a good first aid kit (Health and Safety)

["ME & U"]

A Good First Aid Kit
by ME & U
Last Updated 30 March 2005

I'm a first time user long time reader of this awesome site and wanted to pitch in my ideas of a good first aid kit.
I'm a licensed nurse and have been for over 10 years, with a background in military nursing. I've often "dabbled" in the world of wilderness medicine, and have some definate ideas of what a good kit should be comprised of.

First, as a 2003 A.T. thru hiker, I can tell you that I also am lost in the world of weightlessness. My base gear today weighs 9.4 lbs and one of the ditty bags I hit first was my saftey kit. In that kit is my knife. The only thing I ever cut on the A.T. was the cheese A knife is an essential piece of gear that most of us carry and for the weight savy folks out there, this may appeal to you.

Aron Rolston cut off his arm with a dull multi-tool and his example of survival is and should be a beacon for the realm of possibility for all of us who venture out into the wilds!

With that said... I changed my 1 ounce knife to two stiff backed razor blades. I keep them in an aluminum motrin tablet package with med tape and labeled them "razors"

The second thing I'd like to add is that there is no substitute for common sense!! Any weight saver will tell you that in order to lose pack weight you have to make sacrifices. If you lack skills in the arena of medicine and are concerned about both weight and saftey then I would recommend an Adventure Medical Kit. The solo kit weighs 6 oz and has all the basic essentials you should need in just about any situation.

My idea of a good first aid kit "is keep it simple stupid" Stick with the basic ABC's: Airway Breathing and Circulation and leave the rest for the experts.
These experts will all tell you that your best case senario is to seek medical attention, as soon as possible and in most wilderness medical cases... this is what saves lives.

Knowledge is key. Learn basic first aid and go from there. You'll find that the more you know the less you have to carry.

Now, I know that a bunch of you guys & gals may respond with feedback in this area (if this gets posted) and I'm not trying to open a big can of worms here, I just wanted to share some of my ideas and see where it leads. I'm always looking for cool tips...

My kit:
4 band-aids (2 for "me" & 2 for "U")
4 butter fly sutures (save being Dr. Frankenstein for your dreams)
1 knuckle bandage
1 2x2 bandage
2 razor blades (1 for ropes & 1 for that occasional surgery)
a coulpe motrin tabs (pain)
a couple pepsid tabs (mountain food)
a couple anti-histamine tabs (sniffles, bad bug bites, ect...)
1 pack of tums (freguent indigestion and a calcium boost ta boot)
1 freebie pack of triple anti-biotic cream (spread between 4 band-aids)
1 saftey pin
1 bandana (elsewhere)
duct tape on my trekking poles (replaces everything else)
1 pocket pack of listerine strips and a tooth brush (it's the brushing that counts)
and lastly... a business card of my favorite outfitter with the phone # 904-264-6512 written on the back. This is the # for Maynard Cox who is our countries head honcho when it comes to snake bites. I picked up this public information on the bullitin board of the Eckville Hikers Center in PA off Hawk Mountain road, 0.2 off the trail after a day of spotting 5 rattlesnakes, 1 huge copperhead and a ton of rat snakes. I was freaked out to the max that day and it was comforting to have the chance to gain some more knowledge on the subject of snakes. This also provided "US" with a more comfortable feeling in regards to the resident rat snake the shelter taker keeps for rodent erradication, that is humungus by the way.
This experts advice, for those who haven't read his article, is leave the snakebite kit on the store shelf, practice good, alert hiking and stay away from likely snake infested areas like rock shelfs, logged areas, and rocky outcroppings. Stay on trails and be mindfull of snakes sunning in this area.
If bitten, seek medical attention fast and provide them with his phone # as he suggests that many in the med field are lacking proper skills when it comes to snakes. Good enough for me!
The rest is up to you... gain knowledge!

By the way, the day we saw the snakes, I was left with an impression that my newest, biggest fear is, and always will be, copperheads!

I came within inches of stepping into the only spot of ground anywhere near the pulpit rock area in PA and contained in the leaf covered spot was the largest copperhead I've ever seen anywhere, including pictures. My downward step almost landed directly on top of it and if it wasn't for a split second of timing and one small piece of this snake I spotted (which I thought was a dead snake by comparing the color to the rattlers we'd already seen), a rock to step on beside the pile, and quick thinking, I most likely wouldn't be writing this to you all. We were far from help at that point, or at least thought so, and I can tell you this... I have a new pair of mental snake goggles equiped with radar, night vision, movement sensors, a bodyheat temp gage, and unilateral laser beam launchers to fry the snot out of any thing that moves while I'm in snake country. I am an animal lover and one who feels at one with nature but this was an eye opener for me and the thought of being tagged by a copperhead is one I'd love to supress!

It's my hope that readers of this article will use their common sense, stay away from wives tales, craphouse doctors, and notions of being "qualified" when your not, and lastly... be aware of the fact that sometimes being helpful is actually more dangerous when it comes to first aid. Seek help first! Then think about what you can do to help the injured person or persons your with. Their lives and the rest of your trip together may depend on this.
Peace
"U"
p.s. before the onslaunt I'm about to receive for bringing up the subject that no one else seems to care to stick their neck out for I'd like to have a few last words...I come in peace and go easy on my hiking partner "me" for being wacked in the head enough to actually be with me. She trusts me with her life and I would never put her or anyone else in a bad situation without first consulting the spirit world.

[TDale]

Cool tip #1:

"I have a new pair of mental snake goggles equiped with radar, night vision, movement sensors, a bodyheat temp gage, and unilateral laser beam launchers to fry the snot out of any thing that moves while I'm in snake country."

Sell the "bodyheat temp gauge" back to the vendor. Snakes, being cold-blooded are the same temp as their surroundings.


Thanks for the list.

[orangebug]

I'm also working on a similar article.

Personally, I'd have lots more safety pins (used as zipper pulls), aspirin rather than ibuprophen in case of an MI, roll of gauze to use with the duct tape rather than bandages, gas permeable barrier dressings for abrasions and other injuries, Pepto Bismol Tabs as well as calcium based antacids, and ID.

Good start to your list.

[The Old Fhart]

orangebug-".............and ID.'

I have a card in mine that says who I am, who to contact in case of an emergency, insurance provider, medications, and allegies.

[minnesotasmith]

"If you lack skills in the arena of medicine and are concerned about both weight and saftey then I would recommend an Adventure Medical Kit. The solo kit weighs 6 oz and has all the basic essentials you should need in just about any situation."

Where is this sold, and what's in it?

["ME & U"]

"If you lack skills in the arena of medicine and are concerned about both weight and saftey then I would recommend an Adventure Medical Kit. The solo kit weighs 6 oz and has all the basic essentials you should need in just about any situation."

Where is this sold, and what's in it?

I got mine from Eastern Mountain Sports (ems.com) It has a bunch of crap I stripped out of it like tweasers, tape, extra bandages, and amonia inhalers. It comes in a bombproof watertight zipbag, and has a cool sil nylon cover with outdoor latch points. The cover offers a bit of extra room for things like the toothbrush and listerine tabs, which if you haven't tried brushing with do try. They rock!
The kit also has pills, astringents, anti-septics, after bite and a few other items of interest.

["ME & U"]

I'm also working on a similar article.

Personally, I'd have lots more safety pins (used as zipper pulls), aspirin rather than ibuprophen in case of an MI, roll of gauze to use with the duct tape rather than bandages, gas permeable barrier dressings for abrasions and other injuries, Pepto Bismol Tabs as well as calcium based antacids, and ID.

Good start to your list.

Great tip with the pepto tabs. I don't frequent the pharmacy much and wouldn't have thought it. Your MI... assuming you mean the miocardial type, don't forget I was keeping it simple for the less medically involved. I've hiked with lots of nurses and every one of them had a first aid kit you'd need a book to use. It's been my experience that most days on the trail see minor mishaps and not so much of all we read, hear, and see on tv.
I appreciate your feedback big time and another great one is the zipper pulls!
Kudo's to your GPB's. I also carry one but try to find one at your local Cumberland Farms and your out of luck.
I carry my ID, credit card, and list of contacts in my invisable wallet so my first aid kit is lighter... you know, that freaky weight thing where every ounce counts and if the math doesn't work out put it somewhere else so you don't have to add it in.
I look forward to your article and hope I somehow motivated you press on
Thanks
"U"

["ME & U"]

Cool tip #1:

"I have a new pair of mental snake goggles equiped with radar, night vision, movement sensors, a bodyheat temp gage, and unilateral laser beam launchers to fry the snot out of any thing that moves while I'm in snake country."

Sell the "bodyheat temp gauge" back to the vendor. Snakes, being cold-blooded are the same temp as their surroundings.


Thanks for the list.

Right... the temp gage is for anything else that moves while I'm freaking out including my hiking partner

[Big Guy]

I include about a dollar worth of change ,quaters,dimws and nickels for a pay phone, or incase I run out of money.

["ME & U"]

I include about a dollar worth of change ,quaters,dimws and nickels for a pay phone, or incase I run out of money.

I used a phone card and had good luck with it along the way and usually gave most of my change for tips where I could

[Mountain Hippie]

One of the things that I have not seen listed is non-latex gloves. It you are in a situation where you have to help someone else and they are bleeding it would be wise to use gloves. Of course I suppose you could throw them some duct tape and keep walking, but usually people are not that cold.
Plus one of the gloves blown up makes a fair ball for a back-country volleyball game. You can also use one for a cover for a mp3 or some other small instrument. Make a finger cot out of one of the fingers and a little duct tape. I am sure that there are other uses as well.

[CynJ]

I carry Peptp tablets (they are individually sealed in lightweight plastic) good for heartburn, diahrea (sp?) and other ailments

I also recommend instead of alcohol wipes that you get betadine wipes (the brown stuff they use on you before surgery) - this stuff kills EVERYTHING!

Ladies - if you are already carring mini/maxi pads in your pack - skip carrying the gauze pads as a mini/maxi pad will work in a pinch for an injury.

As far as blisters go - everyone has their own way - but I would recommend the Band-aid brand Blister Blocs - they work really really well on heals, bottom of feet (not designed for the toes)

I would also get a roll of vet wrap instead of rolled gauze or an ace bandage. Its stretchy like an ace and is coated so that it sticks to itself (no tape needed) - and it can be used over a gauze pad covering a wound and it is fairly waterproof. Most pet stores carry it. And its very lightweight. Heres' a link for an exampe (first google link I found ) http://gprix.com/WVET.HTM

I edited this to add......I always carry a couple of Benadryl tablets in my day packs - just in case of a nasty reaction to a sting or plant.

[fiddlehead]

My first aid kit: duct tape, dental floss and sewing needle, about 10 aspirin tabs and one small sample pack of neosporin. Never needed anything else. (Never knew anyone who got snakebit either.)

[Happy]

I totally agree with the aspirin...one of the most common injuries for the aging, is heart attack and to be without these would be unbelievable?

[cutman11]

I'm a surgeon. I'm getting tired reading all these first aid posts. First of all, we need to separate what you NEED from what you WANT. Injuries can be divided into penetrating (stab/cut) and Blunt (bruise/abraision/fracture). Severe injuries in either category are beyond the ability of any hiker to treat with a "medikit". Really minor stuff doesnt NEED treating either. The only things besides common sense and a knowledge of first aid you NEED are: Duct tape for the penetrating stuff and blisters...bandana and hiking pole or sticks for splint. A cell phone or fellow hiker to call for help in the event of more severe injury is your best option. NOTHING ELSE IS NEEDED. Now, you can say you want antibiotic creams, potions, lotions, bandaids, etc,etc, but actually, when a town is no more than a few days away (and closer if you hitch from a road crossing) you dont need anything except what will get you thru a few hours to the road. A bad acute MI is NOT going to get better with an aspirin, and you wouldnt be able to diagnose it yourself if it were mild, or if it were severe(you would be dead on the spot). So use the common sense, the duct tape, and for anything else, get the heck out of the woods to the Doctor or Hospital if its that bad!!!

[orangebug]

I'm a surgeon. I'm getting tired reading all these first aid posts. First of all, we need to separate what you NEED from what you WANT...

Welcome to the discussion. I have several feelings about the subject, also, and totally agree with you. Anyone should be able to look at a backpack without a "first aid kit" and know how to improvise everything that would help to get a person to the next road crossing, or how to summon help if the victim truly can't be moved.

[Alligator]

About seven years ago I had some moderately bad blisters on my feet. They got torn open. I taped them up and kept hiking, as they weren't bad enough to stop my hike. I didn't have any antibiotic cream though. This was a section hike, and when I returned home, I had some red streaking that I worried might be an infection, so I went to the emergency room. I forget the name of the little bugger that got into the wound, some common skin microorganism. Anyway, a little antibiotic cream would have saved me $300.00.

I'm not running into town every time I need a little neosporin. So I guess I should ask, do you feel that triple antibiotic cream aids healing and prevents infection cutman11?

[Happy]

I'm a surgeon. I'm getting tired reading all these first aid posts. First of all, we need to separate what you NEED from what you WANT. Injuries can be divided into penetrating (stab/cut) and Blunt (bruise/abraision/fracture). Severe injuries in either category are beyond the ability of any hiker to treat with a "medikit". Really minor stuff doesnt NEED treating either. The only things besides common sense and a knowledge of first aid you NEED are: Duct tape for the penetrating stuff and blisters...bandana and hiking pole or sticks for splint. A cell phone or fellow hiker to call for help in the event of more severe injury is your best option. NOTHING ELSE IS NEEDED. Now, you can say you want antibiotic creams, potions, lotions, bandaids, etc,etc, but actually, when a town is no more than a few days away (and closer if you hitch from a road crossing) you dont need anything except what will get you thru a few hours to the road. A bad acute MI is NOT going to get better with an aspirin, and you wouldnt be able to diagnose it yourself if it were mild, or if it were severe(you would be dead on the spot). So use the common sense, the duct tape, and for anything else, get the heck out of the woods to the Doctor or Hospital if its that bad!!!

I totally disagree with your above statement....if you are truly a surgeon what do you operate on...******** or feet? Where was your medical training and what is your age?

Number one...I had a mild heart attack on September 25, 2000 on the racquetball court. I had played 10 hours per week for 9 years and it WAS self diagnosed...beyond your comprehension, I believe?

The club I belonged to had no aspirin to provide, which was also beyond believe of my racquetball partner, a cardiologist at Saint Joseph Hospital in Atlanta, GA noted as one of the BEST in the SE.

Awaiting your great followup!

[smokymtnsteve]

I'm a surgeon. I'm getting tired reading all these first aid posts. First of all, we need to separate what you NEED from what you WANT. Injuries can be divided into penetrating (stab/cut) and Blunt (bruise/abraision/fracture). Severe injuries in either category are beyond the ability of any hiker to treat with a "medikit". Really minor stuff doesnt NEED treating either. The only things besides common sense and a knowledge of first aid you NEED are: Duct tape for the penetrating stuff and blisters...bandana and hiking pole or sticks for splint. A cell phone or fellow hiker to call for help in the event of more severe injury is your best option. NOTHING ELSE IS NEEDED. Now, you can say you want antibiotic creams, potions, lotions, bandaids, etc,etc, but actually, when a town is no more than a few days away (and closer if you hitch from a road crossing) you dont need anything except what will get you thru a few hours to the road. A bad acute MI is NOT going to get better with an aspirin, and you wouldnt be able to diagnose it yourself if it were mild, or if it were severe(you would be dead on the spot). So use the common sense, the duct tape, and for anything else, get the heck out of the woods to the Doctor or Hospital if its that bad!!!

Glad ur not my doc..

[orangebug]

I'm trying to figure out what about cutman11's note would result in an unhappy Happy or Smokeymntsteve's wrath.

His point was to prepare for those events that one can control and treat on the trail. Cardiovascular events are rare, and significant ones are not something likely to be managed with anything other than evacuation of the victim to ER or a telemetry bed. Few places on the AT will accommodate that action in the Golden Hour. Mild MI's are routinely asymptomatic, unless arrhythmia complicates - in which case it isn't "mild."

And why didn't the best cardiologist at St. Joe's carry aspirin in his pocket? At least he was a good choice of racketball partner.

There are many illnesses and injuries to occur on the trail. HYOH, even if you feel you must carry a cardiac and trauma unit on your back. Yet, consider the possibility that knowledge of gear and skills in improvisation may be more valuable.