First Aid Kit ? BLS Kit advise

[parallel]

I'm looking to put together a couple of medical kits. I recently bought a large ammo can (roughly 11" W x 15 3/8" L x 7 1/4 H") that I am refinishing to be used as a home first aid kit. I am looking for suggestions on which items and in what amounts to include in this kit. I would like all suggestions along with the reasons for the suggestion (when not obvious). That way, I can pick and choose those suggestions that I believe are most appropriate (due to limited space in the can).

Also, I am looking to put together a Basic Life Support Kit. I'm leaning toward having one of these in each vehicle (I already have a very basic first aid kit in each) due to the fact that our little boy is getting to the age where accidents will happen. Within the next few years we intend to regularly go mountain biking, hiking, etc. to instill a love of the outdoors into the little one. I want to be able to handle the inevitable medical issues as well as the unthinkable. So, for those of you with experience in this area, especially the EMS folk, if you could put together the ultimate kit what would you include and why? Feel free to point the way to existing kits (I've seen the ones at galls, etc.) as they can certainly be a good starting point. Thanks.

ETA: I have the typical SOF support combat first aid training (9533 NEC) as well as first responder training as Military Police and Florida LEO. However, that was over 12 years ago, so please feel free to point me to some updated training as well.

 

[HoosierAnnie]

One thing to definately include is the number of the local posoin control center for those accidental ingestions, and a chart of what to do for the common ones. My lil sis once picked up and tried to drink from the measuring cup mom had just used to pour bleach into the washer.

And from the perspective of the nurse on the hospital end of a potential admission. If you are out on a hike, don't forget to carry at least a copy of your medical insurance card(s), list of med each person takes regularly and any allergies

 

[Muppet]

Parallel:
There are many commercial EMS kits on the market. You can go to Galls.com ( a popular EMS / fire / police ) catalog regarding gear. That would fit you for the civilan side. Military side, you can go to US. Cav or similar but I don't know if you want to spend money on the Isralie dressings for the civilian world. Galls. com has vehicle EMS gear for fairlly cheap. Hope this helps.

 

[midnight]

Most things bad enough to require something more then is in your standard first aid kit is probably going to require help from some sort of additional medical service. So phone numbers of who you need to call to get help and info that they might need about who ever is hurt is the best thing to have handy. In the house EMS people will look inside your kitchen cabinets on your fridge and in your bath room medicine cabinet for that Info if you're not around to provide it.

Everyone should know CPR. In your car you can include a rescue mask, not even paramedics will perform mouth to mouth with out one. In the car you can also carry a tool that can break a window and cut a seat belt safely.

Hiking and mountain biking I would include a rescue whistle and some instant ice packs. Whats ever your going to carry in a first aid kit as far as pain management is not really going to be strong enough to make something stop hurting so I would recommend bringing extra anti inflammatory stuff so that you can at least recover from a sprain or what every faster buy using that and getting the ice packs on it quickly.

midnight

 

[ATJ]

First of all Parallel sorry for jumping in your thread but I didn't wont to start the new one for same question, but if it is problem I will open new.
I have same "problem" like Parallel and that is personal first aid kit.
Back home in LE unit unfortunatelly we don't have specific standards for personal first aid kit...it is much more do it yourself! Now I am looking for suggestions on which items and in what amounts to include in my first aid kit.For now it is consist from next items :
×1 SOF tactical tourniquet
×1 Oales Modular bandage
×1 ACS
×3 sizes of Oro-pharyngeal airway tubes (small, large and X-large)
×1 scissors for clothes cutting
×2 pair of gloves
×1 package of medical sticking plasters for small wounds (all sizes)
×2 Cyalume ChemLight (1 RED and 1 IR)
×1 Anti septic spray (100ml) for small wounds

All this is placed in small "rip of" pouch placed on my body armor.

If you have any sugestions to add or remove just shoot free. Thanks and soory for bad English.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

I keep an Army issue type CLS bag in the house and I have a personal blow out kit (the new ACU first aid kit) in my truck and the wife's jeep... I think the most important stuff for me is:

· Tourniquets
· Compression bandages
· Airway openers (like nasal or J tube’s)
· Chest decompression needle
· 2 or 3 -IV starter kit’s
· 2 -1000ml bags of lactated ringers
· 3 or 4 -HnH or Gauze role’s
· Cotton balls
· Benadryl liquid form
· Bottle of rubbing alcohol
· Latex gloves
· 100MPH tape
· Medical tape

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

For training I would hit any BLS-ALS, CPR, IV Theropy course. Get back up to speed on that stuff and then go see these dudes http://www.darc1.com/courses.html and take one of their tactical medical training courses...

 

[QC]

That's got me thinking I need to restock and there's some great ideas above. In my personal kit I carry a note book and pen to note symptoms & reactions of the patient & med doses. Can come in handy for EMS guys.

 

[medic1]

yea don't forget a good basic instruction book to hint what to do and when, the Ranger Guide covers most of the stuff you will need to know, plus sort some analgesia out and keep some iodine for would prep as well as water sterilisation if needed........................

 

[daxbr]

There is this guy on youtube (nutnfancy, if I recall correctly) and he posted very good videos about first aid medical kits. Way above anything that is commercially available, at fraction of cost and updated for recent medical and product developments.

 

[pardus]

CAT touriquets.

Combat gauze.

Israeli bandages.

Kerlix bandages.

Betadine x shitload

Gauze x qty

Eye flush

Nasal pharangel airway

Tampons

If you want to get fancy, a HyFin chest seal and a needle to decompress (ATJ, the HyFin is superior to the ACS).

IV kit with LRS, Hextend & saline options.

Suture kit

Tissue sissors

Hemostats

-------------

To be updated.

 

[Ranger Psych]

I think you should stick to reading and not posting, but that's just me. What you have been taught is to protect you and your employer.

 

[HoosierAnnie]

He knows not what he does. But gee, what do I know, I've only been an RN for longer than he's been alive

 

[pardus]

He knows not what he does. But gee, what do I know, I've only been an RN for longer than he's been alive

So whats up with the illegal thing? True?

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

Gman you are a fucking retard! Most of the basic line dogs on this form have more medical training then you could ever get from your "GAY" as shit CNA course. YOU have zero buisness questioning a US Army "COMBAT MEDIC" as to what he can put and use in his aid bag! We are all tired of your stupid opinions and lack of respect for the members and their background of this forum.

As for using medical equipment/ products I or anyone else has been trained to use on someone in need, I could care less how legal it is as long as it keeps them alive. The entent of this thread is a aid bag for a guys family in case of the "Oh fucking shit factor" I doubt his wife or son will sue him for giving them a fucking IV when they are bleeding out, heat injury or opening their airway when they are not breathing...

 

[HoosierAnnie]

So whats up with the illegal thing? True?

Still shaking my head. Since I don't know about the laws in every state (noticing how he mentions Washington when he doesn't even live there) most everything he spouts as "illegal" is bogus around here. He was probably told some of this stuff as a tactic to keep him from overstepping his nursing assistant ass. Here we LICENSED health care professionals are required to stop at accidents and render what ever assistance we can and are protected byt the Good Samaratin Act. On some "Clock" or not.

GBoy shut yer trap. We do not need you spouting stuff you have pulled off the net. We're grownups we can google better than you anyway. Leave health care advice to those of us who are qualified.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

A little semi off topic story:

I was 13 years old on a trip with my Eagle Scout troop where we paired up in 4 person groups. We were supposed to survive for 3 days without anything but our survival knives that had basic survival kits in the handle and then write a essay on what we did and what we thought we could have done better.

Alan a friend of mine was in my group and fell off out of a tree we were cutting limbs off for shelter. He cut his arm open when he fell and was bleeding out. He had a really deep cut about 4 inches long that was from his bicep to his to the out side of his tricep. At first we tried to wrap it with a t-shirt and stop the bleeding but it would not seal the wound and every few steps he took he would re open the wound and it would start bleeding again.

We had no real clue where we were at so we were walking towards the sounds of a highway we were hearing. When one of he other kids Mike had an idea to sew it up with fishing line. His idea came from watching the movie Rambo “first blood” :doh: but after Alan’s color in his face had started to get pale we took it more serious. Well after we all freaked out for a while Alan told us to do it and so we sewed him up with fishing line and a fishing hook. Needless to say he screamed his head off and it was not the idea way to do things.

Fast forward we finely got to the Highway and got Alan to a hospital, we were all given merit badges for the incident and told what a good job we had done. The troop leader was of course fired for the outing and the lack of oversight during the deal (mainly the parents freaked over Alan). His Arm was nasty infected and it took several weeks to heal. But he lived!

No body got sued and nobody was charged with a crime and none of us had any medical training other then Red Cross CPR and First Aid…

Looking back now, we no ability to properly clean the wound and or care for it and that was the best we could do, I don’t know if it worked at all. He probably would have been fine with just the T-shirt a little tighter or a tourniquet. But we were dumb kids and did what we did…

 

[HoosierAnnie]

(noticing how he mentions Washington when he doesn't even live there) d.

Mea culpa , seems he does indeed live in WA

 

[Manolito]

Danger Will Robbins Danger
I went to my Dr. and explained what I put together and he wrote a couple of prescriptions to put in my bag. His thought was if we want to kill pain we should be effective at that goal. The second thing often left out for long hunting trips is Imodium. I will stop there and see how many sparks I get.
Bill

 

[AWP]

G-man, I think I know how you made it back in, but I'm going to leave that be for now.....

You, kid, are a moron. I don't know if you suffered some traumatic injury as a child, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a surviving crack baby, maybe you have lesions about your gray matter…..or, you’re just THIS stupid. I have tried through numerous PM’s in the past to help you; your posting actions show me that my advice went unanswered. Members corrected you via PM and on the open boards; you ignored their subtle and not-so-subtle advice.
I want to believe that you have a medical condition, I want to believe this for the good of my country as it pains me to think that society will consider you my peer and accord you voting privileges, a driver’s license, and just MAYBE one day you can wear a uniform. You’ll be eligible for Social Security, unemployment, welfare….a multitude of government programs all despite being slightly smarter than protoplasm. I want to believe that a medical condition, something out of your hands, has made you absolutely incapable of learning.

I truly love to mentor our youth and have done so on this board and others. I may be harsh at times, but I’m straight-up and fair with them and I’d like to think that I’ve helped a few over the years. You….oh, then there’s you and it shakes my faith to the core and I actually question MY abilities and what I have to offer. Fortunately, by rebuffing other members in such a spectacular manner you’ve restored my faith in myself and for that, I thank you.

I want to delete you, but that is a bit much at this stage. You are getting banned as soon as I post this and I may even crush your IP range if it doesn’t harm other users. Do not attempt to register again, do not attempt to return. I don’t know if your father lives in Massachusetts and has a pencil-neck and while I would ordinarily admire someone without any “quit” in them, in this case I have to feel sorry for you…

…and society for carrying you through life.

<3’s!