Emergency Antibiotics
Kits for Medical Preparedness
All in all, my family is pretty healthy. No one takes regular medication, no chronic health conditions, and for the most part, our day-to-day health needs are met by high-quality whole foods and home remedies in my herbal first aid kit.
Or, at least, our needs are met…until something really unexpected happens.
Modern medicine does have its place, and there are a whole host of simple things that would have killed someone a century ago that are quickly resolved with a simple pill. Antibiotics are pretty magic, and there are times when you truly need them.
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The problem is, sometimes systems break down, as my family found out all too well in 2020 and the years shortly after.
Just a few days into lockdowns in the spring of 2020, I sat down to a tea party with my little ones with homemade snacks, dried fruit, and a big pot of chamomile tea. I toasted to the health of the teddy bears at the table with us and was actually looking forward to some quality time at home with my little loves…and then I bit into a dried cherry…and broke a tooth on a shard of pit left inside.
My dentist wasn’t seeing patients, and within a couple of weeks, I had a serious tooth infection.
My doctor wouldn't see me, tooth infections will give you a runny nose and a low-grade fever, and those were forbidden symptoms at the time. ER’s, likewise, wouldn’t take me for the same reason.
Any cold/flu symptoms, and the ER booted you to urgent care instead, as the only available option. (Of course, that just turned the urgent care waiting room a standing-room-only respiratory petri dish, but that’s another story.)
Then urgent care wouldn't see me…sorry, you have a dental problem.
I was in unbelievable pain months later, when I finally found a dentist willing to see me for a quick 15-minute consult. I finally got antibiotics and a bit of relief. But dentists don’t treat broken teeth anymore, I was told. I need a specialist.
Things were so messed up in our medical system during that time, it was a full 18 months, deep infection, and three separate rounds of antibiotics before I finally got the tooth dealt with for good.
And that’s an injury sustained at a tea party with toddlers.
Here on the homestead, there are a lot more dangerous occupations, but we’ve been pretty lucky.
Lucky or not, during that time we spent at home in the years immediately following 2020, my extended family needed emergency or life-saving medical care multiple times.
More time in the woods meant more ticks, and a family member contracted Lyme disease. The normal treatment for a little one with a lime-positive tick attached is a quick round of Amoxicillin to nip it in the bud, before things get serious.
But, of course, that was during a national amoxycillin shortage.
Over the course of a week, the little ones' knees swelled to the size of melons, and due to neurological complications, they lost control of their legs below the hips.
Lyme disease is asymptomatic much of the time, but when it’s not, it doesn’t mess around. The neurological complications can be profound…and they can be debilitating for life without a course of doxycycline. Luckily, that more intense treatment wasn’t short…this time.
With a simple pill, things are back to normal within a few days of treatment, like magic.
But modern medicine isn’t magic; it’s an essential resource that we take for granted until it’s not available. And I’m not talking about a world-ending apocalypse; I’m talking about simple bureaucratic breakdowns.
Things like supply chain shortages, doctors not taking patients, ever-evolving red tape, political changes in the wind, and simple natural disasters.
I could go on giving examples, but I hope you get the idea.
Antibiotics are overused, and that’s not a good thing, and I’m not advocating for that. But there are times when it’s literally do or die, and when that happens, it’s good to have options.
If modern medical care is available and easily accessible, then that’s the obvious first choice. But what happens when it’s not?
Emergency Antibiotic Kits
When critical medical care isn’t available, that’s when having emergency antibiotics can really make a difference.
There are a number of companies that have seen this shortfall in our medical system and have stepped up to fill the gap. Emergency antibiotics providers have licensed doctors in the US and Canada who will prescribe emergency antibiotics to bolster your preparedness, no matter the reason.
Let's say you want to be prepared for an emergency, or you’re traveling out of the country, or you’re going to spend a lot of time backcountry hiking.
It doesn’t matter the reason; there are plenty of excellent reasons why having lifesaving medication tucked away makes sense, just in case.
The prescriptions are filled by a licensed and regulated pharmacy here in the US, and they are the same medications as if you’d gotten the prescription from your doctor’s office or regular pharmacy.
I’m going to walk you through two of those companies: Jase Medical and The Wellness Company.
Jase Medical
One of the first companies to begin offering this resource here in the US, Jase started out with a “Jase Case,” or a simple case that contained a full adult course of antibiotics of five commonly prescribed antibiotics.
Their case includes:
Amoxicillin
Azithromycin
Ciprofloxacin
Doxycycline
Metronidazole
The basic pack sells for a few hundred dollars, and you can add on dozens of other medications based on your lifestyle and family's needs (ear infection drops, topical medications, etc). They also have specialty cases for travel, based on your destination.
They’ve recently added an option called “Jase Daily,” where you can get a full year’s supply of your regular Rx medications to have on hand as a backup. Literally, all you need to do is take a picture of your existing Rx medication bottles and answer a few basic intake questions.
Within a few days, you’ll have a year’s supply of your daily basics, which can be life-saving in all manner of emergencies (especially natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and fires that can strand people at home for weeks on end).
I’ve gone through their process for both a Jase Case and Jase Daily, and it took less than 20 minutes. (And, believe it or not, a year’s supply of regular Rx medications cost less than 3 months worth at a regular pharmacy.)
They were kind enough to give me a discount code to share with y’all, and if you use this link and the code SELFRELIANCE10 for $10 off.
The Wellness Company
A new company that is hoping to offer a whole host of medical services, The Wellness Company offers both emergency antibiotics and online medical video appointments with licensed doctors. You can get packs of just-in-case medications from them, but you can also schedule regular telemedicine doctor appointments with their physicians (for everyday things, or for urgent care needs).
I particularly like this company because they have more options for medication that are specifically applicable to issues that we’ve had in my family in the past. Mupirocin is a topical antibiotic that’s really helpful for common infections that little ones manage to contract with all the things they get themselves into, and some of their kits contain pink eye and ear infection drops standard.
Their kits are comparable or a little less expensive than Jase, depending on your needs.
Their basic kit, the Medical Emergency Kit, is about the same price as the one from Jase medical, but it includes a bit more than just antibiotics. It has 5 different antibiotics (similar to Jase), plus an antifungal, anti-nausea medication, and ivermectin for parasites.
They have a number of different kits, depending on your needs, from first aid, to travel and such. The kit that made the most sense for my family was their Field Emergency Kit. With six different antibiotics and more than a dozen useful emergency Rx medications, it has just about everything I can possibly imagine needing in an emergency, all in one case.
Their site says, “The Field Emergency Kit is the ultimate survival device. With antibiotics, antivirals, non-addictive NSAIDs for pain, to medications for nausea, diarrhea, and allergic reactions - you're equipped to handle over 60 life-threatening medical conditions. Each kit ships in an IP67-rated dustproof, waterproof case for the most extreme scenarios.”
The case itself really is pretty intense, and I feel like it could almost survive a launch from a cannon. It’s also nicely sealed. (All handy in areas where floods/hurricanes/earthquakes are a concern).
It’s not cheap, but that kit costs less than a single trip to urgent care, and the idea is that it’s there when a trip to urgent care or the ER is not…which is priceless.
The Wellness company was also kind enough to give me a discount code to share with you all. Use this link and the coupon code “SELFRELIANCE” for 10% off, which can work out to be quite a bit, depending on the kit you choose.
What do you think? What steps are you taking to ensure you’re prepared for medical emergencies?
Leave me a note in the comments.
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance
Wow this is incredibly helpful. And perfect timing as I have been giving emergency preparedness some thought again.