Hello,what do members think is a comprehensive medical kit to carry every day should consist of?
JAKE

This is a topic that get discussed very frequently here. A search on the keywords FAK and EDC with the date range set to all dates and all forums will turn up an abundant amount of reading for your pleasure and edification.

Most carry atleast gloves, bandaids, moleskin, pain-killers and a few other meds. Some carry CPR masks if they have the training to use them. There are doctors, paramedics and EMT's as members on this site so there are a lot of very informed posts on the details of different gear.

A good start is to get one of the "Hikers First Aid Kits" from your local wallyworld. Follow that up with a decent "first responders" course at the local American Red Cross or St. Johns Ambulance (depending upon what is available) and add whatever they train you to use. Right about then you will have the training and desire to carry way more than would easily fit in your pocket and you will have much more specific questions to post here.

I will echo what minime stated. First the training, then the “hardware”. Your training will allow you to assemble a kit that is both practical and functional. There are many good prepackaged kits out there, which can be upgraded with those items of a more specialized nature. Pete

Hey Jake,

we usually bring this along for our outings. Thank god for us and the patient we never had to use it:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=59064

WInk Wink.

Heh.

Matt

linky no worky

Maybe he meant this one: <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=99591

I guess the term "Field Dressing" means something different south of the border <img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

No mine was teh US Army surgery table <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Matt

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=59064

That's a really big Altoids tin you got there!

I gave up on altoids tin idea, coffee can is also too small. I'm all about 1 gallon paint cans now. Next step 2.5 gallon buckets everyday carry kit. <img src="images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Matt

Ah, Come-on Now, We all know you carry a full ambulance EDC!

LOL - something for my paramedic and EMT friends - a bumper sticker that says "My other car is an ambulance" <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I used to make my own kits, but I found that EMS has good little kits that seem to work OK for me:

http://tinyurl.com/vxl0

I carry a "Solo" with me all the time, have a "Guide" kit plus Sam Splint in the Jeep and have another Scout Kit in the Wife's van.

I added to the larger & car kits instant ice packs - really helpful with kids.

Is it that obvious? My FAK is 6 times larger than PSK and I'm still not happy with it. <img src="images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Matt

speaking of bumper stickers... my friends during horse play in the base smacked one on my back that said :"have you hugged your emt today?"... before they could take it off I run out to a call. We are in the hospital and everyone is laughing, all the nurses are hugging me and this girl's father we just brought in is screaming at her to get a boyfriend. Than he spots a sticker on my back points at me and says: "He looks like Snoopy, he is single and I think you will make cute babies. Now go and hug him and bring him home Sunday night." I had to ask what's up with all the hugging and they told me about the sticker. I still get hugs from nurses which is a good thing.

Matt

I want to be an EMT too!
I think this is the right moment to ask what an EMT actually "is". How far up the ladder are you in terms of medical knowledge? Is there a position similar in the UK?
This question had been bugging my mind for a while now just never got round to asking it.

Reinhardt Woets van Houten

In the US (per NY protocols) that’s how it works:

1st Level: CPR certified.

2nd Level (Certified First Responded) : Above plus some trauma training (2-3 months study time)

3rd Level (Emergency Medical Technician) : Same as above but with advanced airway management, suction, defibliration, full trauma training, extrication, immobilization, trained in giving and assisting with basic meds (O2, Charcoal, epinephrine, baby aspirin, nitroglycerin and inhalers) They are also called BLS units (Basic Life Support) (5-6 months study time)

4th Level (Paramedic) : EMT with advanced cardiac skills (EKGs), even more advanced airway management (intubation/treacha tubes/etc), starting lines, thy also have a lot of meds at their disposal. You are basically a field doc. They are also called ALS units (Advanced Life Support) (12 -24 months study time)


I know that outside of NY there is a level of training between 3 and 4. I think they are called EMT Intermediate. Those guys can start lines but don’t give meds and I think they work on intubations as well.

Now in NYC Paramedics are dispatched to cardiac calls, pregnancy (OB calls) and difficulty breathing. We have strictly paramedic units and strictly EMT units. Medics are very rarely dispatched to trauma calls because they like to play around when patient needs hot light and cold steel. They don’t mean bad but in NYC unless I’m stuck somewhere I’m never more than 10-15 minutes away from the hospital and delaying transport is always bad. In other places were hospital is 40-50 minutes away paramedics usually ride with EMT and provide their part of the trade en route to the hospital. BLS units love to work with ALS units because there is a lot we can learn and we see aspects of medicine we rarely come in contact with. ALS loves BLS because we take care of their dirty messy work. When Paramedic shows up on the scene they are in charge. I just passed my Paramedic qualification exams and I’m starting one year program this January.

Hope that helps,

Matt

Thats great information thank you. Helped me a lot about the understanding. I'm sure that this will be interesting for others too.

Reinhardt

Congrats on your Medic!

Thank you. I was told to tape 12 rent checks to my front door, put my picture on my parents fridge and kiss my dog good bye and tell him that I will reapear in 12 months.

I see some medics who are graduating now and they are so stressed out and tired that it's not funny. But I love working so I welcome a new chalange (at least until exams start).

Matt

We in Maryland have the EMT-I level of training. They are able to administer most first line cardiac meds and many of the cardiac related ALS skills. Due to the increase in EMT-P training and scope of practice, many jurisdictions are having a hard time attracting and retaining paramedics, so are recruiting at the EMT-I level.

Humor: I am sure you have seen the following and in many ways it is quite true. However, not all of us Ps shy away from the “dirty” work, I too clean vomit, blood and other bodily functions from my patients and ensure BLS before ALS. Maybe, I am one of a dying breed, but feel no work is beneath me; it is a team effort, as it all benefits the patient. I even clean up after myself and make sure all sharps are out of harms way. Pete

“PARAMEDICS SAVE LIVES – EMTs SAVE PARAMEDICS”

I remember seeing one of these in Phoenix at a place run by Mistress Tina.
She was very popular.
Perhaps you know her.
<img src="images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Worked for me.
Brought back old memories.
Ah, to be young and foolish again.

<img src="images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

]JAKE[

Are you living in the urban or rural part of England ?

Give us the type of situation that you will face so that we are able to give you some idea of what to put in your FAK.

Just FYI, this list is more the basic "urban" list. There are other courses that sort of give you a "wilderness" endorsement ('Wilderness First Aid", "Wilderness EMT" or "Wilderness Paramedic"). Basically what they do is give you more training to deal with injuries when you are more than like 1 hour away from medical care (not sure of exact time limit, or even if there is one). From what I've read and been told, there are many things that are taught in Wilderness courses that you cannot do in an urban setting. These things usually increase the chance of survival, but in an urban setting that is best left to doctors.

Do you have example in mind of what "wilderness EMT" would do that regular EMT couldn't? I'm just curious. I just thought that such courses put big emphasis on improvising supplies and carry out methods (which we learn anyway) since not everything that I have in the ambulance can be packed into the woods.

On the other note.
I looked thru a wilderness medicine handbook that comes with most of the "Adventure Medical" First Aid Kits and they showed a weird way of keeping tongue out of your way in order to keep airway clear. They basically took safety pins and punctured your tongue and lower lip which held them together therefore out of harms way. I showed it to a doc in the ER since I was wondering if you could just puncture flesh like that. He vowed to write to the guy who wrote a book (also a doctor) to take it out of there due to possible complications (infection, tears, muscle/tissue damage).

Matt

One example that comes to mind is the reduction of shoulder dislocations, an injury that is not uncommon in rough terrain (climbing, avalanche, etc). IIRC that's something an urban EMT would leave to the hospital staff, but in a truly remote situation the PT is better off getting the shoulder reduced in the field.

Some wilderness medicine links:

http://www.pitt.edu/~kconover/ems.htm#top (great resource!)
http://www.soloschools.com/wemtmod.html
http://www.nols.edu/wmi/index.shtml
http://www.umm.edu/outdoor/index.html

Depending upon the Wilderness 1st aid/EMT/EMT-ALS program you take, there may be a different emphasis on both the improvising of equipment/supplies as well as performing various skills that would not normally be practiced in an urban setting. Some examples of equipment improvisation might include using a SAM splint for a C-collar, not only the idea of using it for that purpose, but also learning how to bend and configure it to provide the correct support and fit. For ALS the use of a self-contained finger pulse ox, which might not be FDA approved. The use of a digital outdoor thermometer (the kind with a metal probe on a wire, where the meter portion is normally kept indoors), which can be used for taking continuous rectal temperatures for hypothermic patients. The probe is pre-coated and cured with silicone sealer to prevent soft-tissue injury. In-the-field reductions of dislocations. Splinting/taping methods that will allow the patient to continue to use the affected limb, so they can continue to travel. The use of I.V. antibiotics and other medications for long term management of trauma patients in areas such as caves, where removal of the patient can take days/weeks. Many states have Wilderness protocols in place, which the individual jurisdictions can implement at the discretion of the Medical Director. Generally, individuals who have only Wilderness EMT/EMT-ALS training without state level EMT/EMT-P certification/licensing cannot implement those skills and still be protected by law. Exceptions to this may occur on federal lands, such as National Parks, where the rangers may have WEMT and can implement those skills to which they have been instructed. Pete

Wow that looks like something I want to get involved with.

I use my own pulsox (bci digit) that I bought out of my own pocket so I can get constant reading on the patient so I can work on other stuff but keep eye on vitals. I never knew there was a restriction on use or special trainign for that. I know about pulsox limitations but not restrictions.

Matt

There are certain pluse-ox devices that are often sold for use by the general public in helping them with their excersie programs, but they are not FDA approved. Here is an example:
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductD...p;amp;langId=-1

Here are some web sites for the self-contained finger model:

http://www.coralmed.com/index.cgi?page=pulse_ox.html&cart_id=4497140_24272
http://www.scantechmedical.com/onyx.htm
http://sales.reddingmedical.com/merchant.cfm?id=1147&step=4


They work the same and may even be the same model, but the ones for the general public are marked/listed as "not a medical device". Pete