Medical Supply Kits and Planning

Prepper-Resources.com ^ | 10/22/12 | PJ

[Kartographer]

I was recently over at GA’s website, Survive2balive.com and read a post about a few of the medical supplies he recommended for everyday first aid. This got me thinking about my own medical supply plan, how I got started and eventually improved it. I think it is very important to have a wide range of medical supplies for any number of scenarios that could occur on a daily basis or after SHTF, but there are also other factors out there which must be considered in order to make your entire medical plan complete. Simply buying a decent first aid kit and tossing it on your basement shelf is about the worst thing you can do, slightly above not owning a first aid kit at all. Medical preparedness must be taken seriously in order to increase your chances of survival.

[driftdiver]

Benadryl works well for allergic reactions. Not as powerful or quick as an epi-pen but at least you can by it over the counter.

[ExcursionGuy84]

When I was inflicted with poison-ivy on me right forearm, kneecaps and lower calf-muscles,
I found out that these items help relieve a lot of the itching when applied to the rash area:

Colgate white toothpaste [baking-soda &peroxide]
Vicks vapo-rub/generic
Neutrogena acne-wash soap

Now, had I some Jewelweed-based soap at the time, the rash would have gone-away much-more quickly. Recently picked-up some Burt's Bee's ivy-relief soap with Jewelweed extract inside.

I'm stocking all 3 items + B.B.'s soap in my med kits as well.

[The Great RJ]

This is a good list, but from my 20+ years as an EMT/Advanced EMT you need some more basics. I would add a large supply of assorted band-aids including large sizes, 4"X 4" gauze pads, rolls of Kling or similar self clinging gauze rolls in assorted widths, ABD or similar trauma pads... extra absorbent sanitary napkins work too provided they are not scented, with "wings" or adhesive backed, good old muslin triangular bandages..can be used for slings, to hold dressings in place for head wounds and lots of other things and heavy duty vinyl trauma gloves...the thin latex examining gloves don't hold up in field conditions.

For those who are trained... assorted oral airways, a CPR mask...makes CPR easier by stopping the wet nasties like vomit from going into the rescuers mouth, a bag mask type resuscitator, a traction splint...basic half ring metal splint might be found in government/ military surplus stores.. your triangle bandages can be used to make a traction device, inflatable splints.. easy to carry and use, small O2 bottles with a regulator and assorted masks, portable oral suction device..I have seen foot powered devices as surplus from cold war era packaged disaster hospitals..might be available in surplus stores, flea markets etc.

While not medical, I would want some of the following items if I had to contend with disaster situations: GI type entrenching tool, a multipurpose rescue tool..available from EMT/FD supply stores or a couple of good old crow bars, lengths of stout rope, a bottle type hydraulic jack, leather gloves, safety goggles, government surplus type folding stretchers and a supply of blankets.

IV fluids are a good idea, but you need training and lots of practice to be good at doing IV sticks.

[bgill]

I’ve also heard to use the orange shop soap, Goop, to get the poison ivy oil off your skin before the rash starts. FYI, don’t take a bath but a shower after coming in from anywhere that might have poison ivy. I made that mistake once and ended up with it from head to foot. Also, wash your hands in the sink before showering.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “I’ve also heard to use the orange shop soap, Goop, to get the poison ivy oil off your skin before the rash starts” <<

.
Aerosol cans of carburetor cleaner work really well for that too; also for your tools (saws, machetes, pruners, etc.)

[editor-surveyor]

Do you have experience with Silverlon bandages? They stop all bacterial infection dead in their tracks, and are completely reuseable by washing. Especially good for severe abrasions.

[El Laton Caliente]

The aspirin is a great idea, but ALWAYS buy the coated. The shelf life is over 10x the uncoated.

[El Laton Caliente]

Those look great, but they sure aren’t cheap!

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Several potent but less known medical kit ingredients:

Paramicrocidine. Grapefruit seed extract that is a potent antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agent. Comes in pill or liquid form and can be used to sanitize water for drinking or medical use, also making the water mildly antiseptic.

Oregano oil. 75 identified medicinal components. One of the strongest and most effective broad spectrum antibiotics known. Also acts as an antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anesthetic, antioxidant, anti-venom and anti-parasitic.

Petroleum jelly. All sorts of uses.

Epsom salts. 2-4 tsp per cup of water as laxative. As well as Imodium A-D against diarrhea.

Ammonium Alum. While it can be used on canker sores in the mouth, and to stop light bleeding, its best use is to take the precipitates out of water, so that it does not clog water purification filters as much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9BY69KnzoU

[SVTCobra03]

I have found some excellent first aid kits and first responder kits and supplies from www.galls.com. I am looking in my area for Red Cross first aid courses and then later, wilderness first aid courses.

[Ellendra]

I’d suggest Tylenol as well as aspirin. There will be times you’ll want a painkiller that is NOT a blood-thinner.

[Pollster1]

This is a good list, but from my 20+ years as an EMT/Advanced EMT you need some more basics. I would add a large supply of assorted band-aids including large sizes, 4"X 4" gauze pads, rolls of Kling or similar self clinging gauze rolls in assorted widths

Excellent point. Having done wound care recently (over the past six weeks!), I can attest to the fact that a single slow-healing wound can use up an enormous amount of gauze. What I thought was enough for a year or two of SHTF injuries turned out not to be enough for even two weeks of care for one wound - and it wasn't even infected. The amount of gauze actually needed if something goes wrong is quite impressive.

[editor-surveyor]

Silver isn’t cheap, but they save lives and limbs.

They eliminate the need for 90% of trauma amputations, and they can be reused for years.

For a true prepper, they are the bandage to have.

[editor-surveyor]

Tread lightly with tylenol. Even in very small doses it does liver damage.

[Marcella]

You have a good kit. I would look at the items that are one use items and determine if you need more of that item as some of those are 1 or 2 of that item.

I would add an automatic blood pressure monitor cuff - the kind you put on the arm and it measures it by itself. Buy one off the shelf and take it to your doctor the next time you go and check it's reading with the machine in the doctor's office. If yours does not register as the doctor's, adjust your thinking to make yours like it. As in, if yours is ten points higher than his, mentally take off ten points when you use yours. You need to know the blood pressure of your patient and that also gives the heart rate. You will know how to evaluate those two items if you get the book I mention below.

There are two airways in your kit. Don't use them if you have no training. I recommend buying an EMT training book as that will tell you how to use that and how to use an oxygen tank with mask. Do not use an oxygen tank with mask until you read that, as you could blow out the lungs of your patient.

I looked on Amazon and there is one EMT book that is $18.73. Name is “McGraw-Hill's EMT-Basic, Second Edition”. Just a first aid book will not have instruction in airways and oxygen tank use and information on heart rate and blood pressure.

I see you have a stethoscope. I recommend everyone have one. That is a fast way to determine if there is a heartbeat. Feeling for a pulse at the neck or wrist is too iffy to find in an emergency situation, especially if you aren't used to doing that. The stethoscope is for sure if the heart is beating or not.

I have two pairs of EMT shears and I don't use them - they are awkward and I think dull. I have a pair of Singer scissors that are sharp and will cut through the toughest material. The Singer scissors are years old but made when metal was serious metal, and made sharp.

If the SHTF, I will not be suturing up wounds. I think suturing is SHTF fairy tale talk - the pain would be too great for the patient. Will use Celox to stop the bleeding and plenty of Steri-Strips to hold the wound together. If it's a huge wound and should have stitches, and an emergency room is available, that's where I take the patient. Otherwise, the Celox and Steri-Strips is it. If an artery is cut, that's likely a death outcome shortly.

The best preventive to avoid serious accident in a SHTF situation, is, DON'T CLIMB. Falling from a height, can break limbs and cause head injury. Breaking a thigh bone (femur) can cut the femoral artery and that person will die as that artery is deep in the leg to protect it and you can't get to it and if you could, you can't stop the bleeding. With every heartbeat, the artery gushes blood. Don't climb yourself and don't let children climb.

If a head is bleeding, assume the skull is crushed there. Assume it so you won't put pressure there and shove a bone fragment into the brain. Use Celox to stop the bleeding and bandage carefully, not pushing on that spot.

In the EMT manual, you will see how to bandage different type wounds, including head wounds.

I would have to say, after learning to evaluate a patient and apply life saving techniques, two of my specialties in EMT training, was determining what the flow of oxygen needed to be from a tank and applying the right mask, and learning different bandaging techniques, including pressure bandages.

[Ellendra]

Every painkiller has it’s side effects, that’s why I’m suggesting having more than one on hand. Last Friday I was in Urgent Care bleeding all over the place because of a cut on my finger. It seems I had taken enough ibuprofen earlier that day that I was literally gushing. Even the spot where they injected the anesthetic was spouting blood like a fountain. I’m normally a slow bleeder. Lesson learned.

[Ellendra]

I think suturing is SHTF fairy tale talk - the pain would be too great for the patient.

Depends on the patient. Some people get a delayed pain reaction, that could give you a window in which to suture without them feeling it.
(My mom's side of the family has this. My uncles have stitched themselves up on occasion. And last Friday the doc who stiched my finger up was amazed I didn't react when she cleaned the wound with alcohol. It was within that little window, the pain took an hour to hit.)

[Sarajevo]

Benedryl is the counter for allergic reactions since it is an aghonist-antagonist. It actually removes the histamine from the receptor site and replaces it.
Epinephrine, OTOH, is used as a bronchodilator since many allergic reactions are powerful enough to constrict the airway. Epinephrine (aka adrenaline)is produced naturally by the adrenal cortex on the kidneys.

bgill - Are you sure that you are having a reaction to the epi, or another component of the injection? The dilation effect on smooth muscle could also cause your BP to drop at a high rate causing a transitory syncope effect.

[bgill]

All three times I’ve been given it, blam! Yes, yes, I know it’s supposed to be a natural element but I don’t want anything to do with it.