Not necessarily.

Epipens have a small 'viewing' window on the side - if it starts to look cloudy or milky then it's time for a new one. Otherwise, they're good to go for quite a long time.

provided they do not bake in the sun yes. there are also reports stating they are now good for two years provided they are properly stored. the problem with them is they only work for about 20 minutes, after that symptoms return

Also, sorry about reviving a dead thread but I absolutely must agree with other members in stating that the importance of training far outweighs what cool gear you bought off of Amazon or what videos you watched on Youtube.

One of the most dangerous things you can have is someone who is confident in abilities that are completely false.

I was a platoon medic in the Airborne Infantry (1/503, 173rd ABCT) and have seen my fair share of incompetent medics who actually made it through combat medic school at Ft. Sam Houston, and they actually received formal trauma schooling!

That being said, having an aid kit is better than not having one, but one should make it a priority to attend some sort of formal schooling on the subject. BLS, EMT-B, various wilderness first aid classes others have mentioned, etc. I've personally taught Combat Lifesaver (CLS) classes to several thousand soldiers from 5 nations and can attest that the more realistic the training, the better your skills will become.

Just having a kit won't make you or anyone else any safer if you don't know what you're doing with it!

Any specific civilian classes you'd recommend? I'm always looking for better ways to be prepared especially in first aid.

American Red Cross and NOLS are both good places to start. If nothing else spend a day getting CPR certified.

I'm Lifeguard and CPR for the Professional Rescuer certified already. But I'll look into a NOLS class again. I'd love to do one of those.

Thanks!

As Jimmy stated, American Red Cross is a good first place to start. CPR Certification is the bedrock for all other more advanced courses and can be completed in an hour or two, so starting there is recommended and is the most commonly offered Red Cross class.

You could, however, look for a Basic Life Support class (also through Red Cross) so sign up for, which includes CPR as well as simple patient assessment and other basics.

BLS Classes | Take a BLS Class | Red Cross



After BLS, if you really want it, and/or looking for some college credits, you can sign up for an EMT-Basic course. This is the precursor to any *serious* trauma/emergency management education/certification and it's reflected in the ~150 hour class time. By comparison to the next level, paramedic, which can be up to 2000 hours of combined class lecture, hands-on training, and internship.



Or, if you're feeling really froggy, skip all that and enlist in the US Army as a 68W, attend 6 months of medic school combined with the EMT cert, try to get assigned to an infantry unit, and if/when you get there spend as much time as you can learning from the actual MDs and Surgeons that you'll work under. *Disclaimer, may be a large time commitment*
HAH

ARC does a Wilderness Medicine class as well, usually through a BSA or GSA program.

Wouldn't count on getting anything very practical or interesting out of those Red Cross courses. I used to teach CPR/AED and first aide for them and remember in our instructor course learning to teach people bleeding control, but "elevation" of the bleeding site wasn't in the lesson. Someone asked why. Instructor said, "Well, the ARC found that people were jolting people's arms up too forcefully, and it was leading to shoulder injuries, so they took it out." Srsly.

Some better options imo are Wilderness Medicine Society's community lectures. WMS is a legitimate medical/academic organization run by physicians usually ER trained, they do accredited CME for physicians, etc. They also do lectures geared for the public. Wilderness Medical Society

I have to say training is important, I have a story.

A little over a week ago on 8/30/19 at 10pm I was with my wife taking a new car to my grandparents (Audi A6, awesome car). Right outside Detroit Texas we saw a car accident. SUV went off the road hit a tree and flipped a few times ending up on its roof. Hit the brakes and jumped out to render aid. Got to the car and broke out the window popped the side curtain air bag and there wasn't anyone in the vehicle. Looked around and one person was on the ground about 15 feet away, driver had been ejected. Ran over and assessed the situation. Person was breathing short and shallow, broken leg, injury to torso and head, eyes open and unresponsive. That was all I knew to do, I relayed the info I had to 911 operators and asked bystanders if they had medical training. One nurse, she never even touched the victim. She just stood there and stared.

While waiting for EMT to arrive I cut the battery cable and looked for ID of some sort. Local first responders showed up and had as much training as I do...none. One lady did stop that had real training and did her thing. This was all in about a five minute period. At some point the victim did come too.

It took a total of 14 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

I had no equipment or training. I did what I could but it wasn't much.

Definitely twp 14 gauge 3" catheters, for pneumothorax needle decompression. Super simple to learn, and will save lives in a remote, traumatic related scenario. I could care less about medical training or laws at this point. I've lost too many friends from someone not having this simple piece of equipment and a few YouTube video training's. All off road motorcycle racing or riding related. Look into it.

This is the dumbest suggestion I’ve heard.

If you don’t know how to treat, or what to look for, while assessing a patient for a tension pneumothorax, which, by the way, is the really bad kind of pneumothorax where you’d use a 14ga and perform a needle decompression, you’re going to cause more serious issues than the injured person has/had to begin with.

You’re seriously going to tell someone to carry 14ga Caths, and watch ‘a couple of YouTube videos’ on this?

Remind me to never be around where you are.


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I posted what I carry above, a couple years ago.

Since then, I, for the most part, still carry a good bit of the stuff.

You want to know the odds of me using anything besides a tourniquet, SAM splint, ace wrap, gauze, and dressings?

NOT. A. ****ING. THING.

You know why?

Because people will look for ANY reason to sue you.

Good Samaritan Laws only go so far; and if you tell the paramedic/flight nurse that shows up ‘I watched a f*cking YouTube video on how to do this’; you’ll get burned.

Trust me.

Carry basics; something to splint, stop bleeding.

That’s. It.


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It is good to have a medical kit used for giving emergency treatment to a sick person, because getting to hospitals now is a real torment. they can't even track every case and investigate the reason behind it.

My medicine cabinet basically contains everything you listed