Things you should have in your 1st Aid Kit

[admin]

Hey, all.

These are some things that in my experience as an EMT, are great to have in your boo-boo kit, as well as a kit that may see some more serious trauma. These are also things that most pre-made kits will not have stocked, and are well worth adding.

==Kerlix:
http://www.amazon.com/Kerlix-bandage-rolls-sterile-4-1/dp/B0000ZUGNQ/
You cannot have too much of this stuff in any kit. Even just a single roll is so useful. For anything but musculoskeletal injuries, Kerlix is a much better dressing than Ace wraps. It’s tough and elastic, stays in place with tape, and puts enough pressure on a wound to help with stopped bleeding, yet is light enough to make it pretty darn hard to wrap so tight that you occlude blood flow distal to the wrap. Also, it’s sterile in the undamaged packaging, so you don’t –need– gauze; just wrap and go. In case of a GSW, shove a bunch in the hole(s), then wrap over it with more. In case of burns, wrap them with kerlix after you use…

==2nd Skin/Water Jel:
http://www.amazon.com/Spenco-2Nd-Skin-Moist-Inches/dp/B000GGMSI0/
http://www.amazon.com/Water-jel-Emergency-Burn-Dressing-X/dp/B0015TAUNW/
Invaluble for 1st and 2nd degree burns (sunburns included). Similar to each other, they’re water-based gel pads that you lay on immediately on top of the burn. This gives you a barrier to lay a dressing over, so that your it won’t stick to the damaged skin (which, believe you me, can be a really bad scene later on @ the ER).
I have both in my kit, because the water jel has Lidocaine in it (a topical anesthetic), and the 2nd skin does not. Lidocaine is great for pain relief, but can potentially lead to allergic reactions in sensitive people. It’s also not a good idea to use on young kids (the potential for OD/toxicity is higher). Both times that I’ve used it on friends, i asked beforehand “Have you ever had stitches before?”. Since they said yes, I knew they had been exposed to lido (the numbing shot used when suturing) without incident.

==Emergency Trauma Dressing
http://www.narescue.com/4-Emergency-Trauma-Dressing-ETD-P206C225.aspx
These go by many names (Israeli Dressing/”Izzy”, ETD, Cinch-tight, Emergency Bandage) but they all are a similar idea; an integrated sterile gauze, attatched to an Ace-type wrap, with a plastic buckle of some sort that you can use to apply tension to make a compression dressing (or full-blown tourniquet, if you torque it down hard enough).
These are kind of overkill for most household boo-boo kits, but then again, I think most of us on this site know (live by?) the old saw: “Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”. When someone (or you) is hurt bad, the quicker the wound is dressed, the better. Only one package to open, and that’s it; You’re good to go. You can even use the package as an occlusive dressing in the case of the infamous ‘sucking chest wound’. If you are around firearms with any regularity, you should have at least two of these with you at all times.
Note: If you buy these, buy several, and use 1 or 2 to get a feel for how to put them on. The buckle isn’t necessarily intuitive, and when the Molé is flowing isn’t the best time to be figuring it out. 
2nd Note: You should NEVER use one of these as a tourniquet without training. New research has shown that the TK isn’t the “sacrifice the limb, to save a life” approach that they told us it was in the boy scouts, but unless you know exactly what you are doing, act as though every bad thing you ever heard about them is true.

==Blist-o-ban
http://www.amazon.com/Blist-O-Ban-6-Large-Adhesive-Bandages/dp/B0014RRM8Q/
Not as cool as some of the other stuff, but likely much more useful on a daily basis. These things are great for, well… foot blisters. They’re way better than moleskin, for my money. They are 2 little pieces of plastic, sealed together with low-friction goop between them. One side is adhesive; you stick this to the blister/hotspot, and the shearing forces are transferred to the blist-o-ban (which can handle them much better than your flesh).
These things are GOLD for impressing the woman/women in your life. If you are around the fairer sex, it’s only a matter of time before their shoes give them blisters. Ta-freaking-da! You come to the rescue with your B-o-b and no more bleeding feet. For such a small thing, they go nuts over it :smitten:. It often makes them look @ your whole EDC kick in a whole different way. Imagine that: some of the stuff we lug around might actually be useful…

Well, those are the big ones. If anyone else has anything to add, go nuts.

[Author]

Posts