Surviving Your Hospital Stay: Dr. Julie Siemers

The healthcare system can be a maze of hidden dangers, but what if you had an insider's guide to navigating it safely? Dr. Julie Siemers pulls back the curtain on hospital risks in this eye-opening conversation that could save your life or the life of someone you love.

Drawing from 45 years as a nurse educator and author of "Surviving Your Hospital Stay," Dr. Siemers reveals shocking statistics about medication errors, misdiagnoses, and the alarming fact that only 9% of newly graduated nurses demonstrate competency for safe practice. She shares practical tools anyone can use to protect themselves, from checking hospital safety grades before procedures to knowing exactly what to say when facing medical gaslighting or unwanted treatments.

The conversation takes unexpected turns as host Antoinette Lee shares her traumatic experience of nearly being given morphine despite a documented deadly allergy – complete with armed guards preventing her from leaving. Dr. Siemers provides clarity on patient rights, explaining when you can refuse care and how to escalate concerns through proper channels when facing resistance.

You'll discover how to select physicians who treat you as a partner rather than a passive r

The Health Ranger Store
The best price on US-based lab-tested supplements and superfoods. Shop now with my affiliate link.

LIFEWAVE
Boost your body’s innate powers and live better and younger with LifeWave phototherapy products!

Ready Hour & My Patriot Supply
Best price on US-based preparedness and long-term storable food. Shop now with my affiliate link.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 0:00 Hidden Hospital Risks and Solutions
• 7:30 Choosing Safe Hospitals and Doctors
• 12:10 Patient Rights and Pushing Back
• 18:40 Family Advocacy and Preparation
• 22:50 Avoiding Medication Errors and Bullying
• 33:50 Nurse Education and Safety Gaps
• 37:30 Emergency Preparedness and First Aid

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

but hidden hospital risk costs you or a loved one your life. Today, on new normal, big life, dr julie seamers, a nurse educator, author of surviving your hospital stay and life beat solutions founder with 45 years of experience, reveals how to stay safe in healthcare, from uncovering hidden hospitalization dangers to empowering patients against gaslighting or premature health decisions. She'll answer how to choose a safe hospital, your rights to refuse treatment, how families can advocate for a comatose patient. Plus, dr Seamus shares tools to navigate hospitals confidently, tune in to advocate for yourself and transfer healthcare one voice at a time. Hi friends, welcome to the New Normal, big Life podcast. We bring you natural news and stories about nature that we hope will inspire you to get outside and adventure, along with a step-by-step plan to help you practice what you've learned and create your own new normal and live the biggest life you can dream. I'm your host, antoinette Lee, the wellness warrior.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Dr Julie Seamers is a nurse educator and founder of LifeBeat Solutions. She's dedicated a 45-year career to preventing harm in healthcare. Lifebeat Solutions offers training that empowers nurses with clinical judgment tools, communication skills to advocate for patients and systems that prioritize safety as a practice, not just a policy. Her mission is to transform nurse education to improve patient outcomes. One course, one hospital, one voice at a time. She's going to drop some insights that will change your life as a patient forever, so stay tuned. Good morning, dr Seamers. Thank you for joining us on New, normal, big Life.

Speaker 2: 1:55

Thank you for having me a guest on your show. I feel honored.

Speaker 1: 1:59

I'd like to tap into your 45 years of healthcare education and have you talked to us about what are the biggest concerns that we, as patients going into a hospital, don't even know that we should be concerned about?

Speaker 2: 2:16

Yeah, you know, this has been, like you said, a long journey for me, but I think it came into my awareness that when I started researching patient safety for my master's degree in my doctoral project, because again, being at the bedside and seeing the confusion on so many patients' faces because it truly is speak a different language.

Speaker 2: 2:42

They don't know our routines, they don't even know who's in charge, and so it brought me down this path of writing my book, which was really trying to cover those topics that I felt were essential for people to know again, to become informed, educated and empowered in their healthcare journey empowered in their healthcare journey. So when we look at the statistics of what happens in the hospital that can go wrong with patients, I guess I was surprised myself, even though I'm in the industry as a nurse, but I was surprised at how many medication errors happen, how many any misdiagnosis or late diagnosis occur, and that really again propelled me to help people figure out this really confusing journey of especially the acute care setting right. So that's a few of them that I found. We could start there, if you like.

Speaker 1: 3:44

Well, I also wanted to mention your book Surviving your Hospital Stay A Nurse Educator's Guide to Staying Safe and Living, to Tell About it. Can you also tell us about how do we select the best and safest hospitals? And also I've heard there's some, I guess, secret sauce to choosing the right time to go to a hospital.

Speaker 2: 4:08

Yes, that's a very good question. I assumed, even as a nurse, that pretty much all hospitals were created equal, and they're really not. There is a website called hospitalsafetygradeorg. It is a free website sponsored by a nonprofit organization with real data that ranks hospitals in 22 categories of safety main categories and then their subcategories. And if I were going to have surgery or even to be prepared in case of an emergency, I would put in my zip code in my city and look at the hospitals in my area and see what their rank is. And they're ranked from an A through an F, just like high school or college grades, right. And so all of the safety scores are easy to read for patients. You don't have to understand, you know medical language to see in one category whether it's red, yellow or green. Obviously red, they're not doing well. Yellow, they've got room for improvement and so each of these 22 categories are then ranked to come up with the main category of the grade, the letter grade for the hospital. So that is the best place to start, but I'll just go a step further. But it also gives the patient the knowledge to say hey, dr Jones, you're doing a hysterectomy on me next week.

Speaker 2: 5:49

I see that the hospital that we've chosen doesn't do very well in a few post-op complication areas. Let's just choose one, like blood clots, for example. So how are we going to work together to ensure that I have the best outcome possible and that I won't get a blood clot and then hopefully the doctor will say well, this is the evidence-based practice that we use. We make sure you get up and walk, we put the sequential compression stockings on you to squeeze your blood, you know, from the legs so it gets back up to your heart, and we take those precautions maybe even a blood thinner, depending on what type of surgery to prevent that blood clot. And that kind of brings me to another point in the book is about how to choose your physician. You should be able to have this type of conversation with your provider that you pick, and if you don't, I would probably choose another one. That's excellent advice.

Speaker 1: 6:51

It sounds like that's a great strategy for a doctor who's open to having a conversation with their patients, but as someone who spent a lot of time around doctors, both as a practitioner and as a patient, you get a lot who don't want to have that conversation. They don't treat you as a equal participant in your healthcare. It's kind of an attitude sometimes of I know what I'm doing, you just need to trust me, and what I have felt is quite a bit of pushback from doctors when you ask them questions, when you want to hear your options, when you tell them you want to take a moment to do some research on your own and maybe give your office a call back and tell you which direction I want to go. I've had a fair amount of pushback personally and I know a lot of people I've talked to have experienced that too. So what can a patient do when they have a doctor that doesn't want to treat them like an equal participant in their healthcare?

Speaker 2: 7:58

That's a challenge. It is one of our patient rights to have all of the information, to take time After all, it's our body, right? It's our life, and the same solution isn't going to be a good fit for all patients. I think that's a gap in medical education for these doctors. But I think we, as the patient side of it, have to reset the culture, and we do that by not taking a passive role, but taking an active role as a provider.

Speaker 2: 8:34

I would think I'd want someone that was engaged in their health care, because that means they're probably going to do, you know, the lifestyle changes if necessary, that we're going to work together as partners, and I think you know the hierarchy that exists in our culture, for medicine is really difficult because you know, unfortunately I think we've placed doctors on this pedestal, that number one they can do no harm that they always mean well. Well, they're humans and so harm may happen. But I think the perspective of a healthy dose of skepticism is the way that today we need to operate in the health care system. We can't make assumptions. We have to do that investigative work, as you mentioned.

Speaker 1: 9:27

I really like the way you phrased that a healthy dose of skepticism. And so how can we equip patients to have language on hand that they could use when they kind of want to pause, because a doctor may say this is the course of treatment and we're going to get started now, or we're going to get started and here's your appointment, before a patient has decided that this is the course of treatment they want to accept. So what kind of language, what words, phrases could I use so that I'm not perceived, or a patient is not perceived, as someone who's being difficult or combative, because doctors will gaslight you and call you crazy when you say hold on one moment. I want to think about this.

Speaker 2: 10:20

Yeah, you're exactly right. I think always how we approach things with politeness and standing your ground is to not be pushed around and I think our gut intuition is so disregarded or we're not ever taught to listen to our gut intuition. But when you're feeling hesitancy, I, as a provider, would want that patient to feel comfortable and to be on board with a plan that we create together. One of my patient safety heroes he mentioned that we should be asking not what's the matter with you, but what matters to you when we have these conversations with healthcare providers. So we may have to train our healthcare provider about how we want to be treated and respected, and I think it's approaching that with that politeness. But affirm this is what I need to do for me and I would hope you, as a provider, would respect that.

Speaker 1: 11:32

Would the next step if your doctor is still resistant? Would the next step be to ask to speak to the patient advocate at the hospital?

Speaker 2: 11:40

Absolutely. That's a great resource. No-transcript.

Speaker 1: 12:15

What can we do to prepare ourselves for advocating for ourselves and our family members before we get to the hospital? Are there steps we should take beforehand, conversations we should have with each other?

Speaker 2: 12:23

Yeah, understanding your medications, understanding your medical history and researching that on your own. So you have a clear understanding Because you know physicians in the office nowadays I think the latest I read was they're seeing a patient every six minutes. That's not enough time to understand you, and we know medical, you know healthcare. It's so complex. You and I could have the same diagnosis, but you may have a couple other disease processes that I don't. So it's very individualized and unfortunately there's not a lot of time taken in today's world and so the better prepared you can go in there into the doctor's office or if you're in the hospital and have that succinct conversation. So maybe choose the top three questions that you have for the physician and just say here's what I know about myself, here's what's important about my past and here's where you know we're moving forward with this. And that's where I need your expert help, dr Jones, or whatever, to help guide me through this for the best outcome for my. You know my situation.

Speaker 1: 13:42

That sounds like excellent advice. I wish I had known that a couple of years ago. I'd like to talk about some a situation that happened to me that I think could potentially happen to anyone. We all know that any human being can make a mistake, and I had a situation where I called my primary care physician. They said you should go to the emergency room right now. I think you're in renal failure, kidney failure which I did.

Speaker 1: 14:11

When I presented to the emergency room, I reminded them that in my electronic record there is an allergy to morphine. I'm deathly allergic to morphine and any drug in that class. It's been in my medical records for several years now and the person checking me in said I see that it's in your record, thank you for telling me. But they never gave me the bright neon, pink or green or yellow bracelet that says hey, alert, there's something going on with me that's different and you should come check this out. So I asked for the bracelet and she never did provide it, but I thought maybe they'll give it to me later. It was let's see 2022 when this happened. So I went in.

Speaker 1: 15:06

The doctor came in briefly, told him my symptoms and what my primary care physician said, and I was in moderate pain, but I wasn't screaming, I wasn't agitated, I was fairly calm and sort of deep breathing through the pain. The doctor came back with a needle. Well, I already had the saline drip by then. The doctor came back with a needle and I asked what was in the needle? And he said morphine. And I was shocked because I just told you I was allergic to morphine. Then he leaves. A nurse comes in. She has morphine. She leaves After I objected to the morphine. A second doctor comes in. He tries to give me morphine. I objected. He leaves. A fourth person, another nurse comes in and starts yelling at me about refusing health care. What could I have done differently in this situation? Because what they were about to do could have killed me, wow.

Speaker 2: 16:16

I would have thought that the first time you said, hey, I'm allergic, somebody would have checked your chart and said, oh yes, change the order and gave you an allergy band. So what I suggest is, any time anyone in the hospital is having any kind of challenge that the nurse is not paying attention or listening or sometimes it can even be the doctor escalate. There's a chain of command, so the charge nurse, and then there's a house supervisor who's over all of nursing. There's one 24-7. And then there's also an administrator on call if it's nights or weekends, and so there is always someone that you can escalate to. And I would keep persisting and pushing until you got resolved, because, heaven forbid had you became confused because of any reason you know your oxygen's low, you're becoming more critical and you weren't able to speak up then, yeah, that could have been the end of you, as you know.

Speaker 1: 17:23

Well, the second piece to this and this is another question that's been on the minds of a lot of my listeners when is it our right to get up and just leave the hospital? And here's why I asked In this situation they put three armed security guards outside my door. Mind you, I'd never raised my voice. I wasn't agitated. I really assumed it was a mistake. I come from a healthcare background. I trusted the system, right, I didn't think any. I wasn't upset, I was scared and I was never agitated. But they put three armed guards outside my door. The doctors, the nurses and the guards were constantly whispering and looking at me and made me very afraid and I was afraid to leave.

Speaker 1: 18:18

I didn't know in that moment what my rights were about leaving, especially on the heels of COVID. I didn't have COVID. I haven't actually never had COVID. I have a strong immune system but I didn't have COVID. But things kind of changed during COVID. They kicked family members out. My family members did advocate for me, but it went to deaf ears. And then they put armed guards outside our door and none of us ever got agitated, never raised voice, never used foul language or any of those things, finally had to say that I have the chief of police on in my cell phone and I'm going to call him, if you don't allow me to leave, and tell him that I need an escort out of the hospital. What else if someone who's not empowered with the chief of police's phone number, what can you do when you feel you've been made to feel like you're not allowed to leave?

Speaker 2: 19:19

Yeah, my understanding is that anyone can leave AMA against medical advice. They will just write in your chart patient left against medical advice. The only way I think they can restrain you from leaving is if you've been deemed psychologically unstable, which obviously doesn't sound like that was the case. I think that's overkill and ridiculous. What happened to you? I would ask for the nursing supervisor again take it up the chain of command. But you're going to have to escalate pretty quickly up to the administrator on call if you need to go that far, if they lay hands on you again. This is what I was taught in nursing school. I don't think it's changed. That's assault and battery, you know so. They're disregarding all of your patient rights. Wow.

Speaker 1: 20:11

It was a very, very scary time for myself and for my family. We did leave, but again I had to say, hey, I know this person and I will even dial 911 if I have to, but I don't feel safe leaving. Imagine being in a hospital and there's three people with guns outside your door because you're telling them that I'm allergic to this drug that you wanted to administer. So it was very frightening and I'm still pretty traumatized by it.

Speaker 2: 20:47

I don't blame you. That sounds like a horrific experience. I'm so sorry. Healthcare is supposed to be safe. You know we go to get treated because something's wrong with us treated because something's wrong with us and the healthcare profession has been trained to help us. So I don't understand the transition that's been happening the last few years. That has made it even more scary, which is why I think again, why informing and educating ourselves is the most powerful antidote to not getting good care.

Speaker 1: 21:25

Recently in the news there's been a lot of talk about harvesting organs from patients who are deemed brain dead and family members who are pushing back and even recording themselves being bullied and gaslit by hospital administrators saying that you have to talk to this organization about donating your family members organs, even though the family is still hoping their family member will wake up and recover, will wake up and recover, and they're being not just pressured but bullied into it and telling them that they have to have this conversation at this moment and that the hospital staff were very combative with the videos that I've seen. What can we do to protect ourselves and our family members in the event that you are unresponsive, deemed brain dead and you're being asked to donate organs?

Speaker 2: 22:43

news reports of patients that were not dead and started moving on the way to the OR for the you know organ retrieval, which is super scary. I think they're unusual circumstances but again, you know, as a family member I probably would not leave their bedside. And if you have to get an attorney or threaten to get an attorney to protect your rights, this is just insanity. It feels like the world is turned upside down and inside out as to you know, respect.

Speaker 1: 23:13

Right. It seems like there's a bounty on human life human life and it feels very frightening when you're counting on your healthcare providers to save you sometimes and to save your limbs and to save your life. How do we know who is a good healthcare provider that well? I think I understand that they no longer give the Hippocratic Oath in medical school, but I thought I read that recently. But how do we? I guess intuition is probably the answer, but how do you know whom you can trust?

Speaker 2: 23:54

I think, again, it has to be a conversation, and if they're not willing to engage with you in a conversation, that I would choose another provider. You know, it's really kind of sad in this country too that the health care insurance companies kind of hold us hostage and, no, you can't go to anybody you want. Here's a couple of providers that you can go to. I just saw someone's a doctor's tick tock the other day that was talking about. You know, her suggestion is it's not right for everybody, but to step back, pay for things out of pocket and have a catastrophic medical care policy. You know, and that is another option to really choose your provider and listens to you. I know we're going back to that and have that conversation. So if I were planning an elective surgery let's just say I had to have a total hip replacement I would want to know how many surgeries of that kind that the doctor has done. I would want to know the infection rates at that hospital, all of those things to take into account instead of just, you know, blindly nodding our head and agreeing with everything.

Speaker 2: 25:33

And again, that's the informed consumer. You know, just like I equate it to reading labels. You know, on the on the jar. Oh, this has got some chemicals. I don't know how to say their name. Maybe I shouldn't be adjusting this. And it's kind of similar in choosing a provider. You know how easily are they. Do they have a conversation with you? Do they get defensive? Do they say things like you Do they get defensive? Do they say things like, well, I'm the best. Well, really, maybe there's a little ego there. I would rather have a physician say I'm not sure. Let's look it up together, or let's explore together and really partner with you.

Speaker 1: 26:16

I love those ideas. Can you explain a little bit more about concierge healthcare? How does that work?

Speaker 2: 26:23

to a certain physician that offers concierge services, so they're going to be more expensive, but they have a lot less patients also, and there's certain agreements. I think that they agree with you that they're going to come see you in the hospital, which means the hospitalist or the hospital that hires the doctor that works for them. You have your own instead of someone else assigned to you or the hospital that hires the doctor that works for them you have your own instead of someone else assigned to you.

Speaker 1: 27:06

Wow, that sounds amazing. I really liked that idea. Especially if you have a long-term or very serious condition that you're in the hospital for, can we back up and talk about just going in to see a specialist or your general practitioner? There I have been to specialists a neurologist, for example, who has a pet project, and at the time that pet project research project was Botox, and Botox is botulism for the listeners as aox for chronic migraine, and that neurologist gaslit me every way possible. So first he told me as a person in my thirties at the time that, oh well, it's like a facelift. And I said, yeah, you can try again, because Botox injections for neurological issues are not delivered in the face, they're delivered in around the circumference of the head. So I was an informed patient and I think that's very important to be.

Speaker 1: 28:23

And then the next step was well, I'm going to tell your insurance company that you're refusing care and they may drop you as a patient. And I said, if you do that, then I'm going to speed dial a reporter that I have on my phone and you'll be on the news on the 11 o'clock news tonight. So what can we do when we're in a doctor's office and we've also seen doctors whose parents who've recorded their doctors telling them that if you don't accept this medication that I'm recommending for your child after have seen them one time ever for five minutes, have seen them one time ever for five minutes and I want you to put your child on this medication. When the parent says I want to get some tests run, I want to get more information before I make this decision, the doctor said he'll call Child Protective Services and have her children taken away. What can we do in that case? I know a lot of doctors will tell you put your phone down, you can't record me, but what else can we do to protect ourselves?

Speaker 2: 29:37

I think taking notes and following up with gosh. That is so crazy. There has been a long history of physicians getting paid by drug companies to promote drugs or medications, and I know that the federal law cracked down on that. For a while the pharmaceutical reps could bring in lunches and you know they've they've cut down or cracked down on that for the sole purpose of preventing the biases or whatever. It's illegal, I believe. I mean, I haven't researched it to that degree, but that's what I would do as a parent and say what are my rights, and I wouldn't just use Google, because I think Google is way behind times and I think you get some wonky results when you're Googling something like that.

Speaker 2: 30:39

There is a, an AI product called and I don't make any money from it, of course, but I've used. It's called perplexityai and what that will do is if you put in the prompt that says I'm a concerned parent, the doctor wants to give my child this medication, you know, you just put the situation in there and you say please provide me with the research articles, because that's what perplexity is really good at is research Find articles from only the past five years, because you want you know the most recent and start gathering all that data, you can even say what are my rights as a parent? How would I protect myself that CPS does not have jurisdiction over? What do I need to document? I think a lot of people are scared of AI, but I also think it's a great gift if utilized properly. So does AI sometimes give wonky advice? Yes, but if you ask for the research and it's gotten so much better that you can say, oh well, this medical journal states this and arm yourself Again, get informed and get educated.

Speaker 1: 31:55

Wow, you've given us so much great information, but you've also developed LifeBeat solutions that can help healthcare providers provide safer treatment. Tell us a little bit about LifeBeat.

Speaker 2: 32:09

Yeah, that project came about after I finished my book to help patients and their families. I still teach nursing students and I know I've been in the industry for 16 years of nursing education and I know that nursing schools are really trying. But I also know that there's huge gaps in education. When the nurses get out, and most of them will work in an acute care facility that is understaffed I mean, that's talked about all over the place it's not just one hospital or one state, whether it be the hospital trying to contain their budget, you know, makes it really difficult for the nurse to take all the safety steps or to even think so twofold. I wanted to fill the gaps. What I thought were very important from an educator standpoint of this is what nurses need to do on every single patient, a lot of them.

Speaker 2: 33:11

What I've heard from my students out there in the clinical world a lot of nurses skip an assessment. They don't do a patient assessment. I'm like, oh my gosh, that's the foundation of your daily practice is a baseline assessment. Breast sounds, what do the lungs sound? Like? Heart sounds, neurological status, all those things. And like heart sounds, you know, neurological status, all those things. And so re-educating that's what LifeBeat Solutions was for. I've got 35 courses now and promoting it to hospitals to say you can't assume, because the nurse passed her NCLEX and now has a nursing license, that she's safe. Because the latest study there's been three, but the latest study, done in 2021, of assessing new grads with a nursing license over a five-hour exam and this was a huge study, over 5,000 participants, 26 different states and 141 different nursing schools found that only 9% of the new grads are competent, safe and ready for practice.

Speaker 1: 34:17

Wow, that's frightening.

Speaker 2: 34:19

It is. And again, that's why you know, I still, on my social media, talk to patients and their families. How can you partner with the nurse? And you may get a nurse that says you know something not very nice or whatever, maybe feels threatened. But I'm trying to change the culture of healthcare and that's why I did my TEDx talk on that topic was patients and their families. What's your responsibility and how can you own it? And same with healthcare providers. Healthcare providers must listen, because who knows the family better? Hey, and same with healthcare providers. Healthcare providers must listen, because who knows the family better? Hey, something's wrong with my son. I need you to. I'm really concerned. I need you to check him out, which is where you know. I talk about the cuss words I'm concerned, uncomfortable, scared or there's a safety issue. So I think we have to approach this from different angles to really take a spotlight on the problem and how we can address it.

Speaker 1: 35:18

Dr Seamers, you have been a wealth of information today. I thank you so much. I feel better educated as a patient, and I think my listeners will too. What else would you like to tell us today?

Speaker 2: 35:31

Yeah, I give a lot of tips on my social media every day. I'm actually building an app right now for patients and their families, and you know how do I? Nobody really wants to carry around a book right and say, oh, what did she say about tubes? To help. Also, my website. I write blogs that are covered on LinkedIn. It's just.

Speaker 2: 35:54

For example, I wrote what is the most significant vital sign that tells us the earliest indicator of patient deterioration, and nurses don't even know this it's respiratory rate. And nurses don't even know this it's respiratory rate. So 80% of nurses in research say, yeah, I don't count it, I just write down a number. And I'll confess, early in my years I did not know why respiratory rate was so important. I did the same thing and now again trying to get the message out. There is to respiratory rate can indicate that early.

Speaker 2: 36:33

You know failure of a patient, their clinical status. One thing I learned in my research was those physiological signs that point to clinical deterioration in a patient. They happen six to 24 hours prior to an unplanned cardiac arrest. So there's time for us as family members to say, if the nurse didn't notice, hey, my dad's breathing is 24 times a minute. I know that's not normal. Can you help figure out what's going on? Or my dad is confused, even though he's 70, this is not normal for him and I know that confusion can be caused by different physiological factors. Can we figure that out?

Speaker 1: 37:20

I love this. Please go out and get a copy of Surviving your Hospital Stay. There will be links to all of the social media platforms, websites and the book in the show description. Thank you for joining us today, dr Seamers. It's been a pleasure.

Speaker 2: 37:37

Thank you for having me. I hope your audience learned a thing or two and feel more comfortable in using their voice and speaking up.

Speaker 1: 37:44

After this short break, we'll be back with more from Dr Julie Seamers.

Speaker 3: 37:48

World events are constantly teaching everyone some very painful lessons Without warning. Everything we take for granted can suddenly fail, and if you're not prepared in advance, you really don't have a chance. The fact is, the modern world runs on a just-in-time supply schedule. Even the biggest grocery stores can carry only enough food for a few days worth of normal shopping. So when disaster strikes and chaos ensues at your local stores, the odds are simply against you. If you don't have emergency food and gear stockpiled in advance, you will probably suffer.

Speaker 3: 38:23

My partner, ready Hour, is here to help you ahead of time. Ready Hour has a long history of providing calorie-rich, reliable and delicious nourishment for life's unexpected situations and critical emergency gear too. They're part of a family of companies that have served millions of people like you for decades. My family and I use Ready Hour products for camping, mountaineering and disaster preparedness for five years now. They're not just reliable, they're also your affordable option too Long-term survival food. Thank you, make your next decision, your smartest decision. Be ready for tomorrow. Today, trust Ready Hour. Ready to shop? Use my affiliate link in the show description.

Speaker 1: 39:16

Before we cover the next topic in this episode, I want to introduce you to the adventure sports lifestyle with what I like to call a micro story about an adventure that I've had. The adventure sports lifestyle and my deep connection to nature is essential to my good health. So here's the story. It's flooding everywhere, all over the country. There are floods, wildfires, all kinds of natural disasters happening right now. Are you prepared? What if you wake up tomorrow and all of the stores are closed, you don't have access to medications you might need, medical supplies you need and your family's stuck at home, let's say, for the next two weeks? Do you have enough food, water, shelter, safety, security and an exit strategy if where you live becomes unlivable for a time? In this episode of New, Normal Big Life, I want you to think about preparedness and being able to support yourself and your family for two weeks.

Speaker 1: 40:16

Today we're talking about first aid and we want you to consider your healthcare needs during a disaster. During a disaster, you might not have access to go to the pharmacy, the doctor, and it doesn't have to be a disaster, it could just be social unrest, where it's just unsafe to leave your home, or we can have another lockdown. Do you have enough of the medical supplies that you need, like hoses for your CPAP machine or any supplements that you might take first aid materials like antibacterial ointments and bandages? Talk to your doctor about getting a three-month or 90-day supply of medications to have them on hand in case you can't get out to get what you need or there's no meal because you're in a disaster situation. Now's the time to prepare, not when some kind of natural disaster or civil unrest has been announced. You want to get prepared now because everyone's preparing at that time. Also, it's expensive to buy extra food and storable water and medication and healthcare supplements and first aid needs, so space those purchases out over time. So start planning now. What will you need from a first aid basis and a natural health basis to have on hand in case you can't get what you need for a time in the future?

Speaker 1: 41:44

I hope this inspires you to think about preparedness and start your 14 days of preparedness today and protect yourself and those you love. Now back to Dr Julie Seamers with more incredible insights. Until next time, friends, I'm Antoinette Lee, your wellness noria here at the New Normal Big Life Podcast. I hope one day to see you on the river in the back country or in the horse barn, living your best life Struggling with health problems or seeking natural health solutions. Don't miss our latest podcast episodes, exclusive blog posts and free eBooks packed with life-changing wellness tips. Join our newsletter at nnblblog to unlock this bonus content and start living your best life today, Since 2012,.

Speaker 3: 42:31

The Health Ranger store has been answering your calls for a trustworthy, responsive and affordable source of health-focused products. Built from scratch, with its own US-based fulfillment center and dedicated in-house customer support, they've got you covered, from nutritional supplements and superfoods to storable foods and preparedness gear. They offer competitive prices on top quality, lab tested items. I'm excited to partner with the Health Ranger store to bring you the purest, most reliable products out there. Ready to shop? Use my affiliate link to get started.