hi every1. a few days ago i burnt my hand superficialy. it stung a bit so i put it in sum ice water, but 30 minutes later the pain hit me like a sledgehammer when i took my hand out. the pain was nonexsistant when my hand was in the water, but i couldn't sleep with it in a bowl. my dad (a docter) gave me some 'Valaron' ("Tilidine" is the generic). it knocked me out for a good 12 hr with no pain wen i woke up. i wanted to include it in my psk (it works too [censored] well not to), but i need a prescription, and my dad says not a chance as its extremly potent:( Any1 agree with a small, but potent analgesic/seditive in a psk? i took 16 drops, and a SMALL vial would administer a few potent doses.

Woft,<br><br>why would you like something in your PSK that would knock you out? You need to use all your senses when "surviving". I would agree on the mild pain killer but nothing as serious as prescription drugs. I would take a general antibiotic with me when going climbing or hiking for 4 weeks but nothing for the short term. Of course they were times in the past when I wish I had a powerful pain killer with me but at the end because I didn't, pain was my guidline how far I can push myself. If you suck it up, your body will produce enough pain killers to smooth the pain and part that hurts will just become numb but if you push to hard it will come back and let you know to take it easy.<br><br>Example:<br>I was doing speed hikes in the Deleware Water Gap area and I met a pair of doctors who hiked with their friends. In their car they had a small pharmacy. One of the girls in their group did something to her knee so the doctors trying to be helpfull gave her a pain killer shot and a steroid injection. Girl feeling a miracle cure hiked the mountain faster than anyone, 4 weeks later she had a reconstructive surgery on her knee and than another one and another one.<br><br>Matt

Just my opinion, but I don't think an altoids size PSK is the place for ANY firstaid supplies or medication. Let's see if this stirs up a health discussion:<br><br>1) there is no antiseptic worth carrying if you don't have potable water to irrigate a wound. If there is sufficient potable water, you most likely can pass on the antiseptic.<br><br>2) a piece of duct tape or electrician's tape (which seems standard on all the PSKs we talk about in this forum) is better than a bandaid any time.<br><br>3) for serious pain, (i.e., greater than the ambient pain of being lost and needing to survive!) you can't carry enough of anything worthwhile to SAFELY medicate that pain, in a PSK. I've even carried morphine sulphate in a PSK. Waste of space! If the trauma needed big pain relief, it needed a real medical kit. And it needed injectable analgesics.<br><br>4) similar opinion regarding antibiotics. Even Z-pak or Cipro. Wait 'till you're rescued to start antibiotics. I doubt that in the most-likely survival scenario of less than 3-4days you'll get an incapacitating infection.. unless a terrifically dirty wound, that your PSK antibiotics would in fact help you with! If you have to have antibiotics, they belong in a medical kit.<br><br>What do others think?

A PSK is no place for first aid supplies. Your ability to survive will not be affected by a bandaid or a trace of betadine. Likewise, you can't carry a meaningful supply of medication. Drugs should be kept at a controlled temperature and the temperatures we expose ourselves to will render many drugs ineffective.<br>Just an opinion.

I accept your wisdom, but I think there are some exceptions.<br><br>I carry 10 Cipro in my PSK not necessarily to stop a deadly infection after I am stranded in the wilderness, but to buy me and my wife 2.5 days should a terrorist attack by anthrax occur. This is a critical time where we can clear the area and wait for civil unrest to stop. It is also my wife's preferred means to combat certain feminine issues... Carrying Cipro is a bit ludicrus to many, but no more so that buying potassium iodide or indeed carrying a concealed weapon.<br><br>I carry 15ml betadine in my PSK as an alternate water purifier and to make an emergency wound irrigation wash as recommended in my WFR class taught by Wilderness Medical Associates. I carry a few fabric bandaids in my PSK which are used day to day to cover minor cuts, but I find them invaluable for covering blisters (along with duct tape). Blisters are a highly underrated trigger in back country emergencies. <br><br>Am I missing something?<br>

While I agree that a small altoids sized PSK has little space for medical supplies, if you can carry some it would be good.<br>Antibiotics - I personally carry cipro 500 x 5. I wouldn't use it unless I'm really desperate and more than a week has gone by without being rescued and the wound I have is becoming more and more infected despite irrigation and cleaning with water. I don't carry antibiotic ointment as it does little to help prevent wound infection. Wound irrigation and drainage are more important. And while cipro has moderate effect on staph Aureus on the skin (which causes most skin infections), it has a much broader spectrum on other organisms (you may not just have a skin infection - think pneumonia....) and is simple to dose and pack in a PSK (unlike cephalexin).<br><br>Analgesia - I carry only plain paracetamol. While severe injuries require more urgent medical attention and better supplies, when you're on your own in the wilderness and are having fever and chills from the infected wound, you'll be glad to have anything that can help you improve the situation so you can tend to the signal fire or lookout for SAR. Pain relief from paracetamol is moderate at best but something is better than nothing.<br><br>Antihistamine - to reduce the effects of any allergic reaction you may suffer from touching / tasting that plant which you thought was edible. While you may argue that if an oral antihistamine can treat the symptoms, its not serious anyway, you may be right. All the same that dose of antihistamine may just stave off a more severe reaction.<br><br>Lomotil - diphenoxylate /atropine - an antidiarrhoeal and antispasmodic. Again to treat any gastrointestinal problem which you may get from drinking that water or half cooked pigeon / squirrel. Any dehydration from diarrhoea in a survival situation is a potentially lethal especially if water is not abundant. Again, abodminal spasms which prevent you from tending that signal fire or look out for SAR could be avoided if you had some of these.<br><br>Band-aids - I agree that some clean rags and duct tape work better if you are cut and bleeding. I carry some mainly for blisters and such. Other wounds are likely to be bigger and band aids would be of no use.<br><br>Anything as strong as Valeron definitely has no place in my kit. I'll have a hard time trying to explain to the powers that be what it's doing in my kit (it has strong potential for abuse by addicts), and I'm a doctor!! All in all, I would also bring along my comprehensive medical kit on the outdoor activities / camps just to be on the safe side!!<br><br>Just my few singapore cents.....<br><br>

Our past posts led me to an in progress reorganization of my dedicated medical tin. The adage " an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure" may be applicable. I now carry chapstick, moleskin, insect repellant and nail clippers. Poor hygiene can be a precurser to poor health. I also want to look better than Tom Hanks when rescued ;O)

Boertjie, in a genuine survival situation a pain killer strong enough to knock you out can become a literal killer ie you may not wake up. All very well having it with you but still lends itself to abuse. If all you want is instant pain relief from burns ask the doctor for a spray can of lidocaine skin anasthetic spray. Always remember that pain is your bodys way of telling you that it has been injured and removing the pain can result in more damage to the injured part. Work on increasing your pain threshold.<br>Regards

O.K. That was a BIG mistake <<blush>>. i'm still new at this, and can only learn from my mistakes. the shame, the shame...

I must agree with all of your choices. I also carry asprin and naproxen, a decongestant and cough suppressant. Pete