Whats in your medical kit.

[docstovall]

So what do you guys recommend for splinter removal?

I found a good set of tweezers and a magnifying glass work well, but sometimes the splinter is just too deep. The nurse at work uses a hypodermic needle to "dig" out a deep embedded splinter. You will be amazed at how well a needle can get in there to remove a splinter.

If you can your hands on them a catheter used for starting IV's is one the best tool for splinter removal. Using the beveled edge as a cutting tool on the top layers of the skin is almost pain free and allows you to clear space for a pair or pointed tweasers to remove it easily

 

[cuilleree]

For deep splinters the best tool I usually have on hand is a sharp safety pin (sterilized).

In my Wilderness First Aid class, the instructor said that if you get cactus spines in your skin and have removed the obvious ones, the best way to get the micro-spines out is to coat your skin with rubber cement and then roll it off. Good tip! Not that I take rubber cement backpacking... or have it in my first aid kit... or even in my desk drawer.

But still.

 

[jrandom]

So what do you guys recommend for splinter removal?

Uncle Bills! are usually good enough to peel away layers of skin to get down to the offending material. Use a small bright flashlight to shine up under the skin helps to see them. ie backlight it.

I have worked with a lot of wire rope and those nasty little bugger metal splinters are the worst.

And yes everything everyone else has suggested too.

 

[Belcher]

I keep some medical staples and a staple gun from my hospital days. If you have access to these they are invaluable.... Why? Any idiot can pick up a med staple gun and close a wound, but not everyone can do a running stitch.

I also bring some tan rubber tubing to use as tourniquet with a stick or piece of wood to stop bleeding.

Saw a guy loose a foot to a hi lift jack that slipped and they had to stop the bleeding with a piece of rope and a wrench to twist in it. Pretty crazy.

 

[docstovall]

Cat tourniquet is so much better. Short of that a small ratchet strap works well to. Rubber tubing does not work well on long bones like the thigh.

Speaking of wound closure, medical grade wound glue works wonders. It's basicall a more purified super glue which can also be used. It's idiot proof and holds well. I use it all the time when I'm to backed up to do stitches

 

[darrylj]

One further note on epi-pens: it's my understanding that they expire after 1 year so you'd be replacing them yearly and they should only be stored between 59F and 86F degrees.

Keeping them in a med kit in a car would be only slightly more practical than raw eggs and ice cream.

Great kit in OP, though, especially the inclusion of QuiKClot.

 

[Honu*]

having a good kit can be handy even if not trained in case someone with training is in the group and was not bringing there kit
think passenger along for ride who is a EMT in a buds rig with no kit but you have one
so the idea of having a good kit is OK but if you dont know whats up dont use it example epi pen
tourniquet can be tricky also various quikclot stuff can be tricky also
and I will just leave that alone now ahahahahahha

on tourniquets in the crowds I ran with we say best to have two of them not just one often enough a wound big enough to need one is big enough to need two
think winch cable snapping and ripping someones legs etc... and not much more to carry along IF you carry one at all get two IMHO
I have dealt with major eel attacks that ended up ripping the hand apart taking 50+ stitches and hours of reconstructive surgery to fix without tourniquets by applying towels we had on hand and pressure points to stop bleeding

tweezerman tweezers are awesome work so much better than cheap ones its incredible !

also the thing I use the most was tincture of benzoin to keep bandages on your body the stuff is amazing at doing that and IMHO should be in every kit
a bit with a qtip around the wound area (not in the wound) and good modern bandages to keep junk out can finish out the camping trip without that sore finger bugging you
yeah sounds silly and simple but that is the usual thing that gets to us on a trip


so my includes to this thread
tweezerman tweezers
tincture of benzoin


and burn/gel sheets as mentioned and blister kits
along with basic things are most used in my kit

I keep two kits one that is the main kit kept in the rig
and the daily one when camping which is in a tuperware type case basically bandaids and tincture of benzoin and tweezers anti itch cream a set of gloves a few other things burn gel blister kit a small can of dermoplast for when the kids fall on the gravel
this is often out ready to go when driving around lives with the main kit
this way I am not digging into my main kit for small things

 

[JSparky]

From left to right in a Blackhawk medic roll:

hand sanitizer
polysporin
clear eyes
burn gel
alcohol swabs
tincture of iodine
q-tips
saline
triangle bandage
pink bismuth tablets
medication containers: aspirin, ibuprofen, acetatminophin, loperamide
tegaderm film
4x4 gauze
2x2 gauze
eye wash cup (film canister) packed with loose cotton gauze
celox gauze
bandaids, various sizes
non-stick pads
3M transpore tape
elastic bands
nitrile gloves
molefoam
3-0 sutures
digital thermometer with sheaths
ink pen
scissors
superglue
mini sewing kit
ace bandage
scalpels
streamlight LED flashlight


I took some time building this up and contains things I've needed or wished I'd had in various situations. No more trying to sterilize a swiss army knife over a camp stove in Emigrant Wilderness. The medic roll works great, I discovered that when researching this project, I believe it was on a NutnFancy video?

On a side note, if you haven't heard of them I HIGHLY recommend Curad brand "extreme lengths" finger bandages, best finger bandage I've used by far. Due to the cost of sourcing all the materials I built two of these, gave one to my brother. My diabetes supplies get their own kit :wink2:

 

[JSparky]

This was a good exercise for me, I realized I needed to replenish two things.. tweezers and diphenhydramine antihistamine (benadryl). Done. With all this talk about tweezers, if anyone cares I'm using La Cross tini tweeze's.

 

[fourwd1]

Moved to OT section.

 

[Doc2012]

Can't believe I haven't seen this one.

My MEDBAG is an oldschool Tricolor one that opens all the way, and has two sides that flop out.

I've been depating changing everything over to one of my BlackHawk Med Bags, but I need to find a way to get some stock up first.

I have:

(4{at least}) Compressed Gauze
(3{at least}) CAT Tourniquets
(3{at least}) Combat Gauze
(2{at least}) "FootBalls" (1K mL Normal Saline, IV line, 18ga IV Cath)
(2{at least}) Large wound dressings
(2{at least}) Abdominal Dressings
(2{at least}) SAM Splints
(2{at least}) 14Ga Needle Decompression needles (For Tension Pheumothorax[VERY unlikely, but still good to have{can be used as an IV cath for those monster worm veins}])
(2{at least}) Nasal Canulas
(2) Epi-Pens
(1) King LT(for, God forbid, Cricothryoidotomy)
(1) BP Cuff
(1) Stethoscope
(1) PulseOx ( think that they put on your finger to measure O2 saturation)
(1) Bag of 800Mg Ibuprofen
(1) Bag of 500Mg Acetaminophen
(1) Small roll of Duct Tape
(1) Roll of electrical tape
(1) Field Surgical Kit
Assortment of IV Caths from 18-20Ga


I'm sure there's even more, but I honestly need to open it up and go through it, take out all the expired stuff, and put new stuff in.

I'll take pics when I have the chance, and update this with whats in my bag when I can.

 

[CXS]

I didn't read through the whole thread but what I did read didn't mention communication. Sometimes an injury or illness is beyond most of our abilities to care for properly and can be life-threatening. I know a couple of people I wheel with that required flight for life rescue so having a Sat or Ham radio can be the difference between life and death.

 

[fourwd1]

Can't believe I haven't seen this one.

That's why I moved it here to OT.

 

[MtnT4R]

AT LEAST 8-10 pairs of nitrile gloves. You can never have too many gloves

Seriously this. If you are more than 45 minutes from definitive hospital care, you are in a wilderness situation which may mean an extended stay far from a hospital. Even minor cuts and burns require multiple pairs of gloves to first treat, and then check on periodically to clean and re-bandage. I think pre-made kits come with maybe 2 sets of gloves which is an absolute joke. Buy a box or two of even the mechanics nitrile gloves and leave them in your truck.

The NOLS online store has a lot of great products for real cheap. I typically refill my pack with their advanced wound care kit, which has a lot of useful items for 15 bucks. I use the wound closure kit and tincture of benzoin more than anything else.

 

[Kraeken]

Having many gloves is also preferred if you happen to have more than one patient. Change gloves when moving from one person to the next. Its very unprofessional to cross contaminate people...

 

[Honu*]

when I was in the FD we had these glove holders for quick access on our bunker gear and belts simple velcro thing

keep thinking of getting one of those and putting on the straps to my med kit so I put them on before even digging in

 

[LGR]

This thread is making me feel bad about not carrying a first aid kit.

Always have had the best intentions to do so but never had, really should start to...

 

[yota_addict]

Lots of good stuff on this thread. I'm gonna have to go thru my bag and see what all I have in it. I have your typical first aid stuff, ice packs, iv stuff and ivf. Emergency rations and much more. I want to streamline and there are some good things covered here.

 

[Deuskid]

tagged for future reference

 

[LandCruiser]

One further note on epi-pens: it's my understanding that they expire after 1 year so you'd be replacing them yearly and they should only be stored between 59F and 86F degrees.

Keeping them in a med kit in a car would be only slightly more practical than raw eggs and ice cream.

Great kit in OP, though, especially the inclusion of QuiKClot.

Just about anything baking in your truck is going to let you down when you need it most, sadly.