Comprehensive First Aid Kits?

[BigFish]

This isn't exactly gun related but I figured its applicable and as basic equipment as a good flashlight and a bug out bag.

I used to have a pretty decent first aid kit but last night after an incident requiring its use I realized it was missing. We ended up making an entirely unnecessary trip to the ER, where they did exactly what I could have and would have done at home had I still had that kit. Basically my girlfriend's kid cut her finger after trying to imitate something she saw on Iron Chef. All it needed was something to stop the bleeding and some sort of liquid bandage.

So now I'm on the hunt for a good first aid kit. A quick perusal so far turned up mostly kits that are mainly aspirin and bandaids. I'm looking for something more comprehensive than that. Any recommendations on ready-made kits? For those of you in the medical field, what do you keep on hand?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[jamierah]

I've found that most first aid kits are lacking when it comes to any trauma more than a paper cut. I keep a cheap first aid kit for the paper cut, blister type incidents that's mostly bandaids and tape, it saves digging through my trauma bag every somebody nicks themselves. The trauma bag has stuff for more extensive injuries.

For major injuries gauze dressings and tape are your friends. I'm going by memory here but I have 10- 4x4 dressings, 10- abd pads (5x9 dressings) 1- trauma dressing (large not sure of size) 1- roll of 1'' and 3" tape the cloth type that actually sticks, 3 or 4- rolls of 4" cling (rolled gauze) 2- ace wraps, 1- SAM splint (malleable aluminum splint that can be shaped to do just about anything) 2- triangular bandages (in case you can find a boy scout that can do a sling and swathe, I've never been able to figure that one out), 1-vomit bag, Disposable gloves, remember if it's wet and sticky and not yours don't touch it. 2-each disposable self activating hot and cold packs. 1- trauma shears

I work as a Paramedic so I have advanced airway stuff but for the layperson I would add a pocket mask for CPR and a good first aid guide book.

I didn't buy a kit since I can get the stuff from work but I just bought a soft side tool bag to keep it in for a third of the money they sell the "medical bags" for. This place has some decent kits and also sell the stuff individually if you want to make your own http://online.boundtree.com/store/pr...SES%2C+STOCKED

If you know anybody that works for a ambulance or hospital they can probably order the stuff for you pretty cheap

[Ianator]

I know I was looking at some differnt stuff from CTD...
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MHR333-1.html

They have ones that aren't this advanced for less money. You just have to look around their site. Or the whole internet for that matter. I know that I am planning on buying a first aid with blood clotting paks and stuff.

[buckeye .45]

http://www.galls.com/style.html?asso...t=&style=TK079

I've been looking at that one to keep in my car, I think if I throw in a couple tourniquets, and packs of combat gauze, it has the supplies to to about anything I can with my level of training and experience.

[Bark'n]

Try these two places. I shop with them often for my personal stuff as well as when I was outfitting the tactical medics for our swat team. They both have complete first aid kits from boo boo kits to complete comprehensive kits.

More importantly they sell modular kits for specialized medical categories. For example, you can get a stand alone dental emergency module, burn injury module, trauma module, over-the-counter meds module, etc you can use to put together a custom kit or replace or restock components in your existing kit as you use them.

It beats going to walmart and piecing a kit together bit by bit. Also the module kits come packaged nicely.

They have pretty extensive websites so be sure to check them out in detail. Lots of stuff available for the anything you can imagine needing in your personal or group kits.

Galls is also another good public safety supply source. buckeyeLCPL already provided the link to Galls above.

Rescue Essentials

Chinook Medical Supplies

Note: At Rescue Essentials, it's easy to miss that there are multiple pages in a section. When you get to the bottom of a page, be sure to look in lower right hand corner to see if there are two or three pages. You can miss out on a lot more products if you don't look closely. I think they could improve their website navigation a bit.

[jbum]

www.redflarekits.com you can get everything you need.

[Superhouse 15]

My agency orders most of our EMS supplies from Boundtree.

I keep Kerlix or Krimptex gauze rolls and 5x9 pads for my blowout kit. I use 2" waterproof tape and vet wrap (it's like an ace bandage that sticks to itself) to hold stuff together. An occlusive dressing like Vaseline gauze is nice but Telfa pads also won't stick to wounds and are cleaner and you can use something with a plastic wrapper for an airtight seal. The rest of the kit is small stuff, you can mostly get it all at any drugstore.

I used to work a firefighting detail at a local big racetrack and we had to carry all our gear with us. Food, protective gear, everything. The one thing I made sure I had was a roll of Krimptex in my pocket.

[QKShooter]

I learned to do this (below) back when I worked in an electroplating and bluing shop. We could not just quit working - run and get stitches and take days off when we got deepish cuts on the hands, fingers and arms.

So we did the Clean ~ Disinfect & Seal method.

If you have ever got strong acids and Metallic Cyanide electro-plating solutions in and around an open cut before...then you'll know why conventional stitches just don't work too well.
Cyanide in cuts just painfully aches for days and days and really makes a cut heal very slowly.
So here is what we used to do.


For deeper open cuts that are in body locations that (like on my fingers & hands) that won't stay closed & would normally require a few stitches - The QK Method is:

Make it bleed more by spinning the arm around in circles. That forces the cut to bleed more & does some initial self-cleaning.

Put the hand in a Zip Loc bag so blood does not get all over the walls & ceiling.

Then I hold the cut open & flood it with cold tap water & then flush it with Hydrogen Peroxide ~~~~> Fizz Bubble Foam Fizzz...

Then I flood it with 1/4 Iodine mixed into 3/4 Distilled water swirled together in a disposable plastic cup.

I mix up a lot and really flood it.

Then I pat it dry with clean gauze and hold the hand above heart level - holding it shut with clean fingers until the wound just stays closed/together on it's own. It will only stay closed and stop bleeding if you hold the hand way up over your head.

Sometimes I then blow the closed cut a little bit with hot air from a blow dryer. That seems to help make sure it stays closed until my final step.

Lastly....and without moving the injured hand or finger - (since you don't want it to pop back open again) -

Next I carefully wipe it all around with a cotton swab LIGHTLY dampened with 90+ % Alcohol & then place a cut square of clean white cotton cloth over it (clean thin white cotton handkerchief material works best) & cover that with Super Glue which will hold the cut closed until it heals.

The Super Glue needs to be put on quickly & then also quickly cover it with a piece of Saran Wrap & gently press the cloth down.

The Super Glue sets up almost instantly.

Then I usually add another light coat of Super Glue after the first coat sets up.

If you do it RIGHT by the time the Super Glue starts to come off by itself the cut is fully and completely healed.

>WARNING WARNING WARNING<

If it is done WRONG and you NOW have to go to the hospital get stitches....then you just made a bucket-load of extra trouble for yourself.

You need to really be surgically clean through all phases because you DO NOT ever want to seal any infection up in that wound.

I would be getting stitches on my hands & fingers a lot without this method & it works for me. I personally have not needed to get any hand/finger cuts stitched up in many years.

I am only telling you folks what I do.
I am not giving out medical advice & be warned that if you "mess up" using this method you will greatly complicate things for yourself and whatever Doctor needs to try to stitch you up after you messed up because Super Glue bonds to skin instantly & is extremely difficult to remove especially from an injured area. It will make conventional suturing very difficult.

ALSO: Always have deep puncture wounds professionally treated.

[BigFish]

I ended up ordering one of the smaller "office" metal box type first aid kits from Redflarekits.com as it was pretty comprehensive and at a decent price, and also added on some extra stuff to augment what it was lacking. I'll probably end up ordering some extra supplies from one of the other recommended sites as well.