Ammo Can First Aid Kit

[brushogger]

I always include activated charcoal capsules. Works great for food poisoning. It absorbs the toxins the bugs put out. It actually works pretty well for GI issues in general. Since it's an absorbent and not a drug, there aren't really any dosage issues. I had a friend that ate some smoked fish in Canada that wasn't done correctly. He thought he was going to die. Gave him 8 of the caps and 30 min later he was good to go.

 

[emtmark]

Don't sweat the CPR mask, continuous compressions are far and away more important that rescue breathing. Community CPR or "Hands Only" is being taught nationwide now. Effective and relatively easy to perform we are getting higher save rates and more people are willing to step up.

 

[emtmark]

Super glue gel is pretty handy

 

[rayra]

For starters, is the gasket on that old can any good? Get a new one.

I'd get a decent family-sized Red Cross First Aid kit and then start adding to it, expanding on what it has, with more variety and quantity in pills, mole skin, balms and sunblock, wound dressings, trauma kit, tourniquets, lots of sterile dressing materials and those classic linen squares good for both bandage wrap and slings. Some lifeboat rations and water. Learn how to use everything in there. Think basic 1st aid and then add a bunch of stuff needed in the great outdoors. Bug repellant. Snakebite kit, analgesics, aloe for sunburn. Benadryl. Lots of stuff to clean and treat gouged hands / fingers, knees and elbow, wounds you'd get trying to fix a busted vehicle or free a stuck one. A light source. Fire. A plastic container of Lysol antibacterial wipes. Chemical hand / pocket warmers. A buttload of mylar emergency blankets, they don't take much room and are cheap in bulk.
Medical shears for cutting clothing. splint material. Couple quarts of Pedialite for fluid and electrolyte replacement (it's what plants crave)

Use large / 1gal Freezer ziplocs to organize by task, they're thicker / more durable. And being clear you can immediately see what's in them. Pack the box with the more commonly needed stuff near the top, but also keep the 'need to stop bleeding immediately' stuff near the top. Maybe even taped inside the lid, so it is always in a known spot.


eta here's a small kit I bought for a bugout bag, which I added extra materials to. Items in teh top half of the image I added, bottom half came in the kit. I liked the compact kit for my purpose, it was about big enough for a thick paperback book and it had a good amount of room still in it so it was easy to add things.

The right half is 'stop bleeding', the left half is everything else.

I also have a 'trauma kit' that includes some pressure bandages and blood clotting agent. Good for a big laceration, compound fracture.

 

[coastwatcher42]

While the Quick Clot is an effective hemostatic agent, the Celox Gauze is becoming the agent of choice among the military and first responders. I switched out the Quick Clot in all of my kits last year for the Celox and, luckily, haven't had to use it yet.

http://www.celoxmedical.com/usa/products/celox-gauze/

 

[rayra]

I ain't chasing the bleeding edge (pun intended) or chucking something that's perfectly adequate to replace it with something more expensive and 'New!' Stuff isn't free.

 

[Happy Joe]

Over the last 30 years off road, in the woods and desert the most used items in my vehicle kits (and hiking kit) have been;
Large fabric band aids (ZEE is the best brand that I have found).
Providone-Iodine solution (way more effective than triple antibiotic).
Providone-Iodine wipes are easier to use in a hiking kit (no leakage/staining issues)
Vet-wrap elastic bandages (come in colors & very large sizes and are way cheaper to give away than Ace).
Butterfly band aids - use to close bigger cuts (stitching can result in lawsuits).
Gauze (rollers).
High quality duct tape (way better than adhesive or athletic tape).
An eye cup to simplify washing contamination out of eyes.
A tiny, scalpel sharp, Swiss army knife (Victornox) with scissors and tweezers.
A credit card sized Fresnel magnifier.

drugs that have been used (no particular order);
Zantac.
Imodium.
Aspirin

The most effective single item; First Responder Training... (doesn't fit in the kit but its instantly and always available once implemented; reading a manual especially when time is critical is not a substitute... may be available free from your employer). ...time critical response has not yet been needed.

I do include a couple of battle dressings in the kits although they have never needed to be used (thankfully)
I also have included a Sam splint in the vehicle kits (again never used).
There is more than this in the FAKs (First aid Kits) but the above are all that has been needed.

Enjoy!

 

[summerprophet]

The US military no longer uses the powder version because of that.

Actually, the U.S. miliatry discontinued use of the powdered quick clot, as soldiers were tearing open packets in windy conditions, and getting it in their eyes, or their patients eyes. Quick clot bonds to, and absorbs any liquid it touches. Not great for eyes, or nose, or mouth.

 

[AFBronco235]

Actually, the U.S. miliatry discontinued use of the powdered quick clot, as soldiers were tearing open packets in windy conditions, and getting it in their eyes, or their patients eyes. Quick clot bonds to, and absorbs any liquid it touches. Not great for eyes, or nose, or mouth.

And makes wounds a nasty bit(# to clean out once the patient reaches help too. Still, its better than nothing.