I always carry a first aid kit with me. Car backpacks home and a pocket tub with plasters. Scissors Bandages Plasters Medical glue Non latexe gloves Burn kit Chap stick Needle and fine fishing gut Small pocket knife Eye wash Tampon (am a guy it’s for wounds lol) Small mirror (hard to brake kind!) Sling Germolene Sure iv forgotten something
Looking through my first aid kit, it isn't in a box, but lots of stuff in a large cabinet... In previous years it seemed there were always a few things that never were used. Don't some items loose their efficiency? They should be thrown away, replaced, or used up, right? After awhile, stretchy wraps get worn out. Do "band aids" loose their sticky? Are there items you have added due to new conditions in your household? Or taken items out because they weren't very useful? I've got a few gloves, gauze, tape; not very organized. Do you have an actual list of your first aid supplies? >>>side note-- there were 4 times, 3 at home, where I would have died if I didn't have medical intervention. No first aid kit was going to help that.
I went through the first aid kit for the car a couple of days ago, and found some condoms, hahahaha! Ahhhh, those were the days ... I also include such things as general antibiotics (such as amoxycillin), strong prescription painkillers, antibacterial "Strepsils" brand throat lozenges, cough lozenzes, antihistimes, hydrocortison cream, anti-fungal cream (such as Caneston), iodine swabs, anti-inflammatory tablets (such as Voltaren), eye drops, tooth ache drops and Lanolin cream, which is absolutely a God send for severe chapping. Yeah, I probably over do it, but can't tell you the times extended camping in remote areas that said items above have come in handy, let alone camping with the kids when they were little.
Condom is very useful to carry around water. Keep some of them handy just in case. Also keep around any kind of medicine and supplements that you typically need or you might need.
You can even shove a cell phone into a condom and have it waterproof. A couple of them make a slingshot. They can make good tension bands to restrict blood flow without stopping it completely. Condoms are massively useful in both the medkit and in any general bug-out kit.
Ooooh yes, good idea! You know what I really need? A sat phone. Where I live there's very little mobile phone reception. Plus after the bushfires, in some areas the phones got knocked out from the towers getting damaged. No-one was able to make contact with relatives, etc. When the fires started here a couple of months ago, everyone in the area had no internet or landline phones for weeks. Lucky for me, I got satellite internet installed when I moved here, so I was the only one in the area who still had internet, and I had a mobile phone booster installed, so I always have mobile reception. (Unless of course the towers get burned out, then I'm stuffed. But luckily that didn't happen where I am). Everyone else in the area has little to no mobile phone reception, they only have landline. So when that went down, they were stuffed. So yeah, a sat phone would be really useful in case of emergency away from home or if the towers get knocked out.
My checklist I keep on a waterproof paper page folded up in the kit with the date I last checked it (think about how they are supposed to check fire hydrants at your work): 4 absorbent compress dressings (2 large 1 medium 1 small) 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes) 2 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch) 10 antibiotic ointment packets 10 antiseptic wipe packets bottle of aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprophen emergency blanket 5 face masks 1 instant cold compress 6 pairs of nitrile gloves (large) 2 tubes of antibiotic ointment 2 tubes of hydrocortizone 3 gauze rolls gauze pads (at least 4 of every size) tweezers thermometer 1 sandwich baggie of dried slippery elm bark 10 packets of salt 4 mini's of 100 proof vodka ...that's just my basic kit. My bug out bags have more first aid stuff in them
Thanks Justin. I completely forgot the face masks. Pretty stupid of me, considering the fires we've had here. Also a thermometer. I've got about 5 of them, but none in the first aid kit. Salt's a really good idea too.
- nothings stupid, we are all learning everything all the time! I also managed to get an actual respirator AND an old gas mask, but I don't have the filter disks for the old gas mask and have not been able to source them. The respirators are actually pretty easy to find (yes, even Wally World has them), and those filters come in a pack of four!
Yeah, I've got all my husband's Army kit, including a gas mask, as cumbersome as it is. When a neighbour came round with the flu once, he put it on and told the neighbour to take his germs home, hahaha. That's the last time it was used. Where did you source the respirator from? What sort of cost?
I was actually the head of the safety committee at a place I used to work, so when I ordered them for the company, I asked if I could get one for myself, but here's who we ordered from: https://bit.ly/3a0iEBd
C.A.T. tourniquet https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...6B31B076914E3C5EA54F6B31B076914E3C5&FORM=VIRE The vid above may be a tad dated, but it shows the basics. Carry splinting material, 4" x 4" s ... https://www.grainger.com/category/safety/first-aid-and-wound-care/first-aid-gauze-pads-and-wraps kerlix https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kerlix&atb=v140-1&ia=images&iax=images These products can help stop the bleeding https://first-aid-product.com/first-aid-supplies/bandages-and-wound-care/blood-stopper.html Carry medical gloves, 'cause you may come into contact with somebody else's blood. Uh-oh! Don't want their hepatitis now do we?!!!!! Keep providone https://duckduckgo.com/?q=providone&atb=v140-1&iax=images&ia=images Penny shears, gotta cut off clothes fabric, seatbelts. Serrated edge knife is good for cutting seatbelts. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=penny+shears&atb=v140-1&iar=images&ia=images Getting too tired to write, aught'a go to bed. Maybe a Pepsi. Gosh, I'm thirsty. Unless you know how to start I.V.s, don't carry saline liters nor Dextrose, tubing, cath.s, ... leave all that to others. Raise patient's legs. If your cell phone won't hit any towers, have CB / shortwave xmitter. But don't overdo raising a patient's legs! You just want to get blood back into body and brain. Helps reduce leg bleeding also = added benefit. You got no IVs, so this is a "poor man's solution" to hypovolemia. Just for bleeding and dehydration; the've lost blood volume, remember. The following is reverse Trendelenburg; NOT FOR SHOCK!!!!!! If person has cranial injury with symptoms (blown pupil, say; head injury & mind getting foggy), then raise their head / upper body to reduce intracranial pressure.
https://www.google.com/search?q=eme...w8&ei=hXUZXrenF9645QKzrpHACw&bih=619&biw=1076 You can make make-do splints. Even firm cardboard will work; tree limbs. Kirlex to wrap
I remember using twigs from a noble pine as the splint and beargrass as the twining when my friend in 8th grade bent his arm all up in unusual ways when we were running up and down the mountains in Glacier, MT! Anything you can use that is somewhat firm will be better than nothing!
Good morning Blitz, Yes, a sat phone. I have one. Like much else, however, headaches are involved. Here in the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia, between Navy Norfolk and Washington, D.C., in some large emergencies such as a terrorist threat, private citizen transmissions are blocked. I am sure this headache has applications to areas of Australia. I guarantee the US Gulf Coast - Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) to Houston has counter-threat programs equal to the military's here in Virginia.
Good morning Old Geezer, My splints are both sizes of wood paddle paint stirrers. I've lightly glued the sides together so they're flat against the side of a flight bag style bag.
Holy Moly! Thanks for all the info. It's going to take me a while to check out all the links. Definitely will keep me busy! Thanks again.
Yeah, I didn't think of that. Same with GPS I would think. There's always problems involved with technology!
I recommend heavier boards, especially for leg breaks (God-forbid, open fractures). The boards can be thin-ish, but think 3 inch widths. Femoral breaks are horrid and can easily become life-threatening. The splint has gotta be strong! One can bleed-out internally from a femoral fracture. Seems impossible, but it sure IS possible. Stabilize and wrap wrap wrap. Find proper instructions online. Sorry, but for my response, I didn't do anything near a thorough search. One can use a bed-sheet to stabilize a pelvic fracture. If you are out in the middle of nowhere, you might have to do this. Pelvic fractures often cause retroperitoneal bleeding = 5 liters lost = death. You can't loose anywhere near 5 liters (without fluid replacement) and your lower abdomen can hold that much, even more. Abdomen will be taunt / hard; called "distended abdomen". Overview: https://loptonline.com/patient-education/injuries-conditions/hip-issues/adult-femur-fractures/
Good afternoon Old Geezer, My evacuations by pods and boots place strict weight and volume restrictions on me. If first aid not going to work with paint stirrers, the victim/patient is, unfortunately, YOYO. Femoral bones are approximations of death sentences if anything depends on me. If I shelter in place, under ideal circumstances, and I never anticipate the ideal, my care-giver is an M.D. but not licensed to practice here. If she's here when SHTF, the skills are present but the pharma is cartel-controlled.
