Post by Dr Gaz on Aug 29, 2014 16:45:38 GMT 8
A good first aid kit can quite literally mean the difference between life and death in a survival situation. A good first aid kit will give you all you need to mend yourself in the wild. A bad one can not only give you inadequate resources, but can be inherently dangerous to use, especially by someone who is not particularly knowledgeable on medical care. So, the first thing that you need to do to create your Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) is to figure out what exactly you need it to do. Here are some things to keep in mind.
1. First, and most importantly, there is no higher echelon of care in a survival situation. That means there is no such thing as a band aid to keep the patient, or yourself, alive long enough to get to the hospital. The concept of “field stabilization” is increasingly popular, and is particularly effective given modern transportation and the close proximity of high quality medical facilities. This effects you because most commercially available first aid kits are meant as short term band-aids, not long term solutions. You need to modify your kit to make sure you can deal with the long term effects of injuries and the fact that there may be no hospital to get the patient to.
2. Minor injuries are going to occur much more often than major ones. However, both can get infected, which can cripple you in the field. Trauma kits seem to be increasingly popular among survivalists, however, ignoring mundane items like band-aids, peroxide, or anti-biotic ointments can be fatal errors. Don’t get sucked into the “gear queer” philosophy and stuff your FAK with fancy trauma gear while neglecting to give yourself the ability to deal effectively with minor injuries.
3. Avoid “temporary” solutions, these kinds of items are very popular, but next to useless if you can’t get the patient to a hospital. The most popular of these stop gap measures is quik-clot. Quik-clot SHOULD NEVER be included in a FAK. This is because the granules within the kit that are used to stop the blood flow operate by burning the tissue shut, and must later be removed by a physician. Other items are only meant to provide temporary reprieve while you to implement a more permanent solution. One such item is the tourniquet, the tourniquet is a great tool, but is only meant to give you the time you need to apply a proper dressing. Leaving a tourniquet on too long will kill the limb, leading to the need for amputation.
4. Just as important as having the gear is knowing how to use it. The quik-clot is a perfect example of this, and the fact that ignorance of your gear can be inherently dangerous. However, you also need to know how to use your other specialized medical kit, such as the proper way to sterilize, pack a wound, find a vein, suture a wound, etc.
5. Infection has the capability to be much more dangerous than the original wound. With that in mind knowledge of how to sterilize a wound, as well as proper follow up hygiene, is paramount to success in the wild.
6. Quantity: make sure you have enough of a single item to last you for a good while. You’re going to use items like band-aids on a regular basis, pack them in the necessary numbers. This is one of the problems with commercial first aid kits, they pack a wide variety of supplies, but never in sufficient qualities to sustain operations for an extended period of time.
7. Expiration dates: more than any other category (except maybe food), medical supplies will expire and become next to useless. Make sure you keep your supplies clean and up to date, because when SHTF an out of date hemostat is going to do you not a damn bit of good.
8. Another thing to keep in mind is that you will often be alone and as such will be forced to administer aid on yourself. This means that it is especially important to learn how to work on hard to reach areas, and even one handed and off handed (working with your “wrong hand), especially with complicated procedures like suturing or the removal of foreign matter from wound cavities.
C. Finding out what you need
To figure out what supplies you need, it will be necessary for you to need to apply some basic first aid knowledge, and common sense, to come up with a good assortment of gear which will encompass the vast majority of your first aid needs. The types of gear in your kit can be divided into three groups: Major injuries (your stereotypical trauma gear), minor injuries (band aids and cough drops), and continuing actions (basically keeping your wounds sterile and immobilized until it heals naturally). For your major injuries a good acronym to use is MARCH-B. It’s used by the Navy and USMC to give the order in which you treat combat injuries, but is also good for making sure you hit all the bases as far as having a properly supplied kit available for all major injuries. Minor injuries are more of a common sense deal; think the things your mom keeps in the first aid kit in the bathroom closet. Continuing actions will consist of the things you need to keep the wound stabilized while it heals. These include things like antiseptics, splints, and slings, among other things. Each of these groups will also have tools attached to them which you will need to work on the corresponding cases.
Major Injuries –
Major Bleeds: This is probably the best known of the major injuries, and with good reason. The femoral artery can bleed out in 30 seconds. The methods to treat a bleeding wound are also numerous, with everything from combat gauze to Israeli dressings available. The kit you choose will depend mostly on personal preference, however, a few things to make sure to have will be at least two tourniquets, at least one H bandage or similar equivalent, gauze (copious amounts of this), and proper sterilization equipment. Again, this is the minimum, other things to have include sterile wrap, hemostatic gauze, compression bandages, sutures, liquid skin, alcohol pads, and multiples of all of the above.
Airways: This one is more skill than anything else, but with that being said making sure the airway is open, especially with an unresponsive patient, is of critical importance. The best method is to finger sweep the mouth and then use the jaw thrust to open the wind pipe. The head tilt chin lift is another method, but is becoming less used because it moves the head and neck around, not something you want in a possible spinal injury. With that said, the equipment you need for this category includes gloves, preferably non latex, and a way to keep the mouth open. This can be as simple as a stick. I personally use the veterinarian method of “squeezing” the jaw open, but make use of whatever way makes you feel comfortable.
Respiration: The thing most commonly associated with this category is CPR, so a face shield would be a good thing to include, not to mention learning the most up to date ratio of breaths vs compressions.
Circulation: This one encompasses whether or not blood is flowing properly to all parts of the body. This is more of a long term situation, like making sure you take the tourniquet off or you orient the patient in a position that allows the patient’s blood to circulate. However, it also has to do with shock. Shock has the capability to be a major problem if not properly treated. Treating this condition predominantly involves skill, but a space blanket to control core temperature couldn’t hurt your chances.
Head trauma: Well, I hate to say it, but there’s not much you can do for a spinal injury in a SHTF situation except immobilization and time (however, I’m not particularly knowledgeable on spinal cases, so you’ll need to do your own research on the subject), in survival kits a SAM splint can be money for quick stabilization, but in larger kits, a full cervical spine collar is definitely preferable.
Burns: While not a part of the MARCH acronym, Burns are another major injury that I feel deserves it own category. Even so, most of the dressings used to control bleeding can be applied to burns. The primary difference is that a burn dressing will be loosely fastened and wetted down (note: dressing a burn is only for preventing infection and keeping foreign matter out, not stopping any type of blood flow, which shouldn’t happen anyway since the wound should already be cauterized). You can also pack some cooling gel for minor burns (do not apply it to third degree burns or greater)
Fractures, Breaks, and sprains: I wasn’t really sure which category I was going to put this injury in. Unless it’s a compound fracture (at which point the associated bleeding becomes your primary concern, along with properly reseating the bone so it can properly heal), a broken bone is really not all that serious, just painful (and temporarily crippling, but that’s a survival thing rather than a medical thing). Treatment for a broken bone is simple, but requires the slightest amount of finesse. Provided you can properly seat the bone, hence the finesse, all you need to do is keep the wound immobilized and wait. For this a SAM splint is a great base for a broken limb, once the splint is in place simply wrap it in paracord and make sure it stays put. For a more long term solution simply find a strong stick and strait lash the stick to the limb on both sides of the break. An even better solution is to use two sticks (one on both sides of the limb), do the same lashing (a Chinese strait lashing will work too if you don’t like the Boy Scout version). After the sticks are set wrap the whole thing in ace wrap, and presto, field cast. Note that whatever method you choose you will have to check the limb regularly to make sure it is healing properly. This should be done at least daily for the first week after the break and at least weekly after that. Fractures and sprains are even easier; you simply immobilize the limb and make sure it doesn’t get any worse. Finally, for breaks in areas like the collar bone you will have to make use of a sling. I just fashion a hasty sling out of some clothing, but triangular bandages or cravats will work as well.
Tools: Some of the tools that come in handy for trauma kits include first and foremost the necessary “PPE”, which include gloves and possibly a face mask. Another indispensable tool is a good pair of Trauma shears, which will allow you to cut though clothing to get to the wound. Some basic surgical tools, such as tongs, forceps, scissors, and tweezers, might also come in handy in special circumstances. Also bear in mind most of these tools can be used to treat less serious minor injuries, so duplication for other groups is unnecessary.
Minor Injuries
Cuts and Lacerations: Small cuts and scrapes can be easy to ignore in the field. However, if you get an infection from said cut you’ll regret the decision. Band-aids and antiseptic will make up the bulk of you minor injury kit. Since the wound isn’t life threatening in and of itself, sterilization is your primary goal. Make sure you include band-aids of several different sizes and in generous quantities. You also need to make sure you include something to clean the cut, such as baby wipes or alcohol pads, so you don’t seal the bacteria in when you cover the wound.
Blisters: Blisters may seem like more of a nuisance than a legitimate problem, but trying walking on one and you’ll quickly find its worth treating. Moleskin is generally accepted as the best choice for treating blisters (and when I say treat, I mean cover and immobilize, blisters will have to actually heal on their own). Foot powder, if you don’t already have some, is also a good edition, especially when you have to operate in wet environments.
Sun burn: Preventative measures are the best solution for this problem, but if you’re an idiot and let yourself get sun burned, aloe vera is the best treatment.
Puncture wounds: These are similar to cuts and lacerations except they contain a small but deep incision, think what would happen if you got stabbed by an ice pick. Unless they hit a major blood vessel puncture wounds are not immediately threatening. However, a myriad of interesting and deadly pathogens can live in puncture wounds because of the unique wound cavity. The most well known of these infections is tetanus, but others exist as well. While you should always make sure your tetanus vaccination is up to date, keeping the wound clean is of paramount concern (as in you should flush out the wound with betadine or a similar liquid antibiotic daily). This is where liquid antiseptic comes into its own, because it can hit the entire wound while gel will simply sit on top.
Scrapes: These are also similar to cut and lacerations, and the opposite of punctures, in that they create a very shallow wound cavity over a large area. This means that germs that require an oxygen-deficent environment won’t be a problem, but everything else will have a large area to work with. Scrapes have the propensity to bleed a lot initially, but can be easily stopped because the bleeding is usually exclusively capillary in nature. So, with that said, the most important thing to keep in mind is to keep the wound clean and disinfected until it scabs over.
Bites: Bites will not present much of a problem in and of themselves. However, the venom that may or may be injected with the wound can be a serious problem. With this in mind a good anti-venom kit is essential, especially in areas known to be inhabited by venomous snakes and spiders. A good bite kit will include a top notch suction device to get the venom out of the wound, as well as some alcohol pads to clean the wound area. Note there are still kits out there that adhere to antiquated techniques, so make sure you do your research before purchasing a kit. Bites from non venomous animals can range from annoying from serious depending on their source and location. Generally, it is safe to treat large bites as puncture wounds. Also keep in mind some animal soil their teeth with raw meat to stimulate infection in bite victims, so assume that the wound is saturated with bacteria and initiate the proper countermeasures. Another thing to worry about with mammal bites is rabies. If you contract rabies from a bite in a survival situation you’re a corpse waiting to happen, so don’t get in the situation (I.E. kill the animal at a distance). Insect and rodent bites are a problem more because of the diseases they carry. With these, preventative measures and hygiene are of paramount importance. Another thing to watch out for are insects such as ticks and leeches that will latch on to you, and will need to be carefully removed. Chiggers, which actually burrow into your skin, are an even more annoying problem.
Continuing Operations
Slings and Splints: If you break a limb, prepare to have it immobilized for upwards of a month to have it heal properly. When I was in Afghanistan we encountered several cripples who broke limbs and didn’t allow them to heal correctly, and believe me, it’s not a place you want to be. In a pinch you can use a SAM splint to keep the bones together, but this is far from a satisfactory permanent solution. With that being said, more permanent slings can usually be improvised from clothing items. Likewise splints and casts can be fashioned from a stout sticks and a pole lashing with 500 paracord, just make sure it immobilizes the limb.
Medication: Medication in your FAK should include some pain medication, cough drops, diarrhea medication, cortisone creams, and allergy pills if applicable. Eye drops might also come in handy from time to time. Diagnostic tools can also be helpful to have, while not completely necessary if weight is a premium. The minimum to carry is a thermometer, but stethoscopes and other tool will the useful if you have the room and the knowledge.
Cleaning equipment: You will need to occasionally change the dressing on a wound and continue to insure that the wound remains clean and sterile. Hydrogen Peroxide, along with a few cotton balls, is a great way to kill bacteria if you can carry the extra weight. Gel antibiotics can also be helpful in keeping the wound sterile. Medical tape is also going to be necessary to rewrap the wound as well as lots of simple dressings or bandages to keep it covered.
There is nothing wrong with having a basic first aid kit, while we can still ring 000. But as you should realise as preppers, our FAK should be designed for NO 000 calls and NO Dr to have handy!
Remember your life or the lives of those you love may be at risk, and please no, "I can't afford to buy a proper FAK and supplies", because if you can't and won't get trained to use it, then you are going to be Shit out off luck when TSHTF!!!!!
A basic first aid kit may contain:
plasters, in a variety of different sizes and shapes
small, medium and large sterile gauze dressings
at least two sterile eye dressings
triangular bandages
crêpe rolled bandages
safety pins
disposable sterile gloves
tweezers
scissors
alcohol-free cleansing wipes
sticky tape
thermometer, preferably digital
skin rash cream, such as hydrocortisone or calendula
cream or spray to relieve insect bites and stings
antiseptic cream
painkillers such as paracetamol (or infant paracetamol for children), aspirin (not to be given to children under 16), or ibuprofen
cough medicine
antihistamine tablets
distilled water, for cleaning wounds and as an eye bath
It may also be useful to keep a basic first aid manual or instruction booklet with your first aid kit.
Medicines should be checked regularly to make sure they are within their use-by dates.
Which is fine for now, but you need to look at Trauma kits!
Trauma FAK!
The First Responder Kit is designed for use by those with emergency medical training. It has plenty of extra room inside for added supplies.
The supplies in the First Responder Kit are similar to those in the Basic First Aid Kit with the addition of a blood pressure cuff, stethoscope and a set of oral airways.
Content
Personal Safety/CPR
10 pair Gloves
1 pair Safety Goggles
1 CPR Microshield®
Minor Cuts and Scrapes
60 Adhesive bandages
10 Butterfly Bandages
25 - 2x2 Gauze Pads (2 packs)
2 Tongue Blades/Finger Splints
1 Roll Plastic Medical Tape, 1 inch
Larger Injuries/Trauma
1 pair Trauma Shears
2 - 5x9 Dressings
25 - 4x4 Gauze Pads (2 packs)
4 Gauze Rolls, 3 inch
2 Triangular Bandage
1 Elastic Bandage, 2 inch
1 Mylar Survival Blanket
1 Set of 5 Oral Airways
1 Stethoscope
1 Blood Pressure Cuff
2 Instant Cold Packs, large
Wound Cleaning/Misc.
2 Sodium Chloride Irrigation Solution, 250ml
20 Antiseptic Wipes
1 Alcohol Hand Sanitizer, 4oz
5 Triple Antibiotic Ointment
1 Splinter Forceps
12 Alcohol Prep Pads
1 Resealable Plastic Bag
2 Biohazard Trash Bag
Ink Pen & Note pad!
Even these are still short of what you will need! Buying extra supplies from a Medical supply store will give you all you need in equipment, and most supplies!
Then it's off to the chemists for medication! and off course the Dr for prescription Med's!
www.elitemedical.com.au/
www.elitemedical.com.au/
www.vitalmed.com.au/
There are many supplies in your area, just Google them!
What I have not mentioned above, is Dental First Aid! which most people forget about! I have some simple dental supplies from Adam Dental Supplies!
I have ordered a left and right tooth extractor and some other supplies!
Because as Jinny said;"You are not using just pliers to pull any of my teeth" ...LOL
A book I have mentioned before is called: "Where there is no dentist" and should be part of your medical library!
Hope this helps and please contact me for more information if you can't find it on the net!
Dr Gaz...
PS: Yes, a role of glad wrap is essential, great for Burns as a protective skin! and can holding bandages in place in difficult areas, but don't leave it on too long as it causes sweating! That's for wounds, not burns! There are better supplies for burns but GR is ok if you don't have other supplies!
1. First, and most importantly, there is no higher echelon of care in a survival situation. That means there is no such thing as a band aid to keep the patient, or yourself, alive long enough to get to the hospital. The concept of “field stabilization” is increasingly popular, and is particularly effective given modern transportation and the close proximity of high quality medical facilities. This effects you because most commercially available first aid kits are meant as short term band-aids, not long term solutions. You need to modify your kit to make sure you can deal with the long term effects of injuries and the fact that there may be no hospital to get the patient to.
2. Minor injuries are going to occur much more often than major ones. However, both can get infected, which can cripple you in the field. Trauma kits seem to be increasingly popular among survivalists, however, ignoring mundane items like band-aids, peroxide, or anti-biotic ointments can be fatal errors. Don’t get sucked into the “gear queer” philosophy and stuff your FAK with fancy trauma gear while neglecting to give yourself the ability to deal effectively with minor injuries.
3. Avoid “temporary” solutions, these kinds of items are very popular, but next to useless if you can’t get the patient to a hospital. The most popular of these stop gap measures is quik-clot. Quik-clot SHOULD NEVER be included in a FAK. This is because the granules within the kit that are used to stop the blood flow operate by burning the tissue shut, and must later be removed by a physician. Other items are only meant to provide temporary reprieve while you to implement a more permanent solution. One such item is the tourniquet, the tourniquet is a great tool, but is only meant to give you the time you need to apply a proper dressing. Leaving a tourniquet on too long will kill the limb, leading to the need for amputation.
4. Just as important as having the gear is knowing how to use it. The quik-clot is a perfect example of this, and the fact that ignorance of your gear can be inherently dangerous. However, you also need to know how to use your other specialized medical kit, such as the proper way to sterilize, pack a wound, find a vein, suture a wound, etc.
5. Infection has the capability to be much more dangerous than the original wound. With that in mind knowledge of how to sterilize a wound, as well as proper follow up hygiene, is paramount to success in the wild.
6. Quantity: make sure you have enough of a single item to last you for a good while. You’re going to use items like band-aids on a regular basis, pack them in the necessary numbers. This is one of the problems with commercial first aid kits, they pack a wide variety of supplies, but never in sufficient qualities to sustain operations for an extended period of time.
7. Expiration dates: more than any other category (except maybe food), medical supplies will expire and become next to useless. Make sure you keep your supplies clean and up to date, because when SHTF an out of date hemostat is going to do you not a damn bit of good.
8. Another thing to keep in mind is that you will often be alone and as such will be forced to administer aid on yourself. This means that it is especially important to learn how to work on hard to reach areas, and even one handed and off handed (working with your “wrong hand), especially with complicated procedures like suturing or the removal of foreign matter from wound cavities.
C. Finding out what you need
To figure out what supplies you need, it will be necessary for you to need to apply some basic first aid knowledge, and common sense, to come up with a good assortment of gear which will encompass the vast majority of your first aid needs. The types of gear in your kit can be divided into three groups: Major injuries (your stereotypical trauma gear), minor injuries (band aids and cough drops), and continuing actions (basically keeping your wounds sterile and immobilized until it heals naturally). For your major injuries a good acronym to use is MARCH-B. It’s used by the Navy and USMC to give the order in which you treat combat injuries, but is also good for making sure you hit all the bases as far as having a properly supplied kit available for all major injuries. Minor injuries are more of a common sense deal; think the things your mom keeps in the first aid kit in the bathroom closet. Continuing actions will consist of the things you need to keep the wound stabilized while it heals. These include things like antiseptics, splints, and slings, among other things. Each of these groups will also have tools attached to them which you will need to work on the corresponding cases.
Major Injuries –
Major Bleeds: This is probably the best known of the major injuries, and with good reason. The femoral artery can bleed out in 30 seconds. The methods to treat a bleeding wound are also numerous, with everything from combat gauze to Israeli dressings available. The kit you choose will depend mostly on personal preference, however, a few things to make sure to have will be at least two tourniquets, at least one H bandage or similar equivalent, gauze (copious amounts of this), and proper sterilization equipment. Again, this is the minimum, other things to have include sterile wrap, hemostatic gauze, compression bandages, sutures, liquid skin, alcohol pads, and multiples of all of the above.
Airways: This one is more skill than anything else, but with that being said making sure the airway is open, especially with an unresponsive patient, is of critical importance. The best method is to finger sweep the mouth and then use the jaw thrust to open the wind pipe. The head tilt chin lift is another method, but is becoming less used because it moves the head and neck around, not something you want in a possible spinal injury. With that said, the equipment you need for this category includes gloves, preferably non latex, and a way to keep the mouth open. This can be as simple as a stick. I personally use the veterinarian method of “squeezing” the jaw open, but make use of whatever way makes you feel comfortable.
Respiration: The thing most commonly associated with this category is CPR, so a face shield would be a good thing to include, not to mention learning the most up to date ratio of breaths vs compressions.
Circulation: This one encompasses whether or not blood is flowing properly to all parts of the body. This is more of a long term situation, like making sure you take the tourniquet off or you orient the patient in a position that allows the patient’s blood to circulate. However, it also has to do with shock. Shock has the capability to be a major problem if not properly treated. Treating this condition predominantly involves skill, but a space blanket to control core temperature couldn’t hurt your chances.
Head trauma: Well, I hate to say it, but there’s not much you can do for a spinal injury in a SHTF situation except immobilization and time (however, I’m not particularly knowledgeable on spinal cases, so you’ll need to do your own research on the subject), in survival kits a SAM splint can be money for quick stabilization, but in larger kits, a full cervical spine collar is definitely preferable.
Burns: While not a part of the MARCH acronym, Burns are another major injury that I feel deserves it own category. Even so, most of the dressings used to control bleeding can be applied to burns. The primary difference is that a burn dressing will be loosely fastened and wetted down (note: dressing a burn is only for preventing infection and keeping foreign matter out, not stopping any type of blood flow, which shouldn’t happen anyway since the wound should already be cauterized). You can also pack some cooling gel for minor burns (do not apply it to third degree burns or greater)
Fractures, Breaks, and sprains: I wasn’t really sure which category I was going to put this injury in. Unless it’s a compound fracture (at which point the associated bleeding becomes your primary concern, along with properly reseating the bone so it can properly heal), a broken bone is really not all that serious, just painful (and temporarily crippling, but that’s a survival thing rather than a medical thing). Treatment for a broken bone is simple, but requires the slightest amount of finesse. Provided you can properly seat the bone, hence the finesse, all you need to do is keep the wound immobilized and wait. For this a SAM splint is a great base for a broken limb, once the splint is in place simply wrap it in paracord and make sure it stays put. For a more long term solution simply find a strong stick and strait lash the stick to the limb on both sides of the break. An even better solution is to use two sticks (one on both sides of the limb), do the same lashing (a Chinese strait lashing will work too if you don’t like the Boy Scout version). After the sticks are set wrap the whole thing in ace wrap, and presto, field cast. Note that whatever method you choose you will have to check the limb regularly to make sure it is healing properly. This should be done at least daily for the first week after the break and at least weekly after that. Fractures and sprains are even easier; you simply immobilize the limb and make sure it doesn’t get any worse. Finally, for breaks in areas like the collar bone you will have to make use of a sling. I just fashion a hasty sling out of some clothing, but triangular bandages or cravats will work as well.
Tools: Some of the tools that come in handy for trauma kits include first and foremost the necessary “PPE”, which include gloves and possibly a face mask. Another indispensable tool is a good pair of Trauma shears, which will allow you to cut though clothing to get to the wound. Some basic surgical tools, such as tongs, forceps, scissors, and tweezers, might also come in handy in special circumstances. Also bear in mind most of these tools can be used to treat less serious minor injuries, so duplication for other groups is unnecessary.
Minor Injuries
Cuts and Lacerations: Small cuts and scrapes can be easy to ignore in the field. However, if you get an infection from said cut you’ll regret the decision. Band-aids and antiseptic will make up the bulk of you minor injury kit. Since the wound isn’t life threatening in and of itself, sterilization is your primary goal. Make sure you include band-aids of several different sizes and in generous quantities. You also need to make sure you include something to clean the cut, such as baby wipes or alcohol pads, so you don’t seal the bacteria in when you cover the wound.
Blisters: Blisters may seem like more of a nuisance than a legitimate problem, but trying walking on one and you’ll quickly find its worth treating. Moleskin is generally accepted as the best choice for treating blisters (and when I say treat, I mean cover and immobilize, blisters will have to actually heal on their own). Foot powder, if you don’t already have some, is also a good edition, especially when you have to operate in wet environments.
Sun burn: Preventative measures are the best solution for this problem, but if you’re an idiot and let yourself get sun burned, aloe vera is the best treatment.
Puncture wounds: These are similar to cuts and lacerations except they contain a small but deep incision, think what would happen if you got stabbed by an ice pick. Unless they hit a major blood vessel puncture wounds are not immediately threatening. However, a myriad of interesting and deadly pathogens can live in puncture wounds because of the unique wound cavity. The most well known of these infections is tetanus, but others exist as well. While you should always make sure your tetanus vaccination is up to date, keeping the wound clean is of paramount concern (as in you should flush out the wound with betadine or a similar liquid antibiotic daily). This is where liquid antiseptic comes into its own, because it can hit the entire wound while gel will simply sit on top.
Scrapes: These are also similar to cut and lacerations, and the opposite of punctures, in that they create a very shallow wound cavity over a large area. This means that germs that require an oxygen-deficent environment won’t be a problem, but everything else will have a large area to work with. Scrapes have the propensity to bleed a lot initially, but can be easily stopped because the bleeding is usually exclusively capillary in nature. So, with that said, the most important thing to keep in mind is to keep the wound clean and disinfected until it scabs over.
Bites: Bites will not present much of a problem in and of themselves. However, the venom that may or may be injected with the wound can be a serious problem. With this in mind a good anti-venom kit is essential, especially in areas known to be inhabited by venomous snakes and spiders. A good bite kit will include a top notch suction device to get the venom out of the wound, as well as some alcohol pads to clean the wound area. Note there are still kits out there that adhere to antiquated techniques, so make sure you do your research before purchasing a kit. Bites from non venomous animals can range from annoying from serious depending on their source and location. Generally, it is safe to treat large bites as puncture wounds. Also keep in mind some animal soil their teeth with raw meat to stimulate infection in bite victims, so assume that the wound is saturated with bacteria and initiate the proper countermeasures. Another thing to worry about with mammal bites is rabies. If you contract rabies from a bite in a survival situation you’re a corpse waiting to happen, so don’t get in the situation (I.E. kill the animal at a distance). Insect and rodent bites are a problem more because of the diseases they carry. With these, preventative measures and hygiene are of paramount importance. Another thing to watch out for are insects such as ticks and leeches that will latch on to you, and will need to be carefully removed. Chiggers, which actually burrow into your skin, are an even more annoying problem.
Continuing Operations
Slings and Splints: If you break a limb, prepare to have it immobilized for upwards of a month to have it heal properly. When I was in Afghanistan we encountered several cripples who broke limbs and didn’t allow them to heal correctly, and believe me, it’s not a place you want to be. In a pinch you can use a SAM splint to keep the bones together, but this is far from a satisfactory permanent solution. With that being said, more permanent slings can usually be improvised from clothing items. Likewise splints and casts can be fashioned from a stout sticks and a pole lashing with 500 paracord, just make sure it immobilizes the limb.
Medication: Medication in your FAK should include some pain medication, cough drops, diarrhea medication, cortisone creams, and allergy pills if applicable. Eye drops might also come in handy from time to time. Diagnostic tools can also be helpful to have, while not completely necessary if weight is a premium. The minimum to carry is a thermometer, but stethoscopes and other tool will the useful if you have the room and the knowledge.
Cleaning equipment: You will need to occasionally change the dressing on a wound and continue to insure that the wound remains clean and sterile. Hydrogen Peroxide, along with a few cotton balls, is a great way to kill bacteria if you can carry the extra weight. Gel antibiotics can also be helpful in keeping the wound sterile. Medical tape is also going to be necessary to rewrap the wound as well as lots of simple dressings or bandages to keep it covered.
There is nothing wrong with having a basic first aid kit, while we can still ring 000. But as you should realise as preppers, our FAK should be designed for NO 000 calls and NO Dr to have handy!
Remember your life or the lives of those you love may be at risk, and please no, "I can't afford to buy a proper FAK and supplies", because if you can't and won't get trained to use it, then you are going to be Shit out off luck when TSHTF!!!!!
A basic first aid kit may contain:
plasters, in a variety of different sizes and shapes
small, medium and large sterile gauze dressings
at least two sterile eye dressings
triangular bandages
crêpe rolled bandages
safety pins
disposable sterile gloves
tweezers
scissors
alcohol-free cleansing wipes
sticky tape
thermometer, preferably digital
skin rash cream, such as hydrocortisone or calendula
cream or spray to relieve insect bites and stings
antiseptic cream
painkillers such as paracetamol (or infant paracetamol for children), aspirin (not to be given to children under 16), or ibuprofen
cough medicine
antihistamine tablets
distilled water, for cleaning wounds and as an eye bath
It may also be useful to keep a basic first aid manual or instruction booklet with your first aid kit.
Medicines should be checked regularly to make sure they are within their use-by dates.
Which is fine for now, but you need to look at Trauma kits!
Trauma FAK!
The First Responder Kit is designed for use by those with emergency medical training. It has plenty of extra room inside for added supplies.
The supplies in the First Responder Kit are similar to those in the Basic First Aid Kit with the addition of a blood pressure cuff, stethoscope and a set of oral airways.
Content
Personal Safety/CPR
10 pair Gloves
1 pair Safety Goggles
1 CPR Microshield®
Minor Cuts and Scrapes
60 Adhesive bandages
10 Butterfly Bandages
25 - 2x2 Gauze Pads (2 packs)
2 Tongue Blades/Finger Splints
1 Roll Plastic Medical Tape, 1 inch
Larger Injuries/Trauma
1 pair Trauma Shears
2 - 5x9 Dressings
25 - 4x4 Gauze Pads (2 packs)
4 Gauze Rolls, 3 inch
2 Triangular Bandage
1 Elastic Bandage, 2 inch
1 Mylar Survival Blanket
1 Set of 5 Oral Airways
1 Stethoscope
1 Blood Pressure Cuff
2 Instant Cold Packs, large
Wound Cleaning/Misc.
2 Sodium Chloride Irrigation Solution, 250ml
20 Antiseptic Wipes
1 Alcohol Hand Sanitizer, 4oz
5 Triple Antibiotic Ointment
1 Splinter Forceps
12 Alcohol Prep Pads
1 Resealable Plastic Bag
2 Biohazard Trash Bag
Ink Pen & Note pad!
Even these are still short of what you will need! Buying extra supplies from a Medical supply store will give you all you need in equipment, and most supplies!
Then it's off to the chemists for medication! and off course the Dr for prescription Med's!
www.elitemedical.com.au/
www.elitemedical.com.au/
www.vitalmed.com.au/
There are many supplies in your area, just Google them!
What I have not mentioned above, is Dental First Aid! which most people forget about! I have some simple dental supplies from Adam Dental Supplies!
I have ordered a left and right tooth extractor and some other supplies!
Because as Jinny said;"You are not using just pliers to pull any of my teeth" ...LOL
A book I have mentioned before is called: "Where there is no dentist" and should be part of your medical library!
Hope this helps and please contact me for more information if you can't find it on the net!
Dr Gaz...
PS: Yes, a role of glad wrap is essential, great for Burns as a protective skin! and can holding bandages in place in difficult areas, but don't leave it on too long as it causes sweating! That's for wounds, not burns! There are better supplies for burns but GR is ok if you don't have other supplies!