Disclaimer. I am not a licensed health
practitioner. This is just another post on an item you might wish to
have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your
family as best as possible. No medication, including those available
over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician.
Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes
only. It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical
care. A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should
be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.
(First published 8 January 2019)
A lot of what I write about on Tuesdays concerns the supplies you
want to have on hand to let a licensed professional care for your family
should the need arise. We see what has happened in the past when
economies collapse or war breaks out, and we see what is happening in
Venezuela right now. They still have some physicians who haven't left
the country, but supplies are virtually non-existent.
However,
because we Americans have been taught that only physicians and nurses
should be providing care for anything more serious than simple scrapes
and common colds, many don't have a clear understanding of various
supplies and their uses. Today I want to focus on the different
solutions used for cleaning skin and wounds.
Rubbing alcohol
is used to disinfect instruments and skin and to make liniments. It is
commonly available in 50%, 70%, and 91% solutions. You must have a
minimum of 70% for sterilization and disinfection. And of course, 91%
is dual purpose since it can also be used as a cooking fuel. However,
and it seems counterintuitive, a 70% solution is more effective at
disinfecting than the 91% solution. Water is needed to carry the
alcohol into the bacteria to kill the bacteria. A 91% solution of
alcohol evaporates faster and has less water to carry the alcohol into the
bacteria. (And it's much more expensive.) Alcohol does not inactivate
some viruses (hydrophilic viruses like polio and Coxsackie). Alcohol
pads and hand sanitizer are
generally 60-70% alcohol.
Rubbing alcohol should never be used in a wound, only around a wound for cleaning. Using alcohol in a wound kills healthy cells and can delay or prevent healing. Dr. Cynthia Koelker, author of Armageddon Medicine, recommends storing two 16-oz bottles of rubbing alcohol for a family. Store one box of 200 pads as well.
Hydrogen peroxide
is commonly available in a 3% solution. It is always in a brown bottle
because it is degraded by light. Even with being in a brown bottle, it
still only has a six month shelf life once it's opened. Hydrogen
peroxide can be used to sterilize surgical tools and is effective
against viruses, bacteria, and yeasts. It is environmentally safe as it
degrades to form oxygen and water. It has historically been used for
disinfecting wounds; it's been a staple of home first aid cabinets for
years, and is still used in developing countries because it is cheap and
readily available. But it kills newly formed tissue and induces
scarring. It should never be used in a wound, only around a wound for cleaning. For family medical preparedness purposes, Dr. Koelker advises storing one 16-oz bottle.
Chlorhexidine (Hibiclens)
is a disinfectant and antiseptic used to sterilize surgical tools and
disinfect the skin before surgery. It is on WHO's List of Essential
Medicines and is available over-the-counter. More effective than
povidone iodine, and certainly more expensive, it is not effective
against poliovirus or adenovirus. It has recently started being used in
poor countries for cleaning umbilical cords in newborns and has been shown to
reduce the neonatal death rate by 12%. Do not allow chlorhexidine to get
into the ears as it can damage hearing. One 16-oz bottle should be
sufficient for family medical needs in a long-term collapse of society.
Povidone iodine (or iodopovidone, Betadine),
most commonly available in a 10% solution, is used to disinfect the
skin of the patient and the providers' hands prior to surgeries or
procedures, and is also used to clean umbilical cords. Like
chlorhexidine, it is also on WHO's List of Essential Medicines and
is available over the counter. It is used to disinfect and clean around minor wounds, never in.
When diluted to 2.5% (one part of the 10% solution to three parts
water), it can be used to disinfect medical instruments. Instruments
should soak for 15 minutes. Some evidence suggests that alcohol and
chlorhexidine are
better than povidone iodine for pre-operative skin cleaning.
Povidone
iodine is not to
be used on burns or puncture wounds, nor is it to be used with people
allergic to iodine or seafood. In an emergency, an iodine wipe can be
dropped into a bottle of water and used to make a disinfecting
solution. Store one 16-oz bottle per family or a box of 100 prep pads.
Benzalkonium chloride (BZK, BAK, BAC) is
active against bacteria, some viruses, fungi, and, unlike all the other
solutions, protozoa. It is the preferred solution when dealing with
animal bites as it has been shown effective against rabies. (In an
emergency, if you are dealing with an animal bite, drop a BZK wipe into a
bottle of water to make a disinfecting solution. Irrigate with this
for ten minutes, and then irrigate with plain clean water.) It is more
effective than alcohol, doesn't dry out the skin like alcohol, and isn't
messy like povidone iodine. It's one of the active ingredients of
Bactine. Like all the other disinfecting solutions above, it is used
for cleaning around a wound, never in. It is ideal for prepping before
inserting a catheter and the safest for using around the eyes, but
should not be allowed to get into eyes. It is available in wipes and is
the skin prep of choice for wounds received in water because it will
kill protozoa. Larger groups may include a box of BZK wipes in their
supplies. In our family, we all carry two BZK wipes in our boo-boo
kits; more in the larger kits.
Clean water is
actually one of the best things for irrigating a wound and removing
debris. However, irrigating does not mean pouring water over or
swishing in a basin. Irrigating a wound is done with decent water
pressure that is achieved using a needle-less syringe, a water bladder,
or a peri bottle (like those the hospital sends home with new mothers).
Sterile saline is used for irrigating debris out of the eyes and irrigating and washing wounds around the eyes.
Dakin's solution.
Dakin's solution was developed during WWI as a wound antiseptic. It is
used to kill germs and prevent growth of germs in wounds. It is an
excellent solution for irrigating wounds without killing healthy
tissue. It is very inexpensive and easy to make, and thus ideally
suited for the difficult circumstances a collapsed society will
present.
To make your own, you will need:
Sterile equipment--pan and lid, glass jar(s) and tight-fitting lid(s), measuring cups and spoons
32 oz clean water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Regular, unscented, not concentrated or ultra, just regular bleach in one of the following concentrations:
full strength--3 ounces (95 ml) bleach--for sterilizing instruments
1/2 strength--3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (48 ml) bleach--for debridement of necrotized wounds
1/4 strength--1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (24 ml) bleach--for irrigating wounds
1/8 strength--2 1/2 teaspoons (12 ml) bleach
Boil
water for 15 minutes with the lid on the pan. Remove from heat. Add
the baking soda to the boiled water. Measure bleach according to
desired strength and add to water. Cover tightly in a glass jar and
wrap jar in aluminum foil to shield it from light. (Do not store
Dakin's solution in metal containers.) Once opened for use it is good
only for 48 hours. Discard unused portion. Unopened and protected from
light, the solution can be stored for one month at room temperature.
Label the jar with the date and time you made the solution, as well as the date to discard it.
The
full-strength solution is used only on stainless steel medical
instruments. Dakin's solution will corrode nickel, chromium steel,
iron, and other metals. Because of its corrosive nature, instruments
should not be in the bath solution for longer than 30 minutes.
Use
only 1/4 strength solution for acute wound irrigation. Always irrigate
very generously with plain water following irrigation with Dakin's
solution. If the solution is used for mouth wash, do not swallow it. Do
not use in individuals allergic to any of the ingredients.
For further reading:
https://www.itstactical.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Dakins_Solution.pdf
https://ceufast.com/course/wound-series-part-2-approaches-to-treating-chronic-wounds
https://www.doomandbloom.net/dakins-solution-for-wound-care/
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/593691
© 2019, PrepSchoolDaily.blogspot.com 03.23.21
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