You are awakened by the shrill ringing of the telephone…..
Answering, you hear your neighbor’s worried voice apologize and ask if she could borrow some baby aspirin, or cough medicine. Her toddler, sick with a fever and croup, had refused the regular strength aspirin and that is all she had in the house.
Now think of these things yourself…. Could you care for someone with diarrhea, a fever, an open wound, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, a broken bone, or some other issues, if there were no other help? It would be up to you!
If you were in a situation where you had no telephone, no doctor, no other help, could you be self-reliant on your stock of supplies and knowledge of alternate medicines and health care?
With this in mind and watching what is happening in the world all around us, let’s take some time to see how you could be self-reliant with herbs and alternate sources of medicine. You don’t want to be the one having to reach out in the middle of the night to find the critical supplies you need.
I strong encourage you to pick up my book on Amazon, or Etsy as a printable, called Bitter Sweet Herbals: Your Apothecary, Home Remedies, First Aid Medicine. It is full of so much more information about herbs, their medicinal values, and first aid remedies and recipes. Also if you head over to my page Bitter Sweet Herbals on Facebook, I share a ton of information, of mine and others. For together we all find success, right?
Please don’t think you need to learn everything all at once. Step by step, as you read, study, and learn, you will prepare what is most important to your family situation. What do you think they will need? What do you need to prepare to be self-relaint when it comes to taking care of your medical needs, health needs?
Start small and gradually build your herbal first aid kits, and your home medicinal supplies. Start with a basil plant growing on your windowsill. Plant a small garden. Consistenly you will see small miracles take place that will help you succeed with your goals.
In times of emergency, having a well-stocked home apothecary of herbal medicines can be a lifesaver. Being prepared for unexpected situations is crucial and knowing how to use herbal remedies effectively can make all the difference when traditional medical care may not be readily available.
To prepare for emergency situations with herbal medicine, start by familiarizing yourself with the most commonly used herbs for first aid and common ailments, especially things that happen in your household. You will soon get to know 50 – 100 herbs well, and use them for a variety of things, what they do and how they do it. They will easily become your go to’s. Some of the essential herbs to have on hand you will discover for yourself, like: echinacea for immune support, lavender for calming effects and skin problems, ginger for digestive issues, and plantain for so many different things! Seriously it is one of my favorite plants! Okay, so start by itemizing your priorities, the problems you think you need to have solutions for.
Next, educate yourself on how to properly use the herbs in their different forms, to support the problems you listed above. Learn the priority herbs, maybe 5 – 10 to start, these are most important to your family, and perhaps they grow locally, so even better! Then add upon these as your understanding of herbal medicine grows. Things like dosages, preparations, and potential interactions with other medications are things to know. It is also important to understand how to properly store herbs to ensure their potency and effectiveness when needed.
In addition, create a first aid kit, specifically for herbal remedies. Include items such as bandages, scissors, and a thermometer, along with your herbal medicines. Keep this kit easily accessible in case of emergencies, and more importantly, know how to use the items in it!
You might first turn your thoughts towards first aid in survival situations, disasters, and such, and you would be correct. That is so important. You need to know and understand how to do first aid and how to use not just a regular first aid kit, but your “herbal” first aid kit, and yes, the two could and should be used together!
You might also turn your thoughts to some of the health struggles you have, and what you would need if you didn’t have any medication available, and you would be correct again. It is crazy how much we rely on the pharmacy down the street to take care of us. At least I know I do! I have some serious medical conditions for which I take a handful of pills each evening, and I do for sure, supplement my health with herbs and have for some time, but I still rely on my medications – they work together! I have gone to the pharmacy a few times in the past couple of years, and they have told me that something is on a wait list, or they are not able to get it anymore. At least I know exactly what I can supplement in a pinch, as in herbal remedies. Do you? But what if you don’t have these supplements (herbals) available? Could you survive and wait it out? It could be a really scary situation if you couldn’t.
You see, herbs for survival mean just that. First aid survival situations that could happen every day, or during disasters, and health survival situations again that could happen every day or during disasters, where medical help might not be readily available, or prescription medications are not to be found or are in short supply. It could be that your family is out camping, and someone gets injured. Can you help them with your own kits until you can get medical treatment?
Finally, practice using your herbal remedies and first aid kits before an emergency arises. This will help you feel confident in your abilities and ensure you can adminiter them effectively when need the most.
By taking these steps to prepare for emergency situations with herbal medicine parents, family herbalists, self-reliance, and preppers – yes you – can feel more secure knowing that they have a natural and effective alternative to traditional medical care in times of need.
