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#259717 - 04/22/13 07:26 PM DIY petroleum gauze
LesSnyder Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 07/11/10
Posts: 1680
Loc: New Port Richey, Fla
Hurricane season is approaching, and looking over my supplies I noticed that I've been robbing my house first aid kit to equip the others...after the tragic events in Boston last week, I also wanted to update my car kit with the ability to stop a thoracic air leak due to penetrating trauma...I've got a couple of commercial petroleum gauze packs in my range trauma bag, and the trauma supplies carried in my pistol bag, but nothing in the car FAK... I had made several a couple of years ago, but relied on a simple edge fold over to contain the pack, and over time they have somewhat deteriorated... basic premise is that a gauze pad saturated with petroleum jelly, and backed by an air impermeable but flexible cover... taped only on 3 sides allows the air to escape the pleural cavity between the lung and chest wall, and air pressure collapses the backing to prevent it re entering...so what I wanted to do was come up with a better covering/container...

EDIT for upgrade...this is closer to a commercial specimen....I didn't have any 3x3s so used 4x4s and cut them to 3x3... remove inner cotton batting so only gauze remains...heat/melt vaseline in microwave on paper plate... work softened vaseline into gauze, remove excess.... place in freezer to handle them easier ...a quart zip loc bag was shortened and narrowed with 4sec of heat from my food sealer, and weakened the edge with a pass on both front and back both sides with a pizza cutter (you need to figure how much pressure)on a ceramic cutting board...one pass to bottom... final cut with a pair of scissors to the top slide of the zip loc down to weakened strip...trim excess bag....rip down both sides, then open the top...tape 3 sides, leave one open....this is not intended to be sterile....



Edited by LesSnyder (04/23/13 04:11 PM)

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#259720 - 04/22/13 08:51 PM Re: DIY petroleum gauze [Re: LesSnyder]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
In one of the classes I took we were trained on creating a field expedient dressing for treating pneumothorax: Cut a panel off a plastic bag and place it on the wound, taping it on three sides or on four (depending on the protocol for EMS where you live). Three sides allows the flutter valve to work; four sides keeps the problem from getting worse. Either is almost certainly better than nothing.

I do have a purpose-made chest seal in each of the car kits as well as my range bag kit.

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