First Aid Kits

BASIC ITEMS:

SOFT Wide Tourniquet - CAT will degrade over time because all of the buckles are made from plastic.
ACE Wrap - 4 inch x2 and 6 inch x2
Kerlix / H&H Compressed Gauze x6
Trauma Shears
SAM Splint
KTD (Kendrick Traction Device) - Mid shaft femur fracture in the middle of nowhere can sever a femoral artery if it isn't stabilized.
Wool or Mylar emergency blanket


Anything above these basic items isn't necessary for someone with little to no medical training. DON'T USE A FUCKIN CAUTERY PEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT. Stopping bleeding is always priority number one. Just look at controlling a major bleed as a simple math problem because that is all it is. Create more downward pressure than what is being exuded by the heart on the vessel wall, ans bleeding will stop. Get some training if this is important to you. Don't just buy a bunch of shit you have no idea how to use. You will end up hurting someone further.

Primum Non Nocere. First, do no harm.



Also, blood pressure by palpation is still being taught in the Special Operations Combat Medic course. There has been only one study that has shown this to be inaccurate, and it was a very small test group.

Dorsalis Pedis / Posterior Tibialis = 90/P+
Radial = 80/P+
Femoral = 70/P+
Carotid = 60/P+

 

https://trueskinsuturekit.com/?fbclid=IwAR0jeUdDzduESZRFFMlg8MqNpyNSsfKEh_oK09GlK4sKJ997xGQvgkXyMow

Be good to know.

 

Yup. Molle bag with all first aid/ field trauma surgery kit, fits between pass/driver side rear seats in my AC. not super visible from outside. of course, including few
bottles of pure ethyl alcohol, hypertonic solution, wife's feminine napkins, painkillers (including combat analghetics) e.t.c. Level of training is determining content.
Other survival gears/supplies in the storage box, in truck box.

 

As a health care professional and TNCC versed, why isn’t C Spine immobilization mentioned? Never move an automobile or fall victim without neck stabilization. Manual sphygmomanometers can serve as tourniquets, when bleeding out with a rubber band... Do no harm.

 

$149 Adventure Medical Kits Sportsman Series Medical Kit - 400 - First Aid Kit for Camping, Hiking, Hunting & More - For 10 People for 14 Days - Includes Bandages, Medicine, Guide Book & More

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PH21926/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZixLFbYDX4E75 (Not an affiliate link)

I have one of these in every vehicle. For 100$ it's a great kit. Adventure medical make some okay kits.

 

I think that for those of us that aren't EMT/ trauma trained the knowledge not to move someone with a possible spine injury is the important part. That is best left to people with the specialized training.

What most of these first aid kits lack for me in PPE. Any kit in the truck should have gloves and a CPR pocket mask as a minimum. Disposable mask and possibly a face shield would be even better.

Again, reiterating what others have said, a training class is the best way to go.

 

THIS. ALL. DAY. LONG. I started shying away from this thread after seeing some posts. “ I wanted to help” won’t do shit for you in court when you kill someone because of negligence. There are NREMT classes all over. I think the cost $250. Worth it. Not some shcmuck course made up by who ever on the internet trying to start their own training business.

Do No Harm
Do Know Harm

 

See below

 

I have the $40 version of this kit in each of my vehicles. The one in my Taco is the newest (bought shortly after I bought my truck last April). I recently used it at a family gathering when an elderly family member fell and scrapped his arm badly. No First Aid kit in the house where we we’re so I left mine with them and bought another. I keep the First Aid kit and a small Fire Extinguisher under the rear seats.

 

Because it's completely over used and under understood by EMS types. Much like fire medics starting IV's it's not an intervention that is life saving or restoring. Many osseous cervical fractures are fairly stable and the patients are often fine and walking wounded or aware there is a problem and present as such.

 

I liberated my OE Toyota First Aid kit from the rental Camry when my GEN1 Taco was sent to the scrap heap. I just refill it with stuff as I triage the dumb shit I and others do

 

My work has us buy new small ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2015 kits when the stuff inside starts to expire, probably for insurance reasons. And for these small kits it's easier/cheaper to replace the whole thing than to restock and/or unitize them. The old kits never seem to make it all the way to the dumpster and somehow end up in my personal vehicles. We also get basic first aid/CPR training which is nice since since we work alone remotely on industrial sites, not that the CPR training is going to help me . Like others have mentioned, first aid supplies don't do a lick of good if you don't know how to use them.

 

I have a first aid kit. Have no idea what's in it. Maybe I better look.

 

I'm running a MyMedic Advanced MyFak with some things I snagged from the hospital/work (IV start kit, saline flushes, narcan, etc.), I think they are running 30% off right now.

https://mymedic.com/

 

So you can stop bleeding with ace wrap and gauze with a completely lacerated artery ?

 

I’m sorry there is no way your going to have enough occlusion with a b/p cuff all your going to do is stop venous return then you have just created some nice compartment syndrome. Just a thought not trying to be an ass. My two cents

 

I've been an EMT for 20+ years and am an instructor for several of the major organizations as well as "Stop the Bleed" and I would go with the old KISS principle. You need to be able to deal with the normal cuts and scrapes of daily life on your own and be able to keep someone/yourself alive long enough to reach definitive care for more serious emergencies. So a healthy supply of bandaids and gauze for the day to day not so smart decisions and one or two tourniquets as well as commercially available hemostatic dressings should cover you. I can almost guarantee you can build a kit for cheaper than you can buy it.
Pro tips,
1. get trained. When someone is missing parts is not the time to learn
2. practice. The TQs are designed to be used under stress but by a trained individual.
3. Someone already said it, but don't cheap out on the TQ. We had an officer in my neck of the woods have an oops during firearms training and they had some knockoff brand and broke the windlass on two of them while the guy was leaking out through a hole in his leg.

my $0.02

 

That dude is an idiot. Certain injuries will require the use of a properly applied tourniquet.

Like I stated three years ago, a SOF-T WIDE is better than a CAT. For one handed self application a CAT is easier to use. Keep the CAT out of sunlight. UV degrades the plastics. Also, they're one time use.

Never use a RATS tourniquet. Only time I would ever use one is for a K9.

A blood pressure cuff is NOT equal to an actual TCCC approved tourniquet. @Lemmy68 if you're in the medical field then you should know to not make absurd comments that can end up killing people. Cspine is important, but what the setting of the injury is determines the priority.

In every kit you make or buy, make sure you have a minimum of 2 tourniquets. Sometimes one just isn't enough. Especially if they person is large or muscular.

Not trying to shit on anyone. Medicine is my primary job. Especially trauma / austere medicine. If you have questions please feel free to message me.

 

Been a Baja surfer forever, ex-FF/EMT 1A-D and now just another guy. Get CPR/First Aid training before anything else. At that point you are one of the few people who can make a difference when it matters most!