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I was given a Samsung Galaxy Note2 for Xmas from the wife. I have an orange flip case, guess I need to find matching scales!
I was an iPhone guy until the 5 was released and I found it to be extremely disapointing in size. Glad I made the switch, I see Android making great strides into the future.I use a Galaxy Nexus in an Otterbox. If I were getting something right now it’d be the iPhone 5 hands down. In a year and a half for my next upgrade I just might have to go iPhone unless Google can get a more powerful and capable Nexus device to the market.
@RogerStenning I hope you & your team had a chance to buy and carry this small pocket trauma kit and we would love to hear “feedback from the field”.
Ah, did I mention that a picture would be nice? 😀
Weight isn’t the only issue, mass is a major one as well. Given we’re wearing slacks-style trousers and a blazer jacket, bulky kit is a real problem, so it has to be as small and unobtrusive as possible. I actually carry a Leatherman Raptor set of folding EMT shears; they’re expensive compared to others, but they’re quality bits of kit, and IMHO worth the money. That’s a personal choice, of course.
The team-recommended kit is a compromise, but it’s the essentials that count. Also, nitrile gloves are carried anyway, can’t think why I failed to mention that before.
I’ll get photos of the kit when I get a chance.
I guess I understand what you aim for and I appreciate the dedication, time and thought process you put into this – and sharing it with us.
My assumption would be that the (civilian) casualties don’t wear body armor, so they will typically have a different trauma scenario then armed forces have. So the likelihood that the torso (simply because it’s the largest part of the body) may get impacted, is at least the same as the limbs.
For blood loss you carry the Israeli bandage.
Let’s assume you can “rip off” the clothing of the casualty and therefore can go without a trauma sheer (I carry one that’s about 10 centimeters long and weights 22 grams).
For chest/lung punctures you may need to improvise a chest seal by using the plastic wrapping of the Israeli or SWAT-T (as mentioned by nursetim 40) – which requires two small additions:
some type of sticky tape (medical or Gorilla) and
something to get the body fluid off of the injured person skin (can be any kind of clothing or alcohol swaps).
Both additions (1 meter sticky tape & 2 alcohol swaps) weight 19 grams and are about 5×5 centimeter. Something your team members will barely notice regarding weight and size carrying it, IMHO.In addition you may consider a pair of Nitrile medical gloves (did I miss this in your list?) – which would add another 9 grams in size M.
Up to you of course, but I think for less then 30 grams you get three very valuable and useful tools that are hard to makeshift and enhance the type of medical first responder service you can provide and protect your team.
BTW: Did I mention that a photo of the kit (content) and how it is carried would be appreciated 🙂 Thanks!
iPhone 5. But not for lack of trying the galaxy note and the Nexus 4. If you don’t care about photo quality I recommend both of those. If you are tied to apple in the form of 100 gb of audio books or need a durable waterproof then stick with the iPhone. The Lifeproof case is amazing BTW.
The priority use here is to carry the essential kit with which to keep people alive, so as to give the professionals (ambulance & paramedic personnel) time to get to the scene to do everything they do to continue to save lives. Yes, swabs, scissors, are useful, but not immediately needed to the job of blood loss control or bracing injured limbs (unless they’re complicated, but that’s another story). In any case, we carry full kits in the vehicles, but those are, as previously mentioned, often some distance from an incident site, so we have to go with what can be carried (amongst the other gubbins we carry on the job) and deployed immediately.
I have the Samsung Galaxy S3 with Jelly Bean. I like the 4.8 inch screen because I check on the news often when I’m out. I have it protected with the Carbon Fiber Element Case. Check it out at: http://www.elementcase.com/
… and you may consider carrying alcohol wipes (swaps) – to clean the body fluids from the chest before the tape will stick to it. They are available in single servings and are usually less the size of a credit card and maybe 2-3 times in thickness.
What about medical or trauma scissors? There are smaller and/or cheaper models available to cut through clothing (including heavier cotton like jeans).
BTW: Israeli and Oleas bandage packages have been reported to sometimes fail by getting punctured (unintentionally), loosing vaccum and maybe sterility, after a while being carried. Please have your team frequently check for those – and report if you found it to be an issue, or if everything is fine after n missons.
Thanks for adding/mentioning the Water Jel 4″x4″ – I considered some burn relief but have not yet decided what to add to my trauma kit …
I know you want to keep the minimum for doing the maximum – it’s always a balancing act which many of us will never master, maybe control 😀
P.S.: A photo of the content and the kit plus belt-mounted kit would be highly appreciated.
I’be been EDCing my HTC Inspire 4G for almost 2 years now. Currently, it’s running a CyanogenMod CM 10.1 unofficial build on it. Sometime this year I will retire it in favor of a Google Nexus 4 if they ever come back in stock that is.
The packaging from the Israeli bandage can be pressed into service for a sucking chest wound. A small roll of gorilla tape (or its UK equivalent) in everyone’s edc can secure it on three sides. It’s a multitasker so very worth the space.
