Murphy’s law states that if anything can go wrong, it will. So that’s why you must be prepared. Packing your own first aid kit before hitting the trail— whether you’re fleeing a disaster or going on a winter adventure—is imperative.

Fighting bacteria with honey

You may have adhesive strips in your survival medical kit, but if someone gets a cut, you also want to keep it sanitary so the patient doesn’t get an infection.

In these cases, your first step will be to rinse the cut with water. “Whatever you’re using for drinking water will work to rinse out the cut,” says Rod Brouhard, a paramedic, the topic guide for About.com’s First Aid page and an author on disaster preparedness. “Once you’ve rinsed it, you should apply an antiseptic.

If you didn’t bring one along, you can use natural honey, which can do double-duty as an anti-bacterial.” Any form of honey will work, Brouhard says, just be sure not to use it on children under one year of age, as it’s inadvisable for them to ingest honey.

Consider these natural remedies

Your outdoor maladies will be quelled quickly if you know a few cures that you can find in nature. Consider these tips from James Kellar, founder and head instructor at the Northeast Ohio Primitive Living and Wilderness School:

• You can use moss as a bandage, Kellar says. Or try yarrow, a plant related to the chrysanthemum. “Yarrow will actually clot the wound,” Kellar says. “The wound will have to be kept clean and have new natural bandages applied a couple times daily.”
• In cases of a sprain, you can make a splint out of branches and wrap it with natural cordage, Kellar adds. “If the person needs mobility help, they can create makeshift crutches to help them move.”
• Have a headache? Consider herbal cures. You can use willow or aspen bark tea, which act as natural aspirins, he suggests.
  

Hypothermia

Understanding the symptoms of hypothermia can be complicated especially if you consider the fact that if you’ve ever uncontrollably shivered from the cold, you’ve already had it.
“The symptoms of hypothermia range from mild to severe,” Brouhard says. “Mild is when you can’t stop shivering, so you’re already a little hypothermic once you begin to shiver and it’s sustained.”

As soon as your body temperature falls below 95 F, you are classified as being hypothermic. The next step of hypothermia moderate is … Read the rest

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