Interesting reading, and very good to know. So in a clinch situation where a hypothetical child drinks a toxic substance and is rapidly losing consciousness, assuming a situation where essential services are unavailable, do you risk the effects of charcoal or the effects of the toxin? Obviously the best response is to get them to an ER, but we're not talking about ideal conditions here either. Even in a perfectly 'ordinary' natural disaster, trained medical personnel can be hard to find (unless you're an EMT)

in that situation, the major concern, after the ingestion of course, would be the fact that the child is rapidly loosing consciousness. This brings in question the child's ability to maintain an airway. If the airway can't be maintained, and the charcoal is given, then we risk further exacerbating the problem due to aspiration of stomach contents. So you wouldn't want to give something like this to a child with a rapidly declining level of consciousness.

Hmmm. Interesting stuff. What is the proper way to take care of a poisoning situation with a minor then, assuming essential services are unavailable?

Giving charcoal is fine with children, just so long at their airway isn't compromised and they're able to swallow.

Your example was of a child rapidly loosing consciousness, and at that point, without medical care, that kid is hosed. There isn't much you can do.

They key with poisonings, after avoidance, is rapid treatment. You want to give that Activated charcoal as soon after it's happened, and certainly <1 hr.

There isn't much that can be done for poisonings with out medical treatment.

There's a difference between Activated Charcoal (AC) and the stuff that's left over from a campfire. AC is much more porous and that's what gives it the ability to absorb the toxins, etc. The stuff you can make in the field isn't nearly as effective. We touched on it briefly and probably should have gone more into the difference between AC and campfire charcoal. (Is it any wonder these podcasts are so long )

Nah, there's always more room on my ipod. You guys could go an extra hour or more and I'd be fine with it. Heh, or be like Jack and do one a day.

Heh, ain't gonna happen, that one a day thing. We have a hard enough time coordinating it once a week, lol.

Loving the list and podcasts. Though my commute is only 45 minutes long. I sometimes wish they were cut into two parts so its easier for me to keep track of where I am. My iPhone doesn't have a good fast forward (I miss my slider to the specific location in the stream I had in my last player) so if I lose my place I have to hunt for it.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is I'd consider adding a pair of scissors also, probably to the personal care portion. A good way to keep kids' hair clean and reduce risk of lice is to keep the hair short. Also, you use a lot less shampoo with short hair. I don't know if I'd consider it critical survival gear, but I'd think a good pair of scissors has a lot of potential uses in a survival situation.

Thanks for the great list. It's given me a lot of great information.
-Brian

We've been looking into dividing up the podcasts into easier-to-chew portions. Expect to see shorter podcasts soon.



Good tip, and something that is a must for all ages.