Think you're trained in first aid? Think again

"The Magnificent Seven"

Why we prep

Here's another reason why you – and your friends and family – should prep:

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(Okay. Not so much this time.)

Robert Vaughn of "The Man From U.N.C.L.E." fame dies at 83

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On Nov. 11, 2016, Robert Vaughn passed away. Now I don't actually know all that much about Mr. Vaughn. He appears to have been a noteworthy actor for many years. He honorably stayed married to the same woman for over 40 years. His big claim to fame was his starring role in "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," a cold-war spy drama that ran for 100 episodes from 1964 to 1968. Since I wasn't much into spy shows during that very formative period of my life, I barely remember the show.

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But of far greater importance to me is that with his death, we see the passing of the last of the Seven. By this of course I mean the last of the titular antihero-gunfighters from the greatest western of all times, "The Magnificent Seven." The other six stars of the movie were some of the greatest Hollywood names of their era: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Horst Buchholz, Charles Bronson, Brad Dexter and James Coburn. And as a bonus, the Seven also starred that incomparable bad guy, Eli Wallach.

(And yes, I know the film was a knock-off of the 1954 Japanese film "The Seven Samurai." So what? I'm an American.)

Now what's this got to do with prepping? Probably not much … to you. But it's a simple fact that we are the sum of our experiences, and many of the most formative lessons that help to define us are the experiences we receive as children. I am blessed to have come from a long line of people who went against the grain. And from "The Magnificent Seven," I received valuable reinforcement of the ideals and the mythos of a real American male: Fight for the good, speak the truth, defend the right and never surrender the gifts of God.

So thanks, Mr. Vaughn. May you find rest in the hands of the Lord.

And that's one of the reasons we ... well, I prep.

Over the last few months in this column, we've delved into food storage, water storage, guns, bug-out bags and other staples of the prepper lifestyle. We're not done with any of those topics, of course, because prepping is a journey, not a destination; but one of the remaining important areas of core prepping we need to cover is health, specifically medical preparedness.

Medical prep is especially prone to the "gear not grasp" error, meaning having a great first-aid kit but no knowledge of its effective use. With a gun, you have lots of opportunity to practice (and even at that, a whole lot of preppers have weapons used primarily as very attractive paper weights); but with medical supplies, who really wants to be in a position to need to practice medicine?

However, being able to diagnose and treat an injury or illness is a vital self-sufficiency skill – especially in a disaster.

Is prepping the right thing for to do for Christians? Or should we just be trusting in the Lord? Learn about that balance in "Be Thou Prepared" by Carl Gallups – "Equipping the Church for Persecution and Times of Trouble."

If you haven't put in much time or effort in getting set up to treat yourself or your neighbors in the event of a medical emergency, now is the time to start the process. The usual and time-honored way to do so is to take a first-aid class – and the "big kahuna" of initial treatment training remains the Red Cross.

If you go to this link, you'll find a website that makes it easy to locate classes in your area. (I have to travel about 75 miles to get a real class, but that's because I live I the "way back.") Classes on basic first-aid with CPR and AED (automated external defibrillator) cost around $100. If you don't have the time for hands-on training, you can get an online course for $25. (These online courses aren't the best way to start off, but they do make for excellent refresher training.)

While a first aid class is a good investment, bear in mind the term "first aid." The purpose of these classes is to improve the chances for your injured party to still be counted among the living when the pros arrive. For most of us, that means around four to 10 minutes. Of course as I said in a previous column, here at the compound, response time might be measured in hours. So what will you do when the timely arrival of first responders is problematic or even unlikely? In the extreme prepper scenarios, your "wait time" for professional medical assistance might be counted in months.

If you ascribe to the prepper philosophy of maximized self-sufficiency, you'll make a Red Cross class a starting point, or leap-frog it entirely for more comprehensive training. That's why I recommend a better investment in keeping someone alive and kicking: training in wilderness medicine.

How does a "wilderness" medical emergency differ from "regular" emergency? By way of definition, "A wilderness medical emergency is a medical emergency which takes place in a wilderness or remote setting which is at least 60 minutes away from definitive care (hospital, clinic, etc.) and presents unique challenges that may require specialized skills, treatment techniques, and knowledge in order to manage the patient for an extended period of time before being evacuated." (From: "The Comprehensive Guide To Wilderness First Aid")

Coursebook for Wilderness Medicine Training Center

There are a lot of wilderness medical training centers out there (such as Wilderness Medicine Training Center), and if you look online, you can likely find one close to your location. Many of them offer online classes for the "book learning" portions of the training, but you'll have to dedicate at least a couple of days in the field for the hands-on stuff.

Check out some options in the WND Superstore preparedness department. New products of all kinds being added regularly for all your prepper needs – from informational books, movies to shovels, water purifiers, and food from soup to nuts!

Check them out. The costs are reasonable for the degree of training you'll receive, and the results far exceed the level of training you get from the Red Cross. If you want to see more of what you'll be taught, you can download the course book for the Wilderness Medicine Training Center for $22.00. Even if you never take the training, this book is invaluable and can be loaded onto a smart phone for portability.

Getting training to save lives is a prepper requirement. Even in everyday life, accidents happen; but in a SHTF situation, being a well-trained medical tech can save not just someone else's life, but your own as well. It's a skill set that's valuable. And at the Post-Apocalypse Dance and Swap meet, it will mean your dance card will always be full and the dystopian mutant cannibals won't eat you.

Probably.