Medicine cabinet or first aid on the road

[QuietOutdoorsman]

Having a good first aid kit is necessary, but most importantly go get trained and certified in first aid and CPR. Go to the American Red Cross, they offer good classes in both. The ARC CPR class is excellent. The ARC Community First Aid class is ok, but they generally assumed you are within an area you can call for rescue/EMTs and that isn't always the case. More intensive first aid classes are available in most places.

Personally I am certified in first aid for my mountain climbing activities, and the Mountaineering Oriented First Aid class was one such intensive first aid class. I highly recommend getting trained.

Dirk

[Lesbest]

Used to do a lot of boating--and like camping, YOU are the closest medical center when you get hurt.

Buy a cheap tackle box, tool box, and go thru the drug store or health center at your local k,wal, or home mart. Fill the cart with what you think you will need. Trama pads are called Maxi-pads in the stores, no tie straps tho. Get a tooth kit, ambesol, eyewash kit,etc. Crazy glue for skin stitches, and then all your "Normal" stuff.

If you need it, no store is close enough, and if your in the boonies, when you get to the store it might not be open.

Had a lot of fun boating, with 2 girls, and had bumps, cuts, stings, bites, and burns, but nothing we couldn't handle, and nothing that stopped the weekend short. Lucky I guess, but ifin you are prepared for anything, then it is less of an emergency. That is what makes the time camping fun.

Les

[rbeemer]

Femenine products - pads and tampons

These products are already sterile and do a great job soaking up blood as part of a pressure bandage and are usually cheaper than trauma pads. I would also include moleskin for blisters

[Miriam C.]

Those who already have CPR probably know but everyone should carry a rescue breathing barrier (don't remember their correct name) These protect the rescuer from diseases. It is actually a one way piece of plastic tube.

And an elastic bandage to hold those maxi pads on.

[Toolie]

Don't forget something that will cut. I put a wrapped, single edge razor blade in my camping First Aid Kit.

[caseydog]

And don't forget a bottle of good Kentucky Bourbon. Once you apply the first aid, you gotta have a glass of medicine to help you recover from the trauma.

That or some good Vodka, which is dual purpose first aid. You can pour some on an open wound to kill germs, and then take a swig to deal with the pain of pouring vodka on an open wound.

CD

[mandy]

I usually have : ace bandage, butterfly tapes for open cuts, band aids, childrens liquid benadryl it works faster than the pill if you have an alergic reaction, antibiotic ointment, Advil, tagamet for hart burn, ziplocks for iceing things and alcohol wipes. Or like CD says wiskey fixes everything from a tooth ache to clean out cuts, but of course if ya drink it you won't care that your hurt.



Mandy

[fireaunt]

Someone in my family just reminded me about "black salve" a drawing ichtammol. Ohhhh weee it smelled bad but worked.
All Natural Drawing Salve For Temporary Topical Relief Of Pain Symptoms Associated With Boils, Minor Skin Cruptions, Redness And Irritation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_bituminosulfonate

[Miriam C.]

And don't forget a bottle of good Kentucky Bourbon. Once you apply the first aid, you gotta have a glass of medicine to help you recover from the trauma.

That or some good Vodka, which is dual purpose first aid. You can pour some on an open wound to kill germs, and then take a swig to deal with the pain of pouring vodka on an open wound.

CD

Are you gonna share with the victim?

[Joshua]

Finally, another topic I know something about. 10 years in EMS as a Paramedic I can say that you can "Macgiver" just about anything you need if it is all you have. However, if you have some basics (which some have been listed) it sure makes it easier.

The only two that concern me from a medical stand point is the bleach and "something to cut with". Even with my training and the ability to "cut people", I rarely took the opportunity to do so unless absolutely neccessary. Cutting the snake bite and sucking out the poision is never a good idea, otherwise I don't know what you need to cut. Cutting = bleeding. Bleeding is bad. I have seen a lot of "home remedies" in my days that usually meant that I had more work to do once I took over care of them. Kinda like the plumber that charges $65 dollars to fix a problem or $100 to fix it after you did.

I think I had my first reality check when I was a child. We were camping in the boonies in SW Missouri, with limited access to EMS or any kind of first responders. A woman collapsed while at her campsite and I watched my uncle perform CPR on her while everyone else just stood back and watched. He did that for nearly 30 minutes while waiting for EMS to arrive. All in all, for that location and being nearly 25 years ago, it was a quick response.

CPR pays off. By the way, she lived.

If nothing else, spend a day out of your life to take CPR/ AED and first aid from the red cross. You never know when you have to use it, hopefully never.

If you would like more ideas on what to put in your kits, PM me. I have NO home remedies to share however.

God bless and safe travels!

[oklahomajewel]

And don't forget a bottle of good Kentucky Bourbon. Once you apply the first aid, you gotta have a glass of medicine to help you recover from the trauma.

That or some good Vodka, which is dual purpose first aid. You can pour some on an open wound to kill germs, and then take a swig to deal with the pain of pouring vodka on an open wound.

CD

You make me laugh, CD.... !!!

[oklahomajewel]

you know ... there are always medicines that are specific to the person.

For me -- like for this coming weekend -- I want to make sure I have some Sinus Headache medicine .
For camping in the spring and fall, there are ALWAYS allergies!!!
Julie

[mikeschn]

Didn't them boyscout and girlscouts teach you to be prepared?

Every situation will be different, but for camping a lot of the basic circumstances will be the same.

You can get burned, sun burned, cut, poison ivy, stung, etc...

I've got a store bought first aid kit that I take camping with me, along with some other basics...

Solarcaine (for burns or sunburns)
Tylenol Sinus (for pain or sinuses)
Epipen (for bee stings)
Anti-Itch (for poison ivy, etc)
Benedryl (for Pepper when he gets stung by a bee, or inhales too much pollen)
Pepto Bismol (for both dogs - when they go eating squirrel droppings)

Of course your situation may vary...

Mike...

[Gaelen]

The only two that concern me from a medical stand point is the bleach and "something to cut with".

Actually, Joshua, bleach is a pretty good disinfectant for tools and surfaces, when disinfecting is needed. It's way more effective than alcohol--which kills only that which it drowns.

'Something to cut with' doesn't necessarily translate to sucking poison out of a snake bite. It can be something to cut clothing off or away from a wound or injury--or to cut larger bandages or tape to a more appropriate size. For that, you need a good pair of what we used to call EMT scissors (the kind that were advertised cutting a coin--serious kitchen/poultry shears will work in a pinch). They're designed to cut materials--not skin--and they look like this: http://www.firstrespondersupplies.com/pm87.htm

It's always good to have a wrapped razor blade on hand--not to cut skin, but to give a good sharp cut to things when those bandage scissors I just described would be too bulky to carry. So I don't carry EMT scissors in my hiking kit, which fits in a travel soapbox or small ziploc bag. But I do carry a wrapped razor blade and a sharp pocket knife, all the time--even in the small kit (and the EMT scissors are in my vehicle kit which lives in the truck, parked back at the trailhead.) It is appropriate to carry the size/type kit you need for the situation...one kit doesn't work for everything.

One thing to remember for everyone who keeps a kit IN the vehicle or trailer all the time--a lot of first aid supplies are affected (in a bad way) by extremes of temperature. Adhesives on bandages melt, tubes of ointment ooze or freeze/thaw and then burst, ice packs burst and things like Betadine just plain lose their effectiveness. So if you live where the vehicle temp gets over 80 degrees or goes below freezing for extended periods of time, check your kit and toss the stuff that's suffered the temp extremes.

I also have the training to 'cut' -- but I wouldn't do anything even approaching surgery on animal or human in the wilderness unless I made damn sure I had everything I needed to stop bleeding, suture, clean up and dress the wound, etc. That's stuff for a field medic pack or a field hospital--way more than even I carry in a first aid kit, and I carry a lot of stuff.

The biggest dangers in responding to an emergency come from not making sure that you (the responder) is safe--and from the responder trying to do more in a tough situation than his/her equipment, training and/or skills can handle.

If nothing else, spend a day out of your life to take CPR/ AED and first aid from the red cross. You never know when you have to use it, hopefully never.

Totally agree. And if there are no Red Cross classes in your area, check out the American Heart Association, who also offer CPR/AED classes, or your local hospitals for their outreach first aid/CPR classes.

Gaelen
NYS/DOT AEMT III #08499 (inactive)

[Joshua]

Gaelen,

I agree with you on the disinfectant properties of bleach on non-living objects. I also agree with you about the EMT scissors (carry them in my car). I could see the need for a sharp object while backwoods hiking (I carry a pocket knife when I go into the woods).

My biggest concern is people getting partial information, so I like to help inform them ( sometimes to overkill). I wanted to also echo the heat and cold in vehicles affecting bandages, creams, liquid medicines, etc. Here in Kansas it is against the law to have an ambulance parked outside of a climate controlled building when the temperature is less than 55 degrees outside if it is not running. Most services also have thresholds for high temperature as well as the heat can cause havock on your medicines and bandages. Just a suggestion, but read the manufacturer's reccomendations of heat and cold thresholds (it is usually printed in small print) and shelf life. Almost everything now a days has an expiration date listed on it, so check it out and keep the meds up to date.

Thanks Gaelen for setting me straight. Have a great week everyone!