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COVID-19 was supposed to peter out around now, but cases are peaking again, with 300,000 cases reported just on Jan. 8th. Is 2021 going to be just more of the same as 2020? With vaccines now available, can you still get the virus? Can you still give it to others? Will you still have to wear masks? Dr. Fauci says he expects some workplaces and institutions to require the vaccination, will you need to carry a COVID-Card in your wallet in the future? The Altons give their opinion (just an opinion) on what's in the future. Also, what easily available products may help you avoid a bad outcome from exposure to SARS-CoV2. Amy Alton ARNP gives her recommendation (also that of Eastern Virginia Medical School). Plus, dress warmly or you'll catch a cold? It's smart to dress for the weather appropriately, for sure, but more to prevent hypothermia than getting an infection. The Altons, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, dispel some common myths about getting colds and flus, and tell you the real reasons why winter is cold and flu season. All this and more on the lastest episode of the Survival Medicine Podcast! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe Alton MD    Amy Alton ARNP Hey, don't forget to have your medical supplies in order for these uncertain times. Check out our entire line of quality kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net.

We’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of my original article “A New Pneumonia”, where I wrote about a strange new virus that had sickened 60 people in a place called Wuhan, China. That was Jan.7th, before anyone died or they even had a name for the pathogen we now know as SARS-Cov2. Now, almost into 2021, the virus will still be an issue well into 2021 and some places are at maximum lockdown. Ivermectin is considered a new option by some, is it the real thing or a flash in the pan? Dr. Joe Alton explains all you need to know. Also, Nurse Amy Alton worries about our listeners with depression due to cold weather and gray skies, as well as Christmas "blues". She talks about what to do if tough times are getting you down, with natural remedies and lifestyle advice. All this and more on the latest episode of The Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alto, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! Wishing you the Happiest of Christmases and the healthiest of New Years! Check out our store at store.doomandbloom.net!

Todd Sepulveda of the popular PrepperWebsite.com brings his podcast onto our channel for an interview with our regular hosts Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton, this time about pregnancy, labor, and delivery off the grid and other obstetric topics. Be aware that some of the subject matter may be graphic regarding the natural processes that occur during childbirth.  Be sure to check out Todd's website and his podcast channel!! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Hey, check out Amy's latest one-of-a-kind kit, an obstetric kit that a modern hospital would envy, at store.doomandbloom.net!

In any long term survival setting, somebody’s  going to get pregnant at one point or another. Even if you daughter is 7 years old right now, a decade or so into an EMP strike that knocks us off the grid once and for all, she’s gonna be 17 and you might end up a grandparent in a world with power. You’ll need some equipment that will increase your chances of having a successful birth and a healthy mother afterward. This isn’t something to laugh at; during the era of the civil war, maternal deaths approached 1-2% per pregnancy. With women having an average of 10 pregnancies back then, that adds up to 10-20 percent. That’s a lot of heartbreak and tragedy when things have to running smoothly to survive.  Now, Certified Nurse Midwife Amy has put together a one-of-a kind kit that puts all the other ob kits to shame. This is pretty much what the hospitals use minus the fetal monitor machine. Listen in as Amy describes her latest brainchild and gives valuable tips on pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum care. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Check out Nurse Amy's OB kit and our entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net. You'll be glad you did.

The person that’s responsible for the health of their family isn’t just there to stop a bleeding wound or set a broken leg. Poorly cooked or contaminated food will kill more people in survival settings than gunfights at the OK corral. Infectious disease might run rampant if you’re not vigilant about food safety. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, one in six Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year alone, with over 100,000 hospitalizations nationwide. Dr. Joe Alton discusses one microbe that has sickened more than 1,100 people this quarter alone called "CYCLOSPORA". Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention. Plus, principles of food safety to guard against feeding your people contaminated food in good times or bad. Plus, a short rant about COVID statistics and the idea put forth by health officials that only 9% of the US population has been exposed to COVID so far, making herd immunity impossible without a widespread (probably miulti-year) vaccination program. Dr. Alton thinks exposure is much more prevalent than suggested and that there may be little that guarantees any long-term immunity against COVID-19.  Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Support our mission in these uncertain times with medical kits and supplies from our entire line at store.doomandbloom.net. You'll be glad (maybe very glad) you did.

Hey, today we’ve invited our old friend Leon Pantenburg of Survival Common Sense to the show. Leon Pantenburg is a wilderness enthusiast and journalist, and also the author of “Bushcraft Basics: A common sense guide to wilderness survival”. As an award-winning newspaperman for four decades covering stories about search and rescue events, Leon has seen his share of floods and forest fires, hurricane and tornadoes, earthquakes, mud slides and other natural disasters. He’s also reported on too many tragic outcomes from wilderness emergencies. It’s unfortunate that people die unnecessarily from outdoor accidents and emergency situations when simple, common sense actions can help. Leon teaches such common sense techniques to the average person in order to avert potential disasters. His emphasis is to apply thoroughly tested and practiced, simple techniques of wilderness survival. Plus, we've talked a lot about property defense and avoiding burn injuries, but today we'll talk about burn injuries in general regarding treatment for each category of injury. The wildfires continue to rage on in the American West, and we’ve talked about property defense but not much about burns. Whether caused by a forest fire or due to an accident while preparing food, burns are a major challenge both on and off the grid. Injuries from burns that require medical help top one million each year in the United States, with thousands of deaths reported. These numbers are alarming, given the fact that, in modern times, few are us are exposed to fire as often or directly as our ancestors were. Despite this, only a small percentage of families have formulated and practiced an escape plan for their own homestead. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Dr.Joe and Nurse Amy Alton!  

The CDC has recommended that Americans wear masks “in public”, but are vague on what to do in many situations. From the CDC website:  “CDC recommends that people wear masks in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.” The Cleveland Clinic is a little more lenient: ": If you’re unlikely to be around anyone or will have the option of maintaining a safe distance from anyone you encounter, then a mask likely isn’t necessary but having one handy is a good idea just in case." What's the history of social distancing defined as six feet? Distancing from sick individuals, for better or worse, has a long history. In ancient times, people stayed away from “leper” colonies (leprosy is now known as “Hansen’s Disease”).  No one really knew, however, how much distance was required. The Altons try to make sense of it all. Also, millions of tons of plastic refuse have entered our oceans annually since about 1950, forming a Texas-sized dump known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (or GPGP). People are often confused about what the garbage patch is. The GPGP isn’t a landfill-like continent made of plastic that you can walk on or build a vacation home. , but it's true that, due to currents, there is a higher concentration of plastic there than other parts of the ocean. Dr. Alton tells you what you need to know. All this and more in the lastest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alton Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad,  The Altons Hey, get medically prepared for the uncertain future with high-quality medical kits and individual supplies from Nurse Amy's entire line at store.doomandbloom.net.

Recently, Dr. Alton was asked to write an article on tourniquets for the highly popular Survivor’s Edge magazine, a great read if ever there was one. Most people know at this point how to place a tourniquet, but there are some principles you may not know about hemorrhage and how to stop it using this life-saving device. The risk of hemorrhage from traumatic injury is always a possibility, whether it’s due to a motor vehicle accident, a work mishap, civil unrest, or the zombie apocalypse. A major arterial bleed, if untreated, can cause a victim to be beyond medical help in just a few short minutes. The bleeding may be so severe that emergency medical personnel arrive too late to help.  Dr. Alton outlines more than a dozen important points that must be understand to properly stop hemorrhage with tourniquets. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe Alton MD    Amy Alton APRN Learn more about bleeding and 150 other medical topics with a copy of the Survival Medicine Handbook's award-winning Third Edition, available at Amazon and store.doomandbloom.net.

Today on the Survival Medicine Podcast, we welcome good friend Charley Hogwood. Charley is the author of THE SURVIVAL GROUP HANDBOOK: How To Plan, Organize and Lead People for Short and Long Term Survival, the foremost guide, in the world probably, to planning, organizing and building a survival group for any situation.  He's also an accomplished post-apocalyptic fiction novelist, with Book 1 of his Bound To Survive series, the Unraveling, at Amazon and Book 2, Road Trials, being released in the near future. Also, some news updates on COVID treatments Remdesivir, Beta-Interferon, and....Pepcid-AC! All this and more on this episode of the Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, The Altons Hey, we know you could use some more personal protecion gear, individual medical supplies, and maybe an entire quality kit that will help in any disaster. Check out our entire line at store.doomandbloom.net! Also, please follow us on Twitter @Preppershow or on YouTube's DrBones NurseAmy Channel!

The podcast is not going to talk just about COVID today, but  it’s a good idea to keep a running update and how Dr. and Ms. Alton's views are evolving based on what seems to be happening these days. So the Altons throw a few stats at you and tell you what they mean, if they're believable, and how it affects, or should affect, peoples’ activity. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday that the country has approved a coronavirus vaccine despite not having completed crucial clinical trials to determine its efficacy and safety. What are clinical trials and why are they required in most cases for a new drug or vaccine? Plus, a listeners of our friend Jack Spirko's Survival Podcast asks about strategies to prevent Alzheimer's dementia even if you have the genetic markers and a family history. Dr. Joe Alton tells you what you need to know about this devastating disease. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alton! Don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net!

    If you’re reading the headlines, you’re probably hearing that, as the country slowly reopens, we’re seeing many more people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s getting coronavirus and a lot of fear about second waves. What does this mean for second and third waves? Are hospitals going to be overwhelmed? Maybe not, say the Altons. Hear why in this episode. Plus, wound closure is a basic skill needed by any medic in areas without modern medical facilities. Suturing is just one of the way you can close a wound, and judicious use can help accelerate the healing process. Learn more about suture needles with Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton. Also, when you think of protester-police confrontation, you think of tear gas. What do you do to protect yourself if you're in an area of civil unrest to deal with tear gas exposure? Dr. Alton tells you what to do, plus some myths and misconceptions about treatment. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, The Altons Fill those holes in your medical supplies with kits and individual items from Nurse Amy's store at store.doomandbloom.net!  

In the news, COVID-19 cases are again on the rise as a second wave of infections coincide with the reopening of many businesses throughout the United States. Perhaps the first thing I should mention is that a second wave occurring as society reopened is an inevitable event. Regardless of the timing or the measures taken, pandemics commonly have this pattern. Health officials and political policy can do little to stop it from happening, but do their best to lessen or delay its effect. Also, important facts about immunity, plus how something we call COVID Fatigue and mass demonstrations are fueling the second and third waves of SARS-CoV2 in the United States. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, The Altons Hey, be prepared for any number of waves of infectious disease, civil unrest, or other disasters with medical kits and supplies from store.doomandbloom.net!

The Altons are happy to welcome author Terry Blackmore of the Pandemic Series, the first book of which (called "Antigenic Shift") is receiving good notices. Unlike most post-apocalyptic fiction, "Antigenic Shift" is set in Canada! Also, if we didn’t have enough reasons TO social distance as it is, now we have rioting in dozens of major cities, makes you want to live outside the city, or maybe outside the planet might be safer. Well, if you live in Minneapolis, interesting things are going on there, like the majority of the city council wanting to dismantle the police department. Interesting to know that the majority is a veto-proof majority, even if the mayor is against it and vetoes it, he can be voted down. Mayors in LA and NYC are also cutting band funding for police departments. Great idea? Good idea? Terrible idea? In COVID news, the country of new zealand has declared that its last case of coronavirus has recovered, making it the first country to have no active COVID cases and declare the pandemic in the country to be over.  The nation of 5 million is opening sports stadiums, scheduling concerts, weddings, retail commerce, and hospitality without restrictions.  Plus, Choloquines have been controversial since the moment they were mentioned by President Trump, with some studies reporting positive effects and others declaring the drug family downright dangerous. Now, some negative studies are being retracted, including one in the prestigious British medical journal "The Lancet". What's the deal? Dr. Joe Alton gives his thoughts. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, The Altons Fill those holes in your medical supplies with kits and individual items from store.doomandbloom.net

As Free Speech advocates, we support the people’s right to protest and make their opinions heard. Unfortunately, demonstrations in the U.S. these days are becoming more frequent and violent. After a short break due to the pandemic, people are again out in the streets. Some have legitimate concerns; others, however, have bad intentions. How can you stay safe if you get caught in the middle of civil unrest? Dr. Joe Alton gives his thoughts. With the violence we’ve seen in major cities, I’m sure there are quite a few people, especially law enforcement officers, that wound up getting hit by a brick or other projectile, and wound needing stitches. Lacerations of the skin can occur off the grid in survival scenarios, too, but there’s no hospital ready to close the wound. It’s up to the family medic, and that person needs to have a working knowledge of, not just how to throw a stitch, but when a wound should stay open due to risk of infection, and what type of suture materials would be best for the purpose. Some basics from the Altons. Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Hey, don't forget to check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net. You'll be glad you did.  

As we reopen, some words will have permanently entered our vocabulary: Social distancing. Telemedicine. Self-quarantine. These are all words you didn’t hear just a few months ago, but now we are all hearing and using them daily. There is no denying that the coronavirus outbreak has dramatically changed just about every facet of life around the world. Amy Alton ARNP and Joe Alton MD discuss what you can expect in part 1 of a series on permanent societal changes due to COVID-19 Also, studies on chloroquines are turning up claiming it is ineffective or perhaps even deadly, but are they missing the most important ingredient? Zinc is an important mineral second only to iron in our body, and chloroquines only act to potentiate its anti-viral action. Yet, studies seem to not include zinc in their protocols, leading to results that you could predict would show chloroquine isn't effective on its own. Is there an agenda here rooted in politics rather than public health. The Altons discuss a controversial topic. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe Alton MD and Amy Alton ARNP! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, thanks for listening. Joe and Amy Alton We still have a limited supply of masks and other personal protection gear in addition to our entire line of medical kits and supplies at store.doomandbloom.net...

Recently, we came across an article about coronavirus myths on, guess where, the AARP website, where old folks like Dr. Joe Alton get their news (just kidding). There are quite a number of misconceptions about COVID-19 disease and the virus that causes it, SARS-CoV2. Joe and Amy Alton, aka Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy, discuss what people think about coronavirus and pets, weather, vectors, and a troubling tendency for people to avoid hospitals even if they have significant medical issues. Also, Dr. Alton talks you through what you need to know about broken bones. 6.3 million fractures are evaluated in ERs, urgent care centers, and hospitals every year in the U.S., and in survival scenarios, the numbers will be greater. Learn about how bones heals, sprains vs fractures, casts vs splints, bone "setting", traction, and the materials used in placing casts. There's a lot more to learn, but this is a great start! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe Alton MD    Amy Alton ARNP Hey, be better prepared for disasters, epidemics, and other times of trouble with books, medical supplies, and full kits from Nurse Amy's entire line at store.doomandbloom.net. Sign up at our website for our semi-monthly newsletter and get special discounts!

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to steamroll populations of many countries, and drive efforts to find a treatment, cure, or vaccine. The drug most recently approved by the FDA for emergency use is Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug Remdesivir. What is Remdesivir and why is it considered to have potential against the SARS-CoV2 virus? Dr. Joe Alton and Nurse Amy Alton tell you all about it. Vitamin D is made in the body when the sun’s ultraviolet B (UVB) rays hit the skin. Vitamin D is important for many bodily function, including the absorption of calcium for bones, nerve conduction, and immune function as well. Now, it’s becoming clear that the worst COVID-19 patients seem to have more likelihood to be deficient in Vitamin D than other people. Recent studies are discussed by the Altons about whether Vitamin D makes a difference. Also, let's say you just got a blood test to see if you have had Covid-19. Many people don’t get symptoms, and so it’s possible you had it and didn’t even know, or maybe had some mild cough or GI complaints that went away after a week or so. There are a number of tests that can give you information about COVID-19 and you, but what do they mean? It's possible that they mean less than you think. Dr. Alton discusses antibody blood tests, swab tests, and much more.   Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe and Amy Alton Learn more about viral epidemic and pandemic disease with the Altons' latest book "Alton's Pandemic Preparedness Guide", available at Amazon or in a special color version at store.doomandbloom.net!  

Survival Medicine Podcast The daily headlines are chock-full of stories about the COVID-19 pandemic. If you read them, you’re probably left with the impression that society was unready for the ravages of the SARS-CoV2 virus. Surprise, Surprise…Yet, epidemic outbreaks of viral infectious diseases are relatively common: In the last few years, we’ve seen Ebola in West Africa, Zika in South America, and Chikungunya throughout the Caribbean. Tropical countries experience yearly malarial outbreaks, just as nations in cooler climates experience influenza every winter. A contagious and, sometimes, lethal disease that infects almost every country on the planet, however, is much rarer.  Dr. Joe Alton welcomes Amy Alton ARNP back to the podcast to discuss various origin theories for the current pandemic, plus the idea that people may wind up getting reinfected a lot more often than previously thought. All this and more in the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe and Amy Alton! Wishing you the best of health in good times or bad, Joe Alton MD        Amy Alton ARNP Hey, fill those holes in your preparedness plan with kits, personal protection items, and more from Nurse Amy's entire line at store.doomandbloom.net!

In the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, extreme shortages of personal protection equipment (PPE) have been a major issue for medical workers and home caregivers. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize the problem, publishing guidelines for the extended use and limited reuse of disposable face masks and other materials. For those who didn’t include masks in their medical preps, the government says that homemade cloth masks or bandannas are acceptable, all after first saying that they weren’t effective a while ago. In this episode, Dr. Joe Alton discusses the use of UV germicidal irradiation to battle COVID-19. Also, Dr. Alton takes a break from COVID-19 to discuss natural disasters. Every year in the United States, we go through various natural disasters. During Spring, tornadoes become some of the most common deadly events in certain parts of the country. In Lee county, Alabama, a violent storm took the lives of 23 people. Unlike hurricanes, tornadoes are unpredictable and always a possibility. All this and more on the latest Survival Medicine Podcast with Joe Alton MD Check out Nurse Amy's entire line of medical kits, personal protection gear, and individual supplies at store.doomandbloom.net. You'll be glad you did.  

Survival Medicine Podcast Are you going to survive this pandemic? If I asked America this question a month ago, I would have gotten more than 27000 people saying yes that, well, were wrong. They are no longer with us. In order to succeed in situations where everything else is failing, you gotta have training, knowledge, and supplies. You must also have a mindset that is, perhaps, the opposite of what you were taught in your first responder course: That some disaster or epidemic has overwhelmed conventional medical resources and you are now the highest medical asset left to your family. Joe Alton MD discusses some important aspects in staying healthy in times of trouble. PLus, social distancing is the main strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but is 6 feet enough? It's been reported that coughs can throw 3000 droplets with virus loads up to 19 feet, and sneezes 40000 droplets all the way to 26 feet away. Dr. Alton gives his thoughts. Lastly, the lab accident theory from Wuhan's Biosatety level 4 lab is gaining more and more currency as time goes on. What do they think happen and how does that compare with the live market theory? All this and more in the latest survival medicine podcast with Joe Alton MD Learn more about viral diseases with a copy of the Altons' latest book: Alton's Pandemic Preparedness Guide: Dealing with Current and Emergency viral threats, available at amazon and a special color limited edition at  store.doomandbloom.net.