ground in the camp area should not be soiled with waste.

After each meal, all eating utensils should be cleaned and disinfected in boiling water.

Remove and bury all food scraps, cans, and garbage.

A survivor should get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.

Survivor Medicine: BreathingBreathing Problems. Any one of the following can cause airway difficulty, resulting in stopped breathing:

Foreign matter in the mouth or throat that blocks the opening to the trachea.

Face or neck injuries. Inflammation and swelling of mouth

and throat caused by inhaling smoke, flames, and irritating vapors or by an allergic reaction.

Kink in throat or tongue blocks passage of air to the lungs upon unconsciousness.

Survivor Medicine: BleedingSevere bleeding from any major

blood vessel in the body is extremely dangerous.

The loss of 1 liter of blood will produce moderate symptoms of shock.

The loss of 2 liters will produce a severe state of shock that places the body in extreme danger.

The loss of 3 liters is usually fatal. In a survival situation, you must

control serious bleeding immediately because replacement fluids normally are not available

Survivor Medicine: Arterial Bleeding

Blood vessels called arteries carry blood away from the heart and through the body.

A cut artery issues bright red blood from the wound in distinct spurts or pulses that correspond to the rhythm of the heartbeat.

Arterial bleeding is the most serious type of bleeding. If not controlled promptly, it can be fatal.

Survivor Medicine: Venous BleedingVenous blood is blood that is

returning to the heart through blood vessels called veins

A steady flow of dark red, maroon, or bluish blood, characterizes bleeding from a vein.

You can usually control venous bleeding more easily than arterial bleeding.

Survivor Medicine: Capillary Bleeding

The capillaries are the extremely small vessels that connect the arteries with the veins. Most commonly occurs in minor cuts and scrapes.

Survivor Medicine: Stop the Bleeding You can control external bleeding

by direct pressure, indirect (pressure points) pressure, elevation, digital legation, or tourniquet.

Survivor Medicine: ShockShock (intense stress reaction) is

not a disease in itself. It is a clinical condition characterized by symptoms that arise when cardiac output is not enough to fill the arteries with blood under enough pressure to provide an adequate blood supply to the organs and tissues.

Treatment consists of stopping all activities (when possible), relaxing, evaluating the situation, water, and formulating a plan of action

Survivor Medicine: FracturesThere are basically two types of

fractures: open and closed. With an open (or compound) fracture, the bone protrudes through the skin and complicates the actual fracture with an open wound.

The closed fracture has no open wounds. Immobilize, set and splint the fracture.

The signs and symptoms of a fracture are pain, tenderness, discoloration, swelling deformity, loss of function, and grating.

You can make an improvised traction splint using natural material

Survivor Medicine: The BasicsThe accidental over stretching of a

tendon or ligament causes sprains.The signs and symptoms are pain,

swelling, tenderness, and discoloration (black and blue).

When treating sprains, think RICE:

R - Rest injured area. I - Ice for 24 hours, then heat after

that.C - Compression wrapping and/or

splinting to help stabilize. E - Elevation of the affected area.

Survivor Medicine: Snakebites

Deaths from snakebites are rare. More than one-half of the snakebite victims have little or no poisoning, and only about one-quarter develop serious systemic poisoning.

Before you start treating snakebite, determine whether the snake was poisonous or nonpoisonous. Bites from a poisonous snake may have rows of teeth showing, but will have one or more distinctive puncture marks caused by fang penetration.

Survivor Medicine: Heatstroke

The breakdown of the body’s heat regulatory system (body temperature more than 40.5ºC [105ºF]) causes a heatstroke.

Signs and symptoms of heatstroke are swollen, beet-red face, reddened whites of eyes, victim not sweating, and unnatural paleness or absence of color in the skin, a bluish color to lips and nail beds, and cool skin.

Survivor Medicine: HypothermiaDefined as the body’s failure to

maintain a temperature of 36ºC (97ºF).

Exposure to cool or cold temperature over a short or long time can cause hypothermia.

Gradually warm the hypothermia victim. Get the victim into dry clothing. Replace lost fluid, and warm him.

United States Air Force: Survival Medicine

Objective:Know basic survival

medicine procedures, treatments, and prevention measures when faced with medical encounters