Personal Medical Kit

I was home on leave for three weeks from Afghanistan where I'm a civilian contractor. I assembled a personal medical kit based on the guidelines of the Wilderness EMS Institute http://www.wemsi.org/ . This kit will supplement an Army IFAK that I bought on eBay to carry here. Since I’m working on getting recertified as an EMT-B I also took the opportunity, while on leave, to complete CPR/AED for the Professional from the American Red Cross.

Kit Closed


Kit Open


X30 naproxen (pain)
X12 Imodium (diarrea)
X7 meclizine (motion sickness)
X6 azithromycin (broad-spectum antibiotic 1 course)
X1 digital thermometer
X1 spare battery
X15 thermometer covers
X2 oral rehydration salts (to make 2 liters)
X1 gloves
X1 CPR shield
X1 1” tape
X4 cotton applicators
X1 3” gauze roll
X1 3” elastic bandage
X6 3x4” gauze pads
X1 OB tampon
X2 large safety pins
X6 antiseptic towelettes (benzalkonium)
X10 12-hour pseudoephedrine (decongestant)
X1 splinter forceps
X1 bandage scissors
X4 3x4” moleskin
X10 1” adhesive bandages (cloth)
X1 Lamisil cream (antifungal)



Kit Un-Packed

I would add more gloves. In the 20 years i've been in fire and ems I can't remember one scene where I didn't rip, tear or remove a glove to prevent contaminating some other piece of equipment.

Looks almost exactly like my kit.

Additions I would suggest:

- 1 tube sfpf 30 or 50 chapstick
-additional gloves
- Small folding knife (or scissors)
-tiny pen or just the pen refill
-cash/ contact info

Most of what I use? Band-aids, and meds.

Very nice and well organized! I'd probably add a couple non-stick pads, both for the comfort level when removing and so you don't get bleeding started again. Another pair of gloves is also a good idea as they are rather fragile. I also keep a small pen light as I like my FAK's to be self contained for someone else who might be using them. Something to write with and a couple pieces of waterproof paper is also a good idea especially if you're in a situation where you might be put in contact with medical professionals by phone or radio. I keep the pencil and paper rubber banded around the medical book by Dr. Weiss, which is an excellent book in my opinion.

Looks good. What's it going to be used for? Yourself? Others? Are you a medic, or is this a "to cover myself" kit?

I would add gloves, and make sure they are the heavy-duty nitrile variety because they are sunlight, oil (sunscreen and bug juice) resistant. IMO three pair is the absolute minimum. More is better. Six pairs is what I shoot for.

Also tape, roll gauze, and gauze pads go very quickly. Tape gets used patch and hold. Half a roll of high quality duct tape us a life saver. Medically or otherwise. The pads get used for everything from basic cleaning and padding to actual use as bandages. Roll gauze gets use by the yard to wrap, hold and pad. Hard to carry too much of any of those.

I would skip the backup battery for the thermometer. Put in a new lithium cell before every trip. One less thing to rattle around. I would add a key-chain flashlight to the kit and the smallest EMT shears you can find. Light and shears get dummy corded to the kit.

I would add at least one triangular bandage. For quick and dirty, on-the-fly bandaging the all-in-one ease of use of the triangular bandage is a time saver. It also works as a tourniquet, large burn cover, and a work sheet to work off of. Quickly tied on to keep the blood in and dirt out you can come back and do a hospital-grade clean and bandage job later.

I would read, and reread, the book until I knew the material. I would take simple notes and print them out of waterproof paper or laminate them. The notes should outline sequences and be a reminder. Tuck the cheat-sheet into the kit and leave the book behind. Use the space and weight saved to stock up on gloves, duct tape, gauze, and triangular bandages.

As a civilian contractor American military medics/hospitals will only provide emergency care for life, limb, and vision only. Everything else is one me… to get care at an Egyptian Field Hospital or be evacuated to Kuwait or Dubai for care. This kit is for minor medical issues I may develop while in country; diarrhea, athlete’s foot, pain, colds, motion sickness, boo-boos, etc. I recently completed an EMT-B class and am ready to test for National Registry when I get the opportunity, the college at the education office I took the EMT-B course at here did not process the paperwork in time for me to test while home, finished CPR/AED for the Professional during my last leave.

Cheers,
W-W

I think the only thing missing from your kit Is,An Israeli Bandage,2 or 3 at Least!When the Booj starts flyin',They could make the difference!& Thank You for Being There!

Richlacal,

This kit is in addition to an Army issue IFAK (bought on eBay) I carry attached to my Individual Body Armor (IBA).

Cheers,
W-W

Well, if it's going to be for you...
I'd add at least one course of antibiotics that'd cover diarrhea - the immodium stops the runs, but doesn't cure the cause. Azithromycin won't do any good there. And maybe something for nausea/vomiting, since a lot of times they go together. Zofran comes in "oral dissolving tablets." I hear it's good for stopping the vomiting but not so good with the actual nausea. Plus the ODT's are kind of pricey.

Without knowing what's locally available, grab some more "cold" drugs. most colds last 7-10 days, so figure maybe 3-5 days worth of drugs to help with the worst of the symptoms.

Naprosyn is good for most aches and pains. I forget if I saw tylenol/paracetamol on the list, but if not, add that too. Tylenol is good for general "pain," whereas naprosyn (aka naproxyn, aleve) is good for pain due to inflammation (strains, sprains, etc). Plus, if needed, you can alternate the tylenol and naproxyn dosing (tylenol is every 6 hours, naprosyn every 8-12 depending on the dose you have, so you can take both during the same day). Just be careful with the NSAID class of drugs, since there's the risk they make bleeding worse (and why Aspirin is a controlled substance in war zones).

For yourself, the kit as is looks pretty good. Good luck on your NREMT-B test - I was fortunate to only need state-level certs. I hear the NREMTB covers topics that are outside your scope of practice. If you have time, pick the brains of some of the paramedics in your area, if any.