"Sterility" of field supplies?

[Wesley]

Hey All,
I need some advice as I am trying to get my medical field bag together, and am trying to maintain some resemblance of sterility of the components while decreasing the bulk of the sterile packaging.
I guess the question boils down to: how important is sterility in the great outdoors when the job is to stabilize an injury or wound and get the individual to definitive care?
Do I need to keep things individually wrapped in their sterile packaging?
Thanks in advance,
Wesley

 

[Geraldo]

Wesley,

Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've worked in EMS for 18 years now. In the situation you describe, sterility is unimportant. We use clean, but not sterile equipment. Anything that is sterile is comtaminated the second you touch it, unless you have set up a sterile field to begin with. If the wound is bad enough, or the patient requires surgury, they'll get antibiotics at the hospital.

For my own kit, I discard any unnecessary packaging.

Hope that helps.