Dr. Forgey (the author) reached out to me asking if I would be willing to give my honest review of his new book The Prepper’s Medical Handbook; How to provide medical care when you can’t rely on anyone but yourself in exchange for a free copy of the book. Um, absolutely!
Preface
Now let me start off by saying I do not consider myself a “prepper”, however, I feel a lot of prepper behaviors intertwine with the habits of backpackers, hikers, and avid outdoors people. I mean, come on, I bet you have more than one piece of gear. I have multiple backpacks, tents, and other pieces of gear so I am ready to hike or backpack in all situations and environments (well except maybe Antarctica lol). My point is that prepper books are worth taking a look at.
There are a lot of prepper “medical” books out there but what caught my eye about this one is that it is written by a medical doctor. This isn’t just some blow joe “prepper expert” that set out to write a book. This book is written by an M.D. (I’ll leave his bio in a section below).
Additionally, this doctor is also an avid outdoorsman. A doctor can sit and give you advice on how to treat certain issues off the grid, but if they are not familiar with the outdoors their perception of what you might encounter or how to treat can be construed incorrectly.
The Good Stuff
I love how he has broken up the chapters in this book and the way it is organized. The contents section at the beginning is very well organized and allows you to quickly find the page you need based on the ailment. The chapters themselves are organized well, allowing you to quickly thumb through to find the section you need.
The Prepper’s Medical Handbook covers everything from how to assess/stabilize the patient to dealing with radiation & bioterrorism and how to deal with/treat infectious diseases.
The last chapter contains the Off the Grid Medical kit which includes basic first aid items as well as nonprescription and prescription medication along with how much you should have of each item based on if you are making a bug-out bag, creating a settlement stock, or a 5-year supply.
Another thing I love about The Prepper’s Medical Handbook is that even though he is a traditional medical doctor, he lists items that can be used as alternatives along with other sources to check out. He realizes and understands that traditional medication may not be readily available in all situations.
The Not So Good
It doesn’t matter how much I love a product or book I truly believe that for any review I do, in order for it to be considered completely honest, I must look for flaws. It was hard to do with this book; however, I would have liked to see more alternatives for prescriptions, especially the injectables. I know this may not be feasible as there may not be any alternatives, but as I stated before I always try to find at least one “not so good” thing about any item I am reviewing.
Dr. Forgey does, however, give sources on how to obtain many of these items (legally of course) outside of trying to convince your PCM that they should prescribe them for a bug-out bag or as an “in case” because you are heading off-grid.
Heck, I had a hard time trying to get a vaccine for Hep A and Meningitis, both of which I wanted because I was about to head out to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and knew I would be around a ton of people in close quarters (not to mention I spent a lot of time on medical calls with other first responders from our Volunteer Fire Department). Anyway, I can only imagine the response I would get asking him for the prescription items on the list lol.
My Overall Recommendation of The Prepper’s Medical Handbook
Buy it! You can buy the paperback version to keep in a kit for future reference or if you will be off the grid at a base camp. For those of us that are backpackers who like to travel as lightly as possible, the kindle version downloaded to your phone would be worth it.
You can find out more a about The Prepper’s Medical Handbook on his website.
About the Author
Veteran outdoor author William Forgey, M.D. is engaged in the full-time practitioner of family medicine and is a member of the board of trustees of the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers, a fellow of the Explorers Club, and a past president of the Wilderness Medical Society.
A former Boy Scout scoutmaster and Medical Explorer Post and High Adventure Post advisor, he currently serves on the National Health and Safety Committee and as an advisory board member for the Northern Tier High Adventure Base for the Boy Scouts of America. He is the author of many wilderness medicine and camping books, including Basic Illustrated Wilderness First Aid (Falcon). He is a Vietnam Veteran, a former instructor at the JFK Center for Special Warfare, and was awarded a bronze star and army commendation medal.
Buy It
You can buy it on Amazon here:
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It sounds like a helpful book to take with you on a trip, especially a hike!