First Aid Kits

[ED-n-KEL]

You'd better study up before using Super Glue to close a wound. It's not nearly as strong as you think, there is a technique to using the stuff and there can be complications. Durmabound is the medical quality Super Glue and it's quite expensive.

My little books specifically says NOT to use regular "super glue" for wounds.
They say to use Dermabond. I have no experience with it, but have used "liquid bandage" on small cuts and works pretty good, but is expensive.
The book stresses to use Dermabond and/or to use butterfly type bandages on small cuts and then goes on to show you how to make a butterfly type bandage for larger cuts using strips of tape.

 

[ED-n-KEL]

The pen-light/hat light is another great suggestion, along with the pen and paper. I'm also sticking a few empty ziplock bags in my kit to use as ice packs, IF ice is available.

 

[Bluegrass]

Don't forget a rusty hatchet for emergency amputations!

Seriously, the American Red Cross has some good info on first aid kit contents. Also sells several types of kits for various uses.

 

[Jim&Joan]

Another thought;
Simple cold medications.
Don't forget most OTC medications have a shelf life. they don't necessarily go bad after the date but their strength may be reduced. On my kits I put a piece of cellophane packing tape on a smooth surface of the box. With Sharpie, or other permanent marker, I write down the next date something is due to expire (you can "erase" this with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or cloth when you need to update it). Then you can review the box before each trip and replace those items that need it.

Great point and idea! One item that I had us address at work was the expiration of items in the kits. Your tape idea triggered another one. I think I'll experiment with some of the clear contact paper to make a contents grid list for the top of the one I put together.

 

[countrygirl32082]

Super glue. I once had a puncture wound closed with this. It burns like crazy but works great for this.

Since my husband is now on coumadin we have started carrying Hemostatic gauze.

 

[PopBeavers]

In 56 years of camping, I have never used more than a bandaid. Unless you count the times my son has crashed at a mountain bike race, in which case the medics evacuated him off of the mountain and they used their own gear.

I am not trained to use more than a bandaid.

 

[Jim&Joan]

Well, I have had quite a few more problems than that, but I agree with your basic sentiment.

I am overly prone to minor burn accidents. Not sure why, but has held true over the years. Splinters are another biggie for all of the family. Thorny type. Then blisters. Next, minor cuts and abrasions. So, cleaning and covering are the big basics for me.

Sutures and scapels are not DIY for me

My Mtn bike accident story -
Went with a very competent rider (me, not as capable). He also has a Masters in Sports Medicine, team trainer, therapist, etc. So, I am thinking, "good hands" and all.
Rains all morning. Coming down some shale switchbacks, I go down and slice my lower leg on a nice shale shard. I make it to the bottom pretty muddy/dirty and very bleeding. My buddy is waiting.
We take a look, pulling the flap back and he says, "That's your tibia."
So, I am thinking good thing he's there!
He squirts it with a water bottle and tosses me a band aid. Geesh, I could do that. So, luckily we crossed the forest service road at the bottom and only had to ride halfway back to the truck when a horseback rider on the way to his trailer picked us up in his truck and took us to ours.
Spent quite a bit of time in the ER getting debrided and seven stitches. The worse part is my buddy gets to watch and give me a running comentary, telling me how many millimeters of tissue are being removed.

I certainly would have liked to have had a better kit than a bandana and clean towel at the truck. BTW, using a waterbottle that has been drank from is a bad idea. All kinds of nasties to include possible staph infection. Luckily it was cool and rainy and I had only drank from by hydration pack, so my waterbottle was untouched by my mouth. Oh, and I got even with my buddy. I sold him my mountain bike!

 

[PopBeavers]

I have never had a serious mountain bike accident, but my son has. He cleared the 30 foot gap, only to discover that someone had stopped in the middle of the low spot before the next 30 foot double. The crash resulted in 4 cracked ribs.

What first aid kit would be recommended for this situation?

The only other injuries my son typically gets during a race is dislocating his shoulder, or breaking his collar bone. All of which, me thinks, requires more than what a lay person can do with a first aid kit.

When I go backpacking I usually carry a hikers first id kit. But cell phones work all along the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) from Donner summit to Sierra City, as long as you are on a ridge.

There there is the story of the deer antlers through the shoulder, etc. All of these are beyond what a first aid kit can handle.

More important than a first aid kit is the knowledge to use it properly.

 

[Wavery]

The crash resulted in 4 cracked ribs.

What first aid kit would be recommended for this situation?


More important than a first aid kit is the knowledge to use it properly.

That takes me right back to the Jack Daniels.........j/k.

Morphine is good to carry in a kit if one is into extreme sports that are off the beaten path. Before I sailed around the world, my Dr fixed me up with a lot of pretty radical stuff. Depends on your relationship with your Dr, I guess.

At the very least, most people should be able to get Vicodin for their kit. It works pretty well.

I have helped others with my kit far more than I have helped myself. Even at camp-outs. It seems that very few people carry a decent kit.

BTW......don't ever try to set a dislocation by yourself or allow anyone to do it to you. The amount of muscle and nerve damage that can be done is far more severe than the immediate pain that the victim is in (which is a lot). Forget this crap that you see on TV where the guy bangs his shoulder against a door post or has a friend yank the joint in place. It takes a lot of skill to set a dislocation without involving the myriad of nerves that are stretched across the joint.

 

[PopBeavers]

Maybe I should keep my Percocet with me. That is pretty good stuff.

I have learned that for kidney stones, Viodeine is worthless, but Percocet is pretty good.

 

[Nature Recorder]

Don't know more then;
"How to put on a band-aid?"
"Is meat tenderizer really a fix for a bee sting?"
"Does that look like a doctor should see it?"
"Is it, feed a cold and starve a fever? Or...

Attend a basic first aid class through the Red Cross, Local Hospital, Local Fire Department. The best information I have gotten out of those classes is the "what not to do when..." kind. They are not that expensive (some are free). And are cheap insurance at any price.

 

[RogerR]

A very good guide for most things more complicated than a cut of scrape are shown in the Boy Scout first aid manual. It can be purchased at any Boy Scout store for a couple of bucks. The nice thing is that it has the instructions you need to help until you can get to medical assistance in clear language with pictures.

some suggestions not included in many kits:

Lomotil to stop diarrhea (that can ruin a trip)
Aspirin for heart attacks, tylenol and ibuprofen are no help
butterfly closures for cuts until they can be sewn up
I carry a little 3 watt led light I bought on ebay for $5

Hope this helps! Roger