[jreeve]

One of the common jokes between my wife and I is to setup a "home surgery kit" for some point in some horrible dystopian future.

However, we were thinking it out and were moved to wonder why there isn't more straightforward "how-tos" as far as medicine is concerned: how-to relocate joints, how-to suture, how-to collect appropriate equipment, how-to operate in a sane and sanitary manner.

This is, of course as lay people... for all we know all the information is available to whoever is willing to look for it and take the risks involved with amateur medicine.

However, I wonder if what trained people think about the ethics of making professional medical techniques and equipment available to lay folks.

[DanBC]

There are strict laws about practicing medicine.

Legally, anything more than first-aid and getting someone to a qualified doctor is going to cause problems (unless you're in exceptional circumstances.)

> One of the common jokes between my wife and I is to setup a "home surgery kit" for some point in some horrible dystopian future.

It's a funny joke. I had similar thought about "Backstreet dentists" in the UK. A few years ago there was a problem getting NHS dentists, and many people didn't have any insurance. You could have made money by trafficking East European dentists into the UK and setting up a secret dentist.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3502813.stm)

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4506013.s...)

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7041291.stm)

[justincormack]

It was easier to fly to Eastern Europe and use them legally there. Medical tourism is fairly big business.

[EvilTerran]

Some books in the "survival guide" genre cover things like setting broken bones, basic stitches, biro tracheotomy, etc.

I did once come across a "how to amputate your own leg" in a mountaineering magazine, but I'm pretty sure it was satirical: http://bubl.ac.uk/org/tacit/tac/tac50/advertis.htm

[arethuza]

A Soviet doctor had to remove his own appendix in 1961 - he was stuck in a base in Antartica during the winter:

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/antarc...

[Cass]

There are straightforward how-tos on every aspect of medicine easily available for everyone, and no need to turn to survivalist guides, either. How do you think doctors learn this stuff? The exact same medical textbooks we use are sold freely to everyone who wants them, and there's a youtube video for practically every medical technique. I learned to suture from a textbook and an online vid, practiced on a piece of foam and some pig skin, and managed a perfectly serviceable if not quite cosmetically perfect suture on my first attempt on a living patient.