First Aid Kits

[Regulator]

Ah!  Aspirin.  That really is a good idea.

Where in heaven's name do you get hold of ambulance dressings and scalpels?!

You can buy ambulance style dressings from quite a few specialist pharmacies and suppliers - same with scalpel blades.

Did you use them to staunch active bleeding?

What did the paramedics do with your dressings when they arrived?

We explained what had been done and they left them on.  One was beginning to ooze a little so they slapped another dressing over the top.

How did you clean the road gunk out of the wounds?

Saline.  I've got some small bottles (available from larger Boots stores or specialist pharmacies like John, Bell & Croyden).  I've also got some sachets - cut a small hole in the corner and squeeze to get a good jet.

[Biggsy]

Ibuprofen is also not advisable for anyone with a history of stomach ulcers.

[LindaG]

I see my problem.  I am ALS trained (for a whole fortnight now!) and can deal with a punctured lung (the kind you can't see).

An external punctured lung can be dealt with using your (or someone else's) hand over the flap, if necessary.  It takes two to do efficient CPR but I can (and have done) that.

I know how to stop someone bleeding to death from an external wound.  I can apply a pressure dressing.  Clean T-shirt and something to tie it with would do in a pinch, I suppose.

I think I could keep a casualty alive till the guys with the chopper got there, if it were indeed possible to do so.

I guess what someone like me needs, is a First Aid course.  Because it's years since I've done one of those.

Things that can kill you at the scene:

Bleeding a lot
Choking
Spinal cord injury
Anaphylaxis
Myocardial infarction (quickly or slowly)
Drowning
Freezing
Deflated lung
Bruised/bleeding heart
Brain damage
Bleed/blockage in the brain

So the most useful things to cope with that lot are your pressure dressing and some aspirin, I guess.

What does the panel think?

Which specialist pharmacy?  And what would you use your scalpel for?

[andygates]

The big kit has the kitchen sink in it.  And a snaplight in case of involvement with drama on unlit roads.  And burn gel.  And a dental kit (I have three crowns and my face is a braking surface).  Spare spectacles.  Cohesive bandage. Big dressings. Plenty of wipes.  No sucking-chest-wound plug or kerlix, though.   

The adventure kit is smaller, has lots of tripsavers like antihistamines, cocodamol and imodium as well as compeeds, eye wash, and the usual plasters, dressings and wipes. Voltarol gel. Caladryl (awesome stuff - calamine + antihistamine) cream for bites.

The booboo kit is cropped down to a tape case, and is just the tripsavers, a dressing, couple of pirate plasters (for attendant kids!), a dressing, steristrips. 

Of the lot, the compeed, antihstamines and caladryl have been used the most.

[Zoidburg]

Scalpel to be used to cut boot laces.

While the wearer is asleep.

[Jaded]

Sheets of tegaderm.

Knowledge of arterial routes for pressure points.

[LindaG]

I keep these handy.



The boots kit is quite in depth and I know how to treat a sucking chest wound.

Smut to unsue.

 

Where can you get one of those Zoidburg?  Have you a linky?

[Zoidburg]

kit Monster


Or get someone in the forces to steal some for you.

[Cunobelin]

Ibuprofen is also not advisable for anyone with a history of stomach ulcers.

Which is why you should NEVER carry medicines in a first aid kit!

Personally I carry nothing. There is very little that a first aid kit will treat that cannot be treated reasonably well with stuff from the local environment.

[Cunobelin]

Scalpel to be used to cut boot laces.

While the wearer is asleep.

I believe its polite to wait until they are unconscious or dead before nicking their boots!

[Zoidburg]

Ibuprofen is also not advisable for anyone with a history of stomach ulcers.

Which is why you should NEVER carry medicines in a first aid kit!

Personally I carry nothing. There is very little that a first aid kit will treat that cannot be treated reasonably well with stuff from the local environment.

Yes you should.

You just don't give it others unless they ask and you know they aren't going sue you. Handbook say no - reality says take the pain sweeties.

Being able to relieve/control pain to mantain your mobility is your own responsibility when you head outdoors, if you aren't prepared to take that responsiblity then stay at home.

As to carrying nothing - well thats just stupidity - sorry but it is.

Injuries don't kill, immobility caused by the injury followed by hypothermia kills.

[Kim]

I don't carry a first aid kit as such, but I do tend to carry a selection of drugs for personal use that can help avoid minor disasters: salbutamol, antihistamines, diclofenac, hyoscine.  I usually have a roll of micropore tape and plenty of clean tissues, from which dressings for non-serious wounds may be improvised as necessary.  Also a space blanket, and some low-sodium salt.  And I tend to make sure I've got enough extra water to give any road-rash a thorough squirt or, more commonly, wash things out of eyes.  Oh and there are some non-sterile gloves in the p*nct*re kit, that might be of use.

And a mobile phone, and enough bike tools to botch my way back to mobility in most circumstances.

Short of a serious encounter with a motor vehicle, my main enemies are pollen, my own digestive system and loose gravel.  I reckon that's got it covered.

[LindaG]

kit Monster


Or get someone in the forces to steal some for you.

Flipping Flip!  I nearly bought two, then saw the £6.50 postage charge!

So who around here is in the Forces and can obtain a couple of these for me?

They appear most useful.

[Zoidburg]

Try pinching something a similar size from work?

I bet someone you work with serves in the RAMC and could pinch you some.

[MattH]

I have a small first aid bag that cost a couple of pounds from a cheap shop. I've stocked it myself with the stuff I know how to use and would find useful:-
plasters
wipes
crepe bandage
melolin patches
surgical tape
ibuprofen, paracetamol, pro plus, diclofenac
scissors, safety pins etc.

Mainly this is cope with discomfort or minor fettling injuries rather than that I expect to come off and get hurt.

On long rides I also carry sudocrem and also a roll of athletic tape in case of tendon problems (I had some problems 18 months ago which haven't re-occured, but for the space and weight I prefer be prepared in case it does come back hundreds of miles from home).

[Regulator]

We haven't heard from Nutty yet....

I'd be amazed if he has anything less than an air ambulance on 24 hour standby 

[andygates]

Tell me more of this tegaderm...

[L CC]

I just carry knowledge.
And a phone.
O and gloves, wipes, water, bum cream, a sharp knife, plastic bags, hankies, paracetamol, brufen, feminine hygiene products. Sometimes I have a survival blanket. I used to have some tegaderm but used them all, and I used to carry a mask but got out of the habit.
But the stuff in my head is the most important.

[MattH]

Ah yes, feminine hygiene products.
I carry femfresh wipes too - but that's more maintenance with the sudocrem than first aid - wipe to clean off sweat etc. before reapplying cream.

[Zoidburg]

Ah yes, feminine hygiene products.
I carry femfresh wipes too - but that's more maintenance with the sudocrem than first aid - wipe to clean off sweat etc. before reapplying cream.

Tampons can be used to plug gunshot wounds and stem the bleeding from broken noses.

How usefull this info is depends on where you go cycling I would imagine.

[Charlotte]

I have three levels of FAK.  The one at home is a gert big cardboard box, containing enough dressings, drugs and kit to survive a minor zombie outbreak.

The second isn't really an FAK at all, it's a comfort kit that comes out with me when I'm on longer rides or at times when I'm in a position when someone ought to be carrying some kit.  It's a small tupperware box, containing dressings, plasters, steristrips and the sort of thing that you'd need to cope with someone stacking a bike.  It also contains Auntie Charlotte's magic briefcase - a selection of painkillers, stimulants and happy pills of various provenance which have proved themselves useful during the course of lengthy bike rides and aren't for consumption by anyone other than me or my cohort.

But on a day to day basis, I carry very little.  Like many others, I reckon that the most useful thing is to have done some first aid training, to know CPR and to be able to manage the first few minutes of any incident.  Knowledge is way more important than kit. 

That said, this is what lives on or in my messenger bag, day in and day out:

Non-latex inspection gloves
Resuss mask
Benchmade ERT-1 Response Knife
Fenix LD01 torch
Mobile phone

My feeling is that in London, you're never more than a few minutes away from a paramedic.  I don't routinely carry boo-boo kit on the basis that if it's minor enough to be treatable with a plaster, it can wait until I'm near a source of them.

[clarion]

I do normally carry a FAK at all times.  That said, it lives in my saddlebag, and I forgot to transfer it to my wedgebag on the Woodrup this morning

It contains plasters, micropore tape, dressings, a triangular bandage, latex gloves, mask and a few other things.  In a situation, I would expect to be using my Swiss Army Knife and mobile phone as well.

I have up to date BLS training, but I am not looking forward to the first time I need it.

[David Martin]

I am nervous about the weekend riding the broom waggon in a race convoy. I should look up and revise my first aid cert stuff. There will be others with First Aid training.
Things to be very careful about:
broken bones.
Back/neck injuries.
Concussion.
Excessive bleeding.
Shock.

resuss/pules/breating shouldn't be too bad

First aid is about stopping things getting worse until the properly trained and equipped people arrive.
My biggest fear is complex situations with contraindicated treatments. That requires judgment calls.

(reminds self to get a second mobile on a different provider.)

[Kathy]

Ibuprofen is also not advisable for anyone with a history of stomach ulcers.

Which is why you should NEVER carry medicines in a first aid kit!

Indeed. I'm quite concerned by the number of people who are talking about giving aspirin to people with heart attacks. I'm quite happy to carry painkillers in the ouchie kit and distribute them to friends and relations, but a FAK is for keeping people alive until the ambulance arrives. You don't know what other drugs your patient has taken, you don't know their allergies, and you don't know what medication the ambulance crew will want to use. You should NEVER give anyone any medication -not even their own (though you can assist them in using the latter). 

[clarion]

In terms of medication, I carry paracetamol, Gaviscon, uniphyllin, a number of salbutamol inhalers, sometimes my other inhalers, occasionally sore throat pastilles, witch hazel stick and olbas oil.

All for personal use only