I was visiting friends in Europe recently when I was bitten by a dog - it wasn't her fault (or mine!) but it was pretty deep and it hurt like hell! Explaining to my friends around me why I was making it bleed more, what to do if someone goes into shock (which I wasn't about to admit was happening to me!) and where my first aid kit was, helped to distract me from the feeling that I was about to pass out.

One of my friends insisted that I go to the hospital - I agreed in the end because I had no steri-strips in my kit. At the hospital, I was told I'd have to pay nearly 100 euros up front and would get my money back in the UK if I had insurance (note - if you go to hospital in an ambulance and you have a health insurance card (E111) you just hand that over and the bill gets sent to you back at home). With pressure from my friends, I reluctantly agreed.

The doctor I saw first shook my hand (not the bitten one, but the one that had been holding the bloody swabs...) then my friends' hands, before going straight on to look at the bite. Now, treating myself, I don't bother wearing gloves, but when treating someone else, you should do, for their safety and for your safety. At least sterilise your hands before and after... or wash them in water... do something to make it look like you're cleaning them! (But really, wear gloves... and I mean proper latex (or latex-free) surgical gloves!)

I asked my friend to remind me that I had iodine in my kit in the car (iodine kills everything: bacteria, etc.); the doctor put steri-strips on my hand, prescribed me anti-biotics and I was free to go. I spent less than 4 minutes in the room and it cost me almost 100 euros!? I sat in the car (cleaning the wounds with iodine) and thought about first aid and how I already knew what to do about dog bites. Considering I never took the anti-biotics, what did I pay for? Less (and worse) treatment than I could have done myself?! A couple of steri-strips and a little chat?!

Especially in the UK, we really rely on having a healthcare system that is affordable/free (usually) and that is relatively good (doctors at least wash their hands). We rely on having a health-care system in general... This doesn't exist everywhere and, when there is healthcare, it's not necassarily good or affordable!

And what if you're in a country illegally, or you know someone who is? What if you (or your friend) are on the run and can't risk going to a hospital? What if you need to pay up front (you'll get it back) and you don't have the money in the first place? What if one day we're told "No, fuck you - you're a policitcal activist, we're not treating you" - seems far-fetched (the last one) but what would you do?

I was talking to a friend of mine a while ago:

Her: "You know, I've been thinking - if we really want to "get out of the system" we might have to learn how to do surgery on eachother, just in case"
Me: "Haha, yeah. I know some people I wouldn't even trust with a bandage!"
Us: Laughing, joking... It sinks in: oh fuck, she has a point.

OK, so maybe thinking about if we'd ever have to do surgery on eachother is taking it a bit far (is it?), at least in this country... but there is a point there. Whether we choose not to rely on the healthcare system because we just don't want to be reliant on it, or whether the system just isn't available to us anymore, knowing at least basic first aid is something we should all think about. Even if it's just because you don't want to spend 4 hours in a hospital waiting room just to be given a plaster and told your injury's not actually as serious as you thought... learn first aid.

We're not taught these things at a young age, we're not taught how to look after ourselves properly, we're not taught about what kinds of plants and herbs have different healing/disinfectant/soothing effects, we're not taught basic first aid... why? Because "they" want us to be reliant on them?

Prevention is better than cure: look after your body, become stonger, strengthen your immune system...

You can't always prevent things (dislocations, cutting yourself, car accidents, etc.): learn basic first aid, how to keep someone alive until the ambulance gets there to take over (if really serious), what to do, what not to do, things to look out for (signs of infection)...

If you get ill: are there any foods that would help? Ginger is good for nausea or warming you up, chamomile relaxes, the list of anti-spasmodics, laxatives, anti-inflammatories... is endless. We all know that we can't trust pharmaceutical companies, so why don't more of us know how to treat ourselves? It might be scary to think you might fuck up a disgnosis of yourself or a friend and you think you're better off going to a "professional", but the knowledge should still be there, in our heads, just in case we need it.

Action Medics:  http://ukmedic.ox4.org/ (a good start)