First Aid Kits

[LindaG]

To avoid hijacking the 'Rural road deaths' thread, I am interested in the contents of forumers' bike-carried first aid kits.

Commercially provided kits seem (IMHO) to have very little of use in them.  Plasters, alcohol wipes, non-adherent dressings (smallish), and that's pretty much it.  In the event of a really serious accident they'd be useless.

Now, I accept I may be somewhat jaded.  I am a surgical nurse and see  more gore on a daily basis than most.  They give me expensive stuff to deal with it.  I laugh in the face of plasters.

What do you carry?  What's your rationale for choice of kit?

[delthebike]

I have a selection of waterproof plasters. They stop my Achilles tendon area getting blistered from my sandals if I have to walk around too much, at Mildenhall for example. They also hold together bits of skin after bollard - pavement/face interface.

[dkahn400]

What do you carry?  What's your rationale for choice of kit?

Ibuprofen gel, co-codamol, Pro-plus. Knee pain, headache, sleepiness all reduced.

[Zoidburg]

I use the boots medium kit which was about £10 - £15 last time I checked.

Good kit with proper range of dressings, scissors, gloves, surgical tape etc etc, to that I add a military first field dressing, detol in little saches as it dilutes and goes a long way, a survival blanket, pain killers, zinc oxide tape maybe some compeed and some nail glue oh and a sharp knife.

Beyond that kit you are getting onto paramedics turf and I ain't a paramedic.

[Exit Stage Left]

Lidl motorcycle first aid kit. I use a chainsaw for work and you have to carry one with a large wound dressing. Having something calms the casualty, it gives you a role to play and them as well, it's usually a question of getting them to sit still while they calm down enough for it to be apparent if something more than hand wrist and collarbone are affected. If you haven't got a first aid kit, pretending you have would probably do as much good.

[hellymedic]

Usually - almost nothing: the odd sticky plasters and ibuprofen tablets I can't take a hospital in my panniers.

Occasionally: (never actually used -rather bulky)
Geudel airway
Pocket mask
Gauze swabs
Ambulance dressings

Always: plain water in drink bottle - has numerous uses.

[tatanab]

Normally nothing other than a clean hanky.  I remember a first aid course years ago where we were told that if nothing special is available then a clean hanky is very useful.

On tour I carry a kit which is about the size of an old 'baccy tin.  This has plasters, dry dressings, tape, alcohol wipes.  No pills or potions.  I used it on myself last year when I cut a small slice in my leg instead of the piece of ham I was aiming for.

Do people really carry a first aid kit routinely?  If so, do they carry it when walking to the shops, or is cycling seen as potentially more risky?

[RJ]

Gaffer tape and cable ties mainly   

[Tim]

First aid kits are to help when trying and keep the casualty in a state of not dead until the professionals arrive.

<Looks in bag, this is the actual contents of the small first aid pouch I've got with me, commuting in Surrey>

A couple of dressings to stop bleeding, mouth shield & latex gloves as I don't know what lurgies they may be carrying and I don't exchange bodily fluids with strangers, and a triangular bandage as you can do almost anything with one of them!

(Scissors, plasters and alcohol wipes are also in there, but don't count as first aid to my mind.)

Beyond that means of keeping the casualty warm would be next item on the list, but not so important given the situation I'm carrying this.

[Regulator]

The car kit is fairly big:


• A variety of ambulance dressings, including pressure dressings
• A variety of bandages
• General dressings (e.g. Melolin)
• Gauze swabs
• Plasters (assorted) and steristrips
• Splints - both hard and inflatable
• A variety of scissors and both venous and arterial clamps
• Scalpel handle and a selection of blades
• An assortment of needles and syringes
• Sterile saline
• Hibiscrub and surgical spirit/wipes
• Gloves
• A couple of airways and a face mask
• Sphyg and stethescope
• Common painkillers (aspirin and paracetemol)
• Pen and paper (v. important)

We also carry a survival blanket and a few other bits in the car breakdown kit.

The bike kit is smaller:


• Some wound dressings
• A couple of bandages
• General dressings (e.g. Melolin)
• Gauze swabs
• Scissors and scalpel blade(s)
• Plasters (assorted) and steristrips
• Saline and alcohol wipes
• Gloves
• Airway and face mask
• Painkillers
• Pen and paper

I tend only to carry the bike kit on longer rides.  For urban rides I have a small kit which goes in whichever bag I have which has:


• A wound dressing
• A bandage
• General dressings (e.g. Melolin)
• Gauze swabs
• Scissors
• Plasters (assorted)
• Alcohol wipes
• Gloves
• Airway and face mask
• Painkillers
• Pen and paper

Not that much is needed as I always have a phone and an ambulance will be there quick enough...

[hellymedic]

Greg, how much of that kit have you used?
Now that almost all phones can take pictures, don't forget a picture can be useful for subsequent care.

[Regulator]

Greg, how much of that kit have you used?
Now that almost all phones can take pictures, don't forget a picture can be useful for subsequent care.

The car kit was actually the bag I had when I was out in Zaire many years ago - and it got quite a bit of use out there.  It also saw service when I was in Bosnia.

We've used it a few times.  Usually road traffic incidents.  The last big one was a motorcyclist POMB* two years ago - he wasn't a pretty sight and quite a bit got used.

The other kits tend to get used on me... 


*No leathers, helmet not done up properly, dirt tyres on the road...

[Biggsy]

All I carry is a few plasters and wipes, plus an asprin for any heart attack sufferer that I come accross.  I like to minimise my luggage, and I wouldn't know how to use advanced first aid equipment anyway.

The only pain killers I can take myself are opiates - which I can't get without prescription  (Alergic to paracetamol and could have stomach problems with others).

[LindaG]

Ah!  Aspirin.  That really is a good idea.

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

Did you use them to staunch active bleeding?

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

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

[rower40]

Imigran.  I no longer fear my annual migraine.  Taken early enough, it stops the attack, rather than just being a pain suppressant.

[Biggsy]

You can squirt water from a typical bike water bottle at high pressure to clean a wound.  Not all that hygenic, but perhaps better than leaving road dirt in?

[perpetual dan]

Little lifesystems pouch, more or less always with me, contains:
Some biggish elastoplast (never used)
Antiseptic wipes (have used these to clean scrapes)
Melolin dressings, roughly pedal sized (as it was a pedal sized hole in my leg I needed to cover when I last used these)
Crepe bandage (never used)
Sting spray (never used, but bridleways round here often have a lot of nettles by them in the summer)
Hay feaver tablets (never used from the kit, but I do use them generally)
SPF 30 (used)
a whistle (never used)
scissors (hence no small plasters)
safety pins (never used)
micropore tape (used with dressings)
the tool kit has gloves and wet wipes

[LindaG]

So, apart from Regulator and Hellymedic, we all carry small stuff for small cuts and scrapes that won't require professional intervention.

A plaster or an alcohol wipe is unlikely to keep you alive till the ambulance gets there if you are bleeding from an artery or you have a punctured lung. 

[Zoidburg]

I keep these handy.



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

Smut to unsue.

 

[Exit Stage Left]

So, apart from Regulator and Hellymedic, we all carry small stuff for small cuts and scrapes that won't require professional intervention.

A plaster or an alcohol wipe is unlikely to keep you alive till the ambulance gets there if you are bleeding from an artery or you have a punctured lung. 

RJs gaffer tape holding a plastic bag over the puncture wound might help with the lung problem.

[Tewdric]

Army first field dressing like Zoiders, pair of gloves, mouth to mouth barrier and survival blanket is all I carry on Audaxes as a matter of routine.   And bum cream and Ibuprofen for me!

[Zoidburg]

Use the dressing wrapper sterile side dwn to make the flutter valve, or you can make one from the finger of a surgical glove.

I don't carry bum cream like Tewdric - what he gets up to in bus shelters on audax rides is his business.

[David Martin]

Large melonin dressings.
Tape.
Assortment of plasters for minor irritating scratches.
Crepe bandage.
Alcohol hand cleaner
gloves.

That really is about it of any use. Tick remover hook.

Then there are athe drugs - antihistamines, imigran, ibuprofen, and a few others - personal use only.

I'm broom waggon for the race on Saturday so will have a fair sized selection of stuff, but it is really only to stop serious bleeding until professional help arrives. I only have a basic first aid cert.

..d

[Exit Stage Left]

Army first field dressing like Zoiders, pair of gloves, mouth to mouth barrier and survival blanket is all I carry on Audaxes as a matter of routine.   And bum cream and Ibuprofen for me!

As always, ibuprofen should not be used to treat the patient who is bleeding or has internal injuries such as bruising, it interferes with platelet function, by how much is debateable, but it does.
Platelet Function after Taking Ibuprofen for 1 Week  â€”  Ann Intern Med

[Zoidburg]

I would not fuss it. I bet it takes a lot and a patient could be rammed full of brufen anyway.

Higher dose NSAI are a risk though.