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How about staying close to an hospital?

2K views 26 replies 24 participants last post by  querulous 
#1 ·
Most preppers have planned to go the woods, or some remote bug out place, as far away as possible, if SHTF happens, but the coronavirus outbreak makes me think it might be wiser to stay close to an hospital.

What's the plan if you get a serious disease when in the middle of nowhere?
 
#3 ·
If you can become as totally off grid as possible and not come in contact with many people, living out in the country is safer. Hospitals will not be safe, even with the corona virus. To control this virus the hospital must have negative pressure isolation rooms. Most don't have this. The virus is airborne. N-95 masks, goggles, rubber gloves, etc, are your best line of defense after isolation.
 
#5 ·
I guess it comes down to what your concerns are. If you are worried about obtaining medical care in the event you get infected then maybe. That being said there will be a bell curve and you'll want to avoid needing medical care while we're in the middle parts of that curve as the medical infrastructure will likely be overloaded anyway.

But if you're concerned more about the restrictions to travel due to quarantine zones, riots, rise in crime, etc. Then you might not want to be in densely populated areas.

That being said I would not recommend being somewhere that you have no/limited infrastructure. Aka camping or roughing it in the wild.
 
#6 ·
That being said I would not recommend being somewhere that you have no/limited infrastructure. Aka camping or roughing it in the wild.
this.

for almost everyone, bugging out without a bug out house/location is simply insane.

If clean water is coming into your home and sewage safely leaving, then it's beyond absurd to consider running into the woods
 
#7 ·
In even minor SHTF hospitals are immediately overwhelmed so unless you are lucky enough to be the first through the doors being close to the hospital is just going to put you in the middle of ten thousand other people who had the same idea.
 
#8 ·
The plan is to not get a serious disease in the first place. In a hospital is one of the best places to catch a disease, especially flu, pneumonia and such.

There are statistics about getting disease in hospitals and people dying etc. if anyone wants to do a search.

My mom, dad and two uncles died in a nursing home. My dad died of heart failure but my mom and two uncles caught pneumonia in the nursing home and then died!

And if people are somewhere in the lower 48 states of the USA they can still get to a hospital even if in the most remote areas. A cell phone works in most areas even in remote areas unless you are down in a deep gulch etc. I almost died on the Continental Divide and I did not have a phone and lost my survival backpack but I still survived even after a week of being alone. I finally got to a highway and got a ride to the town over 12 miles away and then got to a hospital a day or so later.

But IF people love cities so much and think they are safer in a city then please stay there. People should stay in the area they feel and know where they can survive best and be the most comfortable. I am not comfortable in any city but I have spent half my life in a city of some kind usually less than 100,000 people and the other half of my life in remote mountains. I much prefer remote mountains.

I get a great deal more exercise in mountains and on my remote mtn retreat than I can ever get in a city, even if I wanted to spend money on a health club or such. And infinitely cleaner air, water and living in general the further from cities and "civilization." but at least in the USA most still have the freedom to choose how and where they can Live or just exist.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Well, how quickly can you make it to a medical facility during a medical emergency? I had a blockage in my left anterior descending two years ago, I recognized the symptoms (which were rather debilitating), and had my nephew call for an ambulance. I only live a few miles from the local hospital, and it took about ten minutes for the ambulance to arrive, another five or so for them to do an EKG, and about five to ten to transport to the hospital. Another few minutes to prep the ER for an x-ray, and a few more minutes to put in a stent (through the groin- didn't feel a thing after they drugged me up- and shaved off everything below the waist, lol). Over all, not a fun process, but I was optimistic about my survival from the start. The EMT's and medical team were top notch. Med techs said I made it by about ten minutes.
No heart damage, and I still keep active playing basketball, and working out at the gym.

Added- The ICU was hell, couldn't wait to get out of that place (many patients were elderly, and pretty bad off).
 
#13 ·
While the cause of death MIGHT be listed on the death certificate as Coronavirus, it's much more likely the single, largest complication that brought about death will be listed as the cause.
In the case an elderly or immunocompromised patient, that cause is likely to be multiple organ failure. In the young and otherwise healthy, like the flu, SARS and pneumonia, the most likely cause of death is going to be respiratory distress.
Unless you have experience intubating a patient in distress and the necessary equipment and drugs to support the patient once intubated, the prognosis is grim.
Speaking from experience both a a nurse AND a patient I can tell you when it heads down hill, it goes FAST. Twice in my life had I been more than a 15 min ambulance run from a trauma center, I would have died.
Most rural hospitals have 2 respirators - The old preppers rule, one is none, two is one. When they place a patient on a respirator they most often call for immediate transport to a larger hospital more well equipped to care for a patient at that level of distress. Not even the larger hospitals have one respirator per bed.

Food for thought when deciding which direction and when, to run.
 
#14 ·
My hospital is a half hour away as I'm about as rural as you can get in this county.
What they can't handle my insurance says we have to stay in state so it's a 3 hr ride (during rush hour)in an ambulance to practically downtown Chicago.
I've been on hay wagons that ride smoother than an ambulance ( felt every bump in the road and the roads are crap in Illinois) and won't do it again.
Family said your going by helicopter if it happens again whether insurance pays or not we'll pay it and get you there.
 
#15 ·
Most preppers have planned to go the woods, or some remote bug out place, as far away as possible, if SHTF happens, but the coronavirus outbreak makes me think it might be wiser to stay close to an hospital.
to be clear:

You want to be in a population dense area near a bunch of sick people with extremely limited medics supplies.....

You haven't really thought this through have you?


What's the plan if you get a serious disease when in the middle of nowhere?
Depends on the disease and the situation.

If things are normal.... A helo is a pretty quick ride. Often faster than ground transportation.

If you've been smart and have your firewood precut etc it's much safer away from people.

If you have known health issues... Depends on the health issues.

Diseases: are often transferred by humans.
Limited human contact...
 
#16 ·
HUH...
NEVER heard of a prep plan including easy access to a hospital.

Seems like it would be counter to all the other stuff that folks discuss about BOLs etc.

I understand the idea that having medical assistance handy would be a good thing
but
it would seem that the situation, whatever it was, that would require your possible relocation to your BOL would outweigh the idea that you would be in a sea of people who could be sick and possibly contagious as part of your planning to survive.

Kind of a mixed signal here.
 
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#17 ·
You have to survive the present to survive the future. As you age, there are new considerations. Priorities change, preps change. For most, medical care becomes a priority. If you are having trouble walking to the next room, you aren't going to be bugging out. 2 choices, sit down and die or adjust your life and possibly your location, to stay alive and see your loved ones again. That IS survival.
 
#21 ·
Being prepared, to me, means being able to handle most situations by myself at home. Granted, situations will arise that are too large for me and I will need help, but over all I want to stay at home and that includes during illness. If you have a preexisting condition that will require you to be hospitalized, whatever the additional illness you are subjected to, set yourself up for that situation.
 
#23 ·
I live in a county that has almost twice the population of the state of Wyoming. Sounds like a lot of competition for hospital beds. I'd rather my odds be in the country with a smaller chance of getting sick to begin with than in the city with great hospitals, but can't get medical care anyway.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I live in a reasonable sized city and near (2.5 miles) a major trauma hospital (ironically I worked there for 16 years) but in a SHTF/virus situation it would be about the last place I would go. They would be incredibly overwhelmed, understaffed, under siege and ill supplied that the only reason I would think of going would to see loved ones or forced to paramedics or medical staff.

I understand for medical needs (gun shot, Kung Flu, trauma) that it would be a better resource than anything I could probably do on my own. But I just feel they would be so overwhelmed by the general ill prepared masses you run higher risk of infection, injury or some other type of issue that it wouldn't be worth it. Under regular times of course it would be the correct choice but not during a major event. Heck, just getting close enough to the hospital would be hard enough. Granted I also live in a boarder state.

No I was a paper shuffler, computer guy. No medical training. But I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.

P.s. I you want to worry about more stuff. Think about all the products that get used in our hospitals that are made in China. Ok, now think about how long the shipping has been cutoff and when it's going to start back up again. So like anything else that gets made in China it ain't coming into this country anytime soon.
 
#26 ·
Interesting point. My wife is a nurse and works at a hospital. I was thinking the other day about all the people who plan on going hunting for food if the world is about to end. My goal is to leave hunting as a last resort. The idea of possibly getting injured and not having the needed medicines to recover from infection does not really appeal to me.
In saying that living close to a large urban center is not appealing either.
 
#27 ·
Certainly pros and cons to each. If people are dropping like flies from a global pandemic, and the mortality rate is high (25%+) you may need to seek help in a hospital (be put on a vent).

What if you shatter your femur? What if you just need medical or surgical attention for whatever reason? That BOL isn’t going to do you much good if you’ll die without it.

If the SHTF and we are talking WROL type situations, hospitals however may not even be staffed. Do hospitals have power and is infrastructure still intact? Do they have an ability to even treat you? Are they over capacity? Do they even have needed equipment?

Coronavirus is luckily showing us all how ill prepared the medical community is for a massive pandemic event.

The good balance, not available to everyone, is having family and friends who are clinical providers. Trauma, ED, or ICU nurses, PAs or NPs with such experience.

Physicians with surgical backgrounds will be in very high demand if the world ever ends. Know who they all are in your community.


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