Subject: Re: Antibiotics in a First Aid Kit

From: [email-masked] (Yes, I'm still here...)
Date: 21 Sep 1994 21:45:53 GMT

Bill shares;

>Also very serious with any xxxxcillin
>is the chance of a fatal allergic reaction.

This is very very true.  Penicillin allergies, statistically, are very
common.

Based on some stuff I read in the Barefoot Doctor (a Chinese paramedical 
handbook) you may be able to improvise a sensitivity skin test by diluting
some of the drug in some saline than injecting it *intradermally*, which
is how they do TB skin test, just under the first layer of skin causing
a little bubble.

I'm fairly certain that I person with a life-threatening allergy to Pen would
display some pretty significant swelling or hives or something.

Personally, I would actually try this in an appropriate siuation before 
giving Pen-type drugs to a person with unknown allergy status.

>"flesh wounds" which we ignore now will probably
>constitute a major problem as they did in the past, and topical
>antiseptics along with sound cleansing techniques will be very
>important to avoid gangrene and blood poisoning.

Give Robert Allen (on this newsgroup) a call or e-mail and order a copy
of the book "Ditch Medicine".  It has a chapter on the use of sugar and honey
in treating infected wounds.  It also quotes a case study of a man with 
a chronic non-healing ulcer on his leg from an open fracture which occurred
in the 40's or 50's.  The bone had healed, but the open wound remained
unhealed yet the guy had outlived numerous surgeons who had recommended
amputation.

It was sugar therapy that ended up healing the thing, so well in fact that
he didn't need skin grafting.....

Check it out, the real case history is much better than my version.

Greg