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An interruption of the skin's integrity characterizes wounds. These
wounds could be open wounds, skin diseases, frostbite, trench foot, and
burns.
Open Wounds
Open wounds are serious in a survival situation, not only because of
tissue damage and blood loss, but also because they may become infected.
Bacteria on the object that made the wound, on the individual's skin and
clothing, or on other foreign material or dirt that touches the wound
may cause infection.
By taking proper care of the wound you can reduce further
contamination and promote healing. Clean the wound as soon as possible
after it occurs by:
- Removing or cutting clothing away from the wound.
- Always looking for an exit wound if a sharp object, gun shot, or
projectile caused a wound.
- Thoroughly cleaning the skin around the wound.
- Rinsing (not scrubbing) the wound with large amounts of water
under pressure. You can use fresh urine if water is not available.
The "open treatment" method is the safest way to manage
wounds in survival situations. Do not try to close any wound by suturing
or similar procedures. Leave the wound open to allow the drainage of any
pus resulting from infection. As long as the wound can drain, it
generally will not become life-threatening, regardless of how unpleasant
it looks or smells.
Cover the wound with a clean dressing. Place a bandage on the
dressing to hold it in place. Change the dressing daily to check for
infection.
If a wound is gaping, you can bring the edges together with adhesive
tape cut in the form of a "butterfly" or "dumbbell"
(Figure 4-7).
This pulls the wound together while still allowing
it to drain.
One item that is recommended for all
outdoors persons to carry is super glue. It can be
extremely handy for many applications and it works well
to close an open wound. Clean the wound as described
above then blot or pat the edges dry and apply a little
of the super glue along an outer edge, being
careful to not get it on you fingers. (If you do wipe it
off with an alchohol swab or let it air dry without
touching anything else.) Staying back from the edges
push tem towards each other, making sure that they line
up, until they stick shut. The super glue is
Biodegradalbe and will hold the wound together for
several days before it breaks down. This is the most
popular way to close an eye puncture and a medical grade
is used by doctors in place of sutures.
In a survival situation, some degree of wound infection is almost
inevitable. Pain, swelling, and redness around the wound, increased
temperature, and pus in the wound or on the dressing indicate infection
is present.
To treat an infected wound:
- Place a warm, moist compress directly on the infected wound.
Change the compress when it cools, keeping a warm compress on the
wound for a total of 30 minutes. Apply the compresses three or four
times daily.
- Drain the wound. Open and gently probe the infected wound with a
sterile instrument.
- Dress and bandage the wound.
- Drink a lot of water.
Continue this treatment daily until all signs of infection have
disappeared.
Maggots:If you do not have antibiotics and the wound has become severely
infected, does not heal, and ordinary debridement is impossible,
consider maggot therapy, despite its hazards:
- Expose the wound to flies for one day and then cover it.
- Check daily for maggots.
- Once maggots develop, keep wound covered but check daily.
- Remove all maggots when they have cleaned out all dead tissue and
before they start on healthy tissue. Increased pain and bright red
blood in the wound indicate that the maggots have reached healthy
tissue.
- Flush the wound repeatedly with sterile water or fresh urine to
remove the maggots.
- Check the wound every four hours for several days to ensure all
maggots have been removed.
- Bandage the wound and treat it as any other wound. It should heal
normally.
Skin Diseases and Ailments
Although boils, fungal infections, and rashes rarely develop into a
serious health problem, they cause discomfort and you should treat them.
Boils
Apply warm compresses to bring the boil to a head. Then open the boil
using a sterile knife, wire, needle, or similar item. Thoroughly clean
out the pus using soap and water. Cover the boil site, checking it
periodically to ensure no further infection develops.
Fungal Infections
Keep the skin clean and dry, and expose the infected area to as much
sunlight as possible. Do not scratch the affected area. During
the Southeast Asian conflict, soldiers used antifungal powders, lye
soap, chlorine bleach, alcohol, vinegar, concentrated salt water, and
iodine to treat fungal infections with varying degrees of success. As
with any "unorthodox" method of treatment, use it with
caution.
Rashes
To treat a skin rash effectively, first determine what is causing it.
This determination may be difficult even in the best of situations.
Observe the following rules to treat rashes:
- If it is moist, keep it dry.
- If it is dry, keep it moist.
- Do not scratch it.
Use a compress of vinegar or tannic acid derived from tea or from
boiling acorns or the bark of a hardwood tree to dry weeping rashes.
Keep dry rashes moist by rubbing a small amount of rendered animal fat
or grease on the affected area.
Remember, treat rashes as open wounds and clean and dress them daily.
There are many substances available to survivors in the wild or in
captivity for use as antiseptics to treat wound:
- Iodine tablets.
Use 5 to 15 tablets in a liter of water to
produce a good rinse for wounds during healing.
- Garlic.
Rub it on a wound or boil it to extract the oils and
use the water to rinse the affected area.
- Salt water.
Use 2 to 3 tablespoons per liter of water to kill
bacteria.
- Bee honey.
Use it straight or dissolved in water.
- Sphagnum moss.
Found in boggy areas worldwide, it is a natural
source of iodine. Use as a dressing.
Again, use non-commercially prepared materials with caution.
Frostbite
This injury results from frozen tissues. Light frostbite involves
only the skin that takes on a dull, whitish pallor. Deep frostbite
extends to a depth below the skin. The tissues become solid and
immovable. Your feet, hands, and exposed facial areas are particularly
vulnerable to frostbite.
When with others, prevent frostbite by using the buddy system. Check
your buddy's face often and make sure that he checks yours. If you are
alone, periodically cover your nose and lower part of your face with
your mittens.
Do not try to thaw the affected areas by placing them close to an
open flame. Gently rub them in lukewarm water. Dry the part and place it
next to your skin to warm it at body temperature.
Trench Foot
This condition results from many hours or days of exposure to wet or
damp conditions at a temperature just above freezing. The nerves and
muscles sustain the main damage, but gangrene can occur. In extreme
cases the flesh dies and it may become necessary to have the foot or leg
amputated. The best prevention is to keep your feet dry. Carry extra
socks with you in a waterproof packet. Dry wet socks against your body.
Wash your feet daily and put on dry socks.
Burns
The following field treatment for burns relieves the pain somewhat,
seems to help speed healing, and offers some protection against
infection:
- First, stop the burning process. Put out the fire by removing
clothing, dousing with water or sand, or by rolling on the ground.
Cool the burning skin with ice or water. For burns caused by white
phosphorous, pick out the white phosphorous with tweezers; do not
douse with water.
- Soak dressings or clean rags for 10 minutes in a boiling tannic
acid solution (obtained from tea, inner bark of hardwood trees, or
acorns boiled in water).
- Cool the dressings or clean rags and apply over burns.
- Treat as an open wound.
- Replace fluid loss.
- Maintain airway.
- Treat for shock.
- Consider using morphine, unless the burns are near the face.
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