first aid pack- what' inside?

slotek

What are you carrying in your first aid pack?

IndyBoy

Well, hey, beat this! Not that it's a competition, no, of course not!

I'm actually carrying a full fluids set (that's an IV, a bag of saline, catheters, etc). I'm not a medical prof, but was trained in their use by a couple of errant vets I met in Hampi, who were carrying it in case of emergency, as the lack of such treatment quickly in the case of blood loss is almost allways fatal.

On a more convential note, I would suggest the following - all of which you can buy in India:

Crepe bandage
Sterile dressings
Plasters (bandaids for the yonkers)
Sterile needles and syringes
Sodium Fusidate gel (Antibiotic skin cream)
Betnovate steroid cream (use for mossie bites, or any irritation, but not on the face)
Paracetamol 500mg
Ibuprofen 400mg
Ciprofloxacin 500mg (10 of) (antibiotic - a course is 1 tablet two times daily, for a minimum of 5 days - and get this, you can DRINK on this antibiotic)
Benadryl (antihistamine for mozzie bites) (in india buy under a different name - can't remember it today)
Valium for those night buses.
Thermometer (check if you have a fever, if so, get to a doctor immediately)


I do have a selection of other items, but rarely use them:
Anti-inflamatory creams and pills for an ankle sprain.
Steristrips and sutures
triangular bandage
Artery clamps (don't ask!)


Please note, I do not intend to give medical advice to anyone, and you should consult a real doctor before taking any medicine.

steven_ber

Does a 4-week pack of anti-malaria tablets count as a first aid pack?

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picklepak

Iodine in a plastic bottle is the key to my good health. It can do everything from purify water to disinfect cuts, to allow me to perform minor surgery on myself (at great pain, and based on my own dimwitted ideas of "roughing it").

Otherwise, wide guaze bandages, scissors and some white tape are the only things that helped my severely cut-up feet from becoming amputated appendages. Those damn elcheapo flip-flops from Laos were nearly the death of me!

Oh yeah, I bought a digital thermometer in Goa too. I figured that when my temperature hits 104F (again - malaria, blah!), I'd know it's time to visit the hospital or else forever rest in peace. Other than that, I carried some minor medications that I picked up at chemists here and there...

LuAnnandJawahar

We always warn people about buying flip flops here, doesn't matter the quality. The point is buy them before you leave home and break them in! Nasty nasty foot infections are easy to come by here when you have an open wound/blister!

You are rarely someplace that doesn't have a pharmacy, so don't over do it with your first aid kit.
Bandaids, alchohol wipes, benedryl or similar, triple antibiotic cream and a few aspirin or ibuprofen should take care of you until you can get to a pharmacy or Dr. We're big fans of Cipro but wouldn't consider it part of a "first aid kit".

BTW Indyboy, you're kind of creepin' us out

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SHIMLA

Hey Indyboy,

You seem to be carrying an entire dispensary, not just a first aid kit !

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IndyBoy

Well, I chucked my guide book, and its only about the same size. BTW Obviously I wouldn't bother, but I'm biking around the himalaya, and as far as I'm aware, the ambulance response is a little more than 10 minutes....
Plus its not every day that someone gives you that kind of training + equipment, so i thought i'd follow thru on it, and carry the kit wherever my bike goes - hope to god i never need it, eh?

LaContessa

I only ever take a couple of plasters and a bit of cotton wool, a tube of antiseptic cream, couple of sachets of rehydration stuff, strong painkillers, and maybe some immodium. My Swiss Army knife has tweezers and scissors on it. And once or twice some left over anti-biotics. Oh yeah and the ever important and vital Tiger Balm.

Shameful I know, but I've always managed with this stuff, and anything else I've ever needed I've managed to scrounge, borrow, beg, buy, swap or make do.

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rickshawwallah

Hate to break it to you, IndyBoy, but filling your bloodstream with saline is almost always fatal, too. That's why we take people with severe hemmorhages to a hospital! The only situation where an IV bag of saline could be useful to you while biking in the Himalaya would be if you got severely dehydrated. You're much better off just carrying an extra waterbottle.

By vets do you mean animal doctors, travel veterans, military veterans...? They were certainly errant, regardless.

And who on earth told you it was a good idea to drink (presumably you mean alcohol) while taking Cipro?

IndyBoy

Really, RSW, I'm not sure that your style of reply is suitable to this forum. I suggest that you reread the home page, where it suggests that it is supposed to be a friendly forum. There's a very good reason why I don't use the TT, and I'm sure that most people reading this will understand my frustation at your replies. To be honest, I don't care if they do or not, its just that's the feel that i got from this forum. I apologise to everyone for escallating this - I considered not responding to any of your comments, but I feel that my honour, and especially that of my friends has been tarnished. I probably won't bother to post here again if the forum has changed so much.

I post only on this forum, as every other forum of any kind I've found on the net is plagued with arguments and one-upmanship.
I don't post in order to advice people, just to share a little bit of my life with others. I thought that a few people might be interested to hear of someone carrying an "extreme" first aid kit. Your advice is neither relevant nor necessary.

Ok, so this is what I want to say. You may or may not beleive that you have a better medical knowledge than me, which is entirely possible. (from your reply though, i doubt that you have a very good grasp of exactly what it is that my equipment is designed to do) However I won't hear a word said against my two friends who took the time and trouble to carry full emergency paramedics kits around india, just in case they were ever in a situation where they might be able to help save someone's life.

These guys are both highly qualified and experienced vetinary SURGEONS. Note the last word. These guys are trained to operate on, and understand the workings of anything in the aniumal kingdom. The level of compassion and knowledge that they demonstrated to me was light years ahead of any doctor I have spoken to - after all, most GP doctors have very little experience outside of an office, and refer any tricky cases to specialists, and certianly do not have surgical or emergency training and experience to any great degree.
I am also an educated professional person, with a high level of first aid training, and recognised in this wonderfull couple a new knowledge that I could share, and in the 5 or 6 weeks that we hung out together, learnt a great deal. I'd be much happier to have these guys treat me than any other medical professional I've met in this country or back home.

p.s. if you want to know why it is that IV fluids can save a life, then ask any paramedic

rab

I am not ignoring the last two posts on this thread but thought that the layman here should share what they travel with ... which is what the thread asked.

I take a SMALL pack with plasters, safety pins, small bandages, syringes, needles, antiseptic cream, painkillers (usually paracetamol and ibuprofen), blister patches, antibiotics (Cipro), Imodium, Dioralyte (electrolyte powders), anti-malaria pills and some tissues and antiseptic wipes.

If I am under- or over-prescribed for holidays/ normal travel somebody please advise.

rab

IndyBoy

Hey Rab, I reckon you've got the kit just about right there. The one thing I left off my list, but I use more than anything else is dehydration salts - sometimes I even just pop one if I've been out and about and lost lots of fluids (melting in the sun!). It'll really sort me right out.
Its the one item that if i've run out of, and want in a hurry, i'll be really gutted.
By the way, to those back home - bring a couple of sachets with you, but you can get really good ones at the pharmacies here for a couple of ruppees.

p.s. i'm just a layman too - there's nothing complicated about any medical knowledge, its just that the profession has an interest in keeping it to themselves.

indiamike

My usual kit and this applies to work also would just consist of some duct tape, a few napkins, and aspirin.

It's all I have ever needed and I bleed everyday at work (seriously-every single day is a new cut, my hands show it).

I usually average around 50 or 60 stitches a year, and have the scars to prove it, and if I cut myself and need ten or twenty stitches I just throw some napkins and duct tape on it, get back to work, and when I have a chance I go get stitches.

Okay it makes it sound kinda Rambo-ish but it's mainly all I ever needed and I have had more broken bones, stitches, etc...than most will ever have.

I have used up my nine lives a long time ago.

Mike

rickshawwallah

Indyboy:

I am a paramedic, and as such found your ideas silly. If you think that's unfriendly, so be it.

Post or don't, as you like. No one is indispensible.

And remember, you're the one who used the term "errant".

IndyBoy

Ok, so maybe you'd like to explain then why it is that in the case of shock (possibly due to many factors), there is such an importance atached to giving fluids to prevent a catastrophic loss in blood pressure, as a means of stabilising the patient and giving more time for transfer to a facility where blood transfusions might be available?

what's your beef? you've got no idea what sort of situation i'm planning for.

by the way, don't you carry a fluids bag and a giving set?