Everyone knows duct tape has thousands of uses. This legendary adhesive is universally used in just about every industry out there but I admit I never really considered all of the uses it would have in the medical field. My eyes have been opened.
Dr. James Hubbard, (aka The Survival Doctor) has penned a truly useful and easy to follow book called “Duct Tape 911.” It details 23 different ways duct tape can help you “tape yourself together.” The very first thing I noticed was the size of the book: it can easily be packed into a backpack or your main first aid kit because it is thin and lightweight. It is small enough, too that if you have a great memory, you could simply learn the 23 tricks and pass the book on to another. Personally, I do not have that talent so the thinner, flexible paperback works well for me.
This book comes with simple, easy-to-understand illustrations. This book is easy enough for young children to understand. In my opinion, the average 8 year old could read this and understand it. I could easily see this being issued to Boy and Girl Scout troops, summer camps, and the like. Here in Ketchikan, Alaska, our 8th graders go on a ‘survival trip’ where they only have limited supplies and must ‘survive’ through a weekend. This book would be excellent to lend to students who participate in activities like this. Each illustration shows not only the methods but also shows the Doc and a younger boy in the pictures that help give depth and visual interest to the instructions. I would guess that the boy with the doc is his grandson, to whom the book is dedicated to. I found it charming and it gave a more positive mood to the book which is important. Given the nature of the topic (medical survival uses for duct tape), it presents the information in a non ‘doomsday’ tone. It would be very easy to make a ‘play date’ out of it. Each child chooses something to make (arm splint, sling, ankle splint, etc) and tries it.
Now available in paperback from Amazon!
There was one thing in the book I have had personal experience with: Using duct tape for common warts. One of my step daughters had a wart on her foot that kept getting bigger and was affecting her ability to walk and run. I recalled hearing that putting duct tape on them would essentially ‘suffocate’ the wart out. We cleaned the area really well and removed any flaking skin. Then we simply put a small square of duct tape over the area after it was dry. The key to to completely cover and seal the wart. The next day, the wart had shrink by about 25%. Each day we would clean, dry, and reapply the tape. In a week, the wart was gone and never came back! This is just one simple and useful example of the great knowledge that can be found in this book. I very highly recommend it to absolutely everyone who has a roll of duct tape. It could literally save your life!