FIRST AID KITS - Do you have one?

[matt_j]

I have mine that fits into small otter box

1) Alcohol wipes
2) Iodine wipes
3) Tylenol
4) Imodium
5) Aspirin chewable
6) Band aids
7) Oclusive dressing
8) Space blanket
9) Charcoal tablets
10) CPR shield
11) 5 ml syringe
12) 2 18 gauge needles
13) epinephrine 1 mg 1:1000
14) Bendarlyl 50 mg for IM injections
15) Narcan 2 mgs
16) Atropine 1 mg
17) Burn gel
18) Antibiotic Paste
19) Couple of 2x2 sterile



I didnt include klings in that kit beacause of the space but I can imporvise.

And I also have big one in Western Medical Pouch that has all the klings, cravats, sam split, peroxide and other goodies which I take when going on trips longer than two days.

Matt

 

[flownosaj]

[ QUOTE ]
polak187 said:
13) epinephrine 1 mg 1:1000
14) Bendarlyl 50 mg for IM injections
15) Narcan 2 mgs
16) Atropine 1 mg


[/ QUOTE ]

What, no morphine sulfate in your kit? And no SL NGT?

For shame /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Unicorn]

Mine was put together myself.
Lot's of the Army bandages that can hold up to a pint of blood supposedly,
a few cravets,
lots of Band Aid type bandages and ointment for the smaller cuts and scratches that can still lead to infection,
providont-iodine swabs,
benzlekonium chloride for cleaning the hands,
alcohol swabs (left over aling with the providone-iodine, when I was still certified to give IV's.),
saline solution,
eye wash,
eye bandages,
lots of nitrile gloves,
CPR mask,
some oral-pharangeal or "J" tubes,
a SAM splint,
shears of course,
medical tape in various widths,
small tweezers, tick tweezers actually,
surgical tubing (again left over from being able to give an IV,
And a few more items I can't remember.

This was mostly based on the Army's Combat Lifesaver bag. A CLS is a non-medical person who is trained to give slighlty more care than the first aid that everyone gets. How to give IV's, the ability to carry more Atropine, dispense Ibuprofin and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride (Pseudafed, the decongestant), and some other little things.

 

[djmt99]

[ QUOTE ]
Unicorn said:
Lot's of the Army bandages that can hold up to a pint of blood supposedly,


[/ QUOTE ]

I don't believe you. Try it and let me know. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif

hee hee /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

 

[jamesraykenney]

I have the Adventure Medical Comprehensive.
It is quite good.

 

[Lightbringer]

I found the following kit at Costco.com:

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11000952&whse=BC&topnav=&cat=1020&hierPath=589*1020*

Its from First Aid Only, seems pretty thorough and I thought that price was pretty good. What do you guys think? I was gonna order one or two and keep in my BOB and in the house/car. Thanks

 

[KC2IXE]

[ QUOTE ]
flownosaj said:
[ QUOTE ]
polak187 said:
13) epinephrine 1 mg 1:1000
14) Bendarlyl 50 mg for IM injections
15) Narcan 2 mgs
16) Atropine 1 mg


[/ QUOTE ]

What, no morphine sulfate in your kit? And no SL NGT?

For shame /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I was going to say that you can tell he's an EMT - has access to "stuff" most of us don't. Another one he is missing is atropine (I know someone who carries that!)

 

[matt_j]

Hey 16) atropine /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Jeritall]

What you want (need?)in a first aid kit is obviously determined by the situation you find yourself in. What you need in a combat situation would be overkill for a weekend campout. First aid items for yourself will differ from the needs of a Boy Scout troop on a wilderness expedition. One of the most commonly overlooked, but most painful needs for first aid treatment is for a broken or aching tooth. Throw in a tube of Orajel and maybe some dental filling material...

 

[Mike Painter]

[ QUOTE ]
KC2IXE said:
[ QUOTE ]
flownosaj said:
[ QUOTE ]
polak187 said:
13) epinephrine 1 mg 1:1000
14) Bendarlyl 50 mg for IM injections
15) Narcan 2 mgs
16) Atropine 1 mg


[/ QUOTE ]

What, no morphine sulfate in your kit? And no SL NGT?

For shame /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I was going to say that you can tell he's an EMT - has access to "stuff" most of us don't. Another one he is missing is atropine (I know someone who carries that!)

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe, but most of what is listed is beyond the scope of NREMTB people. The only injection that is allowed is to *assist* a patient with an epi-pen if it is theirs and (four other ifs go here)

Using any of this stuff is beyond the scope of practice for a paramedic if not working on an ALS (Advanced Life Support) vehicle. It can and has resulted in laws suits even if everything was done right and lives were saved.
If you are not working the good samaritan law does not protect you if you go beyond your training.

 

[matt_j]

Why would I use something on people I don't know? I would not even give you Aspirin if you had a chest pain just because I would be scared about the law suit. I still have to folow REMAC protocols and negligence is still negligence regardless of the good samaritan laws. First Aid Kit that I have is for me only and my family and people I know which I'm willing to risk my certification for... Oh yeah I'm not an EMT I'm a Paramedic.

 

[flownosaj]

Sadly, I learned my lesson about "helping" other people this summer when the car in front of me went from 70mph to 0 in one second after hitting another car on a rural road. It's not something I want to repeat.

A few months after that, my wife and I were driving by the same place and a similar accident had happened apparently a minute or two before we got there. Luckily these were newer cars than the ones in the previous accident (read as airbags and better made). One of the drivers was standing next to his car and examining the damage. A few people who stopped to help were trying to open the other car's passenger door. I saw a cop was already rolling up with lights and siren from the other direction, so I just kept on going.

My wife asked me why didn't I stop and that we could have helped. I told her "because we didn't need to..." and she just gave me a confused look.

I learned my lesson from before.


I'm with Polak on this one. Not only are people in this country sue happy, I place my life, my safety, over that of a complete stranger. Getting into an unknown "emergency" is very risky.

If the next-door neighbor knocks on my door saying her husband needs help, then yeah, I'll do what I can. If my wife damn-near takes her thumb off again, yeah, I'll do what I can.

If I don't know you, I've got a bandage and a cell phone and not a whole lot else unless we're on a plane and help is a long ways away.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon6.gif

 

[bonvivantmike]

I have a series of kits, based on situation. My car has a decent-size fanny pack, with mostly roller gauze and 4x4s, but with a few more advanced items, like oral glucose, a stethescope, blood pressure cuff, etc. I'm an EMT, and vital signs can give quite a bit of information.

I have a large trauma bag I use for search and rescue. This includes most commonplace BLS items, including oxygen, BVMs, cervical collars, splinting materials, saline for wound and eye flushing, etc. This is the kit for serious patient care. Again, as an EMT, I'm trained to use these items safely and correctly.

As was mentioned earlier, knowing how to use your supplies is as important as having them in the first place. Take a first aid and CPR course. The American Heart Association has an 8-hour course called Heartsaver First Aid and CPR that is a great starting point (did I mention I'm also an AHA instructor....).

If you want to go farther, find a DOT-approved First Responder course. This is a 40-hour course intended for law enforcement, firefighters (who aren't already EMTs), industrial emergency response team members, etc. With First Responder skills, you will be competent in most basic lifesaving first aid techniques.

 

[sotto]

A couple years ago, the postal lady had delivered mail to my next door neighbor's house and was walking up my sidewalk to my front door to deliver my mail. About that time, my neighbor opens his door to pick up his mail from the box, and one of his Rottweilers gets loose, leaps over his front yard fence and decides to use the mail lady's hand as a chew toy. The neighbor dashes over to my yard, hauls his Rott off the mail lady, and drags the dog back into his house. I hear the commotion, go to my front door, and see the mail lady dripping blood all over my doorstep, and with her mail bag on the ground and the contents strewn all over the yard. I calm her down, sit her down, give her a large clean bandage to wrap around her hand to stop the blood, provide her a phone to call her supervisor, and I pick up her spilled mail and place it back into her bag.

Within 2 days, I received a notification from her lawyer that I was being sued.

Moral:

Use good judgment about who you may potentially be wasting your help on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

 

[deranged_coder]

Okay, all of these horror stories about getting sued for trying to be a good samaritan prompts me to ask: could you be sued for negligence if say, someone were seriously injured and you had the materials and training to help them but you refused? I am just wondering if all these frivolous lawsuits can turn these into a 'damned if you do, damned if you do not' scenario as far as helping injured people goes.

 

[Topper]

I do not know the answer to that. I go with the help all I can in a possible life or death situation, sue me if you want I aint got squat anyway mode. Others who might have money or reputation or whatever might veiw things in another light I have no problem with that at all. I will still help them if they need it.
Topper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Mike Painter]

[ QUOTE ]
deranged_coder said:
Okay, all of these horror stories about getting sued for trying to be a good samaritan prompts me to ask: could you be sued for negligence if say, someone were seriously injured and you had the materials and training to help them but you refused? I am just wondering if all these frivolous lawsuits can turn these into a 'damned if you do, damned if you do not' scenario as far as helping injured people goes.

[/ QUOTE ]
You can be sued for driving past the scene of an accident, then stopping as was a friend of mine's father. He lost because he had deep pockets and was an attorney. He had nothing to do with the accident and only was caught because the CHP had him listed on their report.

But in general you will not likely be sued if you did not have a duty to act, no matter what your training.

In most cases I can drive by an accident and keep on going.
If I respond to an incident as a volunteer, technically, as soon as I decide to respond I have the duty to respond and could be sued if I do nothing.

If *anyone* starts to render aid and stops or does anything beyond what they have been trained or allowed to do , they may be sued and lose.
(A Paramedic in California is just an EMT if he does not have an ALS unit to support him)

If, in most states, I give aid as a private citizen and don't go beyond my scope AND don't accept any reward the good samaritin law protects me.
So if you save the guys life and he slips you a ten dollar bill refuse it.

 

[djmt99]

Good samaritan laws seem to vary by state. I was taught the general practice of this when I went for my ALS CPR course. Basically, if you know what to do, you do it. If later found out that you didn't perform, even though you knew, you could get in a bind. Of course, there are loopholes, like if you were nervous, etc.

Here in New England, you'd think people know how to drive in the snow... ERR! WRONG! A car spun out in front of me a few weeks back. He was a good 1000' in front of me, but ricocheted off the guardrail, ran across 3 lanes of highway traffic, and nailed a tree. No one was getting out of the car, so I pulled over, dialed MSP and was going to get out because no one else was stopping... Well, just as MSP answered, people started stopping alright... right there, in the middle of the highway, next to me. Next thing I know, there's about 3 mini-accidents all around me from people spinning out and nailing the people stopping to gawk. I gave MSP my location and hauled out of the situation before I got myself where I didn't want to be. I'm sure the person was fine, but it just goes to show that when you try to help in a situation like that, you can very easily get yourself into a much larger incident.

I'm beginning to look at things like this... We live in a society where almost everyone carries cell phones. Unless you see a situation in a very remotely rural area, help IS on the way. If you have to think twice whether you should stop to help or not, then the answer is probably "No, don't stop". If you see someone entrapped in a car and it's starting to engulf with flames and no one around or helping the victim, then "Yes, God has put you there for a reason".

Just my $0.02.

 

[KevinL]

All these stories of people responding with lawsuits sounds like the height of ungratefulness - SERIOUSLY! You save someone's life and they sue you?

My organization just emailed me an offer about first aid training, a 4-day course covering 32 hours. I'm going to have to fork over a considerable amount of money for it, too (what, no subsidy?)

Maybe I should spend the money on the lawyer instead. The lawyer won't make me sit still for 4 days too.

 

[Unicorn]

[ QUOTE ]
djmt99 said:
[ QUOTE ]
Unicorn said:
Lot's of the Army bandages that can hold up to a pint of blood supposedly,


[/ QUOTE ]



I don't believe you. Try it and let me know. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif

hee hee /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Mafi mushkilla (no problem in Arabic). As soon as I get back, we can get together and you can poke that stick through your leg. We should be able to get at least a pint that way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nana.gif