Looking for a good first aid kit for my truck, would have been good to have had last night!

[Medic!]

I'm trying to remember my C.P.R.?

I think it stands for ''Check Pockets Right away''?

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Lots of good advice here. I did a couple of decades as vol. EMT, about 1980-2001. I remember making up kits, using various bags, etc. My thought is: talk to your EMT/FR friends and think back to what you personally have needed over the years. You should be able to figure out what you need to carry.

Having seen a lot of different kits, and having worked for a utility for 42 years, I've realized that those traditional steel truck kits are built that way for a reason. Any kit you put into a truck is likely to get banged around. You have other things on your mind, so maybe you don't check and update the limited shelf life things as often as you should. The day you need it (possibly because YOU have crashed), it's been banging around for months under the seat with your hatchet, a fire extinquisher that came off its bracket and a few other tools.

You want a durable kit.

You want a waterproof kit.

The more training you get, the better you will be at improvising when necessary. But whatever kit you have must survive in your truck until the day you need it.

 

[L84Cabo]

Last night I had dropped my son's buddy off at his house and on my way back home when I came across I bicyclist who was getting up from a nasty spill. He had been riding on the paved trail near my house and when he went to cross the gravel road apparently he got into some of the deeper gravel and went down pretty hard. His left shoulder took the brunt of the hit along with some pretty good road rash on the back side of his arm. He was a little stunned and I asked where his car was. Turns out he was about 7 miles away so I insisted that I take him to his vehicle. I was in the farm truck and so I wasn't too worried about the blood which did end up on the seat but I felt a little unprepared as I didn't have anything to help clean up or patch the damage.

I may make one up as most of the ones I view online seem to be about how many pieces of cheap stuff they can claim are in the kit.

I'm looking for ideas from this smart group… and go!

Years ago I was in need of a solid first aid kit for extended trips down into Baja. You have a problem down there and odds are pretty good that 911 will NOT be rolling up to save you. When I started looking around for a good one I was pretty disappointed. The kits I found were some variation of a) incomplete, b) crappy quality, c) expensive, if not d) all of the above.

Accordingly, I'm a huge fan of pulling your own kit together. I ended up with a much better kit with a bunch of extra supplies for refilling. To this day the main kit lives in a 1550 Pelican case behind the drivers seat in my truck (this case... Pelican 1550EMS Case | PelicanCasesForLess.com). The rest of the supplies found a home in a storage tub and have become the household first aid kit/replenishment source.

I had a pretty good time pulling the kit together...at least I thought it was fun and it was very educational. While I had a fair amount of basic first aid experience, I still did a lot of research on what to include and the rule I had for myself is that I had to make sure I knew how to use the bulk of what I included. I say "the bulk," because I do have some things in their like a scalpel and I'm not about to go learn how to cut somebody open.

The kit has also evolved over the years as I've replenished supplies to keep it up to date and added or changed things. For example, I initially started out with reasonably priced soft case. The pelican case is a somewhat recent change from a couple years ago.

 

[L84Cabo]

I would just get a basic 1st aid kit. If you get the more complicated items your libel to do more harm then good unless you know what you are doing.

I completely disagree unless you're just an idiot who doesn't know his/her limitations. There are lots of doctors and nurses around and you never know who is going to be at a scene. Be as well prepared as you can.

 

[Joe13]

I completely disagree unless you're just an idiot who doesn't know his/her limitations. There are lots of doctors and nurses around and you never know who is going to be at a scene. Be as well prepared as you can.

Then they should probably have their own first aid kit in their car eh?

Why even bother to drag this into name calling when it's a personal choice?

 

[Hamilton Felix]

If you have the money, a Pelican case is a good alternative to a steel kit. Lacking the money, don't rule out ammo cans. They are tough, waterproof and come in a number of sizes.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I like the Marine style of "ammo Case" for a first aide kit. Plenty of storage and water proof! I keep two of them in my truck and they work really well!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I like the Marine style of "ammo Case" for a first aide kit. Plenty of storage and water proof! I keep two of them in my truck and they work really well!

 

[Ura-Ki]

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Thanks!

 

[Stomper]

I like the Marine style of "ammo Case" for a first aide kit. Plenty of storage and water proof! I keep two of them in my truck and they work really well!

Hey Junior, what's wrong with the "Army style" of ammo case.... Hmmmmm?!

 

[Ura-Ki]

Hey Junior, what's wrong with the "Army style" of ammo case.... Hmmmmm?!

I called it Marine cause I used to always see them in flame orange, never Green! They were labeled as marine grade, so...........

 

[clearconscience]

Well I will say I was bombing down this hill years ago on my mountain bike just after dark in spring. I tried to jump a curb and hit the side of the sidewalk it cranked my wheel and i flew over my handbars into a cinder block wall then rolled a couple times. I came down right on my right arm on the top edge of the wall. Thought a broke my arm. No helmet like an idiot, but luckily didn't hit my head. I just laid there for a few mins trying to self analyze if I was injured or not. My arm was hurting real bad and kinda numb. Cars going by, not one stopped to even share a "nice one jack arse!" Or anything.

I rode home with one arm. Had a nice scrap/cut on my arm, luckily Where my arm hit the corner of the wall was where I had my small stick ipod. My cut was the outline of it.
Maybe it saved me from breaking my arm, who knows.

That my off topic story.

Any who, I wanted to put together a kit and even the kits I saw that were $100+ didn't have half the stuff I wanted.
So made an order on amazon was about $200.
But gave me a solid kit with extras.

From the last few years going hunting I knew a tourniquet was a must have for a hunting pack.

Too many idiots out there. A LOT drinking before going out or stopping at the bar for a mid day break.

I need to get a few more bigger items to get a car kit together.

 

[Joe13]

Well I will say I was bombing down this hill years ago on my mountain bike just after dark in spring. I tried to jump a curb and hit the side of the sidewalk it cranked my wheel and i flew over my handbars into a cinder block wall then rolled a couple times. I came down right on my right arm on the top edge of the wall. Thought a broke my arm. No helmet like an idiot, but luckily didn't hit my head. I just laid there for a few mins trying to self analyze if I was injured or not. My arm was hurting real bad and kinda numb. Cars going by, not one stopped to even share a "nice one jack arse!" Or anything.

I rode home with one arm. Had a nice scrap/cut on my arm, luckily Where my arm hit the corner of the wall was where I had my small stick ipod. My cut was the outline of it.
Maybe it saved me from breaking my arm, who knows.

That my off topic story.

Any who, I wanted to put together a kit and even the kits I saw that were $100+ didn't have half the stuff I wanted.
So made an order on amazon was about $200.
But gave me a solid kit with extras.

From the last few years going hunting I knew a tourniquet was a must have for a hunting pack.

Too many idiots out there. A LOT drinking before going out or stopping at the bar for a mid day break.

I need to get a few more bigger items to get a car kit together.

May already know this but some may not - you can use a belt, para cord, a neckerchief or bandana as a tourniquet.

However, once you use it you better get to an ER fast or you will loose said limb. Loosen it and you'll die of blood poisoning - it's a last ditch effort from my training but there are way more qualified people on here that can weigh in on that - my first aid knowledge is a few years old and sometimes things change.

 

[Camelfilter]

Good points on the tourniquet. Remember though, loss of life, or loss of limb. An average sized adult will exsanguinate in approximately 5 minutes, perhaps even less, from a femoral cut.

Even with said tourniquet placement, would depend upon blood already lost before unrecoverable shock.

I can't set up a landing zone, so would have to wait for first responders who can, they would also take over care of the patient at that point anyways. Would it be faster for me to meet first responders somewhere (assuming out in the boonies, with responders being mostly volunteers), well I can't transport someone if I'm also applying pressure.

As for unqualified care? I thought we have general laws that protect non-professionals when they help out prior to first responder arrival. Like Good Samaritan laws, i.e. What any "reasonable" person would do in a given situation.

Ex: Pulling someone from a burning vehicle / house. C-spine injury is very possible, perhaps very likely if it's an vehicle crash. I'll be damned though if I'll stand by and watch someone burn to death.

Be reasonable, use the best tool we have at hand, that being what's between our ears.

Hope we'll never have to...

 

[clearconscience]

Yes anything will work as a tourniquet but getting a real kit would be much better.
If you throw a belt over it or paracord chances of it coming loose are pretty good.
If your out hunting then you may need to leave the person and get cell service or get help.

That golden hour goes real quick if your in the boonies.

 

[Joe13]

Yes anything will work as a tourniquet but getting a real kit would be much better.
If you throw a belt over it or paracord chances of it coming loose are pretty good.
If your out hunting then you may need to leave the person and get cell service or get help.

That golden hour goes real quick if your in the boonies.

Tie a loop, put a stick thru it, twist until tight as can be, tie stick in place.

At least that's what I was taught - thank everything I've never been in a place to need the knowledge.

I Probably need a refresher course at this point.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Oregon does have a Good Samaritan law where anyone who responds and give aid to an injured person cannot be sued by that person for "unqualified care"

 

[clearconscience]

Doesn't mean you can't be sued.
Just means they may not win.
How much money will you be out?

I had a co-worker that was a volunteer firefighter in LA, Cali his Supr told him to never do any first aid if not working for the dept. call 911 and that's it.

Of course that's commifornia and they may have different laws, different rules for volunteers who knows.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Well I'm certified First Aid, BBPP(Blood Borne Pathogen Protocols-or something like that), CPR and OIS(Oregon Intervention System) 1 and 2 per job requirements... I work with differently needs adults (also known as Special Needs Individuals). According to my employers legal counsel, the Oregon courts have determined that a person who renders first aid of any kind is immune to a lawsuit related to quality of care. Only when the situation relates to abuse, neglect or exploitation does that make it possible for both civil and criminal cases/charges to be brought up. Back to topic.. I keep a metl boxed first aid kit in my vehicle. I go and review the contents every time I go on trips and replenish whats used up and whats expired if needed. So far its been mostly bandages and bandaids and alcohol swabs and aspirin.