So I'm taking inventory on our emergency medical supplies in lieu of hurricane season, and they kind of suck. I can take care of some minor wounds and scrapes, and with some oral meds, but everything else is out of consideration
(IVs, big wounds, advanced pain, etc.)

What are some good things you've added, and where did you get them? (For example, how am I supposed to add a severe pain med without getting an Rx from a doctor, and trying to convince them I am not a drug seeker? I'm the kind of person that can take 800 mg of ibuprofen and barely feel my limbs.)

5/28/2012 11:52:05 AM

preppers love fish antibiotics

5/28/2012 1:09:05 PM

AntiMnifesto is not participating in hurricane season this year and has instead elected to inventory his first aid kit.

5/28/2012 1:26:51 PM

^LOL

5/28/2012 1:46:12 PM

read prepper/survivalist blogs, forums, etc. way more info than you'll ever get on tww.

5/28/2012 1:57:34 PM

^^^ I'm reading that as misusing "in lieu" where he meant "in advance of" or "in preparation for"?

Haha

5/28/2012 2:34:25 PM

I would always much rather have emergency medical supplies than a hurricane season. The TWW grammar police,
always to the rescue of wimminz!

(Side note: not a boy).

[Edited on May 28, 2012 at 5:03 PM. Reason : indeed.]

5/28/2012 5:02:00 PM

A helmet is actually a really smart thing to have in an emergency kit, especially for children

5/28/2012 11:29:09 PM

google "first aid supplies".

5/30/2012 2:13:34 PM

Been thinking about this a little lately...Not so much for the hurricanes, but more for my outdoor excursions. What do you guys carry when you're out biking/hiking/boating/4wheeling/etc? I've always had a generic first aid kit on the boat and ATV, but I often throw some things together when I'm traveling without motor too.

The best things I've found so far that don't require much space or weight are antibiotic ointment, gauze, medical tape, super glue, and caffeine + ephedrine. All of that will fit in a ziplock sandwich bag and only weighs a few ounces.

I've superglued many bad cuts together that would have been stitched if they went to the doctor. Cuts are washed the best way possible and stuffed with antibiotic ointment. On places that endure a lot of stress (such as the hand or foot) the glued skin will eventually start to bleed again, but re-applying is no problem most of the time and a few applications of super glue will usually do the trick when stitches aren't an option.

Bandaids are generally useless when you're active so I just leave them out now. Cuts can be tended to in the best way possible on site and wrapped with medical tape + gauze to keep it together until better options are available. I know some people use duct tape, but I find medical tape sticks to the skin better over the long term and I think a little airflow to the wound is helpful. The only exception I've found is the super large bandaids that will cover your whole heel. If you start to feel chafing from your shoe, slapping one of these on your heel will save you from a ton of misery. Sometimes shoes break in after 10-20 miles, but sometimes they don't. Without heel protection you can end up with a lot of unnecessary suffering during that process.

The caffeine + ephedrine should be obvious to anyone who has used it as a weight loss supplement. If you need to really move for hours; especially if you're without food, this will do the trick. It kills appetite and boosts energy. The crash afterwards will be an equal and opposite reaction, so I'd only use it if I were in the situation where I had to push through a few rough hours to get to the car/boat/help. I wouldn't use it if I didn't know exactly when I'd be able to get help because it would be too easy to push yourself to the point of exhaustion and then crash hard.

I usually have some Ibuprofen too, but more than likely I end up using it because I didn't eat enough (blood sugar swings) or I got dehydrated and ended up with a mild headache...Dumb move and a person should be treating the cause in addition to the symptom, but no big deal most of the time.

What do you guys carry in addition to these things?

[Edited on June 5, 2012 at 1:37 AM. Reason : s]

6/5/2012 1:34:56 AM

Duct tape, waterproof medical tape, athletic tape, gauze (rolls, large and small nonstick pads), antibiotic ointment, hand sanitizing wipes, and saline spray will fix a cut enough til you can get better help.

At the very least my first aid kits have first aid scissors. I like the ones from rite aid. I like to have a scalpel in case you need to dig splinters out or whatever.

As far as meds I keep it simple; just benadryl, tylenol, and pepto bismol. I think benadryl is often overlooked.

Water purification tabs and firestarting tools are also big on my list. I like Light My Fire firesteels and fatwood. I think they should go into a first aid kit unless you're some freak like me who keeps that kind of stuff in your tacticalbagofdeathmanpurse.

Those are what I think are essential. Other nice to have stuff would be mole skin and carmex and a nalgene bottle.

Beyond first aid I like to have guns and ammo, a larger knife, paracord, tarp, camp stove.......just go read some survivalist sites.

6/5/2012 2:17:28 AM

the only thing I have that hasn't been mentioned is a few quikclot packs in case somebody is seriously bleeding

6/5/2012 11:56:26 AM

Benadryl is good and also a two pack of epi pens if you have a bad allergy.

6/6/2012 8:48:41 AM

hand grenades.


motherfucking hand grenades.

6/6/2012 8:51:20 AM