What does a decent first aid kit really need ?
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In support ... on the charity walks I do, the St Johns guys specifically advise not puncturing blister you are going to walk on for both comfort and healing reasons. I personally apply Compede with micropore over for extra hold and carry on.
As I wrote. It is the standard medical advice to keep blisters where possible. Sometimes, however, it isn't possible. In my experience, decompressing them can work well. There is constant debate on this in burns, where more of my experience lies, but it seems to be equally contentious with friction blisters.
There is some work to support my suggestion, which also has some other interesting points about blister prevention:
The abstract can be read here
There is some work to support my suggestion, which also has some other interesting points about blister prevention:
The abstract can be read here
French medics on the Marathon des Sables rip any flesh off a blister and then dress it...sadists or their SOP?
What I would love is for someone to write a sort of idiots guide for dealing with cuts.
I've got a few students who are medical professionals (A surgeon, a paramedic and a GP) who have offered to give me some advice but there's always a language barrier there.
If anyone could give a simple, point by point, technique for dealing with cuts I would be eternally grateful.
I've got a few students who are medical professionals (A surgeon, a paramedic and a GP) who have offered to give me some advice but there's always a language barrier there.
If anyone could give a simple, point by point, technique for dealing with cuts I would be eternally grateful.
Lots of good advice here, Graham's point about the mirror and torch is a good one, I have a WW2 steel heliograph in my belt pouch which although it has never been used for signaling it once made it much easier to remove a insect that had clambered inside the orbit of my eye
A small mirror is also useful for inspecting your appearance before heading back to civilization
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Guest
That's quite a fatalist attitude! Which thankfully I do not share!
I have a very good friend who ruptured his aorta due to trauma sustained in an 'impact event' (ie he fell from a very great height) but he survived (he lost his left leg and sustained multiple fractures but he survived).
As an EMT, I have dealt with bleeding femoral arteries on several occasions, nearly all survived.
A possible injury to a bushcrafter is damage to the radial artery (in the wrist) or other major blood vessels in the fingers/arms. Less life-threatening than a blown aorta or femoral, but life-threatening nonetheless.
The point I'm trying to make is that by purchasing, practising with, then carrying, a cheap, lightweight, easily available military-type dressing (or as Alex suggests a No4 dressing and separate crepe bandage) a person may be able to save someone (themselves or someone else) from bleeding to death.
My suggestion is in direct response to this thread which the OP specifically relates to a severe laceration caused by an edged tool.
Almost everyone reading this is into using edged tools, usually in remote settings. Without 'getting into the weeds' of casualty treatment protocols I still insist that it is a good idea to carry a compression/pressure (ie military-type) dressing.
Band-aids were developed for miltary use and are now commonplace, I think the medical items currently being used in combat-zones will be commonplace in the future.
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Guest
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If you get this stuff in your eye or inhale it then you will be sorry, if you survive inhaling it anyways
It is also available in the form of a dressing (containing the clotting agent within the fabric, ensuring you won't inhale it), but this sort of stuff is best left to those who've had the appropriate training. It also has a use-by date.
Something along the lines of what to clean what with (hands, wound, skin around it) or not.
Then about covering/dressing it.
Basically I'd be interested in making a good job of patching up little cuts and keeping big ones clean and tidy for someone else to fix
it's so weird all this talk of life threatening injuries on a bushcraft forum, I hadn't realised these injuries were so common, I thought with the correct training and respect which EVERYONE who wields a knife or axe should know these injuries were extremely rare??!
Something along the lines of what to clean what with (hands, wound, skin around it) or not.
Then about covering/dressing it.
Basically I'd be interested in making a good job of patching up little cuts and keeping big ones clean and tidy for someone else to fix
OK. If I was to put together a few easy to understand PDFs or something, is there anything anyone else would like to see in them?
Alex
Yeah. Low Risk, but High Impact. Bit like car accidents. Seat belts and air bags in cars hardly ever gets activated, but if you have an accident, you sure as hell want them!
Hiya Shep,
Not anecdotal for me. I haven't had to do it for a while, but I've taken care of a few blisters doing just that. Carefully draining the blister from the side and not ripping the skin often allowed the area to dry out and the skin reattach (sorry, not an experienced first aid bod so I don't know all the right terms!
). Only thing to watch for was during the initial healing the skin was still quite mobile and could rip away with light rubbing. So a simple dressing was needed to protect the area from direct pressure and movement.Hope this helps (and I still need to book a refresher! Damn, another thing to remember to do!).
Nigel.
EDIT:
Just seen the posts following Shep's. Just to clarify my post I accept it's better to leave blisters alone and would only pierce if it hindered movement or was likely to rupture on it's own. Also I've only ever done this with friction blisters. Always left burns well alone.
From long distance (100k) walking experience I have found that no matter how carefully you drain or otherwise loosen then top layer and no matter how you dress it, it will come off. My advice is to leave the blister intact and apply Compede with micropore support.
However, prevention is better than cure and my two top tips are to wear loop pile socks and to check "warm spots" when you feel them coming and slap a Compede on before they become blisters.
Don't buy cheap blister plasters, they are rubbish.
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