As a former EMS'r (like several of the others...)...

Kerlix! Or some other lesser-known brand. Yes, it's different than gauze rolls, they're multi-ply and thicker. In a pinch, you could just smack it onto a wound and use it as a base layer for hemorrhage control.

At least one 10x30 inch trauma bandage. Pricey (for what it is) and bulky, but great if you actually have a big injury, or as padding for a splint. Speaking of which, SAM splints are pretty nice, but the wire cage ones are just as good for a first responder and cheaper. Plus there's even odds that EMS will just pull your off and resplint it anyway.

Maix pads are great. I actually tried soaking one once; something like 6-8 oz of water when sopping wet. Make sure you buy the "heavy" flow, not those stinking panty liners. Fat lot of good those will do you, unless you have leakage issues.

Duct tape... not so great for occlusive dressings. It doesn't stick well when wet. The 'plastic' tape from the hospital is great (3M makes it I think). Just take care you're not wrapping it circumfrentially and making a tourniquet.

Ditto the triangles. Don't do the wussy civilian-size. Go big, like 42" or more a side. Try making one "normal" size and see how comfortable your arm is when using it as a sling. they're tiny.

Just for everyone's edification, some of the ER docs at my work did a study on those commercial "blood stopper" products: Celox, plain old gauze, quickclot and something else. Controlled, identical injuries on animal models (sedated). Essentially no difference in blood loss, though some minor differences in re-bleed rates. granted, it was a small study and a lab environment, but think twice before dropping $30 on something that may be lots of hype. I know I don't carry it. I just have hemostats, and know how to use them

Great info MDinana!!!

It's good when you guys/gals with such great real life examples and experience chip-in

Jup, that's why you need to have your kit in your car AT ALL TIMES. As you've experienced, when you leave it: you need it..

Even when I check up the FAK's in the cars, I replace them with a spare kit just in case another family member takes the car while I'm busy.

FYI, that EOD-bag I'm using is designed to fit under a truck-seat. IIRC that was your intended storage-area right?

Under the Passenger seat in a Ford Escort. Yeah, I think it would slide under there very nicely. There's a "well" about five inches deep, with a "lip" a about an inch high at the front and back.

I still want to know where you guys buy your med stuff online ???

Is there a good pre-made / commercial kit to get me started?

I think I`m going to unpack my BOB and re-analyize my FAK in there and discuss what I should grow/add/remove for my CAR kit.

We did this years ago just or my BOB kit and I think it's time again (New thread! Coming)

I have made purchases from:

Red Flare
Red Flare

LifeView Outdoors
LifeView Outdoors

Sierra Trading Outpost
Sierra Trading Outpost


Ebay




I like the Adventure Medical Kits (AMK) and North American Rescue (NAR) product lines

Adventure Medical Kits

North American Rescue

There are paramedics and doctors here, and then there are people who read Preparedness forums on the Internet all day and stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. Not quite the same...

It's worth perhaps two sets of recommendations, one assuming no practice and no info other than what's printed on the package. For a total medical n00b like myself the $30 product might make more sense if it might work and does no harm, even if a paramedic might find the $10 product more functional.

One issue not raised so far is storage temperature. If this is a car FAK that stays in the car when you go to work then temperature matters a lot. I'd need not less than 20F - 160F tolerance and many medicines aren't rated for that. Even adhesives in bandages might have problems.

PS. On the two occasions I was first to the scene both were urban auto accidents were the victim seemed unlikely to get worse before EMS arrived, so I followed the "do no harm" rule and only monitored until responders appeared. One lady had her face rearranged by the steering wheel - at least her unused seat-belt was probably undamaged - but any wrapping or bandaging I might have done seemed likely to just make the paramedic spend 20 seconds cutting it away.

You might like to read what Doug has to say about medical kits.
http://www.equipped.org/medical.htm
Note his distinction between a medical kits for somebody in a more remote situation and first aid kits and materials for when help is close.
Doug has a list of what he thinks kits should have in them too.
http://www.equipped.org/survlkit.htm#MEDICALKITS

I have never bought anything over the internet. I have two stores I buy everything for first aid supply from in Edmonton and a couple of stores I use in other cities that I often am in.

For work site and corporate vehicle first aid kits I bought them already made up from industrial safety suppliers like North (Norton).
http://www.northsafety.com/
You need to click a few times to get to their lists of first aid kits and what they put in them. (These were bought because they comply with OHSA requirements and the compliance is documented then.)

I find all of these good things to look at and then I end up assembling my own private kits with what I know works for me.
I tend to be heavy on bandages and blankets, very light on drugs and lotions.

You actually hit one big nail on the head in the EMS world. There was an article a few years back (JEMS or Annals of Emergency Medicine, or something) talking about just that. LOTS of departments don't cool their storage bays, or they send their units to post at substations or in parking lots. There actually is a BIG difference on medicine efficacy based on how hot it gets. So, for all the states getting >90 degrees on a regular bases, the recommendation was to change the meds out frequently. I forget all the dirty details, but the end result was something like 1/3 of the original efficacy of some meds. It was amazing. It also blows my mind that the article got almost zero press at that time in terms of changing habits.

Actually, having 2 threads, while not a bad idea, also amounts to teaching first aid via online course. I could see this being problematic in several ways. Number one, it opens legal liability to both the advise-giver, and potentially DR as well. Number 2, it deprives several people of financial reimbursement should many folks use said info (mainly, DR as the web host, and whoever writes the stuff). Number 3, some of this stuff you just have to do hands-on. I'm sure there are more reasons. If you're truly interested in the theoretical/book knowledge, there are tons of resources out there: Boy Scout first aid merit badge book, US military training manuals (and one would assume other national militaries as well), all sorts of stuff at any decent bookstore, every dinky FAK from the store has some sort of pamphlet, etc.

Having said that, I think it's probably fair to say that most of the trained folks on the board don't have problems lending piecemeal advice, but none of us would want to "train" online and give someone false confidence that could later lead to harm of another.

Fair enough - if you have to ask you need to take a first-aid class. I was thinking more in terms of cases where some alternatives may need significant practice to be worthwhile whereas other alternatives could be safely used by following the printed instructions.