Help wanted locating a survival & preparedness article re the Balkan conflict

[Sean KZN]

Don't smoke, not my vice, but for trade, sure!

Yep, that is what it boiled down to. Trade, nothing to trade=nothing to get.

[Sean KZN]

Alcohol and OTC meds, because many people are addicted to those OTC pain killers.

Yes, drugs were big business. People needed to dull the trauma and that was a popular alternative to booze.
Also bizarrely, mercury.

[moose]

what is the mercury used for?

[Sean KZN]

Although it was a common request, I never did see any.
It was used to complete an electrical circuit for an explosive charge, so really just a trip switch for a booby trap of some nature.
I'd expect there are simpler alternatives nowadays.

[Vaal]

what is the mercury used for?

Mercury is used during the gold separation process.

[Meteor]

11. How did people treat the sick and the injured?
It ain’t the movie. People died. Many died from infections of superficial wounds. I had antibiotics for three to four uses — for the family, of course.
People died foolishly quite often. Simple diarrhea will kill you in a few days without medicine, with limited amounts of water.

I don't understand this idea well. Ignorance is bliss.
I always feel a kind of meh feeling when I hear about hygiene.

I understand an infection can be a death sentence in the wild but I have never had a big infection from a wound, or I haven't noticed. Mine have always been just that, a wound, nothing more.
My wounds are mostly superficial but I don't clean them and I don't use medicine. The concept of dying from infection appears alien to me. And when I look across the way to the location I don't think they worry about it either. Rusty nails in the foot, deep gashes to the fat layer, food poisoning and diarrhea that had me moaning till sunrise. All have been treated with time only.

What type of wound or infection would it take to pull me down?
What kind of diarrhea must I have (I've had severe diarrhea, we all have, I can't remember taking in more water to live)?
I have heard the many tales of people dying from bad hygiene but it always feels surreal. I imagine myself living in the bush, like camping, and always felt dirt is cleaner than a city sidewalk. Is it that some are too civilised to survive what I would call normal wounds or do I have a wrong understanding of what a different environment, or the right amount of bad things all at once, would mean?

How deep does this go? People have told stories of basic hygiene, ie no soap, being a cause of death.

[SoldierMan]

I don't understand this idea well. Ignorance is bliss.
I always feel a kind of meh feeling when I hear about hygiene.

I understand an infection can be a death sentence in the wild but I have never had a big infection from a wound, or I haven't noticed. Mine have always been just that, a wound, nothing more.
My wounds are mostly superficial but I don't clean them and I don't use medicine. The concept of dying from infection appears alien to me. And when I look across the way to the location I don't think they worry about it either. Rusty nails in the foot, deep gashes to the fat layer, food poisoning and diarrhea that had me moaning till sunrise. All have been treated with time only.

What type of wound or infection would it take to pull me down?
What kind of diarrhea must I have (I've had severe diarrhea, we all have, I can't remember taking in more water to live)?
I have heard the many tales of people dying from bad hygiene but it always feels surreal. I imagine myself living in the bush, like camping, and always felt dirt is cleaner than a city sidewalk. Is it that some are too civilised to survive what I would call normal wounds or do I have a wrong understanding of what a different environment, or the right amount of bad things all at once, would mean?

How deep does this go? People have told stories of basic hygiene, ie no soap, being a cause of death.

You're forgetting something - your immune system and overall health during a crisis.

Chances are very high that you won't be eating anywhere near to what you are now, hence your immune system will be highly compromised and your body's ability to fight off infection will be very low. Food is critical in maintaining a strong immune system.

That is why even small injuries could lead to death during a crisis. We fight off infections, cuts, scraps and even bigger wounds all the time but this goes from a non-issue to critical in times of crisis when food and clean water are scarce.

[Messor]

You're forgetting something - your immune system and overall health during a crisis.

Chances are very high that you won't be eating anywhere near to what you are now, hence your immune system will be highly compromised and your body's ability to fight off infection will be very low. Food is critical in maintaining a strong immune system.

That is why even small injuries could lead to death during a crisis. We fight off infections, cuts, scraps and even bigger wounds all the time but this goes from a non-issue to critical in times of crisis when food and clean water are scarce.

This

We are what we eat, in times of “modern” crisis humans tend to eat cheap forms of carbs.
Ok let me rephrase, they eat that even in normal times and that is why 90% of humans look like crap, but in desperate times it’s hard to fill your nutritional needs.
In good times, normal folk, taking supplements means nothing, yes there are a few studies out there showing taking multi-vitamins does actually nothing, it’s just a sales gimmick.

But it would be one thing a prepper must take special notice of, buying enough to last a long time to supplement a diet in times of crisis.
Humans don’t die from a lack of antibiotics, in fact I refuse to take them 99% of the time they are prescribed, you cannot teach your body to fight something if you kill the normal biome keeping you healthy.

But for times of trouble, expecting the worse:
1: A complete multivitamin.
2: A broad spectrum antibiotic.
3: A lot of toothbrushes, toothpaste and mouthwash like Listerine, trust me, we’ve just about stitched anything short of a jugular vein with little to no problem, but pulling or fixing teeth requires either more or less finesse, depending on the vodka level of the patient(or the doctor).

[Sean KZN]

I don't understand this idea well. Ignorance is bliss.
I always feel a kind of meh feeling when I hear about hygiene

It's not something that would normally trouble us. If I understand his story correctly, he was on the outskirts of Sarajevo. It's pretty much in a deep valley, in winter, there was a wind that blew and it felt like it was coming out of Siberia, it could go as low as - 20 celcius. There is a little river flowing through, with all the shit and muck being dumped in it, it would have needed some treatment to make it at least user friendly.
Some Jik or chlorine would have helped, or even a good boiling, the first 2 being unavailable and the last requiring fuel, which was obviously difficult.
So low temperatures, poor diet and challenging sanitation made it difficult for them. In those conditions small wounds would go manky very quickly, it was indeed a dire predicament to live through.

[Meteor]

Seems sunshine is good medicine and it is very dry in the Karoo so I don't sit with wet wounds.
The tooth problem through is not a joke...I'll simply bury myself

Can someone explain why there would be snipers?
Are they protecting their spot from people they assume are dangerous thieves?