Russ - This is his personal kit... he's not handing them out to other ppl.

Which means to me that if doesn't have a prescription for pain meds it would be best to stick with OTC (Motrin, Aspirin and Tylenol).

Sorry, he never stated where he was getting them from I just `assumed` they were `scripts in his name.

My thoughts:

Bandages
More 4x4s, less roll gauze
knuckle and fingertip bandaids
less tape, lose the cloth tape, keep athletic tape
add Sensi-Wrap Self-Adherent Bandages or similar (like sticky ace wraps)
? Blisto-ban

Tools
Add Uncle Bill's Sliver Grippers

Other
Drop matches, add Bic (? Mini-Bic)
? toothbrush (have toothpaste)

Meds
Celecoxip (RX, but not considered controlled in US - less hassle if questioned)
Bactroban or Polysporin, not both
? temp filling kit

How long is this kit to provide for? A single dose of the antibiotics may cause more harm than good unless a pharmacy is less than a day away.

I don’t see the prescription meds for personal use as an issue for personal use. The prescription med police are not going to come out and dig through your pack. If you are the only one using them the others in your party may never find out unless you tell them. And antibiotics and real pain killers work where OTC pain meds do almost nothing.

I was in a motorcycle accident years ago and have lived with the pain every day, and I would have to take a whole bottle of aspirin pills to do what 2 real pain pills do.

The real pills could make the difference in allowing you to do what you need to do. And a few antibiotics could easily fight off an infection from a nasty cut before it becomes a real problem.

Hey Vader! Greetings from Saskatchewan.

I don't know if they company you are going to work for requires it but the general standard for assistant guides is a 40-hr Wilderness First Aid course. For lead guides the standard is an 80-hr Wilderness First Responder course. The standard FA course (16-20 hr) doesn't go into enough detail and is geared for the urban environment. I learned TONS (TONNES?) last year while on my WFR course mostly because we dealt with well over a hundred medical and trauma scenarios. Being able to think a bit sideways (the gut pain in your female patient might not be an appendix but rather a tubal pregnancy she didn't know about!) Wilderness is defined as being more than 2 hrs from advanced medical care.

Once you've taken an advanced FA course, you will have a good handle on the type of first aid kit should be in carried for the group and what type you may wish to carry on your person. As far as the meds go - make sure you check with your prescribing physician and legal counsel that you can issue to anyone else but yourself. It may be OK for yourself but unless you really know how to diagnose other's medical needs, then giving drugs to others has some real legal issues.

CANOES !!--yes--yes!!..when i think about that part of
Canada and add a canoe to it i come up with hypothermia..
i would add lots of matches and firelighters and space
blankets--for all the canoe tripping i have done i have
never seen any medical problems that needed more than a
band-aid or asprin..if someone is so sick they need more
i would fly them out asap..

2 epipens overkill? No, unless your trip out by helicopter is very quick. Suppose the benadryl dosage taken after doesn't help soon enough with the airways then 3 or even 4 doses would be required during an EVAC. BTW, on my course we were shown how to get that extra dose out of an existing used epipen by doing some minor surgery on the pen itself. And if these pens are for personal use then make sure you carry ON YOUR PERSON and your other guide(s) have a spare one or two in the group kit. If somebody has to make a 300 yd dash back to where you last left your pack and your epipens, then you might be in trouble.

+1 on the WFA course, even the shorter 20 hour (weekend / recert) course is good for focussing your FAK and treatment. I think you've got a good kit, as long as you think through your other gear and anticipate splinting a broken arm or leg - for that, having *several* triangle bandages available to tie and immobilize the limb can be good, otherwise you get to wave bye bye to the helicopter as it makes off with your patient and splint (probably a thermarest pad) and all your canoe ties.

In our course we found that the SAM splint was not as useful except for arm splints. And while I pack a thermometer too, I have yet to use it to diagnose anyone. They're either hot or cold and pretty obvious at that. ymmv

Also on the epipens and bee stings, consider the liquid or quick dissolving strips of benadryl now available. You will need two epipens, and the window of opportunity to administer benadryl between them could be short. Hopefully they can chew - just in case, pack some liquid benadryl ampules that you can open down their throat. On the epipens, our NOLS WMI instructor said they carry ampules of the medicine separate from the injector, so they have a bunch of medicine without the cost ($75 each) of the epipen. Your company can call and ask NOLS about that, and see if your referring doctor can set you up. But it all comes back to medical training...

When I carried Epi-Pens, 2 of them, it said that if there was not an improvement in the symptoms after 5 or 15 minutes (can't remember) then the second pen should be administered. As a side this is similar to chemical warfare dosing protocols. All that said...two is the minimum to carry.