Rationing Care and Supplies

When our society collapses, what you have stored for your family is what you have.  There will be no resupply, because manufacturing and transportation will cease.  Many of the existing supplies will be wasted, even those that could have been reused will be discarded.  And while the black market works well in Hollywood, reality dictates a different scenario.

However, just like on TV, medical supplies will be a target.  So will anyone perceived as being able to provide care.  Unfortunately, the supplies run out sooner or later.  The importance of learning how to use herbal medicine with herbs local to your area cannot be over-emphasized.   But that's another topic.  Improvised items are also covered elsewhere on this blog.  Of great importance now is gathering reusable medical tools and supplies.  Glass syringes are hard to locate, but still possible.  And they can be autoclaved and sterilized forever.  Plastic syringes cannot.  Needles can also be reused indefinitely, but you'll want a way to sharpen the tip.  Rayon gauze, unlike cotton, can also be sterilized for reuse. 

Currently, when someone is wounded and taken to the hospital for treatment, the whole staff and supply stockpile can be devoted to that individual, especially with insurance to cover everything and a functioning manufacturing and delivery system for resupply.  When there is a large-scale disaster with more wounded than can be cared for with available staff and supplies, care is rationed.  In medical terms, it's called triage.  Different systems include from three to seven colors for categorization of care.  We'll just use three for now:

• green is for those who will survive, no matter what we do;
• black is for those who are dead or will die, no matter what we do;
• red is for those for whom we can make a difference.

However, that system is for a society where medical care is a right.  In a collapsed society, the situation is a whole lot different.  Medical care becomes a privilege for those who contribute to society and who chose to prepare. 

If people are aware that you have medical supplies, they will be requested, demanded, or confiscated from you.  Like with a lot of preparedness activities, you may wish to keep a low profile regarding your supplies.  As long as possible, anyway.

Beyond that, bear in mind that your supplies are just that--they're your supplies.  You decide how they are used and whom they are for.  And that is going to be difficult, even heart-wrenching at times.  Even if you are only dealing with your own family, you will have to accept that:

• Some are going to die no matter what you do.  
• You will have to decline using resources on them, to spare them for others later who can be saved.
• This may include your spouse, children, or grandchildren.
• And you can't change reality.

It's sometimes beyond our ability to comprehend.

How do you tell your child or grandchild to accept the pain of an excruciating ear infection (yes, apparently those can be as painful as kidney stones or labor and delivery) because it will eventually get better?  How do you tell your friend that you can't spare your antibiotics to save his elderly father, who, even though he's a nice guy, isn't contributing to the survival of the group? On the other hand, maybe someone comes to you and wants your herbal antibiotics, leaving you only with pharmaceuticals that are extremely out of date or which may not be suited for children or pregnant women.  How are you going to respond?

Your supplies are extremely limited.  If you are soft-hearted and likely to succumb to a sob story, you may not be the one to have the medical supplies under your control.  Perhaps they need to be in the hands of someone who can make those hard decisions.  Maybe the medications at least need to be very inaccessible.  Maybe no one should know what you have.  It's yours.  It's for your family, not society.   It's your call.  And it's going to be a hard call.  

14 july 2020