SHTF Advanced First Aid Kit

[whipfinish]

We are all familiar with having a basic first aid kit around the home, especially if you have kids. We can treat cuts scrapes and minor infections. So what would our fellow INGO members that are in the medical field recommend for an advanced first aid kit that may or may not be purchased from the local drugstore? Two factors that might be relevant is shelf life and portability of each item recommended.

I would appreciate any input from the medical pros.

 

[redneckmedic]

There are a ton of threads on this. But here is my short end of the list

antibiotics as much as you can get and as many different kinds
anti inflammatories as much as you can buy
fishing line and small needles
or animal suture kits
surgical tools
shears
all trauma dressings possible
dental tools
huge stock pile of tooth brushes and paste (SHTF cavity would be disastrous)
several sized scalpels
slings
IV fluids and blood tranf. kits and several angio-catheters with line
any drugs you might be one
extra contacts or eye glasses
cauterizing sticks
anti clot if possible
surgical manuals
OB kits as many as possible
alcohol and iodine
prophylactics
Vaseline
as many multivits as possible
any sedatives available
I'm sure theres more, this is just the begining

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

There are a ton of threads on this. But here is my short end of the list

antibiotics as much as you can get and as many different kinds
anti inflammatories as much as you can buy
fishing line and small needles
or animal suture kits
surgical tools
shears
all trauma dressings possible
dental tools
huge stock pile of tooth brushes and paste (SHTF cavity would be disastrous)
several sized scalpels
slings
IV fluids and blood tranf. kits and several angio-catheters with line
any drugs you might be one
extra contacts or eye glasses
cauterizing sticks
anti clot if possible
surgical manuals
OB kits as many as possible
alcohol and iodine
prophylactics
Vaseline
as many multivits as possible
any sedatives available
I'm sure theres more, this is just the beginning

While this is an awesome list for YOU , where in the hell am I gonna get IV fluids or sedatives ?

I don't have farm animals and I'm a city dweller .

 

[akaindy]

First Aid kits

I picked up a few of these just ot throw into the truck of the cars just incase of any kind of emergancy.

TruSpec GI Spec General Purpose First Aid Kit usually IN STOCK and READY TO SHIP!

 

[United]

I'm no medical pro, but here are a few links to look at for kits. The first link is by far the best and has more advanced kits I think.

First Aid Kits and Products

Adventure Medical Kits - First Aid and Survival Gear

Find A Large First Aid Kit, Basic First Aid Kit, And More!

huge stock pile of tooth brushes and paste (SHTF cavity would be disastrous)

They make an emergency cavity filler for med kits...it's only a temp filling, but it might last a while and help!

 

[WETSU]

Redneckmedic posted up a good list. Get as much of that stuff as you can and store it in tubs. Also build yourself a more compact version with trauma dressings, tks, some instruments, ACE, a headlamp, gloves etc.

I have 2 more comments:

1. Don't forget the boring stuff nobody wants to deal with: hygiene. Make sure you have supplies to take care of a bedridden patient. Clean sheets, waterproof sheets, bedpan, buckets, mops and bleach/disinfectant, masks, gloves and so on. Get as many 4x4 gauze and tape as you can for lots of dressing changes. You will be amazed at how you blow through dressings with a large, draining wound.

2. Get training. Increase your depth of knowledge on how to use what you have, how to improvise in austere environments, how to do the right things at the right time and what not to do. If you haven't had a basic Red Cross 1st aid and CPR course, start there. Get certified in CPR.

From there take a Wilderness Fist Aid class. Usually two days. Great course. Jim Floyd teaches a Wildreness 1st aid course and will be doing so in Kokomo Sept 12-13th. Do it.

Tactical Response teaches a 2 day Immediate Action medical course that deals with traumatic gunshot and knife wounds. It is more narrow in scope but very detailed, taught by MDs and combat medics. They have a course coming up Oct 3-4.

 

[whipfinish]

Thanks for the post WETSU. Great suggestions.

 

[slacker]

quikclot
QuikClot saves lives by rapidly stopping severe bleeding. For Home, Sports, Travel, & Pets

 

[SC_Shooter]

These are all great suggestions and I'd like to second WETSU's suggestion to look hard at training. As an instructor in a firearms course told the class recently, first aid and driving skills are far more likely to be called upon over the course of your life than actual shooting - yet people just don't train very much in those areas. He had a point that took a little while to set in.

My motto on this sort of thing is that there is simply no such thing as being too well trained. When is the last time you heard someone say "I sure wish I never took that (EMT, field trauma, defensive pistol, etc.) course?

Get some of the advanced basics mentioned here, take a few training courses (basic, advanced, wilderness first aid, along with field trauma) with a few different instructors. Everyone has their own perspective and teaching style and my experience has been that each one has something unique to share. From that experience, you'll find a few more tips and tricks that will help you round out the kit.

It's great that you are thinking about these things - more of us should IMO.

 

[teddy12b]

quikclot
QuikClot saves lives by rapidly stopping severe bleeding. For Home, Sports, Travel, & Pets

I just had an interesting discussion regarding this product on another forum. You all may be interested in reading it.

"Quik Clot" for your survival supply kit?

 

[teddy12b]

Any of you guys buying those G.I. Issue field dressings? I've never used them, but I'm thinking of buying a couple just to have. I just bought some on Ebay for a pretty reasonable price.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Any of you guys buying those G.I. Issue field dressings? I've never used them, but I'm thinking of buying a couple just to have. I just bought some on Ebay for a pretty reasonable price.

I've got a few of those and the larger abdominal dressings . I like that they've got straps / tails built into them so you have a pressure dressing if needed .

 

[Indy317]

I just did some serious reading on this subject. I skipped the QuikClot stuff for now. I read an article which basically said the military bandage and tourniquet are all that is really needed. If a tourniquet is applied properly, you won't need QuikClot. I also heard to skip QuikClot and go with Celox, as it works better. Celox-D is the kind that comes in tea bags which dissolve when they hit blood. As far as tourniquets, I purchased the SOF Tourniquet. It is very easy to use one handed, but practice on yourself (the only time you would likely have to use it one handed) to see how it works. I read that both the SOF Tactical Tourniquet and the C-A-T Tourniquet work well, but one poster indicated the SOF was easier to use.

I am out of time now, but if you want to know where I purchased these items, let me know. I still have the receipts and the places I purchased them from where the cheapest on-line.

 

[Sailor]

Any of you guys buying those G.I. Issue field dressings? I've never used them, but I'm thinking of buying a couple just to have. I just bought some on Ebay for a pretty reasonable price.

I like this and keep them everywhere,

Tactical Response Gear


Cinch Tight- "H" Bandage
[H] $8.00


Click to enlarge
One-Handed Hemostat for Arterial Bleeding

H and H is pleased to introduce the new Universal Severe Trauma Dressing, the H Bandage, a full upgrade to their present patented combat dressing Cinch Tight. The H Bandage was developed to offer the user an emergency dressing that would not only serve as an emergency dressing but also as a hemostat for arterial bleeding and hemorrhaging in limbs, deployed one-handed for use under any condition.

Designed with a large H-hook that easily facilitates use as a compression bandage and a tourniquet


Clinical tests for arterial bleeding done by the U.S. Navy at USUHS (Bethesda, MD) with H Bandage has indicated that pressure, along with compressed gauze, would dramatically reduce arterial bleeding in limbs. To develop the H Bandage, they increased the strength of the elastic wrap by 40%, making it the strongest available. H and H also replaced the steel hook with a plastic molded H hook. The ABD pad was maintained at 8”x10”, the largest pad of any compression dressing.


When applied, the H Bandage, combined with H and H Compressed Gauze, places heavy pressure over and into the wounded area. Initial clinical test results have proven that the H Bandage will act as a hemostat for arterial bleeding in limbs, a critical component in the dressing’s functionality. The result is that H and H is able to offer the corpsman, medic, first responder, and the individual an all-in-one emergency and combat bandage for all traumas.

The H Bandage is vacuum packaged and single-wrapped for easy storage and deployment. It weighs 0.3 lbs. and is 1.5”x3”x6” in size.

 

[WETSU]

I keep Celox or Quick Clot ACS's in all my blow out kits and range bags, in my Jeep and at home. I also keep H bandages, Izzies and a few Cinch Tights along with a good supply of TK4s.

The USGI field dressings are OK, but they have two weakness I have noticed:

1. When you use old surplus USGI dressings, sometimes the tails rip off when you are tying them off, especially under duress.

2. If you use them on an extemity like a thigh, and then have to move on foot (like in a running gun battle) it does not stretch and the dressing will work its way down.

Its better to use a wad of Kerlix and an ACE, or one of the dressings I mentioned above if mobilty is an issue.

You can have all the cool medical supplies in the world, but if you don't know how to use them, you could do more harm than good, to yourself or someone else. Get some training.

 

[HICKMAN]

I went through the Combat Lifesaver training when I was in the 2nd Cav, I would love to find or build a bag similar to the ones we were issued back then.

 

[teddy12b]

I think you can find those bags "as-issued" online. I'll double check.

 

[HICKMAN]

yeah, but they are expensive. I'm lucky enough to be married to a former Army medic, so I'll let her handle building that bag

 

[redneckmedic]

I would never buy a kit. Just go to CVS or Walmart and put together a lot of trauma dressing, triline fishing line, fish antibiotics, superglue. If all else fails highjack an ambulance (j/k on that last one you crazy gun nuts!)