Atter reading a story about woman who had a terrible accident in Nepal and how her own IV needles saved her from infection I always pack a set when I go away. I didn't really belived that medical professionals can be that ignorant and use dirty needles yet still just in case I would pack a set since they don't weight much and there is always 100 different uses for them. I was in Peru for the last few weeks and got to work with Peruvian Med Evac on couple of Altitude Sickness victims and extreme exhaustion/dehadration case... The first few cases were air lifted with just basic oxygen theraphy but the last case needed a fluid transfer which meant IV. I saw a medic reaching into this big bag of needles that was lying on the floor (and I tought it was a garbage) and pulling one of them, dirty, no cap... He told me they get the stuff as leftovers from hospitals and local clinics. I felt bad for that girl, so I gave her one of my spares but it was kind of a rude awaking.. Same thing goes for oxygen masks which been on the O2 bottles for months, constantly being reused and people coughing into them. Yikes...

Matt