First Aid Kit Size?

C

ChrisR01

Joined
Apr 19, 2011
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How's it going everybody? I'm working on my first aid kit, and being a paramedic it seems like the end result is always something to bulky and takes up to much space in my Maxpedition Kodiak. My question is how big should a wilderness first aid kit be, and what are usually the general supplies you carry in yours? I had a maxpedition individual first aid kit, is this a general size of a first aid kit for wilderness survival?

Thank You
 
The fact that you understand the importance of the first aid kit is an asset, not a liability. Most outdoor type first aid kits I've seen, like the ones from Adventure Medical, are real skimpy and won't handle even a moderate trauma. I think they mostly give you a false sense of security, and since nothing usually happens, they are not tested very often.

I had my kit in two parts. A routine first aid kit with the stuff you expect, and a separate trauma kit with items like Quikclot and Israeli military bandages. The sum of the two is probably the size of a stuffed Maxpedition first aid kit pouch. When I had my kit complete, I sat down with an MT friend and went over the content and potential uses. After that meeting, my trauma pouch grew by 50%. It now has two 25g Quikclot sponges, three military bandages, 6-8 extra large gauze pads, two Ace bandages and 4 oz of 91% alcohol. The other outcome of his advice was me tossing the tourniquet. I didn't realize just how potentially harmful those things are.

In an outdoor setting, you may have to fend for yourself for 2-3 days, even a week in some cases. You may have to cover some distance with an injury, a sprain or a break. You know what you need to have with you to be prepared. That 90% of the people out there go into the wilderness with ridiculous kits with 16 kinds of bandages and nothing to deal with a major bleed, should not make you feel that carrying a proper kit is overkill.
 
I have an AMK 1.0 that I added some stuff to, like a roll of gauze, 4x4s, anti diarrhea medicine, benadryl....

Then I keep a Personal Trauma Kit with hemostat, lots of gauze, and a pressure bandage in my backpack.
 
How big? IMO, as big as it takes to carry the stuff you will realistically need to treat the type of injuries you are most likely to suffer while pursuing whatever activity you're doing.

Heading out in about 20 minutes when the traffic clears.
Here is what I carry for dayhikes and overnighters at the moment.
1qt freezer bag w/:
a few sterile pads and bandaids
2 individual use Neosporin packs
2 ACE bandages
1 roll athletic tape
couple of anti-diarrheal tabs
muscle relaxers and painkillers in a little medicine tube

Since I've got a knee and ankle that give me trouble sometimes, and will be hiking some steep trails, I add:
ACE ankle support
ACE knee support

Got rubbed raw working an extra shift where I stayed soaked in sweat, so added a tube of anti-chafing gel I'd been wanting to try.
Without these extras, only the bottom half of the bag is full, so it doesn't take up much space.
dscn0494d.jpg

Mostly care about the athletic tape and ACE bandages, as a sprained ankle is at the top of my list of possibles on rocky terrain. I'm not likely to need the sterile pads for anything, but they don't weigh anything, either. Besides, if I'm most likely to tear up an ankle, it's probably going to be taking a fall on whatever rocks are available, and maybe getting scraped or cut up in the process.

The first aid kit with my climbing gear has mostly the same stuff in a zippered bag, with the addition of a heavier duty elastic bandage and a pack of QuickClot.
 
Not a lot for a single day roaming about - Tape, analgesics, and bite and sting stuff. For multiple days wandering, or on a boat, or protracted tredder events considerably more. But that's either in a full sized bergan, attached to the tredder, or in a vehicle, so within sensible boundaries I don't have qualms about size / weight.
 
The personal kit I carry from day to day is in a AMK bag about the size of my hand, maybe a little larger. If I was going to be out longer, I'd pack a more substantial FAK.
 
I have had to take care of three injured people in my last hikes. Two gashes from knives and axes and a sprained ankle. Hade to do it with mosquito net, a t-shirt and toilet paper and fuzzy memory's from a 15 year old military trauma medical training. Every thing turned out fine but I'm adding self adhesive antiseptic elastic band aid to my bug out bag. The kind i bought is for animals.

056139_01.jpg
 
I've tried making first aid kits based on tips I learned in a wilderness first aid course. The trouble is, there's no getting around the fact that you need to have some bulky items in it. Particularly 2 or 3 very large trauma bandage pads (may also be known as abdo pads - short for abdominal pads). The small 3" or 4" pads are not going to be that useful, except for small cuts or scrapes. The other large item is a proper shapable splint.

To try make space for these I try to keep the rest of the kit very basic. Just a few finger bandaids (these are used most often IMO), a small amount of Advil and Aspirin, antibiotic cream, disinfectant wipes, tick tweezers, itch cream, water purification tabs, and a triangle bandage to hold an arm level. I don't have multiple gauze wraps and tape - instead I use a tensor bandage with clips, which can be washed out and reused if necessary.
 
my general method is to have stuff that is adaptable, accessible, and cheap. a normal elastic bandage works to stabilize a joint, hold on a bandage or whatever, know what i mean? i dont go for elegance with my bandaging, but streri strips are great for small woinds where you want to avoid scars. gauze for wound packing, bandaids for convenience, and your pretty good. i dont carry anything for wound cleaning, but something to irrigate with is a good idea. the important thing is to use your stuff, and keep it replaced.
 
I'm a paramedic too, and suffer from kit-bloat as well. When I really look at what I use in most situations, I can strip it down fairly far. Even more so when I realize that something as simple as a triangular bandage gives one excellent fodder for improvisation in many different scenarios. Your skills will dictate what you 'need' to have.
 
I keep several sized kits depending on application. I have from mini kits for the backpack, home bandage & burn, car kit, 2-person short camping trip, group kit for middle of nowhere, to my "Ventilated Operator" blow-out bag. I do keep multiples of many items.

I choose depending on what & where I'm going.
 
gadgetgeek said:
the important thing is to use your stuff, and keep it replaced.
Click to expand...
Um...I think the important thing is to try to NOT use any of this stuff! :p

btw, I'm now sticking with name brands like Johnson and Johnson for tape and bandages, Mueller or ACE for elastics, even if they cost more. I tried to cheap out on no-name tape from Dollar General when building extra kits, only to discover it was junk when I actually used it. Not so cheap after all. Same for some bandaids I had.
 
You know what I mean Owen :D
At one point I bought a bunch of nice first aid supplies, packed a kit, and then when I did a stock check two years later, most of the packages had been damaged, or leaked into. I'd been buying and using cheap stuff at the time to avoid using the kit, and so ended up having to throw the good stuff away. now if I need it, I use it, and replace it. most of the stuff is pretty cheap anyway once you are just buying one or two items.
 
Mine fits in a maxpedition bottle holder (16 oz?), that way I can attach it to the side if I need to. Not too big, works for most scenarios.

Got a small bottle of betadine, bandages, syringe w/o needle (used to flush out dirt and debris from a wound using diluted betadine), quikclot, crazy glue (for minow cuts - essential in an environmet that's high in humidity where wounds can become infected real quick if not closed, especially in the hands, fingers etc. At least that's what I've been taught), and the band-aids, gaus pads, etc..
I also pack a acouple of meds in micro ziplock like bags (tylenol, anti-diarrheal, antihistamine, ibuprofen), and moleskin, but that's a creature comfort.
 
I keep a Boo-Boo kit and a Trauma kit. I'd bring this if back packing. For car camping, I have a much larger kit that has all sorts of stuff. Stuff like SAM splints, dental filler, & more of everything. I put these together with the advice of my cousin who is an EMT (I am not.)

Boo-Boo Kit:
-Nitrile Gloves (2 pair)
-Tweezers
-Hand Sanitizer (1 little bottle)
-Antiseptic Towelette (6 wipes)
-Alcohol Prep Pad (6 wipes)
-Sting Relief (2 wipes)
-Antacid (2 tabs)
-Antihistamine (4 tabs)
-Aspirin (6 tabs)
-Ibuprofen (6 tabs)
-Tylenol (6 tabs)
-Cortisone Spray (1 tube)
-Burn Gel (3 packets)
-Triple Antibiotic Ointment (1 tube)
-Sunscreen/Insect Repellent Combo Spray(1 tube)
-Large Band-Aid (10)
-Medium Band-Aid (10)
-Extra-large Band-Aid (2)
-Medium Gauze Pad (4"x4" 2)
-Gauze (1 small roll)
-Wound Closure Strips (6)
-Bandage Tape (1 small roll)
-Super Glue (1 mini-tube)

Most of the BBK is in a sandwich bag. The hand sanitizer & bug spray/sunscreen are in a pouch.

Trauma Kit:

-Nitrile Gloves (2 pair)
-CAT Tourniquet
-EMT Scissors
-Chest Seal (1)
-CPR Shield (1)
-Quick Clot (1)
-Guaze Wrap (1 large roll)
-Israeli Bandage (1)
-Large Gauze Pad (6"x6")
-Triangle Bandage (1)

I keep all of this in a red nylon first-aid bag I found at Target ($12.) It's just a clam shell zippered bag with a pocket on each interior side. Easy to open and easy to find. I don't have an Nasalpharyngeal Airway or Tension Pneumothorax Needle because, as I said, I'm not an EMT and I don't know how to use them.
 
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