What's in your first-aid kit?

[mysticokra]

We had a scare last weekend when my wife was stung by a wasp. Traditionally, she has not been alergic to stings (just allergic to penicillin and compazine). This time she swelled (or in southern parlance swole-up) and by the time I got her to the hospital she felt her throat constricting.

The doctor gave her epinephrine and some steroids and sent us home with a prescription for an "epi-pen", zantac and benedrill. (My apologies on the spelling).

The episode made me wonder what else we need to have on-hand, since we are about 35 minutes from the nearest hospital. What do you have?

[countrygrrrl]

EVERYONE should keep liquid Benadryl around, whether they've had an allergic reaction before or not!

I don't have an epi-pen and i don't really want one.

But I do keep: Benadryl (both liquid and capsule), Bactine, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, bactricin ointment and another antibiotic ointment, iodine, some regular antibiotics, aspirin (everyone should always have aspirin!), an inhaler (just in case), tweezers everywhere!, stuff to dry everything out in case poison ivy gets me, Thai Red Chile Paste (capsicam! works great on chiggers and other menaces), for starters.

[fin29]

Why would the doctor give a presctiption for Zantac? Isn't that for acid reflux?!

Anyhow, here's my med kit:

Liquid Benadryl
Steri Strips (they're those adhesive stitches)-very useful for pets, too
My Boo Boo Balm (recipe somewhere recently on Countryside Families)
Antibiotic Ointment and Cream
Saline Solution and a glass eye cup for rinsing debris
Sterile Gauze Pads and Rolls
Stretch Bandages
First Aid Tape
Assorted Bandaids
Sharp Scissors and Good Tweezers
Alcohol and Peroxide
Spray Analgesic w/ lidocaine for burns
Aloe Vera Gel
A couple of hypodermic needles for digging out splinters, ingrown hairs, etc.
Sterilized Livestock Syringes for irrigating wounds with saline
Digital Oral and Rectal (I have toddlers) Thermometers
Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Enteric Aspirin (for dogs)
Telfa Pads
Rubber Gloves
BandAid brand wound wash
Antibiotic eye ointment in case of scratches or infection (ask doctor for samples--they'll give them to you)

[Jena]

Call your first responders and ask them how long it would take them to get to you. What you'll want to keep will depend on that answer. They might help you out with what to get. Ask them about the possibility of heading their way with an emergency....use a cell phone to meet them halfway or something. That could mean the difference between life and death.

If it is 35 minutes to any help, I would be looking at much heavier duty supplies. You can bleed to death well before getting help, if you don't have supplies (and training) to deal with an arterial injury. Do you know CPR? Can you stabilize a broken limb? Can you deal with a head/neck injury?

You don't need an equipped ambulance, but knowing what to do can help you use materials at hand to stablize someone. A piece of plywood and some duct tape can make a mean back-board!

One thing people don't often mention is a plastic bag or saran wrap. Very useful if a chest cavity is punctured and almost nothing else will seal it up while awaiting help.

I was thinking about this today....classes for first aid. There is basic first aid, emt stuff and one thing I don't think many people know about is a wilderness first aid certificate. I don't know the exact name, but I have a kid who has gone to more than one of those hike-the-butt-off-of-defiant-kids type of programs and they always have someone along with this certificate. They are trained to deal with life-threatening problems with a significant delay in any help. If I lived that far out in the sticks, I would probably find and take this course.

Jena

[Beeman]

If you know or are certified in CPR keep a pocket mask. You don't know who you will be giving CPR to or who will be giving it to you.

[Shrek]

My first aid kit has two boxes. One box contains steristrip bandages, suture kit, splints, elastic bandages, combat style wrap bandages, snake bite kits, cold packs, scissors, clamps, blood pressure kits ,small oxygen tank and cpr shields. I also have one of my non- subscriber service cell phones in the box that I battery charge monthly in case I need to call for 911 response.

The other box contains my OTC medications, ointments and extra snake bite kits. My prescription sting antivenom injector stays in my pocket.

[Blu3duk]

we have several different kits for the varying activities we engage in, being we teach kickboxing/ karate we have full service first aid kits for bruises sprains, fractures andeven the occasional knockout..... we should have a portable O2 bottle and mask but we do not at this time.
In the barn the first aid kit contains items for both human and animal, I was reecently surprised when my wife gave birth in the hospital that they use Vet-rap for holding a bandage in place after drawing blood..... but i have it there for cuts, and scraps, and other idiot things that happen in the course of being an animal.... along with herbal remides and the ever present Oxy-acetylene tanks with the )2 turned on in case of a wasp attack and the throat shutting down..... cutting torch can place oxygeninto the lungs and keep a peson alive.....

in the house we have full surgical kit if needed, but usually only have to use the bandaid and gauaze on us and the kids.... but its there if needed, including a dental kit for replacing fillings on an off day.

the kits in the vehicles also vary but the basics can get us by in a pinch, and things get replaced every so often as the expireation date comes around, and we try to make it so that everything does not have to get replaced all at once.... not a problem in the barn ... it gets used and replaced all to often it seems... anyone want to adopt a stupid horse.....<-----joking i wouldntwish that horse off on my worstest enemy.

in my hunting kit I have some diferentthings that apply to keeping away hypothermia.... and of course near all of these is the ever present jug of moonshine, which wont help you any if our hurt, but it sure keeps the kids from wanting a bandaid and pain killer. <----- ok nother joke poor taste, not the shine just the wording.

I do take first aid seriously, we keep on hand, for fighting infections, pen-G for the animals and needles and syringes for humans if ever needed as well but thats some thick and nasty anti-biotic. We have a Hylands homeopath kit in the house to take care of various ailments, and treat bites and stings and other things too, it works well. We use OTC generic benadryl, ibuprofen, and some other kid remedies for when things get really bad, Aloe vear plants can be found in about every room of the house which also helps bites stings and burns, ive got marigolds growing in my garden, again nice for using on a burn, then we have some other herbal remedy plants growing about the place, some my wife and i planted others are growing there naturaly. Some get tinctured in moonshine for the winter months they dont grow.

We keep up with CPR courtses, and first aid classes and maybe we should practice some of the more obscure techniques, but why push it....

William

[TexCountryWoman]

The things I never do without are my

Snake Bite kit...the good kind with the venom extractor, it's kept handy

Benadry for allergic reactions

Aspirin for heart attacks

Tournaquit...never walk far from the house without it, I may cut open a gusher, a bandana is fine.

I am epileptic and also carry a whistle with me in case I wake up with broken bones from falling under a cow or horse or something and no one can find me. It's good to carry a whistle anyway.

The saran wrap tip in an above post is a good one. I was an Emergency Room RN for years (prior to the epilepsy thing and now the heavy medications) and that is just what you need for sucking chest wounds. Or as we used to say "All chest wounds suck".