Been thinking about my EDC and maybe I need to improve my first aid stuff. Right now I carry a few bandaids for minor cuts and a bandana for a major blood loss event. I'm red cross first aid, adult CPR and child/infant CPR trained though my child/infant is the only thing that's current.
My philosophy has always been that if it's bad enough to really NEED first aid gear then it's bad enought to warrant either an ambulance or a drive to the emergency room both of which are always close to me here in Houston.
Is this a bad way to think about it? I figure that I need to treat minor cuts that I won't go to the doctor for. I need to add some antibiotoc packets to my wallet to use with bandaids to deal with most things. That will keep minor cuts from turning into emergencies down the road due to infection. For anything else I have my training in CPR and basic blood loss stoppage (bandana to help with the blood) and a cell phone at all times for 911. I'm not going to set any fractures or put a real bandage on a significant wound when professionals are close.
Am I fooling myself with just these minor preperations? Would I be of significantly greater service to my fellow man with more gear on me (assuming I'm always going to be a 'civilian' I'm not an EMT nor do I pretend to be one)

Look at what happened during 9-11, all area emergency personnel were sent to the World Trade Center and many of them were killed. I doubt if many were available to respond to other emergencies around NYC and even if they were, look at the gridlock. In a major emergency, you can't count on police or emt or fire response for that matter. You will have whatever training and or supplies that are available to you and you may be totally on your own for several days or weeks. People are woefully unprepared in this country and rush out at the last minute for hurricane supplies or storm supplies, etc. It is up to you, but you can't count on the government, local state or federal to protect you or come to your rescure.

Hurricane prep is good at my house and my home and car FAK are for another discussion. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Let's just assume they're adequate for large wound management, splinting, and treatment with basic OTC meds as well as basic first aid. That is, if I can get to my car or I'm home then I have much more to deal with. In Houston everbody goes everywhere by car. There may be a few people in this city that are exceptions, but if I or my family is somewhere other than home, you can gaurantee that one of our cars is how we got there. Maybe in an emergency we can't get back to the car, though short of a terrorist attack it's hard to imagine how. Hurricanes are the only natural disaster we have around here and thanks to modern weather services we get warning. Not really enough to run out and stock up if one's on the way, but enough to hunker down with our supplies if one is.
Does my first layer, my EDC need to be deeper? I'm thinking something like this:
Bandaids
Antibiotic packets
hankerchief
Maybe some tape for affixing the hankerchief to a large wound?
OTC meds?

VERY good point!!!

I hope I'm not the only one that uses duct tape and super glue. Neither one is formally sterile, but what the hell is going to grow on them? Together with non-stick Tefla or similar, some steri strips or butterflies, and antibiotic ointment, I'm handled some wounds that really needed to be sutured but which worked out OK.

My philosophy is that if you don't have saline or providone iodine solution to irrigate with, just let it bleed for a while.

No gloves?

Okay, I keep a roll of that synthetic self stick tape, you know, the kind that sticks to itself but won't stick to your skin. I use it to hold gauze or tefla or, if it is really bad, kotex on the wound. If the wound is so small that only a bandaid is needed, well, I have never gotten those things to stay on for any length of time without using something else to keep them in place, so I just keep the owie clean and dry and let it scab up well. I put antibiotic on it inititally and anytime the scab opens up, and I've never had an infection or a problem with healing. Big wounds require more than a bandaid, which is why I carry the other stuff around with me more.

> if it's bad enough to really NEED first aid gear then it's bad enought to warrant either an ambulance or a drive to the emergency room

That's my philosophy too. I've tried to focus on things I think I can reasonably treat. However, I am also aware of times when I would not want to go near a hospital. You know they're full of sick people? I first became interested in this preparedness stuff prior to Dec 31 1999, and it would have taken a pretty serious injury to get me into a hospital on that night.

Rather than band-aids I have gone more for large sterile dressing pads that can be cut to size, and surgical tape to attach them. And antiseptic ointment. I also carry a syringe for irrigation. My strategy is to get the wound clear of dirt, put a dab of ointment on to kill the nastys, then cover it to protect and keep air-born bugs out. Then hope the body can heal itself.

Some stuff is worth carrying because it is dual purpose. At the risk of asking the obvious: do you carry water? Pure water is a first-aid supply as well as a drinking supply. Alcohol wipes and cotton wool are good for cleaning and can also serve as tinder for a fire. Safety pins have many uses.

Would you do mouth-to-mouth on a stranger without a barrier to protect you from whatever nasties they have? Would you staunch the flow of blood from a stranger's wound without gloves, even though they might have HIV? If not then you might consider carrying the appropriate gear. It's all very well to have it in your car, but that might be 10 minutes away and you might not have 20 minutes to spare.

You might add an otc painkiller/ pepto/ tummy meds/ antihistmine ( colds, allergies).

Gloves ( 2 pair), kotex, a simple and small instruction manual, barrier mask.

tro