First Aid Kits

The pulse points correlation to sbp has actually been proven inaccurate. I honestly still somewhat use them though, with the theory that it should at least correlate to distal perfusion (though I have nothing to back it up). Old habits die hard...

 

LOL, word.

 

I keep this in the truck: https://www.redcrossstore.org/item/321275

Cheap and supports the American Red Cross too, if that is of interest.

 

Im no emt man so i just went for a basic kit. Hooks to my dayhike/bugoutish bag. Eaisly detaches when in a hurry. Plan to get a large carabiner to hook around the headrest post so i can remove or attach the bag without removing the headrest everytime

 

There is a huge difference between a trauma kit and a first aid kit. As stated above training is the first step to saving a life. In said training they are going to teach you to use what you have on your person or very close by. You may not be able to get back to your truck. But I can see how they come up with that price. I think its to high, but a very good trauma kit. My biggest problem to date has been needing minor first aid supplies, and I hope it stays that way. Just saying.

 

Awesome thread topic. Good questions. I've been skimming the answers. A lot of good suggestions and knowledgable members are taking time to answer this one OP.
Did anybody mention Trauma Shears? Very useful. Gonna have to cut those clothes off if it's a trauma problem. Cut up a shirt or pants and now we have an arm sling for a dislocated shoulder. A Sam splint is good too for breaks/bracing. I'd like to echo quick clot or a variation thereof. A nasal cannula placed on the bridge of the nose with a tilted back head flushed with sterile water can flush eyes out. Shit in your eyes in the middle of the woods is a real bummer.
And to piggy back what everyone else has said just sign up for some classes. They're fun and you'll learn some good stuff. you can buy every cool tool but ya got to learn how to use them. Like others said, build your own kit. Don't limit it to what can fit into a small pouch unless your truck space is really limited. There are compartments behind rear seats and under rear seats if you have them. Much more room for much more tools. More tools make more solutions. If you don't have the time to pull a seat back and grab a jump bag than your patient is fucked anyway. And gloves. Always gloves. No glovey no touchy unless family.

 

One of my brothers is a doctor and he gave me a cautery pen for my kit. Don't know if I could use it on myself though.

It's like this one
http://www.medline.com/product/Cautery-Pens/Z05-PF47971

 

All great suggestions!

I would suggest keeping a blanket in your truck at all times, you'll lose someone due to shock, especially in the places most of us take our trucks.

 

If you can't spend the money for a cautery pen there is a great product called New Skin. It's like superglue and anticeptic in one. It works wonders. @Justified if you couldn't do it to yourself than sell it to me. I'm sure your brother just gets em from medical reps and could score you another one!!

 

Also, Tequila, you don't want to have to pull the bullets out sober.

 

Have the tequila, or bourbon, then cauterize the bullet wound. Bing Bang Boom.

 

If that pen will stop the bleeding, then so will direct pressure, or maybe even a bandaid, IMO.

Watching one a Youtube series of some overlanders one night, dude slashed the hell out of his leg with a machete. Deep into the fatty layer, but not a major bleed. Risk was for infection and a hell of a scar with the open wound. Made me think about getting getting a staple suture kit. These things are preloaded and cheap. Seems worthwhile to have a few.

http://www.shopmedvet.com/product/35W-Skin-Stapler-35W-Sterile

 

I try to stay away from cautery pens ( or even crazy glue) because you have a real chance of making things worse if you don't clean out the wound completely before closing it. Out in the woods, you may have a hard time doing so depending on how deep\severe the wound is and what object made it.

 

Just control the bleeding and wrap it with some gauze and tape until it can be cleaned out and closed properly. Stay the hell away from cauterizing pens if you aren't extensively familiar with them. Any bleeding that you'd be able to address with a cauterizing pen outside of a hospital can be addressed by other means.

 

I got the Adventure Medical Kits Grizzly. It seems like good quality and has a nice trauma pouch with quick clot and a tourniquet. All I added was some super glue, some more bandaids, and an Israeli bandage.

 

I am an ER MD and was an EMT/Firefighter before that. I started on this path doing wilderness med stuff. Honestly there is not much you can do about major stuff in the field without training and if it is good even just a little goes a long ways. Find a good Wilderness Medical Course and take it! The more I have learned about Emergency Medicine over the years the less and less crap I realize I need. Gear is cool but without knowing how to use it you will likely bleed out trying to read the directions. The simple stuff is just easy and no big deal and will mostly wait till you get home. The big stuff will kill you and you need professional help so I would say communication gear is key. Be able to radio for help if you can't get yourself there. Learn how to stop bleeding (several good ways) and be able to do it one handed. As far as first aid plenty of opportunities to create lacerations, burns, etc... when out and about and although they won't kill you it is real nice to be able to handle them until you can get home. Simple cleansers, simple dressings, simple pain medications. I also carry an Epi-Pen everywhere for people that may need it. Not breathing is deadly. Plenty of water to replace volume if there has been bleeding is good. SAM splint would be great. Lots of ideas but smallest item that will save your life when it comes to space is just knowing what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Communicate your need for help. Keep yourself from getting worse (i.e. water, heat, shelter, food, etc...) and stabilize anything you can fix easily. Just my $0.02

 

Anyone have suggestions on gear for "IV start kit". I've got tons of lactated ringers and all gauges of IV needles with all other prep/start stuff.

Just need a bag for it.
LR bags are 1000ml and 500ml

 

QUICK HAND ME THE SPHYGMOMANOMETER!

 

My wife has been a nurse for 38 years. My daughter is a ICU nurse in a big hospital down south. My wife was also a flight nurse in the Air Force. I'm just an engineer but taken many classes over the years. After all this, I carry asprin, ibuprofen, a small pen light and my swiss army knife with scissors and a saw built in. I also have a satellite beacon. I have learned the little stuff can wait and the big stuff needs to be evacuated. I can slow down bleeding if needed.

 

all you need is Ace wraps and gauze lots if you can get 2/3 combat Gauze if you know how to use it it will STOP ANY BLEEDING I have used it down range more than once and it stope it every time stay away from the C.A.T. tourniquet
I have broken more than I have gotten to work I carrie a RATS and when both of them are in use I use the Ace wraps
and they work real good. In my work bag I have about 10 Ace wraps and a bunch of combat Gauze