A good medical kit (not a $20 band aid kit) is always in each of my vehicles. That presupposes the wounded can get to the vehicle. I view first aid kits as for minor injuries that make like inconvenient or possibly infectious. The equipment to clean and cover and seal things up is in those kits.
For crisis care, auto accident, or life threatening injuries, all that really matters first is to stop leaking out blood fast. What was recommended to me for saw work is to carry a maxipad and a tourniquet made from narrow bicycle inner tube with fastex snap buckle pre threaded on the ends. In a small pouch on the belt of my chaps.
His theory was if you take a serious wound, there is not much time to get things bound and fastened before possibly blacking out. No time for tape, or two handed applications or knots, etc. The fastex snaps with one hand, in messy slippery situations, and stays latched.
Haven't used, hope to never use, but the other person has. I've seen a coworker die in front of me (car accident), and seen enough serious industrial injuries first hand to know the small things don't matter, but being overly cautious about the big things that can kill me is just about right for me.
kcj
Kevin, agreed.
Couple of years back I was first on scene of a nasty T-Bone crash. Passenger in the S-10 took the impact, head went out the busted window.
Nothing in my first aid Kit would cover the neck wound,Cut off his shirt and jacket sleeves and whatever else I could grab to apply. The guy bled out on me.
He'd have been dead anyhow from other injurys, but it got me to thinking and asking questions.
I now keep three white hand towels, three Maxi pads,an old uniform belt, and a roll of duct tape in a ready bag with a space blanket.
The first aid kit is basicly for Booboo's that aren't immediately life threatening and allow for keeping crud out on the way to the doc, or to get back to going about your business.
I am not an EMT so there is no call for the big bag of stuff I dunno how to use.
You can splint with just about anything and duct tape.
Towels and Maxi-pads will cover just about any survivable wound while applying pressure and cussing minuites that take hours while waiting/transporting to professional care.
CPR/ first aid class knowledge would seem to cover just about everything else.
With saw accidents, you're either gonna dance around cussing, or need to stop some serious blood fast. There really isn't an inbetween.
Stay safe!
Dingeryote