Posted on 04/17/2013 4:32:06 PM PDT by Kartographer
Imagine this:
Last thing that you remember is that you were standing with few of your friends in street, now you are laying on ground and looking around you and there is blood running next to your leg, there is something in your throat and it suffocates you, you are trying to remove it with your fingers but nothing comes out, you are trying to swallow it but it is of no help, you are trying to scream but nothing comes out of your mouth. And thing that scare you most is that you notice blood on your pants in groin region, and you think that all future fun is gone.
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfschool.com ...
You are correct that extraneous, nice to have medical products aren't necessary to save life in the short term, but I would include this new bandage is necessary if it is arterial bleeding. You can cauterize a general wound but an artery is entirely different. You would just destroy more artery if you tried to cauterize that. An artery is a soft tube not a piece of muscle.
OK, I have beaten this subject on the thread to death enough and I hope there are no more terror attacks.
Time to go play piano or listen to Walter Brennan reciting poetry or something different. I dislike focusing on hurting stuff after I've got the training.
/johnny
It would be great if you could post your list. It sounds like it would be a lot more worthwhile than a typical “first aid” kit that is oriented toward splinters and headache.
I’ll do that tomorrow.
This poor little child that witnessed the explosion in Waco on Wednesday up close with her dad immediately says she cannot hear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrpKx3aIjA&feature=share
that has already been debunked as being a different explosion.
Oh okay, thanks for the info. :)
Please share your suggested list. Thank you!
MFO
I have dumped stuff out of my medical bag to make a list. I’ll get the list on here before the day is over, probably very soon from now, actually.
That list would be great.
Ok, I’m considering doing something I never thought I’d do - enrolling in the local college’s EMT course. I think it will be useful knowledge and only takes 4 months. I just looked up the course catalog online. I don’t need the certificate, just the information.
Medical stuff still makes me squeemish, but then - so would injuries along with economic collapse...
Later, you think about it and cry like a little girl.
/johnny
/johnny
LOL! Glad that you recovered. :)
Absolutely! Treat the patient. The ABC's are a great, but they need to be tempered with experience.
ITEMS IN EMERGENCY BAG:
What’s not in the bag and why:
These items are to sustain life so the person lives to be transported to the hospital or other medical service. Understand that is the only job these items do. There is no antibiotic ointment or cream to put on a wound. There are no Betadine solution pads to clean a wound. There is no tape to secure a bandage even though the bandage will be secure. There are no Steri-Strips, no medical stapler/staples. All those items are what I would call secondary care. If you are not going to transport this patient but care for the patient yourself through this problem, you will use those other items once you have stabilized your patient.
Those secondary items are “treatments” which you need in general but not in an Emergency Bag. If a member of your family has a traumatic event away from home, an Emergency Bag has the items you need until you get the patient to medical care or if there is no medical care available, back to your house where your general medical items are.
What’s in the bag:
This is my bag, others may vary:
1. H&H High Pressure Bandage with H&H hard packed Gauze. This is to stop or lessen arterial bleeding. I have two in there.
2. CPR Mask (if you know how to do breathing for a patient.) The protocol for CPR now is the chest compressions without stopping for breathing for the patient. The reason for this is, it was determined by testing that compressions send oxygen through the blood to the various body parts, including the brain so stay with compressions instead of stopping for breathing. Especially stay with compressions unless you are trained in providing breathing. If you are trained, use a CPR mask and go through the steps for providing breathing. You get better results using a mask rather than without a mask. I have a CPR mask in there with a special hook up to use an oxygen tank, which I have, but wouldn’t have it at an emergency site. That mask works either way. I also have regular oxygen tank masks that hook to the tank in this bag. They are small and I know where they are.
3. A box of disposable emergency oral airways, sizes from infant to extra-large adult to use for opening an airway and use with oxygen tank if necessary. Unless you have training with these, don’t have them.
4. Bite Stick. To keep a seizure patient from swallowing his/her tongue. It is also helpful to use to try to keep your fingers out of a mouth. A disoriented person may bite your fingers off. Try not to put your finger in a mouth.
5. A wrist watch with all the numbers on there with a plain face so the numbers stand out. I find a pulse and count until 10 seconds pass, then multiply by 6 and have a pulse rate per minute count. This is not done in a hospital, those nurses do a full minute count. Our protocol is 10 and multiply.
6. Stethoscope for taking blood pressure and listening to heartbeat/lungs.
7. Real arm pressure cuff for taking blood pressure.
What about short cut automatic wrist or arm cuffs? You could use these ONLY if you have compared its results with the results your doctor gets in his office and adjust in your mind the difference when you use the automatic one. His results are correct so add or subtract your results to make them like his count.
One more thing about the automatic wrist ones. My husband used an automatic wrist one but when I tried to use it, I would get an error message almost constantly and have to keep trying to get it to work. I gave up and ordered one for a woman. Yes, they make them. I have small bones and my wrist was too small for the regular size ones so it kept showing error. Then, I took my new lady wrist one to the doctor’s office and it’s off 10 points to the high side. I can use it taking off 10 points from the reading. Don’t try to use an adult wrist one on a woman with small wrists. Get a woman one also if you are going to use wrist ones. For an emergency situation with someone, I would use my stethoscope and real pressure cuff to get an accurate reading.
A note about internal bleeding: A fast pulse (fast heart beat rate) and blood pressure going down, indicates internal bleeding if there is no bleeding you can see outside the body. The heart is working faster trying to fill up the vessels, but the blood is going into the abdomen so the blood pressure starts down. If you get those readings, the person needs a hospital right then as surgery is the only way to save that person.
8. Two gel packs for burns. These are fast to apply and will help dull the pain of a burn while the patient is transported.
9. Six packaged feminine pads. These are for very bloody wounds. They are thick and will absorb blood. Put a pad directly on the wound and wrap securely with Kerlix (Kelix info. is below).
10. Pen light to check eyes. Also to add light to the situation if in the dark. The pen light can stay on. A light weight flashlight along with the pen light is a good idea.
11. Four pair of examination gloves.
12. Scissors. I don’t use the crooked EMS scissors because they are awkward for me to use. I have a pair of regular scissors. You use the “cool” EMS ones if you want to be cool. I think I finally lost the cool ones.
13. Writing pen
14. Emergency Response sheets – your examination numbers are written on this form so when the patient gets to the hospital, they can quickly see the patient’s condition without having to question you. You can make your own sheet which is what I did. I can post mine if you want.
15. A MOST IMPORTANT ITEM:
Buy lots of Kendall Kerlix Gauze Bandage Rolls. Do not buy “Kerlix Type”. That is made in China and I wouldn’t trust it to be sterile nor would I trust it to have the “cling” property. For emergency medical care, for wounds except arterial bleeding, bind the wound with it and pull it at the same time to create pressure on the wound. If there is a lot of bleeding, use a feminine pad over the wound, then bind with Kerlix, pulling all the time to create pressure. When satisfied with the amount you have on there, cut it and press that part to the layer underneath it and it will bind to it. No need for tape in this emergency situation. I keep six packages in the bag.
I have used Kerlix to bind a shoulder that was out of place to keep it from moving more. I had two guys on a motorcycle who went around a corner and were thrown off and both of them had displaced shoulders on the same side. A displaced shoulder hurts more than a broken one. Used it for head wounds. Used it to keep eyes shut. Used it to make a sling for an arm. Whatever you need to bind or hold or prevent moving, Kerlix will do it. You can’t have too much.
Forgot you, post 36.
See if there is an “ECA” course - means “Emergency Care Assistant”. You have to learn the same stuff but there is much less pressure and it doesn’t go as deep into the problems as the EMT course, but it surely gives you what you need to know. I had a friend taking that when I was taking the EMT one and we were doing essentially the same thing - I just had more of it.
Always good advice.
I've also got sanitary napkins and tampons in my kit. They work well for puncture wounds.
Also got imodium and clove oil. Those are more technical and more for field troops.
Yes on the pressure bandage. Mine is an OD green one that I've carried for 30 years in it's sterile package.
/johnny
Thanks for that list, and explanations. I’m going to use it to prepare a kit, and print the hints to keep in the bag, since memory does not function as well as I would like.
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