by Steven Horne

I became an Eagle Scout as a teenager, and I still believe in the scout motto, “Be prepared.” When you go hiking or camping, if you aren’t prepared, you can wind up having a miserable time.

This lesson has carried over into my adult life. I always keep a kit of emergency supplies in my home. I have bandages, herbal remedies for injuries, contagious diseases and other health problems, flashlights and candles for power outages, some reserves of food and water, extra blankets and other supplies I need for both everyday problems and special emergencies.

I think everyone should have some emergency supplies on hand and that’s why this month’s theme is constructing and using an herbal first aid and emergency preparedness kit. With reports on the news about the swine flu scare, this information couldn’t be more timely.

I would suggest that for starters you should have some herbal remedies on hand for contagious diseases at all times. At the very least I think you should keep the following items on hand:

  1. Raw garlic, garlic oil and/or High Potency Garlic
  2. Silver Shield and Silver Shield Gel
  3. Immune Stimulator or Ultimate Echinacea
  4. VS-C liquid or capsules

Garlic is Nature’s Penicillin. It is effective against most bacterial and viral infections. Crushed raw garlic is the most powerful antimicrobial I know of in nature. It is fast acting and works very well for most respiratory and digestive infections.

Silver Shield is a patented, non-toxic, colloidal silver product that kills every disease organism it has been tested on. Sharon Grimes give some great suggestions for using it in her article in this newsletter.

When something is “going around” you can boost your immune system by taking Immune Stimulator or Ultimate Echinacea. This will boost your body’s natural defenses and help prevent you from becoming ill.

VS-C is a great remedy for chronic and severe viral infections such as herpes, shingles, chicken pox and chronic fatigue.

Besides learning to “be prepared,” I was also taught as a youth that “if you are prepared you will not fear.” Generally speaking, I find this to be true. My extensive knowledge of natural remedies and how to use them effectively makes me immune to panic when the news is full of dire warnings about some contagious disease that’s got people worried.

I suggest that you not only strengthen your immune system as Sharon suggests, but you also strengthen your immunity to fear and panic by learning to “be prepared.” For more information, read my article Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad...Whatever? It sets forth my philosophy about preparedness in more detail, along with more suggestions for supplies to keep on hand.