- Taking common cold or blood pressure medications in extreme situations of water and power outages is a 'fatal blow' causing dehydration and heatstroke
- Refrigeration-required drugs like syrups and insulin become useless… Drug misuse and abuse triggers secondary disasters
- Immediate infection prevention over concerns of resistant bacteria… Broad-spectrum antibiotics and strong painkillers must be secured as top priority
- Practical survival supply strategies such as mapping primary medical institutions near orthopedic and ENT clinics are essential

In extreme disaster situations where national medical, water, and power infrastructures collapse all at once due to war or nuclear explosions, a fatal warning has been raised that blindly taking routine household medicines could actually cost lives. Korea Youth Media exclusively analyzed the reality of 'contraindicated drugs' and 'essential drugs' that will determine survival based on disaster medical data.

What requires the utmost caution are the side effects of drugs occurring in water and power outage environments. Carelessly taking cold medicine or allergy medicine (antihistamines) in a situation lacking water blocks secretory glands such as sweat glands, leading to extreme dry mouth and heatstroke caused by failure in body temperature regulation. Furthermore, diuretic-type blood pressure drugs that forcibly excrete water and sodium, and certain diabetes drugs (SGLT2 inhibitors) that can cause urinary tract infections, cause fatal dehydration, sharply dropping the survival probability immediately upon ingestion. In the event of a power outage, refrigerated drugs like insulin and sugar-containing syrups prone to bacterial growth are also subject to complete disposal.

Conversely, the 'essential survival pharmaceuticals' that must be secured as a top priority are as follows.

Broad-spectrum antibiotics and painkillers: Antibiotics that target even atypical bacteria without cell walls, such as doxycycline and azithromycin, and strong painkillers like tramadol.

Trauma and first aid supplies: Chlorhexidine antiseptic spray, broad-spectrum combination antibiotic ointment, and medical suture strips (Steri-Strips).

Gastrointestinal and nutritional supplements: Bismuth subsalicylate used for infectious bloody stool and diarrhea accompanied by fever, and multivitamins and electrolytes to prevent immune collapse and bleeding.

Experts point out that accessing large general hospitals during a disaster is unrealistic due to high risks of infection and collapse. Instead, securing primary care pharmacies near orthopedic clinics—which have plenty of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs—and pediatric or ENT clinics—which are rich in oral antibiotics—is the most realistic survival strategy.

In a situation where the medical system is paralyzed, the sole objective becomes stopping immediate infections and bleeding rather than adhering to the principle of suppressing resistant bacteria drug development. Rather than indiscriminate medicine hoarding, an accurate understanding of pharmacological mechanisms is the only way to save a family's life in a critical crisis.