first aid kits

We full time, so we are always carrying a full medicine cabinet, but we do carry a first aid kit in our hiking backpacks. Just the basics, various size bandages, neosporen, ace bandage, medical tape, etc. We always try to be prepared.

The problem with most off the shelf first aid kits is that they are worthless with any severe injuries and this includes large cuts. I had a coffee pot break apart in my hand in a hotel room and after more than 30 minutes no one in the hotel could locate a first aid kit. I got some duct tape from the hotel maintenance person and used the tape to stop the bleeding and then drove to the nearest drug store to get bandages large enough to use to replace the duct tape.

Now I always take a kit I put together which includes large butterfly bandages and Quikclot packets that are good for stopping bleeding as well as pain killers and antibiotics. I also have a roll of duct tape handy.

Some of the better kits are made for mountaineering and offshore sailors and they include "flash" cards that walk you through the procedure to follow for any type of injury. Much better than a first aid book in an emergency.

camperpaul wrote:

rustycopperballs wrote:

Just handy hint for your first aid kit a doctor friend of mine told me and he was in the Army as a field medic and he said one of the best blood sponges u can have in your kit is a ladies feminine pad kotex or a product like that. very absorbsent!!!

The Kotex® pads evolved from the US Army Medical Corps battle dressings used during WW-II.

Yep, and tampons are great for stopping a copious nosebleed or plugging a gunshot wound. Jes sayin...

retired-tech wrote:
the wife is a red cross CPR and so forth instructor. therefore i always have enough medical supplies for in infantry unit in the trailer, a regular kit in the truck and some sort of supplies in all the other vehicles

You sound like us. I'm a nurse and I have an array of supplies. I tell people I can fix just about anything except broken bones or cancer. I swear, I could even deliver a baby out there if I had to.:C

Hubby was a paramedic years ago but at the beginning of the camping season every year he pulls out our first aid box and checks all the supplies to make sure everything is good. I also carry a first aid kit for our two dogs. I have had to use it twice for splinter in a paw and bee sting (horay for Benadryl). Glad I had the kit in both cases.

When racing on the sailboat, when (not if) I injure myself, I use duct tape and folded paper towels until I can reasonably dress the wound.

We started our RV first aid kit with a purchased kit, removed most of the unneeded packaging, and added items that we really needed. We frequently travel in rural third world countries, so we are well inoculated and carry medicines for lower GI issues, but do carry remedies for that. Have a chat with your physician for recommendations.

I look at our kit as a quick response to stop/control bleeding, prevent infections, and rely on our ability to get to real medical care to resolve major trauma.

rustycopperballs wrote:

Just handy hint for your first aid kit a doctor friend of mine told me and he was in the Army as a field medic and he said one of the best blood sponges u can have in your kit is a ladies feminine pad kotex or a product like that. very absorbsent!!!

The Kotex® pads evolved from the US Army Medical Corps battle dressings used during WW-II.

One other note, I had occasion to retrieve a bandaid from the firstaid kit in our TT earlier this year for a cut finger. I found that almost all of the bandaids were dried out and stuck to the paper packaging, or the adhesive was nearly useless.

That kit has been in the TT for years. Lesson learned, the components of the kit don't last forever and need regular maintenance like most other things.

obgraham wrote:
Duct tape and Kotex pads. Fixes darn near anything.

That's true. I have a wad of duct tape, a pad and a quick clot stuffed up above the web suspension in my hardhat for when I'm falling/cutting wood. A more complete kit is in the truck, which isn't usually all that far away from where I'm cutting, but if I get a gusher the pad and tape may help me make it back to the truck.

Duct tape and Kotex pads. Fixes darn near anything.