Field First aid kit - what do you carry?

[heyduke]

the evergreen first aid kit:

1 box of kotex
also, 1 roll of duct tape
and six ice cold beers

see the haiku thread

 

[Big_Wood]

First aid stats are really depressing. They teach CPR, but the stats on resuscitating someone whose heart has stopped are not very good. I think major wounds are probably the same in that if you cut the wrong artery it just don't matter what you do if you are far from help. I know with what first aid knowledge I have, I would choose risking losing a leg and use a pressure bandage/belt/tourniquet etc. What is the rationale against tourniquets?

not sure really, all i know is they discourage the use of them unless as a last resort. i assume last resort means lose the limb or death. i only got my level 2

 

[Derf]

Maybe (just guessing) the issue with tourniquets is that not everyone will know when a tourniquet is better than applying pressure and elevating a bleeding limb while you call for help. Tourniquets cut off all blood to a limb, and not everyone realizes you should periodically loosen them and re-apply them to keep from losing the whole limb.

So a case where a bad cut is misinterpreted as requiring a tourniquet could result in mis-using a tourniquet and losing a limb, instead of just applying pressure to stop the bleeding.

Yes, there will be cases where you slash an artery and you might bleed out in minutes without a tourniquet, but that isn't the kind of first aid I prepare for. Different strokes for different folks.

Some people don't go out cutting without a firearm, just in case, but I'm not of that mindset either.


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[treesmith]

Used to have a military tourniquet and an Israeli trauma bandage on my climbing harness, now I have a Celox clot bandage, a large packet of Celox granules and an aerial rescue knife for clothes, ropes or whatever.

Hope I never have to use them

 

[Derf]

Well, it sounds like most people are falling into two camps so far :
1) towels/duck tape/feminine pads or ace bandages for the general slash and gash accident

2) people who have Israeli battle bandages and tourniquets for major trauma.


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[derwoodii]

A sawyers first aid kit should include a tourniquet.

yes medic grade tourniquet be good or rope your pants belt or my zip ties

I've heard that tourniquets are more in favor than they used to be. No?

yes they are coming back in 1st aid vogue tho still need proper application as can harm if miss used.

out kit I take to the gun range and

aha thanks i just came from the gun range and actually never thought of 1st aid kit here,, i will make recommendation to committee as hang fire ricochet or bolt blow back is very predictable harm & needs things like eye chemical ice patch or trauma compress on hand in the target butts or at fire mound

 

[mbrick]

I also have a some simple elastic bandages for when I nick my fingers and don't want to bleed all over my equipment.

Blood on the equipment, that's the worst...

 

[2dogs]

Israeli dressing, Swat-T tourniquet, clotting sponge, bug bite stick, ibuprofen, Benadryl, cleansing wipes, gloves, and a few band aids. These all fit in a small belt pouch, the truck has enough supplies to outfit a small nation

 

[Mattyo]

I carry anesthetic, syringes, and sutures nearly everywhere I go... a blood pressure cuff, bottle water, iodine, peroxide, gauze. ...enough to suture a small army. If the wound is worse than that...someone's in deep trouble. The more prepared the better though. I have zero experience with tourneckits....but my understanding is that they are hard to properly apply and for this reason have fallen out of favor

 

[catbuster]

I carry the same blow out kit I take to the gun range and yes it contains an Israeli dressing, compressed gauze, clotting agent, tourniquet, as well as most of the lesser items others have mentioned above for boo boos

I know how to use it all and since it is in a handy and compact pouch why not carry it

I toss it in my milk crate with the wedges and gas and other gear

I wear full Labonville chaps and other protective gear but sh!t happens and I have had a gunshot wound in the past

It is amazing how fast you can bleed out when something like a femoral artery gets nicked or punctured

I have notieced over the years that anywhere that features chainsaws and downed wood generally contains sharp pointy sticks at bad angles that you dont see until you trip or fall, despite being cautious

Your mileage may vary

Michael

Mine mirrors that and stays on my belt in a small pouch as well.

 

[Ironworker]

A lot of companies do not push a first aid program but instead tell you to dial 911 and let them handle it.

 

[redtractor]

I have had a gunshot wound in the past

Michael

How about asking the landowner if you can cut on his trees first?

 

[catbuster]

A lot of companies do not push a first aid program but instead tell you to dial 911 and let them handle it.

When my company is 18 miles into the woods with roads that are impassable to an ambulance and no way to airlift, first aid becomes a lot more important.

 

[Ironworker]

When my company is 18 miles into the woods with roads that are impassable to an ambulance and no way to airlift, first aid becomes a lot more important.

We feel the same way, it's a liability issue.

 

[mdavlee]

The newer info on tourniquet is if you reach the hospital in an hour you'll more than likely be able to save the limb. I usually have a 3 foot braided loop of para cord in the bag I bring. The wife has fixed me up a small kit with maxi pads and a few other bandages. I usually cut with someone else so bleeding put alone isn't much of a danger. I need to get a separate tourniquet. I have some of the blood stopper pouches as well.

 

[Bearcub]

How about asking the landowner if you can cut on his trees first?

My wife told me the hockey mask was a bad idea....

 

[Bwildered]

Tourniquets are best left to Hollywood dramatic scenes, they have their place & doctors who sew people up every day use them daily as well, of which I have had first hand experience of having one applied to me while I was patched back up. They are a last resort & if the choice is death or a limb, the limb can go, I was trained in remote area first aid & when applied they had to be unreleased every 20 min or so to give the limb a chance of being saved. Our first aid kits had 4 ampoules of morphine in them so we were really really remote.
These days a 10 man kit & a couple of extra wide crepe bandages for snake bite, the eastern brown snake which is common here is #2 or 3 of the worlds deadliest.
Thansk

 

[056kid]

A blood stopper pad, & a can of iodine close by. Got a madsens first aid kit in the tuck as well as the name address & # to the nearest hospital..

 

[jggrmson]

There should be a CAT Tourniquet on every person. I partially disagree with Bwildered while there is a increased chance that a tourniquet will cause someone to loose a limb, it would have to be on there for a significant about of time, outside of the "golden hour." If you or someone your with gets a cut bad enough that bright blood is spirting or gushing out of the body apply a tourniquet and don't EVER release it to "try to save the limb" We are trained to apply a second tourniquet without removing the first one if needed. THE TOURNIQUET DOESNT COME OFF until at the hospital.

Now if the wound has darker red blood oozing out at a steady pace a bandage is better-preferable something with a blood clotting agent in it like Combat-gauze.

www.tecom.marines.mil/Portals/131/Docs/cls%20student.pdf

I keep a Tourniquet in ever glove box, on my Motorcycle, in my saw bag and a few in the house. I don't have any combat gauze but would really like to get a few...just so spensive

 

[Bwildered]

There should be a CAT Tourniquet on every person. I partially disagree with Bwildered while there is a increased chance that a tourniquet will cause someone to loose a limb, it would have to be on there for a significant about of time, outside of the "golden hour." If you or someone your with gets a cut bad enough that bright blood is spirting or gushing out of the body apply a tourniquet and don't EVER release it to "try to save the limb" We are trained to apply a second tourniquet without removing the first one if needed. THE TOURNIQUET DOESNT COME OFF until at the hospital.

Now if the wound has darker red blood oozing out at a steady pace a bandage is better-preferable something with a blood clotting agent in it like Combat-gauze.

www.tecom.marines.mil/Portals/131/Docs/cls%20student.pdf

I keep a Tourniquet in ever glove box, on my Motorcycle, in my saw bag and a few in the house. I don't have any combat gauze but would really like to get a few...just so spensive

The idea in releasing the tourniquet at regular intervals is sometimes clotting can occur & seal the wound, then it isn't needed any more, permanent damage once blood supply is cut off is something which can be minimised, even had it explained to plug arteries with a finger while releasing, narrow rope or cord is absolutely the worst thing to use.
Thansk