As one who is about to overcome his earlier training and include some tourniquets in his FAK, your remarks are very worthwhile to me. Also your comments about being on scene before any official first responders.

That has been my lot on at least three occasions (family emergencies excepted) and on two of them I was beaten to the victim's side by a nurse who just popped up from out of nowhere.

Reading this forum gets kind of expensive. I have been looking for a tourniquet (for some of my hobbies the risk may be small but the potential damage could be severe) for a while and got some useful leads here.
In the vast majority of accidents the first person on the scene would be the one to call the official first responders and then keep the victim alive until the responders arrive. Odds are the first person is not an official first responder.

The one area in which I cannot make up my mind is the wound/burn section. Anyone else having trouble deciding? The following is the current configuration:

WOUND / BLISTER / BURN
(2) Trauma Pad, 5" x 9"
(1) Burn Dressing, 4"x16"
(1) Burn Dressing, 4" x 4"
(3) Burn Jel, 3.5 g
(1) 30 Band-Aid, 6 Knuckle, 6 Moleskin
(1) Cloth Tape, 1" x 10 yds.
(2) Stretch Gauze, 3" x 4.1 yds.
(6) Povidone-Iodine Prep Pad
(2) Benzoin Swabsticks
(2) Oval Eye Pad
(2) Povidone-Iodine, 22 mL
(2) Wound Closure Strips, 0.25" x 4"
(6) Cotton Tipped Applicator, 6"
(2) Non-Adherent Dressing, 3" x 4"
(6) Sterile Gauze Pad, 4" x 4"

Edit: I edited my list again. Given the number of other wound items I have, six gauze pads seem to be the right amount. What about non-adherent dressing? Should I have none, two or four?

Jeanette Isabelle

Decided to buy a couple more SWAT-T’s and figured I’d get a better price on Amazon - no, REI had them beat by a few cents and then when I checked out, there was a further (unexplained, possibly volume since I bought more than one) discount. — SWAT-T at REI.
Not affiliated, except that I have been a member of the co-op since the 1980’s.

One of these days I’ll post the truck kit’s content list... and then I’ll modify it again

Thanks for the link. I will be dropping by the local REI tomorrow - garage sale!! I wonder if there will be any slightly used T's.....(or returned -"did not work' - subject bled out"....)

I'm learning so much from this thread. Thanks gang!

FWIW - As first responders at a truck vs elderly pedestrian collision a few years ago, the nurse who stopped with me grabbed a package of paper towels from her trunk and told me to grab the other one instead of the gauze pads from my FAK. A whole package or four non-sterile of gauze pads would have been helpful in that case, not just a few individually wrapped pads. I've carried a couple rolls of paper towel in my vehicles ever since.

I usually carry a bandanna in my left rear pocket - a classic multiuse item. While I prefer to apply sterile dressings over a bleeding wound, I wouldn't think twice bout slapping on that bandanna if necessary. It is usually red, so blood won't ruin it -also fairly decent color for signaling, good potholder, general padding, etc.

How many uses are there for a red bandanna, anyway??

I just read a magazine article last night about 100 uses for a bandana! A quick web search this morning turned up an on-line pdf document with 180 uses. Some of them, such as holding a hot branding iron, I will guess don't see much use.

As a side note, medical / FAK gear is a 'funny' thing in that it's often a product of experience, training and needs. Having had the chance to get some good training over the years I'm happy with some simple every-day supplies and rely on knowledge rather than gear.

This site also helps me expand that knowledge base every time I visit - example from today is I'm putting some paper towel rolls in the car trunk tomorrow on the way to work.

Paul -

When I last took my Wilderness First Aid course, NOLS marketed a large orange bandana with first aid instruction imprinted. It seems to be out of stock or no longer available, shoulda bought two, maybe it’s a collectors item.

Earlier in the thread we discussed “improvisation” and that’s always good, but improvisation takes time and sometimes that’s time the victim does not have available. A dedicated tourniquet is easier and quicker to deploy if you have one, and you don’t need to worry about your favorite belt being trashed when it arrives at the ER (you ain’t getting it back).