First Aid Kits - a question for the medical folks

[Ματθιας]

If you're going to put together a portable first aid kit that covers everything from a gunshot to a paper cut, what would be in it? This is just enough to get the person to the proper medical facility.

What level of training should the average person have to be the most effective?

What do you all think?

 

[S42N8]

Lots of choices.

For gear, there are multiple vendors. I have several different kits from Chinook Medical; since you mentioned gunshots, their Gunshot-Range kit (Attention Required! | Cloudflare) has more than enough of the critical items (tourniquets, burn packs) and a variety of other useful stuff. Their other kits are useful for the home, car, and range bag (their IFAK pouch is strapped to my range bag...if you need it, gotta bring it.)

Training is always good. The Red Cross offers online, in-person and blended courses; first aid, CPR, lifesaving, etc. If you’re near a university or community college, there are usually evening classes in various first aid. If you’re really interested, there are paramedic programs. Uncle Sammy sent me to the Army’s Combat Lifesaver course, which was worth every minute - time well-spent.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have a 2004 issue Combat Casualty Response Kit (PN:80-0015NSN:6545-01-529-4187). Complete with the IV needle and blood clotting powder. It includes a tourniquet, 2 pr. nitril gloves, inhalator tube, 1 petrol gauze, 2 sterile dressings, check list and a toe tag! This is great for combat, but nothing for a paper cut, headache, or sprained ankle.

I actually believe the "Wilderness Survival Medicine" book and a kit based on their lists would be more realistic for anything other than CQB!

Backpacking or Car or Cabin use?
Number of people providing care for?
Medical / food allergies?
Cost considerations?
Shelf Life is only about 5 years max!

Talk to Emergency room people. EMT's aren't trained to do more than stabilize and transport.

I have 2 Navy Corpsmen that saw combat in Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, and 1 Green Beret medic (Vietnam Era). They know stuff!

Ivan

 

[Rudi]

The little ones from the store are pretty lame. My kit is a large pack. My late lady friend was a retired MASH nurse. She helped me put it together. Lots of good stuff in there. Ask tour local medics, they should be glad to tell you the best items to include. Big is better.

 

[Onomea]

I took a one-day emergency medical treatment course a few weeks ago. Instructor was a young fireman. The course was taught at my gun club. I took it as it was recommended by the trainers at my club when I was qualifying for the action range.

Seemed like a good idea. Cost me $100 or so.

I was skeptical, initially about the value, the efficacy, of a one day course. I asked my little brother's opinion. He's spent about 50 years in emergency medicine. Volunteered rescue squad as a kid and then a career in emergency medicine, the fire department, including running a large urban district, and then helicopter rescue squad member, again, after retiring from his state job.

The point, he explained to me, is to teach an average Joe, that'd be me, how to keep someone alive until the EMT pros turn up.

I think the answer to the question above is a tourniquet for stop the bleed, an Israeli bandage for compression, gauze for packing a wound, and a CPR mask.

(To include the paper cut, two bandaids.)

 

[LoboGunLeather]

A large handful of McDonalds napkins and a roll of duct tape have come in handy on construction sites several times. Sanitary napkins (feminine hygiene product) are surprisingly useful as wound dressings.

Sometimes emergencies require expedient methods. There are "best standards of medical practice" and there are things that are handy at the time of extreme need.

I'm not trying to be funny, just reflecting on a lifetime that included everything from combat service in Vietnam and 24 years as a working cop to building houses and running a roofing company.

 

[lihpster]

A large handful of McDonalds napkins and a roll of duct tape have come in handy on construction sites several times. Sanitary napkins (feminine hygiene product) are surprisingly useful as wound dressings.

Sometimes emergencies require expedient methods. There are "best standards of medical practice" and there are things that are handy at the time of extreme need.

I'm not trying to be funny, just reflecting on a lifetime that included everything from combat service in Vietnam and 24 years as a working cop to building houses and running a roofing company.

Worked in a glass factory. Every first aid kit had super glue in it. You use what works.

 

[biku324]

In the NMSP I always kept wrapped, heavy sanitary napkins for bleeds, tourniquet kits, and sealed box Saran Wrap. We had standard first aid kits with lots of specialty stuff I never needed. CPR kits are not that useful for trauma.

In '18 I took a casualty course required for conflict zone deployment - far better than either the Standard First Aid or First Responder first aid in the '80s/'90s. The stuff I mentioned above would still be useful today as well.

 

[Onomea]

A large handful of McDonalds napkins and a roll of duct tape have come in handy on construction sites several times. Sanitary napkins (feminine hygiene product) are surprisingly useful as wound dressings..

My instructor told us, "Hey, if all, you got is some dirty underwear, pack it on in there! Pressure! Stop the bleed! When they get to the hospital, they'll shoot 'em up with antibiotics anyway..."

 

[Onomea]

In the NMSP I always kept wrapped, heavy sanitary napkins for bleeds, tourniquet kits, and sealed box Saran Wrap. ..

Biku, I am trying to learn this stuff. I can guess, but please explain the sanitary napkins and sealed saran wrap.

 

[biku324]

The sanitary napkins are to place and tie or tape to heavy bleeds or to help you with hand pressure on large, open wounds. Saran Wrap is useful to wrap wounds as well and is particularly helpful for sucking chest wounds to seal a punctured thorax that is losing air.

 

[Kaarde]

Google North American Rescue, they have it all and it is quality stuff. They can set you up with pre-made kits or build your own. It's not cheap, but you don't want to skimp on this type of equipment. There are a lot of knock-off items out there that you don't want to mess with. Hope you find what your looking for.

 

[NewLiberty]

I took a one-day emergency medical treatment course a few weeks ago. Instructor was a young fireman. The course was taught at my gun club. I took it as it was recommended by the trainers at my club when I was qualifying for the action range.

Seemed like a good idea. Cost me $100 or so.

I was skeptical, initially about the value, the efficacy, of a one day course. I asked my little brother's opinion. He's spent about 50 years in emergency medicine. Volunteered rescue squad as a kid and then a career in emergency medicine, the fire department, including running a large urban district, and then helicopter rescue squad member, again, after retiring from his state job.

The point, he explained to me, is to teach an average Joe, that'd be me, how to keep someone alive until the EMT pros turn up.

I think the answer to the question above is a tourniquet for stop the bleed, an Israeli bandage for compression, gauze for packing a wound, and a CPR mask.

(To include the paper cut, two bandaids.)

This list and some skill should be enough to hold someone until higher care. A TQ for severe limb bleeding, israeli bandage and gauze for head/torso bleeding, and a CPR mask to help if someone stops breathing.

I'd consider a chest seal too. You can rig one from the Israeli bandage packaging, but dedicated ones are cheap, easy to use and take up virtually no space

I'd carry more for a backwoods adventure, but for a daily carry kit that can fit in a back pocket, that is a great star with some training to use it.

 

[RM Vivas]

A large handful of McDonalds napkins and a roll of duct tape have come in handy on construction sites several times. Sanitary napkins (feminine hygiene product) are surprisingly useful as wound dressings.

Sometimes emergencies require expedient methods. There are "best standards of medical practice" and there are things that are handy at the time of extreme need.

I'm not trying to be funny, just reflecting on a lifetime that included everything from combat service in Vietnam and 24 years as a working cop to building houses and running a roofing company.

Maxi-pads and duct tape can do a lot until you can evacuate to higher echelon medical care!!!

Quick-clot is handy but pricey, but when you nedd it, you need it.

I have a bag at work for when I get a call for someone who has a serious injury (usually head trauma from taking a fall and catching a headful of desk or equipment on the way down). Lots of ABD pads, Kling, and the like to manage blood flow. Our primary squad is about 1 mile away so they have an adequate response time.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Two main things is to get them breathing and stop the bleeding. After that, let the pros handle it

 

[riverrat38]

Two main things is to get them breathing and stop the bleeding. After that, let the pros handle it

Add heart beating and shock treatment to your list, and I agree.

73,
Rick

 

[mckenney99]

I live where professional help is usually minutes away but in my former professional life I routinely ran into situations where those minutes could make the difference between life and death. I now have a large portable kit that I put together for emergencies in/around the house. I have 2 smaller kits that are in my vehicle at all times. I also have smaller individual kits that I put together that I carry on a small pack I carry whenever I leave the house. I have another kit strapped onto my GPS range bag. I have another strapped to my range cart/stool I use for CMP shoots. All these kits have several common items that are primarily geared towards "stopping the bleed" and just vary with the number of those items in each kit. ALL the kits contain at least 1 NAR CAT Tourniquet and the excellent multi-purpose OLAES compression bandage (seen below) and hemostatic gauze. Training is a must and it doesn't have to be complicated. Besides the basically useless original first aid training I received in the Academy I have actively sought out new updated training that has been developed due to the lessons learned by the military in the GWOT. I also pick the brains of friends and family in the medical profession and ParaMedic/Fire fighters. Periodically, The Buckeye Firearms Association/FASTER Saves Lives program sponsors a 1 day class titled "Trauma Medicine for Active Killer Events" and I can't recommend this class/training enough. This training is applicable to many different types of events besides shooting/gunshot wounds, traumatic accidents around the home, industrial accidents, natural disasters and vehicle crashes.
The demonstration of the versatility of the OLAES Trauma Bandage is described here:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_xyrA4ClA[/ame]

 

[DWalt]

The sanitary napkins are to place and tie or tape to heavy bleeds or to help you with hand pressure on large, open wounds. Saran Wrap is useful to wrap wounds as well and is particularly helpful for sucking chest wounds to seal a punctured thorax that is losing air.

During WWI, the army developed and used wound packing bandages made from cellulose fibers. At aid stations and field hospitals, nurses quickly figured out another use for them. There were enormous amounts of surplus fiber left over after the war, and much of it was bought up and used for making disposable sanitary napkins. And a new industry was born.

 

[Exaviator]

Here down under, we always include an elastic compression bandage in case of snake bite

 

[DWalt]

I would think that a roll or two of paper towels would be a good addition to an emergency treatment bag for packing bleeding wounds. Especially toweling with high wet strength. Bounty brand is always considered the best for both absorbency and wet strength. I have bandaged wounds myself using paper towels many times.