First Aid Kit Advice

TU

Tuff Guy 62

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
829
Location
Arizona Rim Country
For Christmas my sons gave me (at my suggestion) a Rampage jerry can tool box for the new camper. I have two AT can holders mounted on the back of our ATC Panther.

However, as a tool box my opinion is that this product is quite inferior to a conventional tool box due to overall lack of space, especially for longer tools.

Hmmm... what to do? Then it hit me, it would make a great overland first aid kit.

So here's my questions. What do you use for your first aid kit? What are some essential items other that the obvious bandages, ointments, etc?
 
A thought... We have a kit that my sister the paramedic created for members of our kayak group. If we have a similar person on WTW, they might lend a voice to this thread. Excellent topic!
 
We have this kit in each of our backpacks - along with extra gloves, SAM splint, duct tape, and strapping tape. In the Lady's daily driver (for school) is a mid sized First Responder pack.

A full weekend Wilderness First Aid class or much longer class tine Wilderness First Responder training is also helpful.
 
I have an Adventure Medical Kits "Hunter", one that predates the current "Sportsman" line. To it I have added a mylar blanket, antacid tablets, chewable pepto, eye drops, allergy relief pills, small magnifying glass, decent tweezers, better shears, electrical tape, hand sanitizer (not a replacement for soap and clean water, but faster and better than nothing), lost tooth filling and loose cap repair, alcohol swabs, triangular bandage, extra safety pins, extra roller gauze, combat gauze, QuikClot sponges, wound seal powder, butterfly type wound closures, and extra pads/sponges/bandages of assorted sizes. I tried to fit in a sledge hammer for anesthesia, but it wouldn't fit...
On a side note, at least once a year I go through it and replace any out of date meds, etc. or scummy looking material. The most important thing to do is to be familiar with and practice with the materials you have in your kit. Practice wrapping a wound, putting on a sling or splint on yourself and others, etc. Before each trip I look through my kit just to stay sharp on its location and contents. Familiarity, knowledge, and capability are the three most overlooked necessities in a first aid kit or situation. Taking a cpr / fist aid class if you haven't ever done so can be very enlightening.
 
Gear is good but knowing what to do is better. I carry my full trauma kit in the Jeep and a smaller kit in the truck. I'm sure I've told the story before where I was on a Jeep run and the Jeep behind rolled five times. All kinds of people ran up carrying fist size first aid kits. Wouldn't have been much use if he'd been seriously injured. What sucked was the time It took me to untie my box (don't want it flying around if I roll). Fortunately his roll cage did the job and he was more rattled than injured.

Added the wound seal powder to the kit but I gave up on trying to keep meds up to date. Hadn't thought of a filling repair, good idea.

Training is great. Helps keep you and others from panicking. I wish they hadn't gotten away from teaching ABC. To me at least, when your'e faced with something horrible your training can be hard to recall but if you remember airway, breathing, circulation you can calm down enough to remember the rest. Amazing how one calm person can keep the patient and bystanders calm also.
 
a couple things I added a few years back....all the above and...in a 1.5" diameter, 4 inch long, clear plastic tube...with caps from tap plastic....a 2oz bottle of chlorine with an eye dropper...and in the same size tube...a small bottle of iodine with an eye dropper. The 1.5" tube gives you enough room for the small bubble wrap around the bottle....and the tap plastic caps make it water resistant....

use a few drops of chlorine in a remotely refilled water tank...even when filtered
 
"Added the wound seal powder to the kit but I gave up on trying to keep meds up to date. Hadn't thought of a filling repair, good idea."

I got a hold of some quick clot gauze. I throw a tourniquet and an Ole Bandage in the camper and the truck simply for easy access.

For those travelling Baja - be prepared to manage an altercation with a sting ray - not pleasant.
 
I always keep some super glue handy. Works great for closing wounds, is waterproof and stays in place better than bandages.

Agree with training and knowledge being the most important thing, used to do the ski patrol thing and can still pass the practical part of a test years later, the terminology part not so much.
 
We've got a similar kit as the 3pinners, supplemented with duct tape, super glue as mentioned above, and a few other homeopathic items.
 
I too would suggest the NOLS/WMA Wilderness First Aid course or something similar. If you spend a couple days doing a first aid course you'll come away from that course with a pretty good understanding of what you could need and how to use it.

If you just want a good kit, I would suggest as large as you're willing to spend on an Adventure Medicine kit and then just replace the items as they expire. Some of the stuff will last for years (SAM splint, CPR mask(s), etc.). Some of the items in a good kit you won't really understand the importance or fully understand how to use unless you go through a good (wilderness) first aid course (for example, a lot of people don't know how to properly use the syringe to clean wounds).

I'm going to repeat myself, because I think it's really important, the importance of a wilderness first aid, first responder, etc., course cannot be overstated. I won't go into a bunch of detail, but I have significant training and experience in an outdoor/wilderness setting. Without the proper training you can have all the equipment in the world and just end up kicking yourself until someone with training arrives.
 
Take a Wilderness First Responder course, the knowledge is the most important thing, and they will help you build your kit. The Wilderness First Aid is also a good starting point, knowledge is more important than the contents of your kit. I keep a pretty big kit with me but in most emergencies I want tape, pills and gloves. Much of the rest can be made from items you most likely carry with you.
 
Tuff Guy 62 said:
Homeopathic items?

Hmmmm........

Do you mean like from Colorado?
Click to expand...
No, no, no...nothing like that. We have some oils we use for pain and sickness that work well for us.
 
I had heard of one AED that was supposedly down around $300, but I didn't find it while searching for my post above. Given the pricing that I did find I'm not sure that I'd trust something priced at 1/3 of those that I did find.

An Epi-pen is a great idea if you can get one.
 
Considering how long cpr would need to be done in the places we travel to, even in the most optimistic circumstances (cell coverage, immediate dispatch etc) the chances aren't good. If I could find an affordable AED that was rugged enough I'd carry it.

Just my personal experience, trauma has been the emergencies I've been confronted with far more than medical emergencies and fortunately far easier to keep my trauma gear up to date.

Reminds me, I need to recertify.
 
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