Read on
Hive.Blog
Basic First Aid/Trama Kits
Originally posted 10/3/22 on
Hive.Blog
Being a bit worried about things going on at the time of writing this,
I’ve written a couple of times about things that are outside of the
scope of what I usually write about (that being technology), but
hopefully somewhat universal. In this article I’ll cover the basics of
assembling a super simple first aid kit that can be slipped into a
backpack, bag, or purse; which includes your run of the mill stuff like
band aids and the more emergency trauma type stuff.
As a quick example of uses of something like this, at least with the
exception of cheeseburger induced heart attacks, it’s my understanding
that car accidents are by far the leading cause of preventable deaths
here in the United States. With that being the case, even without all
the extra things going on now, a tiny first aid kit with the right
stuff might be worth toting around in a backpack. This is my logic for
having had some sort of a first aid kit with me most of the time for a
while. But beyond that, there’s crime rates on the rise, wars,
governments imploding like Sri Lanka, protests in places like Iran, and
the risk of energy shortages and unrest in Europe just to name a few
things going on in the last months. All these things could lead to an
increase in need for first aid, decrease one’s ability to get immediate
first aid for major injuries, and possibly even decrease one’s ability
to get basic medical treatment such as an antibiotic prescription –
making even the basics like band aids and antiseptics possibly life
saving. Having something like this is probably one of the best things
you can do in those cases, and it’s legal anywhere, so I figured it was
something worth talking about.
Just as a heads up here though, don’t
take anything I say as gospel. I got a tad bit of first aid training
while doing some volunteer work, and have tried to expound upon it a
bit by learning additional information, but I’m by no means an expert.
This is really more of a “here’s what I recommend looking into” guide
than a one stop shop. Anyway, I’ll start breaking down what you might
want for a more minimalist first aid kit – splitting it into two
categories.
Basics & Day-to-Day Supplies
First off, you’re probably want your run of the mill type first aid
supplies, the kind of stuff that you would find in a $1 first aid kit.
The bare bones of these things that I would highly recommend you have
are Band-Aids and some sort of antiseptic (such as alcohol wipes, hand
sanitizer, or antibiotic ointment). If you can disinfect and cover up a
cut or blister then you’re pretty much set to deal with anything minor.
That said, there are a lot of random first aid and related supplies
that you could also consider including. Just to name off a few random
items, things like moleskin (blister protection), Aspirin (can slow
down a heart attack), Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen, chap stick and lotion,
caffeine pills, tweezers, butterfly bandages, topical
Lidocaine/Benzocaine (local anesthetic), Pepto Bismol/Antacids/Imodium
(for stomach issues), dental floss, and earplugs are all things that
could be handy as well. Depending on what kind of space, needs, and
wants that you have, these would all be things that might also be
useful to have.
Trauma Supplies
Secondly, in my opinion, if you are going build up a first aid kit you
will also want to include some basic trauma supplies. Unlike items like
band-aids which you might use regularly, hopefully you’ll never need to
try to stop somebody from bleeding to death. That said, if you need
them, then you really need them. Of the two bare bones trauma related
that I would definitely recommend getting, one of them is gauze: just a
simple roll or two of sterile gauze that’s sealed in individual
packaging. In addition to wrapping it around wounds or blisters, in the
case of a really bad wound you can quickly bunch it up, pack it into
the wound, and apply pressure. Unless you are going to tie off an
artery or something, this is probably the best way to stop bleeding
under a decent handful of circumstances if the injury is not on an
extremity. You can also use any other piece of cloth, such as part of a
shirt, but of course that’s not nearly as ideal.
This leads me to the second item of a super minimal emergancy first aid
kit: tourniquets. Beyond packing a wound and applying pressure,
however, if a wound is on an extremity then tying off the entire
extremity is the way to go. You have a lot of options, but the two big
ones are C.A.T and R.A.T tourniquets. My understanding is that between
the two the C.A.T. tourniquet is used by most of the professionals,
less likely to damage nerves, and is a bit more likely to stop
bleeding; where as the R.A.T. tourniquet is much smaller, and is much
easier to apply to yourself one handed (instead of personally comparing
pros and cons I just have one of both). There are also options like the
Israeli bandage or the SWAT-T tourniquet, which also would be worth
looking into and comparing yourself. You can also of course rig up a
tourniquet by using something like a bandanna and a metal pen to
tighten it, or just by tying off a shirt around an arm or a leg, but
those definitely aren't ideal.
Finally, beyond gauze and a tourniquet, which the trauma items I would
consider the most important, there are also two more items that could
be added to the kit as well. First off would be a CPR mask. This would
effectively allow you protect yourself from any sort of disease when
trying to blow air into someone else’s lungs. I don’t personally have
one though, and that’s largely because in recent years (to the best of
my understanding) the medical community concluded that chest
compressions alone will provide some airflow in and out of the lungs
without the risk disease transmission, and if you are performing CPR on
somebody you know then you then the risk of some unknown disease isn’t
all that great (plus if it was a family member or close friend then
disease transmission wouldn’t be high on my priorities in the moment).
Next, some QuikClot or another clotting agent might be a useful
addition to a kit like this. These chemical agents, usually added to
gauze at the factory, cause blood to clot up faster than just applying
pressure. Last on the Trauma items that could be an addition to a first
aid kit would be a pair of chest seals. These would be used in the
event that somebody was shot, stabbed, or otherwise had a hole in their
chest that penetrated their lungs and prevented proper breathing. Just
like the CPR mask, they might be less likely to be needed then gauze
and a tourniquet of some kind, but still might be worth considering
depending on how much size and budget you want to reserve for such a
first aid kit.
Alright, that sums up quick overview on building up a super simple
first aid kit. Again, I refer to the disclaimer, I’m not a professional
– do your own research (if you’re researching also consider learning
things like CPR that don't require any tools). Well, I hope this
helped. Stay safe, and I hope you never need to use any of this stuff,
but it certainly wouldn’t hurt to have.
Note during editing: in between posting this on Hive and adding
it to my site – if you pardon my french – I fucked up my hand a bit
while trying to chop some wood with a knife. There are two lessons I
guess I should add. First, even though I almost always like to bring my
first aid kit with me into the woods, I didn’t because I didn’t bring
my backpack and figured I’d be fine. Yet within an hour I was doing the
walk of shame over a half a mile applying pressure to my hand as blood
ran down it. Also, with that, I’m adding sutures to the list of things
that might be worth adding to the kit. They’re tiny and I already have
a box of a bunch of self contained individual suture kits, and even
though I would much rather be stitched up by a doctor, depending on
where you are/what’s going on in the world they might actually be
really good to have on hand. Last I would also more strongly reccomend
butterfly bandages after using a few. As an American (at the time of
writing) I’m pretty well insulated from most of the chaos in the world
right now, but I can only imagine a small kit like this could be
unbelievably important depending on the circumstances.
All content in /tutorials is
licensed Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike
unless otherwise specified. Feel free to share it around and re-use it,
but please give me credit if you do so (and would love if you sent me a
message or something). You can also
send me a tip if you found this helpful, but no
pressure - this is a hobby.
Contact Me:
Mastodon @natebowie@mastodon.social
Twitter @NathanBowie6