First Aid

[HaYWiRe]

After emptying and using 2 pocket first aid kits today (there was alot of cuts to dress) its making me revaluate what I carry...

I've probably asked this before but what do you guys carry?

Today in one crash we used 2 non adherent pads, 2 large dressings, a bandage,burn pads and countless antiseptic wipes, and that's just to treat the more serious burns, now I understand you can't carry everything, and sometimes phoning for help is a better option but where's the sweet spot?

I'm gonna try and build another kit,(pre built ones are usually poor) and looking at what's best to carry, multiperpose and within my ability, the smaller the kit the less excuse not to always have it at all times

Just to note, first aid is obviously nothing without knowledge ofcourse, and id love to get more training, I currently only have an FAW and some "unofficial" military training from a mate in INMED

[Bearbonesnorm]

If you're considering some training, I'd suggest a 16 hour REC course. All the ones I've done have been very good and are structured to provide training for the great outdoors when medical supplies will likely be very limited. I have considered trying to arrange a Bear Bones REC weekend in Llanberis, if there's interest, I still might.

I can't help think that if todays injuries required all those dressings, etc then things must have been quite nasty / severe or you went a bit mad ... I'm a firm believer in the 'slap 'n wrap' school of first aid, which usually involves duct tape as the primary ingredient in a first aid kit.

[ctznsmith]

I'd probably be up for that course.

My first aid kit is essentially some anti-septic wipes and big plaster strips as I wouldn't know what I was doing with anything else.

So far I've only really badly injured myself when I was 2 miles from a hospital so I've been lucky. However as I keep getting further and further from civilisation and ride on my own most of the time I should probably learn some basic stuff.

[Bearbonesnorm]

However as I keep getting further and further from civilisation and ride on my own most of the time I should probably learn some basic stuff.

The REC courses are pretty indepth and there's a lot of things that you pray you'll never need attempt for real ... puntured lung with a credit card and tape springs to mind. It's a very different world to that of St Johns, etc where points are awarded for the uniform neatness of a bandage

[HaYWiRe]

I was taught how to treat shrapnel and bullet wounds over a cuppa with a friend, although real world application may be limited for me But some useful tips on improvisation non the less

What I have learnt is,the basics of cleaning to prevent infection, dressing to stop bleeding, and protecting from dirt/weather/further cuts, what I never realised was how much you actually bleed....
I guess I mostly plan to build a boo boo (or blow-out)

I really need to add tweezers though for picking out flint

Does anyone have any real experience on...well...being in diar need of 1st aid, how did you deal with that?....without sounding like an advert for another bear grylls tv series

[TheBrownDog]

I was going through my kit today and off-loaded half of it. I really didn't need 12 antiseptic wipes. I chucked the scissors and tweezers as Ive got some on my little Swiss Army knife-like object. Now I'm carrying:

- 5 wipes (most often replaced item)
- 2 bandages and two safety pins
- 2 wound dressing pads
- half a roll of lekky tape as none of the stuff in any of the kits Ive ever had has ever worked ever
- pair of vinyl gloves
- 5 plasters and 2 blister plasters
- tube of Anthisan cream
- 4 paracetamol tablets
- two mini bags of Haribo (second most often replaced item)

EDIT

Does anyone have any real experience on...well...being in dire need of 1st aid, how did you deal with that?....without sounding like an advert for another bear grylls tv series

I coach kids MTB and they fall off lots. In the past year Ive had to deal with a concussion, a broken collar bone, a torn lip and a dislodged tooth (we used a tampon to stem the bleeding ...) a dislocated knee cap, another knee cap cut down to the bone by flint, a few bloody noses, loads of gravel rash and more cuts, scratches, bruises and nettle stings than I care remember. The worst was a lad who came off because he chose to sit down just at the wrong moment and was bucked into the air. He landed on the end of his bars and despite having bar plugs it tore a huge chunk out of his inner thigh. It was a hideous injury that eventually required 30 stitches under anaesthetic - an inch lower higher and it would have ripped his femoral artery. He was remarkably calm - just sat there eating his sweets while we waited for the ambulance and his mum.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Aside from the odd cut 'n scratch, dislocated shoulders are the most common thing I see ... rather surprisingly, no one seems to believe me when I say "this is really going to hurt".

I think one of the 'worst' things I saw, happened on a motorbike ... somehow, the front brake lever had managed to go into the mouth, through the roof of the mouth, then exited by the side of the nose ... no amount of antiseptic wipes and Mr Bump plasters was going to sort that out

[Scattamah]

Until last year, I didn't worry about carrying a first aid kit. Now, if I'm out beyond the black stump I carry this little fella (GPS in shot for scale).

medkit.jpg

Scattamah's medkit

(85.48 KiB) Downloaded 2658 times

Here's the contents...

medkit_exploded.jpg

Medkit guts

(118.98 KiB) Downloaded 2658 times

All sorts of goodies in there...steri wipes, various wound covers, bandage, aspirin, ibuprofen, antihistamine (hornet stings suck), various salts and electrolytes, immodium, anti nausea tabs, floss, tick twisters, moleskin, gloves and a battery for my cycle computer health. Not in shot is a small tube of triple antibiotic ointment, lip balm and sunscreen that live in the mesh outside of my feedbag.

Touch wood (knocks on head) I have only had to dig the kit out twice for use on myself. Hoping it stays that way.

Greetz

S.

[ctznsmith]

Does anyone have any real experience on...well...being in diar need of 1st aid, how did you deal with that?....without sounding like an advert for another bear grylls tv series

I think I've mentioned it before but at the end of February I managed to give myself a pretty large 2nd degree burn across my knee with a meths burner.

I dealt with it by swearing and pouring water on it, followed by eating the dinner I'd just cooked and then finishing my beer.

Eventually I did pack up my stuff and ride 2 miles to the nearest town/hospital as it looked nasty enough that 'sleeping it off' didn't seem sensible. The breeze on the burn whilst riding was quite nice and cooling. Apparently you burn away the nerve endings so it didn't hurt at all.

Had I been any further from away from a town or help I would have needed to know how to dress it so that it didn't get infected before I could seek proper medical help.

[Gari]

Condoms are a good way of covering burnt fingers, hands feet etc. also good for keeping dressings dry in the same places. Knee might be a bit of a push though, unless you can get xxxxxl sizes , never needed to ask myself
Cling wrap is good for covering burns too, foodsafe so pretty sterile, and just like tape you can pre wrap it around something.

[benp1]

I've done 2 FIrst aid at work courses and while helpful, were a while ago. I'm not a first aider anymore, haven't been for years. The problem I find is that you forget what you need to know so quick, quite scary really

My FAK is very minimal, it's a basic cuts and grazes kit, anything more serious is gonna be a 999 call realistically

[jay91]

Anything after plasters I'm screwed should really do a course

[whitestone]

dislocated shoulders are the most common thing I see ... rather surprisingly, no one seems to believe me when I say "this is really going to hurt".

Having dislocated my elbow (rock climbing) I can vouch for that - when the radiologist dropped the x-ray tablet on it my mate said everyone in the waiting room turned grey at my screams

There was an article in an old Mountain magazine about expedition medicine, interesting in its use of everyday items.

[jBay]

I find a spray bottle of wound wash and spray plaster handy

Not for major wounds!

[Fat tyre kicker]

I have to have first aid for my work,but only deal with minor bumps and bruises
Usually.....I have had to deal with a compound fracture in my own street (drunk
Teenagers on scooters) that included a 45 min wait for an ambulance,that was fun,
More recently,last week whilst bivvying in Mid-Wales,my mate put his Mora knife
Right through his finger down to the bone ( he was whittling a pan support for his
Zebra can).......Two first aid kits later and a mild case of shock it was all sorted,
Surprising how quickly you can go through stuff in a small kit

[slarge]

I have a few dressings, tape, plasters and condoms. Well you never know your luck (they might be past the use by date now though!). I keep meaning to book myself on a course, so Stu, if you do book a course let me know (my SIL's new fella is a warden in the snowdonia national park - he seems to have lots of contacts for this sort of thing).

[HaYWiRe]

Surprising how quickly you can go through stuff in a small kit

That's what I've quickly learnt, and while you can't carry a whole A&E department, some things are worth carrying, and to me, the macgyver approach is usually quite far fetched around here.

I'm always over prepared (paranoid?) with anything medical as I usually cant afford not to be, both myself and my partner have conditions that can escalate minor cuts quite quickly, and hypoglycemia and shock are a nasty combination.

But I do learn to have things in tiers, even in everyday life, a small kit on my person at all times, and extra on my bike, backpack. after all, my fancy medicals tucked in a framebag are no use in a 30mph accident when I'm 20ft down the road from my bike, speaking from experience here.
So 1st aid, glucose, Id with medical instructions and a whistle are on my person at all times, glucose taking top priority for me

Anyone else do the same? Or am I the only one that never leaves my front door without one

[ctznsmith]

A lot of Osprey packs have a small whistle on the chest strap.

I've carried a whistle and survival bag but as they've never been needed they have a tendency to gravitate to the bottom of bags. Which isn't much use when they're required!

[Scattamah]

More often than not, my FAK is located in a Batpack6 around my waist. And yes - if out in the hills, I carry a whistle.

Greetz

S.

[Mariner]

Kit is just an off the shelf ready made up plus a tick hook. Dont mind blood and stuff but hate the little blighters yuk.
One of my crew once had a hemorrhage sitting on the bog panicked started jumping around the heads slipped and knocked himself out.
We got the door open and looked liked a chain saw massacre scene. Blood a s*"t everywhere.
I had just come off watch so muggins had to clear it up.
Not as bad as ticks though.

[Stevemorg]

The last First Aid course I attended was in the hostel in the Hafren Forest - the guy running it is excellent - he's based in Carno and really knows his stuff! I'll dig out his contact info if anyone is interested

[HaYWiRe]

I never realised how much I used the whistle on my osprey talon until I switched to a btwin hydration pack and missed it, I know carry a small one, mostly to call the Mrs if she's riding off too far ahead on single-track

I also carry a foil blanket in my EDC town bag, but forget to pack it for cycling, this is where duplicates may be handy, I'm the king of redundancy when it comes to my meds though, I've got "staches" of spare sugar and needles everywhere, all around my house,partners house, work,ect.
I've started doing the same with first aid. Having multiple kits for my bike pack, jersey, work bag, edc bag, and so on, making everything cost effective helps with this, having a very fancy kit is no use if you forgot to pack it

[ZeroDarkBivi]

I remember the ribbing I got from my GP mate (with plenty of field trauma experience) for packing a first aid kit into my daysack when we where skiing. "You don't need any of that sub standard, plenty of stuff to improvise from" followed by a cheeky wink and pointing to his head, "it's all up here"!

So knowledge wins over kit in this area, I guess.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

...There is some useful info on FA kits here:

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/bikepac ... t-aid-kit/

[Pyro]

I've done a fair bit of what gets termed as 'aquatic' first aid, with kayak coaching and various other stuff. The REC courses I've done have always been easily worth the money, good balance of theory, practice and guided winging it. For wet incidents, few things beat gaffer tape, cling film and/or vet wrap. Cohesive bandages are also vaguely exciting, as long as they haven't got crushed in your bag (in which case they're nigh-on impossible to unroll...)

I carry different stuff depending on who I'm with and what I'm doing. Just me? Basic ouch kit, some gaffer round the body of my pump, that's about it. If I'm running a group, bigger mountain kit (one of the Lifeventures ones).

Like others have said, it's about knowledge, not kit some of the time, and being able to improv I'd sometimes easier than carrying all the kit. That said, and should the horrible litigation cobblers ever come up after you've patched somebody up (heaven forbid, but I've had it happen...), the Good Samaritan laws only protect you if you've done something which you have been formally taught or could reasonably have picked up on a course.