Home and Shop Trauma Kit

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I posted this in the Let's be Careful thread, but thought it would be better as a separate thread. I will put it in the main stickys later on.

Let's plan a good shop trauma kit. I will list things that can be bought at any Walgreens/CVS/Rite-aid/etc.:

A large squeeze bottle of saline eye-wash. It can be used to wash out eyes or to irrigate a wound.
A small bottle of 4% Chlorhexidine gluconate antiseptic skin cleanser. Hibiclens is one brand, but the cheaper store brand skin cleanser is the same.
2X2" gauze pads (10 or more)
4X4" gauze pads (10 or more)
2 or 3 couple rolls of 2" gauze bandage.
Tube of Neosporin ( check expiration date)
1 box of cheap 1"X3" cloth type adhesive bandage. You can buy them at Costco or on Ebay in 100 packs for less than a small box of the name brand at the drugstore.
A roll of 3/4" or 1" adhesive tape.
Good tweezers with a fine tip.
Scissors.
A #11 blade scalpel is nice to have for trimming away skin flaps and opening up a splinter hole. Buy them on Ebay for $7 a dozen. They have other knifemaking uses.
(If you have a friend at a doctors office or other medical person, they may give you a suture pack/kit, which has scalpel, tweezers, scissors, etc. You can buy them for $8-10. They are sterile and ready to open when needed.)
Small roll of paper towels,or a dozen or so folded up and put in a ziplock bag.
Disposable single use tubes of super glue (dollar store five-pak)
A clear plastic box with a tight top to hold all the above.

Extras that are good to have:
A modern one-hand tourniquet. Thes cost less than $10.
Quick -clot bandages or powder. ( know how to use these things if you have them)
A sling.
A roll of 3" kling gauze.
3" Ace bandage.
A roll of compression wrap (Coban).
Box of finger cots
Rubber gloves ( 6 pair is enough). The nitrile or latex gloves for shop work are OK.
Illuminated manifier
Small flashlight
Optivisor hood - the cheap $15 ones will work here, as it won't be used daily.
Tube of 20% benzocaine. Either get some from a tattoo guy, or use a tube of oral analgesic. If you have to dig out a deep splinter, or open up a puss pocket, this is nice to have. It also will make throbbing fingers easier to work with after a small cut.

Put all the items in ziplock bags for clean and quick access. If you are bleeding, you will get blood all over everything. Better to replace some plastic bags than to replace everything in the trauma kit.


Anyone have some other things to add?
 
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Not unless you want to add some quick clot gause.

And I read this digging metal splinters out of my hands with cheap tweezers! Need to get several new pairs.

Thank you for this
 
Tegaderm bandages are nice for closing cuts in mobile areas. Vet wrap can be used over gauze for a compression bandage. An Israeli bandage is a compression bandage that can be applied with one hand. Seri strips are like adhesive sutures similar to how old butterfly bandages were used but far far better.
 
Wow Stacey thanks for compiling this list for us. Just a thought for us primitives who work mostly outdoors and in sheds, especially in desert climates, some of the potions and tapes should likely be stored at room temperature to get the max shelf life.
 
I know you have cleanser AND paper towels on there, but some dedicated antiseptic wipes would be a little more of a "one shot" deal.

Also, I see super glue, but where's the electrical tape? ;)
 
Those Israeli bandages are getting very popular here recently. Seems they know a thing or two about trauma.
 
Just a suggestion for the storage:
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Search Amazon for "Emergency Marine Box" or "dry box".

I'm sure the outdoor section at walmart has something similar as well. Hi vis colors are nice for dirty shops. :D
 
As a surgeon, I will absolutely agree on Quikclot sponges!
Benzoin/mastisol is very helpful when you use Steristrips to close a wound
Coban is a great stretchy/compression wrap

Bill
 
Yeah, I left off a roll of compression wrap.

For those not familiar, it is a grippy and stretchy latex mesh between gauze and an ace bandage. It is great for holding a gauze wrap snug after dressing a wounded arm or leg.

Just a note on using ace bandages and compression wraps:
They should be put on with only enough stretch to stay in place. Putting them on too tight can do serious damage to skin and fascia, as well as deeper damage to tissue and blood vesseles.

Another thing in some people's kits is any essential emergency personal medicine - asthma inhalers, insulin injector, nitroglyscerine, etc.
 
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Also a few drams of brandy. To calm your nerves before you start stitching. Just kidding. That's an advanced technique only recommended in Wisconsin. :D
 
When our Quick-Clot packs in all the kits passed the expiration date, we did a bit of research before replacing them. Turns out there are mixed opinions of it from EMTs and ER doctors. We ended up purchasing a product called BleedCEASE, which is calcium-alginate based and does not have some of the side effects that Quick Clot can. YMMV

For tweezers, I'm a fan of "walter-carmelt splinter forceps", we have a pair in every first aid kit. We found some affordable, reasonable quality Pakistani made ones.

Another option for Israeli style trauma bandages is the "Cederroth BloodStopper" or generically as "emergency pressure dressing". I've had to use one years ago on a deep laceration, and it worked as advertised

I'll second the suggestion for Tegaderms, they are pricey, but handy for protecting healing cuts from water and oil in the shop

If you are going to put the flashlight in the kit and ignore it until you need it, put lithium batteries in it. They cost more but will hold a charge for 10 years, and they won't leak in the light. But a headlight instead or a task light near the first aid kit may be more helpful. You won't need a third hand to hold those...

I tend to sweat bandages off quickly. I've found that Coverlet brand fabric bandages stay on, usually until I remove them. Again, YMMV
 
smart move i dont even have the basics out in the shop past bandades and superglue i see i need to kit up (will drop a line to my tac folks to see if they can build a knifemaker bundle
 
All the first aid I ever learned was based on triangle bandages.

However it's hard to apply it to yourself.
If you have duct tape, you can apply it inside out - it will stick to itself and it's possible to do one handedish



You mentioned this in other threads.

Have a reliable telephone in the area
 
For people looking for super fine tweezers, I use ones I bought online from China, from a place called fasttech, that sells electronic stuff. They are a couple bucks per pair with free shipping, but are made for electrical stuff and building e cigarette coils. The tips are very fine sharply ground ceramic that mate together perfectly. They use ceramic because it’s heat resistant and not conductive, but as a side benefit, they are extremely fine and sharp. They have been able to grab even the tinyest slivers that no other tweezers have been able to.
 
Just to add, from personal experience...
Saline wash bottles.
All of that shop dust needs to be irrigated.
Hypafix.
Cut to size, and actually sticks and conforms.
Wonderful product.
 
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