First Aid Stuff

[roughedges]

No pocket mask?

Does no one know how to do CPR and rescue breathing these days? It's still a good idea to carry one in case someone else knows how to perform the above.

I know how to do cpr but have never used a pocket mask. We do keep one in my lady's kit in the car though.

 

[HikingMano]

I keep a little kit in my edc backpack, it has:

bandaids
butterfly closures
alcohol wipes
neosporin packets
ibuprofen and loperamide
1 pair latex gloves

I should carry a mask for CPR though. In other parts of my pack or on my person I have a SAK w/ scissors, hand sanitizer, lighter, bandana, duct tape, and other "multi-use" items.

If I'm out hiking, I have a more developed kit that lives in my hiking pack.

 

[harkamus]

The pocket mask is more designed to act as a barrier between the victim and the responder. It's mostly there in the event that the victim regurgitates. You wouldn't want vomitus, would you? It's also for prolonged rescue breathing. Much easier to breath through a mask that makes a seal with the victim, than to have to make a seal physically using your mouth.

Plus, the mouth is full of germs. Staph bacteria comes to mind.

The Red Cross doesn't teach CPR anymore without using a pocket mask for these reasons and more.

 

[mwerner]

As a police officer who's also had extensive first-aid training....

Antiseptic is nice but likely not needed in a real first-aid situation. You can worry about infections later.
First up, stop the bleeding. In a car wreck, shooting or stabbing, industrial accident...You'll find that standard first-aid bandages are next to useless. Get some big dressings. Military surplus is fine.
With high-quality emergency medical service available most everywhere, you're primarily concerned with life-saving measures. Stop the bleeding, make sure the victim is breathing, prevent shock, that sort of thing. Any more advanced care can be administered at the ER.
If you happen to live or play way out in the boondocks, then more training and equipment might not be a bad idea.

 

[Gollnick]

First up, stop the bleeding. In a car wreck, shooting or stabbing, industrial accident...You'll find that standard first-aid bandages are next to useless. Get some big dressings. ... you're primarily concerned with life-saving measures. Stop the bleeding, make sure the victim is breathing, prevent shock, that sort of thing. Any more advanced care can be administered at the ER.

Yeah, the kit in my car has more "advanced" supplies to deal with major trama which might result in an automobile injury. In that case, a person can bleed out well before EMTs can arrive. But, I don't feel the need for that sort of stuff in my "ouch kit."

By the way, there's an "ouch kit" in the glove box of my car so that in the event of a minor cut, I don't have to pull over, open the trunk, and get out the true First Aid Kit.

There is a definite difference between an "ouch kit" and a First Aid Kit.

An "ouch kit" is about the final treatment for an injury, "Final Aid" as opposed to "First Aid." For a typical, day-to-day, minor cut or scrape, clean it off, dab on some Neo, put a bandaid on it, and that's it, you're good-to-go; it needs no further treatment except maybe repeating the same thing later if it gets dirty, etc. An "ouch kit" could also be called a "Final Aid" kit because no further treatment is necessary.

In a shooting or major industrial accident or car accident, major trama situation, all I can offer is "first aid." In those situations, Final Aid will have to come from a hospital. The class I had taught me, "ABCs," airway, breathing, circulation, shock," in that order. First, make sure that all victims have a clear airway. Next, make sure that all victims are breathing. Third, deal with any circulation -- blood circulation -- problems which includes and major bleeding. Finally, keep all victims out of shock. That's what my FIRST aid kit is about, ABCs.

An ouch kit and a first aid kit, two different things.

 

[gajinoz]

The replies have certainly made interesting reading but, as Gollnick and Esav have pointed out, an "ouch" kit is exactly what I'm talking about. Something to patch up a minor problem, like if I cut myself peeling an apple or something. I don't plan on doing any open heart surgery or reattaching somebody's leg after they cut it off with a chainsaw. I have more comprehensive kits and home and in the car, I don't need another one in my EDC bag.

 

[harkamus]

I suppose the threat title was misleading.

 

[Haze]

I suppose the threat title was misleading.

Not really, "first aid" can be anything from just comforting a person or puting a band aid on a scraped knee right up to full on CPR or trying to stop an arterial bleed.

A minor first aid kit or "ouch kit" will be different for people who do different things and live in different places.

 

[mdauben]

No pocket mask?
Does no one know how to do CPR and rescue breathing these days?

Actually, three people prior to your post mentioned CPR and two of them specifically mentioned CPR maskes (including me).

I regularly take first aid and CPR classes to keep up my proficiency and would advise the same for anyone, especially if they take part in high risk activities.

Its cheap and adds no bulk or weight to your first aid kit while making any kit much more effective. :thumbup:

 

[wildmanh]

I EDC either a Maxpedition M-1 or Blackhawk E&E pouch that has a small first aid kit in it with the following:

Band-aids
Tape
Wet wipes
Cotton balls
Gause
Neosporine
Ibuprofen and other pain meds
Q-tips

Just basic stuff I like to have on hand just in case.

Heber

 

[guitardemon]

The replies have certainly made interesting reading but, as Gollnick and Esav have pointed out, an "ouch" kit is exactly what I'm talking about. Something to patch up a minor problem, like if I cut myself peeling an apple or something. I don't plan on doing any open heart surgery or reattaching somebody's leg after they cut it off with a chainsaw. I have more comprehensive kits and home and in the car, I don't need another one in my EDC bag.

I can completely understand where you are coming from. You cant put everything in your edc bag, or else you'll end up with your everyday tailor. But I also will play the devils advocate here. A lot of people have mentioned they have bigger kits in there car and at home. But what happens when the SHTF and you aren't near your house or your car? I would really press that a pair of gloves and a CPR face shield(they fold up to the size of a large gumball) be in everybody EDC. Both take up little to no room, cant be improvised and can be life savers. Even if you walk up on the dude who just amputated his leg with a chainsaw. You can slow or stop the bleed (wearing the gloves) by applying pressure on his femoral artery until an ambulance arrives. Just my .02

 

[rt014]

I keep Celox(sp?) a blood clotting agent and an Isreali trauma bandage in my personal first aid kit....I figure if someone is dumping a lot of blood those two things might save a life.

I also hang around chain saws a lot

 

[HikingMano]

I keep Celox(sp?) a blood clotting agent and an Isreali trauma bandage in my personal first aid kit....I figure if someone is dumping a lot of blood those two things might save a life.

I also hang around chain saws a lot

+1, I carry those in my hiking pack FAK and car FAK. I don't carry them in my "ouch" kit though. However, I commute a lot of the time in urban and suburban environments and don't drive, so it might be worth it for me to put a little more beefed up FAK in my edc backpack....

 

[mk77]

if you don't want to carry something like a laerdal pocket mask, you can get micro shields, which are the ones with a one-way valve that goes into you patients mouth and has a plastic sheet that goes over the face, and as someone else mentioned, you can put the micro shield and a pair of gloves on your key chain, they are that small

 

[HikingMano]

Any favorite places to buy masks/shields from? This reminds me that I should take a class again and get recertified.

 

[mdauben]

Any favorite places to buy masks/shields from? This reminds me that I should take a class again and get recertified.

I think I've gotten one for free every time I took the CPR class from the American Red Cross. I believe that Red Cross and just about any first aid supply company sells them, too.

 

[guitardemon]

I think I've gotten one for free every time I took the CPR class from the American Red Cross. I believe that Red Cross and just about any first aid supply company sells them, too.

Google CPR face shield, and you will come up with a bunch of them.

Here is one for $2.00 that fits in a 2x2.5x.75 container. Not a bad deal if you ask me...

 

[HikingMano]

Yeah, I found a bunch on google and I'm sure first aid supply companies have em, I just was wondering if there were preferred manufacturers. Thanks guys :thumbup:.

 

[glockman99]

CPR chimney mask (with 1-way valve).
4 pair of large non-latex gloves.
Swiss Army Deluxe Tinker knife.
EMT scissors (the big ones).
Kling Gauze.
1" Microspore tape.
2X2 & 4X4 pads.
A small box of the original thick Kotex menstral pads.
Splinting ladders.
2 large trauma packs.
1 "space blanket".

That's what I have in my CERT team bag.

 

[porkchop]

I keep a small "ouch" kit in my EDC bag.
It contains:
various sized gauze pads,
various shapes and sizes of bandaids,
butterfly or Steri-strips,
a tube of Neosporin,
and duct tape.