The purpose of this article is to outline a series of medical events my family experienced in an three-month window from Christmas Day 2024 to March 1, 2025, followed by a frank evaluation of what gaps this event chain showed in my family’s preparedness supplies and plans.
As a healthy, early middle-aged male who has been in the preparedness space for nearly 15 years and regularly follows prepping blogs and podcasts, I like to think of myself as being prepared for most of the events that could disrupt the lives of my immediate family. The typical “beans, bullets, and Band-Aids” supplies are kept well stocked along with some more advance preps such as alternative means of power, cooking, and heating. Before these events and having been through the COVID era, I would also have said that my medical preps, the “Band-Aids”, were adequate to address typical medical events of a nuclear family with young school-age children such as cuts, scrapes, burns, fevers, etc. I have also taken steps to be able to provide emergency first aid care for more serious and life-threatening injuries that could require the use of tourniquets, chest seals, etc.
Looking back after the series of events about to be reviewed, my medical preps were focused on two scenarios and left a hole for a third. The two scenarios I was prepared for were, firstly, small house hold injuries or “boo boos” such a cuts, scrapes, and minor burns. The second was life threatening injuries and conditions such as major bleeding. The missing third scenario was the possibility of medium to severe illnesses such as flu, pneumonia, or stomach viruses.
Incident #1, Christmas Day 2024 – My father, an otherwise fairly healthy and active man of approximate retirement age, was taken to the local emergency room via ambulance at approximately 11:00 PM after becoming unable to breath without violently coughing and gasping. The ER staff diagnosed him with pneumonia in both lungs. Due to the local ER’s limitations, they began making arrangements to transfer him via ambulance to a larger hospital about 20 minutes away. My father then waited approximately 14 hours for an oxygen-equipped ambulance to become available. While waiting, the hospital’s treatment of him could at best be described as “let’s keep him alive until he becomes someone else’s problem.”
Upon finally arriving at the secnd hospital, a much higher degree of staff involvement and care was received almost immediately. A nurse was basically assigned to my father’s room around the clock to assist him with breathing and moving around. After a nearly weeklong stay, he was released to go home with medication. Surprisingly, at least to me, home oxygen was not part of the home treatment. It took another week to week-and-a-half before the symptoms cleared enough for him to resume a semi-normal level of activity.
Incident #2, mid-January 2025 – My children, currently in pre-kindergarten at the local elementary school, developed an upper respiratory illness. Symptoms included sever nasal congestions, runny nose, coughing, and lack of energy. This was treated at home using Over-The-Counter (OTC) medications for multiple days but did not improve. When taken to the pediatrician, they were diagnosed with sinus infections and prescribed a ten-day course of antibiotics. One of the children easily took the medication and fluids, the other consistently took various types of coercion and bribery to get to cooperation and usually took up to 30 minutes.
Incident #3, mid-January 2025 – Partially overlapping with Incident #2, I contracted the same sinus infection from my children around the same time as they were prescribed antibiotics. After several days of symptoms and using OTCs, the infection moved from my nasal area to my ear which resulted in a very strong sensation of having water trapped in my ear canal. I continued to treat using OTCs. Two days into this, the infection spread to my other ear and resulted in extreme pressure and pain inside my ears.
After waking up in pain in the middle of the night and being unable to relieve the pressure via popping my eustachian tubes, I made the trip to the same local ER used in Incident #1 for treatment. Arriving at approximately 4:00 AM, I was seen within 15 minutes of arriving and the ER doctor quickly confirmed that I had a sinus infection. I was given a shot of steroids, a shot of antibiotics, a 7-day prescription for oral antibiotics, and was on my way home before 5:00 AM. These medications cleared up most of the infection, but my hearing continued to be muffled for nearly two weeks.
Incident #4, late-January 2025 – A few days after the pediatrician visit, the oldest child began to complain of stomach pains and stopped eating & drinking. The child quickly began showing signs of dehydration and was taken to the same local ER used in Incident #1. The staff confirmed dehydration and recommended transferring to the same larger hospital as Incident #1, which had a dedicated pediatric floor. This transfer was done via ambulance, but thankfully didn’t require an oxygen-equipped ambulance, so the transfer was able to start within an hour of being called for.
At the second hospital, the pediatric staff diagnosed the child with having NORA-virus and began administering oral anti-nausea medication as well as IV fluids & antibiotics. Within an hour of arriving at the hospital with my child, I began vomiting violently and being nauseous. Thankfully, the hospital had an urgent care clinic so I was able to get anti-nausea and antibiotic prescriptions without having to leave the facility. My wife stayed the night in the hospital while my other child and I returned home. The next 14 hours were spent with the other child sleeping like a rock with no symptoms while I expelled every bit of food and liquid from my stomach. Keeping anything down was an impossibility for the first 6 to 8 hours.
While I am normally an opponent of my wife’s love of commercial shopping apps and memberships, I was very glad for this convenience when she was able to place an order on the Wal-Mart app (not a recommendation or endorsement for Wal-Mart, just what we use due to proximity) from the hospital for Pedialite popsicles & drinks, crackers, and other essentials; and have it delivered to our front door a few hours later. To have this service option available in what can be generously called a quaint, rural Appalachian town like ours is eye-opening both in what modern technology allows (for both good and bad) to be done remotely, and what other services could be or become available.
Following an approximately 36-hour stay, the oldest child was discharged from the hospital with, again, prescription antibiotics & anti-nausea medications and instructions to rest and stay hydrated. Several days later, all symptoms had largely disappeared. My symptoms cleared up in about 24 hours. My wife and other child avoided this virus entirely.
Incident #5, mid-February 2025 – After a week to 10-days of everyone being healthy, my youngest again started running a sporadic fever. After two days of this, she was again taken the pediatrician. This time she tested positive for strep throat and was given another 10-day prescription for oral antibiotics. Unsurprisingly, within a day or so, my wife began showing similar symptoms. Following a trip to the local urgent care, she tested positive for strep also and was given a prescription for antibiotics.
The next day, in an abundance of caution and to try to get ahead of any new illness, myself and our other child made a trip to the urgent care for our own screening. Surprisingly, we both came back negative but were prescribed antibiotics as a precaution against the high likelihood that we would contract the infection. Luckily, we both manage to avoid any illness besides a mild sore throat and an incident or two of fever.
The next week or so consisted of missed work and school, a lot of classic Disney movies (all made before the Disney corporation’s executives lost their minds), naps, and boxes of popsicles.
With the household being illness-free for several weeks now, it is deeply and sincerely hoped that this will mark the end of our first season of school-related illness.
A Look Back: What We Did Right
Unfortunately, this will be a short section. We had a robust stock of OTCs typical of a household with young children (i.e. Tylenol & Motrin for children, DayQuil/NiteQuil for the adults) along with comfort items for sick children (i.e. Pedialyte, popsicles, oral rehydration mixes). This stock kept us from having to scramble to the local stores for supplies when the first rounds of illness hit and allowed to us try to start managing the symptons.
A Look Back: What We Did Wrong
I’m not sure what, if any, steps could have been taken to prevent my father’s bout of pneumonia or to expedite getting him adequate care. We had minimal experience with either hospital that was involved. Since he was taken to the 1st location via the local county EMS system, we did not have any options to have him taken to the 2nd location initially. Perhaps we, the family, should have transported him ourselves directly to the 2nd location, but given his condition and our ignorance of what was occurring, I’m not sure this is a decision any of us would have made. Doing so would have meant driving another 20-30 minutes past the 1st hospital, which would have been hard to do with his breathing difficulties.
Also, I’m still looking into how his condition could have been treated at home. Given his difficulties breathing, I’m doubtful that even with antibiotics on hand that he could have been treated without oxygen to maintain his breathing.
We did an inadequate job of monitoring what illnesses were showing up in the local area as well as the local school. If we had done so, perhaps preventative treatments could have been taken such as Vitamin C boosters. I guess it could or should be argued that this needs to be considered part of an area study that needs to be ongoing.
Dovetailing into lack of monitoring, we were also unaware of the symptoms of both typical childhood illnesses and specifically the illnesses that were occurring locally. We were unable to tell the difference between a common bout of cold and a sinus infection, or between run-of-the-mill stomach issues and a stomach virus.
We were also unprepared to do more than treat the symptoms of illnesses beyond minor infections such as colds or upset stomachs. While we had the OTCs to treat pain, discomfort, and fevers; we did not have any antibiotics or anti-nausea medications to treat illnesses beyond the typical cold and flu. We also lacked the ability to treat dehydration besides using sports drinks, adding hydration packets to water, and Pedialyte. These methods may or may not have been sufficient, but we had failed to see if either child would consume the hydration packets or Pedialyte products. We found out quickly that this was a resounding “No” from both of them.
A Look Forward: What We Will Do Now
With the anticipation of the next cold/flu season being very similar to what we experienced, several actions are planned.
First, keep in contact with our pediatrician and public-school staff as to what illnesses are being seen, what the symptoms are, how to treat them at home, and what preventative measures can be taken.
Second, increase the quantities of OTCs, comfort items, and hydration aids that we keep on hand.
Third, realizing the limits of what OTCs can accomplish, we are looking at prescription-grade medicine kits such as supplied by the Wellness Company, Jase Case, and others (this is not any kind of endorsement or recommendation, only two examples of this product type).
JWR Adds: To be ready for home treatment of stomach flus and other illnesses that can cause diarrhea and/or vomiting, it is important to have OTC Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) fluids with electrolytes on hand. I recommend stocking up on Pedialyte — or its generic equivalent. Do a taste test with your kids to see if they prefer the grape, orange, or unflavored varieties before buying ORSes in quantity.
Fourth, increase our own education and reference materials for dealing with disease and illness. We are attempting to locate medical classes in our area outside of the typical Red Cross and first aid type. We are also slowly purchasing home medical books such as The Prepper’s Medical Handbook and The Home Grown Herbalist Guide to Medicinal Weeds (again, this is not any kind of endorsement or recommendation, only two examples of this product type).
Fifth, try to grow our access to healthcare professionals and knowledge outside of the traditional doctor’s office/hospital setting. By this, I mean finding people with medical care training and knowledge and establishing personal relationships with them so that if needed, a quick call, text message, or even home visit might be possible instead of taking a sick child to a medical office.
I’m sure many readers can also see how having these relationships could also be a benefit if/when society comes off the rails. I personally would fully expect for hospitals and ERs to become heavily guarded by police, National Guard, or private security while non-emergency medical locations and personnel quickly become targets of robbery and kidnapping as the larger population become aware of how vulnerable they are to illness and injury in addition to how poorly equipped and trained they are to deal with these problems. Even an inexperienced doctor, nurse, EMT, or medical field student may be worth their weight in gold.
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