Category: EPrep

First aid kits (FAKs) need to be regularly checked, refreshed, and updated. Here’s a wee tip:

If you are making up a new FAK or refreshing an old one you may find costs have risen to uncomfortable levels for some things that need replacing or refreshing. Use alternate materials. Sterile pads for wounds? Get a double whammy by using. . . ladies’ panty liners. no, seriously! Most even contain hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers that help contain blood lost. Oh, and duct tape is sometimes appropriate as a substitute for medical adhesive tapes. Sometimes.

And about that bleeding. . . clotting agents. Quickclot, Woundseal, et al, can be a wee tad pricey for what is essentially a finely-ground clay (kaolin), but if you reach into your kitchen cabinet (or wherever you keep your spices and such) and pull out some alum, you’ll have something that works nearly as well. There are LOADS of workable first aid materials available in nearly every household. The key is identifying them by function and getting one’s head around using them properly for first aid. (Then, of course, one has to make sure they are included in one’s kits. 😉 )

One thing I do not recommend replying on ad hoc substitutions for effective results is “field expedient” tourniquets as first line equipment for stopping large bleeds. Nope. Shell out for a good CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet) for each FAK. Just do. (An “Israeli pressure bandage” might also be a goof addition.)

Really irritating rash on forearms and swelling around my eyes (especially under the right one, and above my left) for the last few days. Some relief from antihistamine tabs and topical ointments, but still irritating, so. . . applied some Oragel (‘cos it was the only topical benzocaine I had _open_ and on hand–a topical pain reliever in one of my FAKs; had some Solarcaine but was an unopened pack). Relief. I’ve still not used either tube of that Oragel 2-pack for its intended purpose. . . *heh*

Another: Despite QuickClot, et al, bandages/gauzes, for some puncture wounds, after last night’s Stop the Bleed class, I still feel comfortable using a combo of WoundSeal on regular gauze, and a tampon if needed, after a tourniquet and before a pressure bandage (like the Israeli Bandage here). Sure, if the wound is bad enough, packing it with QuickClot gauze first might be just the ticket, but WoundSeal + tampon for some is a handy (and relatively inexpensive) backup, and might avert tearing up and packing a wound with a dirty t-shirt or bandana if QC there’s not enough gauze and/or sponges for multiple wounds.

OTOH, my FAKs are outgrowing some of my smaller kit bags. *shrugs* I’d rather carry a better-equipped FAK than more food (and I can always locate and clean water, given the locales I frequent). Don’t really need to be all that concerned about weight/size issues on home kit and car kits, though, so as our home and car FAKs seem to be transitioning to trauma kits, not really a big deal. Will still keep the small kits for minor things, I suppose, but a slightly larger FAK for even just day hikes is in the making, as well.

My last formal first aid instruction, before last night, was… 45 years ago for a Water Safety Instructor certification. while it certainly came in handy 25 years later when I needed to perform CPR on my Wonder Woman (a success story for CPR there!), it would have been good to have had today’s updated “hands only” CPR training, since she had aspirated some food beyond my reach (and knowledge) for extraction prior to the breathing part of CPR in my prior training. *shrugs* The ER doc caught it and lavaged her lungs, and–almost miraculously–averted pneumonia, but it might have been better w/o the breathing part. Maybe. *shrugs*

Still, udating. . . Attended a “Stop the Bleed” class taught by an ER/Trauma center nurse last evening to check and update my first aid knowledge base/practice. Attendance was by reservation of one of the 50 slots. When I signed up in March, I was the 37th person (my Wonder Woman was the 38th). Good review and update. But the thing is, of the 38 who were signed up as of March 18 (and who knows how many of the remaining 50 seats after that), only 12, counting the two of us, were there.

I assume the rest bled out before they got there.

*sigh*

Superglue. Seriously. It’s a decent wound closure device for small wounds, but learn how and when to use it. I have found that it actually tends to work better than most “liquid skin” products, because it tends to form a much stronger bond than most such products.

Should Superglue Be in Your First Aid Kit?