Originally Posted By: philip
There's more than one way to skin a cat.

I've cut my finger at Burning Man while taking down our shade structure - 8 days on the playa without a bath. My skin was coated in playa powder, sun block, and skin moisturizer. The key was to use a band-aid big enough to wrap around my finger and stick to itself. shrug - cleaning the area around the skin would have been preferable, but I wouldn't use alcohol for that. Soap and water works fine, if you've got it.

If you have a wound on an area the band aid won't reach around, and you're out of ways to clean the skin, either run a piece of tape around the limb (I've got yards of surgical tape in my kit), or put a gauze pad on the wound and tie it with fabric.

Oh, and crazy glue works, too. Just glue the cut shut.


Wrapping the bandage completely around the digit, limb, or trunk certainly helps keep any pad in place. It works really well if the person isn't all that greasy or active. But I've a;so seen bandages simply slide off if they aren't attached to skin by adhesive or substantial friction. Fingers are possibly the worse for this. they tend to be grimier, greasier and more mobile than other parts.

Of course we are talking about seriously grimy and greasy folks here. Your average well-cleaned 8 to 5 office worker is a suitable target for bandaging without a whole lot of preparation.

On the other end of the scale is what you see around major disasters. Earthquakes, mudslides, wildfires, even some vehicular accidents, can have people covered in nearly unimaginable layers of sweat, grease, dust, blood, crud, you name it. Even experienced EMTs have been caught flat footed. Some resorting to using NS from IV bags, drinking water, or water from nearby fire trucks after the normal supplies and bottled NS ran out.

Superglue is good stuff, within its limits, but it doesn't work well on greasy skin. On the other hand a small drop of glue between bandage and relatively clean skin will keep a simple wrap of gauze from sliding or rotating.

The acetone pads are sold as 'tape remover'. The cheap ones are, as I understand it, mostly acetone.

http://www.cnmtstore.com/index.php?itm=76441

Just a few drops per pad. No worries. Most cheap nail polish remover is mainly acetone. Used in tiny amounts it isn't really an issue. If you scrub and use several pads in on spot you might de-fat the skin and cause some damage. So gentle, gentle.

In recent years many hospitals have gone to less aggressive chemical compounds.

http://www.homecaredelivered.com/professionals/pc_product_detail.php?intItemID=4901

I don't know if they are as good for what I use them for. Worth a shot but they don't go into my kit without some experimentation.

Vicks has some uses but I don't think I would put it up my nose. Too close to delicate membranes. And don't get it in your eyes.

Also most commercial bottle water bottles can be used to irrigate a wound if you use the tip of a knife, or the awl on a SAK, to open a pinhole in the top of the cap. Good for irrigation, metering out water, and an effective squirt gun. Even better than the old standby trick of poking a hole in a plastic bag for irrigation because you can squeeze harder.