I found these two kits on brigade quartermasters.
The battle pack and the imediate response kit respectively.
anyone got any thoughts on them.
here's the links.

http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.e...2Flevel3c%2Etam

http://www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.e...2Flevel3c%2Etam

Well those kits don't look like anything. I mean they sound impresive and all but there is nothing in these packs you wouldn't be able to put together for $15. I mean if this had to be a trauma repsonse bag it is missing splints and cpr equipment, as a personal first aid kit you still have to add extra things to it Elastic bandages have really no place in the first aid since their elasticity can turn against you (either making something too tight or they can go loose on you). They are used in post first aid care. Petro burn sheets are on the controversial side since a lot of docs hate the fact that they have to clean up the burn from the jelly stuff. And I wouldn't see a need to apply the burn sheet to anyone unless they have third degree burn which happens but there are better products out there to help such patient. Trauma/Pressure dressing with velcro? When u need pressure dressing that usually involves bleeding and velcro doesn't really perform well when wet so there goes your pressure idea. On the positive side I really like the bag that fits on your leg. I wouldn't buy it unless you planning to heavly modify the contest which almost mean starting from scratches. I think that with couple of trauma dressings, med tape and some triangular bandages you will do better than with half the stuff they give you in that kit. But that's me.

Matt

You are correct in part with your caution about elastic bandages, as they can be used very inappropriately, but there is more to the story. An elastic bandage is probably the first item I would install in my FAK. I have employed them regularly for years in holding various wayward joints that were trying hard to unravel in the middle of a trip - dreadfully inconvenient situation. Mostly I have self applied them to either the knee or ankle, and kept on going, a la "Spirit of "76." I remember one trip some years ago where all the elastics we had (about five) were in use by the end of the trip. It was a better solution than littering the landscape with dead bodies....

Cautions include applying them only to a conscious individual, and watch the bandage and downstream circulation like a hawk! But then, come to think of it, you should monitor any application of a pressure bandage. The elastic bandage is certainly not for the untrained, but it definitely has a place in a FAK.

I guess iit comes down to the situation for which the FAK will be used. Think about that carefully as you assemble your gear.

Actually, I have used dry burn sheets on many a patient with 1st and 2nd degree burns, where substantial body surface area had been involved. By removing air from the burned skin, the pain involved in 1st and 2nd degree burns is significantly reduced. I would recommend all "family"/trauma first aid kits have sterile burn sheets. Generally, moist dressings (sterile saline) are used for 1st degree burns for small areas, i.e. burned finger. There is a really nice product; BURN-JEL, that is also used for 1st and even some 2nd degree burns (small surface area). The product comes in one use packets and dressings. It is not cheap, but if anyone is interested, I can provide a few web sites of medical supply companies that sell this product, as well as sterile burn sheets. Pete

Hello!
I was kind of intreagued by the leg-bag model. Can it be bought anywhere without the stuff inside. I would like to fill mine with my own First aid kit? That way I would get it as I wanterd it...

Stefan
Sweden

www.promedkits.com where theoriginal desighners of this. They do a slightly larger empty model.

Extremely interesting...Tell me more.

If you decide to create your own medical kit, you may wish to check out www.allmed.net. They have good prices and compared to what you would pay at your local drug store for supplies, you can get 2-3 times more supplies for the same money. I used the DocBlue kit as a model and modified it depending on whether or not it was going in my car, in my backpack, or staying in my home. I have also found Ebay to be valuable for sutures and larger quantities of supplies (In my experience, the medical disclaimer that sellers can sell only to authorized purchasers has NOT been enforced at all)...

Here's what we use whenever treating burns:

http://www.galls.com/shop/viewProductDetail.jsp?item=BM706

But the above is so expensive that not every organisation has that. Private company I volunteer alows us to use that only in extreeme cases per their own internal protocol. I don't really care and whenever I get a chance I use it on the patients (especially kids). Also doctors in the Burn Center don't give me so much hard time for using that since it's easier to clean up than if I used a petro-jelly sheet.

Now something that we use a petro-jelly sheet for or rather its packaging... whenever we get a call to stabbin or gun shot wound we use packaging cleaned from jelly residue as a wound sealant to create an occlusive dressing.

thanks for all of the replys. I did it to try and provok a descusion on the ideas but i don't think i explained that very well.