First, thanks Matt (and everyone else), these are great comments. I'll try to go over Matt's comments for now since I need to get on the road t the office soon.
Well first question in your mind should be what is this FAK gotta serve me for?
Yah, when I saw your message I realized I should have given a bit more context in this regard. I live in the Seattle, WA area and work in downtown Seattle. Other than the general uncertanty of life, one thing that is on my mind when I prepare my kits is the possibility of an earthquake, and what it might mean for me working downtown.
So, in a lot of ways, I've tailored my personal kits around this possibility. While I am not strickly trying to prepare for an earthquake, it seems to be a superset of a lot of situations from a preperation perspective.
So, my thinking is I need to escape my building, deal with injuries and possibly hoof it 25 miles home through debris.
I am also likely to take the same kit on light backpacking trips.
In a limited emergency, I would use the kit for whomever. In a large scale emergency, certainly my focus is myself and my family and friends, but to be honest, I would probably still use anything I had left on whomever and just take the risk of having no supplies left.
1 Pelican 1040 Micro Case - good case. I would tape First Aid instruction to the top lid together with expiration dates on the meds and any medical conditions you may have, allergies and current medications.
Yes, I was going to add instructions and inventory to the kit.
1 Small Scissors - why? you have scissors on your mutlitool or sak, plus little scissors are not substitute for trauma shears.
True, I carry an S2 on my EDC which has small scissors. However, I kind of want to be able to open the first aid kit w/o rummaging for other things. These are decent sewing scissors.. You don't think they would suitable for trauma shears?
1 .5 oz bottle Betadine - I would loose the bottle and get the swipes or wipes. Less mess and you don’t use your sterile pads for application.
I'll be on the lookout for something like this. Now that you mention it, didn't someone sell swabs that were filled with Betadine or something? I was thinking the larger bottle would allow me to pour into a wound.
2 Tylenol 2 tablet pack - I would make it four
Ok.
1 roll waterproof tape - I love the tape. This is the best thing ever. Did I mention that I love the tape?
Yah, I figured I'd get some flack carrying a full roll of tape, but I think it is worth the bulk.
Wound irrigation.
1 sml roll Tums - if you use them a lot i would keep the roll otherwise would carry only few of them
The pack is pretty small, but I will consider losing some. The gotcha is packing loose stuff is kinda a problem unto itself. Maybe I'llcome across individually packed ones somewhere.
1 .5 oz bottle Hypo Tears - is it because you wear contact lenses? or just in case? If this is just in case I would loose it (unless you have space)
I sometimes do wear contact lenses and not having something to clear/wet your eyes can be a real pain. However, it is a good point that this isn't really first aid. I'll think about it. As someone else pointed out, if I can get little single use packets you could have the best of both worlds.
1 roll cotton gauze in plastic - I would get a cravat and loose that gauze... use your sterile pads for direct wound cover and attach it with tape, cravat or tear something like a tshirt. If you need a blood stoper/absorber use a tampon.
Stupid question, what is a cravat? I'll look it up later I guess. Interesting point, I was actually wondering if this was needed when I was putting the kit together considering the sterile pads. I'll put this on the list for likely removal.
1 digital thermometer - why? knowing exact temperature will not help you out a bit.
Hmm. Living in the NW, I tend to think about hypothermia as a possible issue. I was thinking being able to objectively observe true body tempature might be useful, but perhaps this is just silly. I imagined that there might be other uses as well, but I suppose if I can't arriculate them I don't have a good argument for inclusion. :-)
2 tablet Sudafed - do you see the difference in SUdafed and Bendaryl when in use? Do you prefer one over another? If you think one is better I would stick with that.
You mean the Claritan? Yah, this falls into the comfort realm again. Actually, this whole group of drugs probably fall into this realm. Typically I would use the Claritan for normal allergies. If I got into something or was having some more serious reaction the Benadryl is much more effective, but has the side effect of making you a bit drowsy and loopy.
4 butterfly closures - if you need that you either need stitches or your cut is in the weird spot. Nothing tape wouldn’t fix. I would loose that.
Yah, now that you mention it they are probably redunant. I tossed them in because they were super small, but in hindsight they aren't useful so I'll take these out.
1 pair latex exam gloves - I carry two pairs. First of all you have to remember that they are not sterile unless they are packed in separate bag by the manufacturer. Gloves are there to protect you from contamination not your patients (well to the point if you are sick you don't want your patient to get what you have). Now the way I carry mine is that I pack two together and roll them into small squares starting at fingers. This pushes all the air out and I'm set.
Yah, I wanted two pairs (seems proportional to the rest of the kit), but I has having a hard time fitting them in. So, after you roll them up do you put something around them to keep them rolled? This is an area I'm having trouble with.
2 sterile packs, Steri-Strips (R1546) - why?
Wound closure. I have to admit I am partially swayed because I think these things are the best thing since sliced bread. They don't take up much room.
3 packs 3"x4" triple layer non-stick pads - get two 4by4s... they are sterile and each pack contains 2 pads... if you need more than two to control bleeding you are in trouble.
I'll have to look for the 4x4. You think the extra inch matters much? I think the 3x4 might fit into the case a bit better. One of my concerns is not so much that *I* might need several of these, but that there might be serveral people might need them at the same time.
1 pack 2nd Skin burn pad - skip this add water burn jel (pocket) and use non stick pads
I'll look for this, but these things are slick and don't take up much room.
To your setup I would add aspirin, Imodium and some kind of cpr barrier (if you know how to do cpr).
Yah, if I take out the guaze, I might have room. I'll have to look at cpr barriers. I wonder how bulky they are.
Now when I wrote my comments I don't mean to say that you are wrong in what you are carrying. I just tried to give you a different point of view on what I would carry.
No, this is great. This is exactly the type of feedback I'm looking for to help me look at this from other points of view.
Thanks!
-john
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