What’s in your First Aid Kit?

What’s in your First Aid Kit and why?

What problems do you see that could potentially arise while camping, on the trail, on the road, daily commute?

What experience do you have in any medicine. (Wilderness, EMS, PD, FD, SAR, volunteer, nurse, MD, etc)


I wanted to start this thread as I think it could be a great source to showcase quality first aid equipment and also could help everyone become familiar with tools that can save the life of a loved one. IMO this is a highly valuable piece of gear and knowledge. What do you think?

 

I've taken a minimum approach. I did a minimum of thinking about it.

I had an old Boy Scout kit from the early 70's that's about 6x8x3 and I put that in the cab. Sometime in the mid 90's I started doing more car camping and I got an army surplus med kit, about 10x10x6, and I keep that in the back in a plastic box with several MREs, a couple of aluminum foil emergency blankets, hand & foot warmers, emergency drinking straw and fire starters.

At some point I thought I would get a better kit by piecing stuff together as the really nice kits I see are $$$. I haven't really done that yet. In the last several years I did add the straw, MREs, and warmers.

I've got the basics covered but could probably update the kits to less than decades old and do better with what's in them.

 

A great, pre packed kit is always a good idea.

Knowing what’s in it and how to use it all is a great idea.

Too many times I’ve seen an injury, and then the injured loved ones/traveling companions fumble through the kit not knowing what was in it or how to use it.

 

I don’t carry bandaids. Most of my kit is dedicated to life threatening trauma care. Wilderness First Aid training.

 

Basic first aid items, sam splint, and a tourniquet.

I've used sam splints, tourniquets, and quick clot before but the quick clot is one thing I don't ever want to use again.

 

Tourniquets. Combat gauze. Gauze. Pressure dressings. Chest seals. Needle Decompressions. NPA. CRIC kit. Chest Tube kit. IV and IO kit. Casualty cards.

 

Emoji bandaids, popsicle sticks, wipes, tape, gauze , and some ibuprofen.

The tape and popsicle sticks end up as a craft projects when the kids get bored.

For me I dont put my wife and kids in a situation where I might need chest seals, or chest tube kits or whatever else the person above me has. I can treat cuts and scrapes caused by the kids falling on their bikes. We dont go so far away from civilization that we need that stuff.

If my kids were older, and we went on a adventure then I would consider getting a more complete kit, but for now bandaids and kiss on the cheek solve all injuries I encounter.

 

All of that is not for me or really for anyone in my vehicle.

Also ran 3 casualty collection points and have been exposed to extensive trauma patients.

 

Bandaids
ointment
tape
Scissors
Tweezers
telfa pads
gauze
butterfly closures
alcohol pads
Triangular bandages
Burn jel
sting killer
Advil
Naloxone

 

I have several kits- as an EMT, my medical bag includes an AED, blood pressure and O2 meter, various splints, neck braces and a nasopharyngeal airway kit, along with the typical stuff.

My smaller kits that my wife and I and friends can put in our daypacks have bandaids, 4x4 gauze, tape, triangles (for making slings, pressure bandages or tourniquets), tape, butterflies, Benadryl, quick-clot treated bandages, emergency blanket, tweezers, etc.

For anyone, I recommend including at least one emergency blanket (the foil ones). They are very light for a daypack and can be used for hypothermia and hyperthermia victims (shade or warmth), as a ground cover, an emergency rain shelter and a emergency signal device.

Also always carry a PLB if you go where there’s no cell phone coverage.

Wilderness and EMT training.

 

Damn! You keep an AED on you that’s hardcore.

 

I won it, but there are some good ones out there that are getting a lot less expensive than they used to be.

I volunteer as a nurse at my daughters‘ 4H summer camp and get to stay for free, so it was a no brainer for me to get one either way, but winning one was pretty nice too!

 

Alright, I'll chime in. I'm a paramedic with additional training in wilderness and austere medicine. What is your level of training, and how much room are you willing to devote to a kit?

For someone with limited training, I would recommend the following:

1) More training. Always more training. The more reps you put in, the more capable you will be if/when you have to use this gear.
2) Nitrile Gloves
3) Shears
4) Tourniquet (Either the CAT, SOFTT-W, or SAM XT)
5) 6" Trauma Dressing
6) Pocket Mask (Unless you are comfortable using a BVM.)
7) 28 French Nasopharyngeal Airway (Not as fancy as it sounds.)
8) A 2-Pack of NAR Hyfin Chest Seals (Others are acceptable as well.)
9) Folded/Rolled Gauze (For packing.)
10) SAM Splint (With cravats and/or elastic bandages.)
11) Assorted Items for Little Stuff (Cuts, scrapes, etc.)
12) SOL Thermal Blanket or Similar
13) 1" Cloth Tape
14) I'm sure I'm forgetting something important. Put that here.

A few other considerations:
How far are you from the road? Can EMS get to you easily? Is there a chance that you might need to transport someone to a road if EMS is not optimally prepared to do so? Will you have cell phone reception? Just food for thought.

 

I’m an avid hiker. Enjoy solo adventure trips. I carry a well stocked first aid kit. The most important thing I carry is an InReach emergency locator beacon.

 

While a prepackaged kit may have the same things you need, I’ve found that the quality of the items is very poor. I’d rather stock mine with good quality items specific to a person my age (ancient). I do a lot of hiking and backpacking, so I bought some empty first aid pouches (not too large so they fit in my packs) and filled them with pretty standard items, I.e. assorted bandaids, alcohol wipes, and antibacterial ointment (neosporin). In addition, I also bought some small, resealable bags (found in the makeup section) and carry aspirin, benedryl, aleave. I have a small pair of foldable scissors, tweezers, gauze bandages and tape. I discovered a tape called leukatape that I was only able find online. I use it instead of moleskin to prevent blisters. It comes in pretty good size rolls, so I took a piece of a straw and wound about 3 or 4 feet of the tape onto it. I carry a small bottle of eye drops, a small container of carmex, and finally, since I am ancient, I carry a couple of prepackaged Preparation H wipes.

 

Kinda surprised nobody else carries naloxone seems like you’re a lot more likely to encounter somebody that’s od’ng then most other life threatening situations, at least around these parts

 

I carry a decent tactical knife and just put anyone with more than a flesh wound out of their misery...unless they have a cool truck, then I pull out my jump kit and put all my first responder training in use until help arrives.

 

My kit in my truck is not as advanced as my kit in my hunting gear.

 

So I do carry naloxone in the kit in my truck, but I would strongly caution against it. If you really want to be able to resuscitate someone who has overdosed on opiates, I would advise that you carry a bag-valve-mask and some nasopharyngeal airways, along with the training to make use of this equipment. It is not the opiates themselves that result in death, but rather the hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and subsequent brain injury. To that end, if you can breathe for someone (using a BVM, not a face shield, please, trust me, you're gonna have a bad time) you can keep them stable until EMS, FD, or LE can administer the antidote. Many post-overdose patients become aggressive to the point of being combative, or issue forth a cornucopia of vomitus upon receiving naloxone, and unless it is your job to deal with that, don't.

Additionally, there are many reasons why someone's respiratory drive might be compromised, and being able to ventilate someone has a more broad application than just an opiate overdose.

 

This^^^ great post. Often times when narcan is administered you get exorcist vomiting and asked “why did you ruin my high?!?” And violence is common as well. Most people get scared and lash out due to being unconscious then awoken to people towering over them. They instinctively become defensive.