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Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 17:03:13 -0500
From: "Brian Bonner" d90@email.msn.com
Subject: [D90] My Medical Kit
I just finished writing up my medical kit list for offroading and posted it along with my expedition check list on my web site http://members.tripod.com/Irish_Rover/ under 4x4 information. In case anyone is interested
Brian
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From: Bill & Rachel Burke[SMTP:bill@bb4wa.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 10:03 PM
Subject: [D90] First aid kits
>So, does anyone know a place on line that sells good first aid kits?
>-Q
Buck Tilton, one of the founders of wilderness first-aid, wrote the
following books, "Back Country First Aid" and "Wilderness First-Aid." You
can probably get them through Amazon.com at a discounted price.
An excellent source for information would also be http://www.wildernessmed.com, the
official site for the Wilderness Medicine Institute (Colorado). This is
where Bill took his training. They sell excellent Wilderness Medical
First-Aid Kits that are made in Colorado (by Atwater Carey). And they also
offer First-Responder courses that are short (about one week long).
Rachel
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From: Gary & Sheri Bendorf[SMTP:bendorf@iex.net]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: [D90] Hackett and First Aid Kit
Dave, you are right about me putting it off, some of that
stuff might be growing mildue by now. An ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure.
Off the top of my head we've got:
several rolls of Kline
a dozen or so 4x4's
tape- paper, cloth and surgical plastic
betadine
h2o2 (hydrogen peroxide)
TAO (triple antibiotic ointment)
benadryl ointment
epi pen
injecible benadryl
syringes
3/4x8" wooden dow
saline
prep pads
tongue depressors
Q tips
pen light
a couple of old arm boards
tylenol
ibuprofen
sinus tabs
cough drops
thermometer
sythescope
blood pressure cuff
Heck I forget everything thats in there, all I'll say
is leave it to a nurse to try to come prepared.
This kit started life as a fishing tackle box now
it smells like a hospital.
Gary Colorado Springs, Colo.
95 Discovery 5spd
73 Series III NAS
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From: Matthew Reeve[SMTP:matt@rangie.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 3:27 AM
Subject: Re: [D90] First Aid
> Group, Here's the items(see attached file) I have in my Med Bag. Some items
> are not readily available to the general public...however, creativity can
> get you all of them. Hope this helps! I can gladly say that as a civilian I
> have never had to use this bag(and my skills) to save someone's life.
> Shane Townsend
For those who (like me) don't like opening .doc attachments, I have pulled
the text of Shane's attachment out in notepad and included it below. I might
be being paranoid about attachments, but I haven't suffered from a virus yet
(touch wood).
Matthew Reeve
1979 2-dr Range Rover 300TDi
(NOTE: Shane was an army medic and has the proper training to use all this stuff. This is a very complete kit, for a very well trained first-responder. Carry only items that you are trained to use properly and know when and, maybe more importantly, when NOT to use them - ed.)
***************************************
LIFESAVER KIT
Medical tape: 1 roll (1"x180")
1 roll (1/2"x180")
2 rolls (3/4"x180")
2 rolls (2"x180")
Bandages: 5 rolls Intersorb Roll Stretch Gauze(6 ply)
10 Bandages, Muslin, Compressed, Camouflaged
10 Dressing, First Aid, Field, Camouflaged
Various 2x2's, 4x4's, 6x6's, etc
Catheter Needle: 2 Medicut Intravenous Cannula (16gauge)
2 Jelco I.V. Catheter Placement Units (18 gauge)
2 B-D IV Catheter needle w/3cc Plastipak Syringe(18gauge w/21gauge inner
needle)
I.V. Kits: 7 Venoset 78 Primary IV set, vented, 78 inch
IV Solution Bags: 3 Lactated Ringers Injection (500ml)
3 Lactated Ringers injection (1000ml)
3 Sodium Chloride Injection USP (.9%) (1000ml)
Miscellaneous: "J" tube (1 large, 1 small)
12" length of rubber tube for a tourniquet
Povidone-Iodine ointment USP
Povidone-Iodine Topical Solution
Alcohol Pads & bottle of Alcohol
Bottle of hydrogen Peroxide
Lots of disposable sterile gloves
20-30 black military Safety Pins
1 box assorted small Band-Aids
1 box specialty Band-Aids
1 Tablet U.S. Field Medical Cards, DD Form 1380
(Med cards are helpful to record the patients injuries)
Cobalt Blue Flouro-Dot Flashlight(for pupil reactivety)
Meds: 1 box of benadryl
2 Bee-Sting kits(contains Epinephrin syringe and Benadryl)
1 bottle Tylenol
1 Bottle of Pedialite (to help restore Electrolytes)
Carried in Vehicle: 1 blanket
1 Emergency blanket (1 side is reflective silver)
Several clean towels
Other: Axe, Shovel, Military Tritium Compass, Chem lights,
Flash lights, CB Radio, Cell Phone, Area map.
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From: Chris von C [mailto:chrisvonc@d-90.com]
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2003 9:52 AM
Subject: RE: [D90] First Aid
There used to be a great Pre-Trek checklist that on both the LRNA site as well
as the old B2B site that included a very good medical kit suggestion list. A
while ago, I had copied them off, merged them together along with other helpful
info from some other resource I had found, into a PDF file here on the site.
Chris von C.
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From: Matthew Reeve[SMTP:matt@rangie.com]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2000 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: [D90] Hackett Sunday - Long, Bad
> What kind of info should you have at hand?
> lat long coords?
> name of trail?
> main road you entered from and how far from it you are?
> nearest town?
Yes, all of the above and more. You start by saying your name and location,
that way if you lose comms they can still find you, there's no point saying
that you've got someone with a broken leg, but they don't know where you
are. You should provide the most information on location that you can, along
with any special requirements there may be for them to reach your location
(such as only ambulances with a SG Stage 3 kit need respond) or where you
will take the casualty to meet a highway for the rendezvous with the
paramedics. If the casualty cannot be moved, then offer to meet the
paramedics at the road and drive them in if the trail demands it.
You should provide details of the casualty, with the known injuries, how
they were sustained (if known) the current status of the casualty
(conscious/lucid/bleeding etc). You should also have the name of the
casualty, and information on their general condition (can be based on
appearance, or history if known). Check for any medicalert bracelets, and
pass this on.
You should always have pen and paper in your truck, to write all this down.
I guarantee that you will omit something if you try and do it from memory,
and lets face it, you don't want to make a mistake with this. I've been
first on scene at a number of incidents, and called the paramedics over a
dozen times, they know what information they want, so always make sure to
pause to let them ask questions when they need it.
Make sure that once an incident has taken place, ONE person takes charge of
the immediate care of the patient. ONE person takes care of recovery of any
vehicles and making the area safe if necessary, and ONE person is in charge
of relaying any information to the emergency services from the other two. It
may be that there is an overlap, of one person taking on two
responsibilities if there aren't enough people, but you need to have this
setup almost immediately. Other people should obviously be available for any
work needed and should follow any instructions immediately.
> Not to be a chicken little, but we don't think about this very often, so it
> pays to dive deep when we do. We put so much effort into being
> self-sufficient, we don't look outside the boundaries to see how
> much is out there that's unknown and unprepared for.
> -Dave G.
The people who appear to be in control and able to deal with situations when
they arise are generally the people who have 'role-played' those situations,
and have already thought out the proper actions so that when the time comes,
they already know the answers and don't have to stop and work them out.
Those few seconds can, and have, saved lives.
Matthew Reeve
nr Heathrow, UK
1979 2-dr Range Rover 300TDi
Dave G. later replied:
> Can I put the post below in the d-90 FAQ? Good to hear from someone whose
> BTDT. I'm afraid I might not do well if called on in an emergency. The
> thought of a hurt loved one or friend scares the hell out of me because I
> know I'm not prepared.
> -Dave G.
And Matt replied:
Help yourself, it's better that more people should stop and think about it.
I've had a friend nearly die of hypothermia on a scout hiking trip when I
was 14, we kept him alive overnight through a snowstorm and he was medivac'd
out the next day. That was the first time, and it scared the hell out of me,
but we'd had much training through Scouts so we knew what to do (I was the
medic for the group). If anything happens, just keep calm (sounds easy
doesn't it! - but it's important) take a step back if you have to, it's
better than being hysterical. Think logically and go through the steps one
by one. If you think about it before, then it won't be a surprise, you'll be
amazed how quickly you revert to training. Get yourself safe, get them safe,
get them stable, get help. If there's more than just you, these can be done
in parallel but if you're on your own, then that's the order you follow. If
you haven't already done so, then enrol on a first aid course. If you feel
the need, make up a laminated card with boxes to tick/fill in for the
response, make sure you have a pen to right on it. That way if something
happens, you just follow the checklist, and you have somewhere to write down
your lat/long, victim's injuries, medic details etc etc.
While I would rather that none of us was ever put in this situation, I would
rather we were and knew what to do, than it was someone else involved who
didn't.
And still later Matt added:
I am sure there's much I have missed, in fact one important thing I missed
is..
You should keep a written record of everything which happens to the patient,
including times. When you see a patient being presented on tv, it might be
hyped up for the cameras, but it's done for a reason. To give the best
quality care, the professionals need the most information. This includes
time spent unconscious etc.
Thinking about it, when I have time I will prepare a check sheet which we
can print out and keep in the truck which will have boxes to fill in for
location, victim's description, injuries etc, along with a grid to fill in
events and times (such as length of time CPR needed etc). That way even the
least confident of people can be organised and not panic as they have the
list to help them. The list isn't necessarily the rules to which you work,
but it will provide a stability crutch to anyone who is starting to panic
about being in the position of responsibility, and therefore allow them to
think more clearly and thus think of all the things they would have missed
(and not just those on the list).