If the victim is unconscious, lay them on their back. Straddle their legs and put the heel of your interlaced hands just above the navel and thrust inward and upward five times. Sweep the mouth to remove the obstruction and repeat until successful.
Alternately, if they are in a position where you can do so, give the unconscious victim five hard blows to the back between the person’s shoulder blades using the bottom part or heel of your hand. Sweep the mouth to remove the obstruction and deliver an additional five separate forceful strikes.
BURNS
Burns occur frequently during survival situations. A burn is damage to your body’s tissues caused by heat, chemicals, electricity, sunlight, or radiation. Scalds from hot liquids and steam, building fires, and flammable liquids and gases are the most common causes of burns. Burns can cause swelling, blistering, scarring, and, in serious cases, shock and even death. It’s important to note the distinction in the severity of burns in order to administer the proper care.
First degree: This is the least serious and affects only the outer layer of skin. The skin is usually red, often accompanied by swelling.
Second degree: This is when the burn has affected the second layer of skin, called the dermis. Blisters develop, and the skin becomes reddened and splotchy in appearance.
Third degree: In these most serious burns, all layers of the skin are damaged. The burn destroys skin tissue, fat, and muscle, and may even reach the bone. Third-degree burns can appear charred black or sometimes dry and white.
Short-term Treatment
1. Stop the continued destruction of tissue by running cool water at low pressure over the wound.
2. Remove jewelry and clothes from areas that have been burned.
3. Cover the burn with a sterile dressing or clean and dry improvised dressing.
4. Don’t put any ointment on the wound just yet.
5. Try to have the person drink fluids.
6. Electrical burns often cause serious injury to organs inside the body. This injury may not show on the skin.
7. A chemical burn should be flushed with large amounts of cool water. Take off any clothing or jewelry that has the chemical on it. Don’t put anything on the burned area, such as antibiotic ointment. This might start a chemical reaction that could make the burn worse.
8. Get ready to treat for shock, if necessary.
Long-term Treatment
It’s important to get immediate medical attention if:
• A first- or second-degree burn covers an area larger than two to three inches in diameter
• The burn is on your face, over a major joint (such as the knee or shoulder), or on the hands, feet, or genitals
• The burn is a third-degree burn
Burns also can lead to infections, because they damage your skin’s protective barrier. Antibiotic creams can prevent or treat infections. After a third-degree burn, you need skin or synthetic grafts to cover exposed tissue and encourage new skin to grow. First- and second-degree burns usually heal without grafts.
How Long Does It Take For Burns To Heal?
• First-degree burns usually heal in three to six days.
• Second-degree burns usually heal in two to three weeks.
• Third-degree burns usually take a very long time to heal.
BITES AND STINGS
Bites and stings are not often fatal, but they certainly can be. For some people, a bite or a sting can simply cause an irritation, bring about disease, or even send the body into shock. Certain insects and snakes, however, have venom that can cause death.
In all cases, if you get bitten or stung, do not scratch the site because you will further aggravate and potentially infect it.
Bee and Wasp Stings
For most people, bee and wasp stings will be an irritation, albeit a potentially painful one. At the first sign of a bee or wasp attack, the primary goal should be to get off the X and make sure you aren’t near a hive or other area with the potential for swarm activity.
While not everyone is susceptible to anaphylactic shock, or anaphylaxis, from the venom of certain bites and stings, it is such a serious condition that getting yourself and your family tested to see if you’re at risk is prudent. If you have been bitten or stung and have experienced anything more than a local swelling/irritation at the point of damage, then you are at a higher risk for this to occur to you. Still, many people who have had no previous adverse reactions suddenly find themselves under the threat of anaphylactic shock. The tests aren’t perfect and can’t determine everything, but the information they yield might just save your life someday.
1. Remove the stinger by scraping with a sharp edge, the same way you would sharpen a knife on a flat stone or use a spatula to flip a pancake.
2. Determine if victim carried epinephrine or some other treatment that needs to be immediately administered.
3. Wash site with soap and water.
4. Relieve discomfort with cold water.
5. Use antibiotics, depending on the type of wound, or with the advice of a physician.
To clear up a common myth, sucking out venom using your mouth is only a last resort.
Make incisions to a wound only if treatment is more than an hour away, and make the incisions no larger than twice the size of the original punctures. See how many puncture wounds the snake has made in the skin and judge how many incisions to make accordingly. Anything more, and you are merely adding to the injury and increasing the trauma.
Spider and Scorpion Bites
1. Clean and dress the bite area.
2. Treat for shock and be prepared to give CPR.
3. Obtain antivenin if available.
4. Take antibiotics if necessary.
Snakebites
1. Keep the victim calm and still, with as low a heart rate as possible, to reduce the spread of venom throughout the circulatory system.
2. Immobilize the bitten extremity and prepare for immediate transportation to a medical facility.
3. Treat for shock and force them to drink fluids.
4. Remove all jewelry and other constricting items.
5. Clean the bite area.
6. Prepare to give rescue breathing and CPR.
7. Use a constricting band (not a tourniquet) between bite site and heart that two fingers can easily slip under.
8. Attempt to remove poison with mechanical suction or by squeezing.
9. Obtain antivenin if available.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank first and foremost my co-writer and pointman on this project, Michael Largo. This book doesn’t exist without you. Thank you for your patience, hard work, writing ability, and navigating me through my first book without allowing me to hit any IED’s.
I’d also like to thank Adam Wilson and all the folks at Simon & Schuster. Jesse Peterson for the outstanding illustrations. The paramedics at the Westminster, Colorado, Fire Department for keeping it current and accurate. And lastly my pit bull/agent in New York, Frank Wiemann.
CADE COURTLEY was born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised in Boulder, Colorado. He spent most of his young adult life in the outdoors, developing a foundation that would serve him well. Upon graduation from the University of San Diego, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy and began Navy SEAL training (BUD/S). After several intense tours as a platoon commander that had him operating around the world, Cade left the SEAL teams to pursue other challenges, but he didn’t stray far, serving as an independent contractor for a government agency. He was the host of the Spike TV and Discovery International show Surviving Disaster and appears as a regular commentator on CNN and Fox News.
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This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is sold with the understanding that the survival techniques described in this book are utilized at the sole discretion of the reader. Where matters of health are concerned, the reader should consult his or her own medical and health providers as appropriate before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it. The author and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, that is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.
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Copyright © 2012 by SEAL Survival, LLC
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Gallery Books trade paperback edition December 2012
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Designed by Julie Schroeder
Illustrations by Jesse Peterson
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Courtley, Cade, 1969–
SEAL survival guide : a Navy SEAL’s secrets to surviving any disaster / Cade Courtley.
p. cm.
1. Survival. 2. Disasters. I. Title.
GF86.C68 2012
613.6’9—dc23
2012036842
ISBN 978-1-4516-9029-3
ISBN 978-1-4516-9030-9 (ebook)
Seal Survival Guide Page 30
