Right now my first aid kits are your standard type bought at one of my lumber yards. So far (knock on Wood) we haven’t ever had any bad injuries, but, I’d like to find a Kit that’s geared more towards worse-case injuries that can occur on a jobsite, like, tourniquets for amputations (knocking harder on Wood!) and maybe an eye-wash setup.
Anyone know of a good Kit ? If not, what do you have in your own made-up kit ? Only extra items I’ve added to mine so far is a real good splinter remover with magnifing glass, and, oh yea, got plenty of knuckle bandaids ! You know what else I’ve always carried, is a big can of saline in one of those low-pressure cans .. bend over, tilt you head a little, and really wash your eyes out ! Always have an eye-cup too.
I’ve got more room in my army surplus medic bag .. what else should be in there ? Oh, and I carry a big needle stuck in the side of my Splinter Tool’s cardboard box .. probably my most used first aid tool ..
I should go and get some nice instant Ice Packs too.
What are some other items a first-rate jobsite Kit should contain ?
Replies
superglue and superglue unsticker!!!
mircopore tape
thats about all i use from mine but its got triangular bandages and dressings and loads of other stuff.
scissors
A .30 cal ammo can, .50 if you carry lots of stuff, for storing your main kit. Spray paint the outside red with black crosses or other distinctive pattern. These units will keep the contents secure and dry.
A partial roll of good quality duct tape. Keep it in a zip-lock bag so the stickum doesn't dry out. Duct tape has become a mainstay of many EMT bags. Great for closing wounds as a giant butterfly strip. I have seen a case where a guy cut open his belly with a chainsaw and the EMTs closed the 12"+ wound with duct tape to keep the guts in and dirt out.
Three or four clean bandanas. More adaptable than the usual 3" or 4" gauze squares.
A small bottle, the one ounce polyethylene bottles you can find in camping shops are great and leakproof, of acetone or, if you can find them, the single serving acetone wipes are great for unsticking the duct tape and most other adhesive tapes. Eliminates the sticky spots that are left when tape or band-aids are removed.
Throw in a couple of 30" squares of plain unbleached muslin. Great for slings general bandages covers for burns wide abrasions.
A couple of the small 6oz bottles of distilled water. Eye wash. Moistening guts if they fall out. Keeping burns moist when used with the muslin.
A couple of 3" or 4" ace bandages for wrapping sprains, staunching gushing blood and immobilizing limbs when used with the duct tape and Sam Splint.
A medium sized and large Sam Splint. Basically a sheet of soft aluminum laminated with plastic. Keep it rolled until used. Reusable.
A small bottle of Betadine. Nonirritating anti-microbial agent mostly used when you can't or won't get to medical help for some time. Scrub out wounds for several minutes with this stuff if you are not planning on seeing a doctor. Great stuff. Looks awful, a dark brown, but washes out of natural fabric quite readily so don't throw out stained cloths.
Tools for the main kit: Keep these units in a small sub-kit. A cotton zippered klein bag works well.
A couple of needles lance blisters and dig for splinters.
A geologists magnifying glass. I have a small unit with two lenses that stack to give three powers. Great for finding those tiny wood or glass slivers that will drive you nuts until removed.
A pair of Dr.Bill's Silver Grippers, the single best tweezers ever created, for removing splinters. Keep the needles, the magnifier and grippers together in a small pouch as they are often used together.
A set of EMT shears. Bent handles and rounded bottom tip for cutting off clothes, kinky but some ladies dig it, and cutting bandages in grim times.
A foreign object remover for the eye. Basically a stainless steel handle like a pencil with a fine nylon loop on the end. The loop is used to remove unimbedded crud.
A cheap finger vise and a couple of 1/32" drill bits for drilling down through hammered finger nails. Almost completely painless during the drilling once the trapped blood is released the pain of the injury rapidly subsides. Keep the hole very clean. Betadine helps. A finger cot, a small square of duct tape or a spot of super glue helps. Do not allow it to get infected.
A seperate small wound kit: This will get the most use. A small nylon pouch works well.
The usual assortment of knuckle bandages and 3/4" strips.
Some finger cots. Miniture condoms to keep those finger tip wounds clean when your playing in the dirt.
A small tube of neosporin helps keep clean wounds uninfected.
A dozen or so tiny, single use, alcohol swabs. Great for cleaning up around cuts so the bandages will stick.
A couple of tubes of cheap generic super glue.
This is a partial list but it would get you through anything short of a war. The other thing is to remain flexible. Things have multiple uses. A tee-shirt can hold back the blood. A framing hammer makes a dandy splint for a broken forearm. Wrap the fingers around the head and duct tape or tie or lace with string, a belt, boot laces or socks.
Don't get too hung up on sterility. Largely the concept is meaningless. Clean is usually as good as it gets in a real emergancy. Far more important to keep the blood in and the gross dirt and crud out. They can dose the victim with broad spectrum antibiotics when at the hospital. Much harder for the doctors to restore life if he looses too much blood.
"Don't get too hung up on sterility. Largely the concept is meaningless."
DW (RN) tells me that most of the sterilizing that we see in the hospital is window dressing. Like the alcohol wet wipes or iodine swab before the needle. Evidently na object needs to be totally summersed in isopropanol for 5+ minutes to be considered sterile. But everybody wants to see it being done so they can convince themselves they are safe.
Re: the kit, I think medical information for your employees would be a good addition to the kit. I would think the pertinent info could be written on an accessible 3x5 card so you don't have to turn the truck upside down or call the office to get info in an emergency.
Jon Blakemore
One thing to consider is training. First Aid courses are relatively cheap and can do a lot of good. At the very least one person on the site should know basic first aid. Preferably more than one, in case the trained guy is the injured party. Advanced first aid would be a very good thing also.
Anything is better than nothing. Just having thought about first aid and what might be needed to be done is a step. People unfamiliar with the concepts can freak out instead of dealing with the situation. They can make rookie mistakes that can make the problem worse.
I talked to a contractor, only one out of dozens I know, who says he sends people to the first aid classes as a sort of vacation. They get three days off with pay and they only attend class for four hours each of those days. They get a certificate they can carry with them to their next job. He implied that he may get a discount on insurance when he can prove that someone on the site is trained.
Hey, that's pretty good -- you've done this before I take it? <G>
I'd only add a few things;
a few sets of exam gloves (the heavier-duty disposable kind)
A spray bottle with Clorox Clean-Up (never leave blood laying around these days).
a liter of saline and a couple liters of sterile water
a cpr mask (these are disposable plastic shield / valve assemblies that keep things from getting too disgusting) I never used to use them, but then again I was doing this for a fairly select audience back in the days before HIV and widespread Hep-C)
half a dozen Kotex. No joke -- these are the best multi-trauma dressing going. You wouldn't believe how much blood they absorb.
a roll of Cling or Kurlex. The Micropore was a good tip, this is to go with it. Anything that makes it easier on the ER team makes it easier on the patient.
A piece of Saran Wrap or something similar in a clean container, arranged so you can get at it easily. Sucking chest wounds might be sealed up enough to diminish the effects of losing the vacuum in the pleural lining if you can seal the hole on the exhalation. If you are lucky. I've heard of using vaseline or something similar on a 4x4 sponge, I don't like the idea of getting goo into the hole.
Very important -- a Space blanket. These are the aluminized mylar blankets, excellent for treating shock in cold or severe weather. Never underestimate shock, it is a killer. Always, always treat for shock.
That's about it, between this and the previously mentioned stuff, you stand a pretty good chance of treating most of what can go wrong. Proper first aid, treat for shock, transport carefully, get 'em into the ER within 20 minutes, call ahead, let them know you are coming, transmit vitals and any other pertinent info, and you're giving your crew the best chance you can, which is all anyone can ask for.
DRC
All good ideas.
Gloves are a fine idea. If you have time. Mostly you are likely to have time. The chances of actually getting AIDS while treating a wound is quite small even when the responder has open wounds and the victim has very high blood levels of the virus. If it freaks anyone out to the point they can't function of course they need to glove or protect themselves enough to regain control.
Respiratory shields are also nice but they can be bothersome, take time to deploy and position and sometimes get in the way.
Sanitary napkins are one thing I forgot to list. Very good call. Get the unscented ones. The generic square surfboards are the ticket. Boy do they soak up the blood or what. Of course a rookie mistake is to remove soaked bandages while trying to stop bleeding. Instructor always stressed 'add more' and wrap tight. Ace bandages to hold everything in place.
A favorite trick in a pinch for sucking chest wounds is a credit card and some Vaseline. Makes a good flapper valve. Your right a baggie is better. Even a hand pressed into place can work. You can substitute the tube of neosporin for the Vaseline if need be.
Once under way to the hospital with bleeding under as much control as possible the space blanket is good. They don't take up much room and really shine in hypothermia cases. Keeping the patient comfortable can help keep them calm and that makes transport and treatment much easier.
A couple of single dose packages of aspirin, for heart attack, can make a big difference but it has to be aspirin not Tylenol, Aleve or ibuprofen. I carry a small kit of medications, nothing controlled.
Decongestants and antihistamines have multiple uses. No one likes working feeling like their head is in a bucket. More comfort than life saving. Once had a guy have a bad reaction to a bee sting. He said he had no prior history of being allergic to bee stings. A quart of strong coffee we made him drink and a couple of antihistamines were credited by the ER doctor with helping save him. He was getting bluish by the time we got him to the ER twenty plus miles away.
Unless your well away from help Immodium is unlikely to save a life but it sure can make a day easier when the flu or the local chili hits you wrong. Same goes for some antacids. just makes the day a bit easier.
Of course most of us keep a bottle of Tylenol or ibuprofen on the truck for the wrenched joints, sore backs and headaches that seem to be part of the job.
Along the same lines I keep a six pack of bottled water, some power bars and a partial roll of toilet paper behind the seats. Never know when you will get a job out in the boonies. I can miss meals and some water for a time but it doesn't do my performance or attitude any good.
All good advice so far.
A few more items :
The kit should be kept in a job box which will organize the items that should not or cannot be stowed in the actual first aid kit.
Fly dope & sunscreen
Emergency phone numbers IE Closest Hospitals, Fire Stns. & Supervisors
Copy of the relevant Regulations such as Fall protection regs, Occupational Health & Safety Regs,WHIMIS & First aid Regs
5 Lb ABC Fire extinguisher
Eye Wash Station
On a hill by the harbour
"...but, I'd like to find a Kit that's geared more towards worse-case injuries that can occur on a jobsite, like, tourniquets for amputations (knocking harder on Wood!)..."
4LORN1 has written quite an exhaustive list, with good editorial comments - especially about non-traditional uses of items you'll already have on the jobsite. I'd add:
Don't forget your ziplock baggie, from lunch, makes a good receptacle for dismembered fingers/toes...keep the digit wrapped - whether before placing in baggie or on outside of bag, with some fabric (donated shirt) and then use that lunch cooler containing ice or chill packs (just try and keep a barrier between the cold source and the live tissue so as not to damage it) while you rush your coworker and the dismembered digit, to the ER.
I always carry a bandana. That will get you through th efirst few minutes at least.
Who Dares Wins.