first aid kits?

[slickest]

how many of you buy first aid kits or build your own? i want to put one in my over night survival pack but i would like to see who uses what in their fist aid kits. this will be primarly for the big horn moutains. my main concerns would be a snake bite, broken limb or ankle, and sevre bleeding from a cut or puncture. im just looking for suggestions on what type of items that would be light weight/ space saving and good for a day pack.

thanks

[mcwoodduck]

I bought one of the off the shelf kits about 5X9X2"
And actually needed it one day and realized how inadiquite most kits are.  they are set up for minor cuts and bruises. 
I used my kit to at best patch me up till I could get the the drug store and get better supplies.
Since them I have added to the kit.
I added needle add thread, Dental lits, bigger bandages, Ace bandages, Different bandages, creams, and Pills (cold Medicines, clearatin, Imodium, Advil, asprin, and a few others.

I then went to Wally World and bought a Tackel box that has the plastic boxes.
Then walked over to the pharmacy section and put together a first aid kit.
The top section has gauze ace bandages, and other large blood soaking or clotting products.

[don heath]

I carry a small compact first aid kit for dealing with gunshot wounds and the usual....

sprained ankle, blisters, splinters, bee stings...Haven't used any of the trauma kit since I left government 10 years back...a good pain killer (try hydrocodone) so that you can walk on a sprined ankle or with bad blisters, a needle , tweezers, and a supply of plasters -  some anti hystamine tabs - oh and some imodium. Don't think I have used anything else in 200 days a year in the bush for 10 years.

In the truck is a first aid kit that would make most GP's envious....

[blind ear]

What are plasters? What specific items for a shotgun wound? eddiegjr

[Victor3]

a good pain killer (try hydrocodone) so that you can walk on a sprined ankle or with bad blisters

 Good advice.

 Hydrocodone (Vicodin) has made the difference between hobbling like a cripple and being able to move fairly comfortably on more than one outing. Once every couple of years or so I mess up my back so bad that the doc will prescribe it. It's a miracle drug when you need it and I put whatever I have leftover away for an emergency.  I always bring a couple of pills whenever we're out hiking.

[don heath]

Plasters...I think you call them band aid? 

I have used tampons to plug a bullet hole in my own leg (in 1998)...traumaDEX or quick clot and the other new blood clotting agents have rendered this well outdated. A small sponge or applicator of either weighs next to nothing and will stop traumatic bleeding as well as any layman can hope for. If you have cut the femoral artery...you had a) Better have a big heamostat and b) know what you are doing.  I lost a good seargent from such a wound becuase we couldn't stop the bleeding and get enough IV fluid into him.

Superglue works in place of surface sutures but does not work in deep wounds...again, for the layman, a little 1ml tube of super glue weighs nothing, lasts years if not used....

Lastly...having three bullet holes in me.....don't get shot - it can really trash your day

[blind ear]

don heath, Thanks eddie

[blind ear]

For wounds that won't heal or when you don't have access to antibiotics. 10% betadine solution on as much sugar as will soak it up with a little extra solution. It will desolve.  Apply it to the open wound with a bandage. It was a standard hospital practice at one time and will heal wounds quicker and more successfully than most any other dressing.

For a tunneling wound or subcutaneous wound open the affected area. The area can be packed in ice until the spot is numb then follow the wound and open it or aspirate with a needle then cover with the mixture on a  dressing. MRSA will often heal if it is opened to drain.

Some topical anesthetics can be condensed to increase effectiveness, Don't have a handle on which ones yet. The sap from lettuce can be used to make an poiate, durring WWII it had some experimental use before synthetic analgesics became available. Anyone have any more info n either of the last two topics?

Ground red oak bark can be used to stop bleeding.

eddie

[mechanic]

I have the usual stuff, plus some Kotex for stopping blood, and a large bottle of powdered amoxillin, (made for horses, but works for us.)  I also have a needle and some silk thread and super glue for fixing cuts. 

For snakebite, I recommend prayer and rest if you are far from help.

[tacklebury]

Honey has antibiotic properties and has been used since before the egyptians as a wound healer and it also makes it un-necessary to carry bandages.  Smearing it across and into a cut then just put a small piece of paper on it until it hardens or sit still for a bit.  If you carry any bandage, butterfly's are good, for deeper cuts that cannot be sutured immediately.  I always keep a spool of dental floss and curved sterile needles in my gear pack.  Honey is also good to carry for quick energy and can be used as a great bait for snares & deadfalls as well as sweetner for natural teas. 

[teddy12b]

Interesting topic!

I've bought the premade store kits that advertise XXX amount of safety pieces and then you find out it's pretty much all bandades and sports wraps.  I made my own by buying a lot of parts and pieces from here:  http://beprepared.com/quickshoplist.asp_Q_c_E_964_A_name_E_Build%20Your%20Own%20First%20Aid%20Kit.  For the supplies I wanted I bought plenty, and for what I didn't want I left it alone.  I like being able to have some ammonia tabs, burn treatment, cold packs, gloves, dental kits, sutures, and the surgical tools to pull off some light duty work if it was ever needed. 

I keep my first aid setup a little different than most.  I have one big bag in the basement stuffed full of everything and labeled well.  Then I put reasonable amounts of all the supplies in smaller kits made from GI medic box/pouches.  I keep one of the smaller kits in each car and bug out bag.  I have it setup so if anything gets used out of the smaller kits, I can resupply it from the main big bag.

[teamnelson]

I build my own; I've got my combat life saver trauma bag I carried around Iraq. Pretty much everything Don already said is in it, and a few things more. Store bought ones are for soccer moms IMHO, and I've seen some $200 ones from "tactical" resellers that are for tactical soccer moms IMHO.

Tourniquets folks. Bring 2. Saves a lot of lives - someone asked about shotgun wound. You're talking maybe a 25-35 cal hole repeated several times across possibly two limbs with buckshot. A couple tourniquets would be a good idea.

[mcwoodduck]

Do any of you carry anything for teeth in your first aid kits?
I found some tempory filling material in case a broken tooth comes up.
I hunt with a dentist most of the time.
One of my buddies was looking in the tackle box for a band aid or something and came across the tempory filling stuff and asked what it was for.
I explained and asked him what he would do if he broke a tooth out here in the middle of nowhere Az.
He said "well, have Lenard fix me, he is a dentist"
Later that day the topic came back up and Lenard said he could fix a broken tooth if he had stuff.
I showed him what we had in camp and sait that would do till we could get to a dentist office.
just something to think about.