Originally Posted by
Coppertop
I would like to point out that what people carry in the first aid kit varies due to the training they have as well as their plans if they are using it for SHTF. I carry a jump bag in all of my vehicles and have an extra one in the house. I don't plan on packing it 100 miles into the wilds on top of my Bug out bag. I use my bag about 2/3 times a month on call outs where it is more expedient to go to the scene than to go get the ambulance first (station is unmanned/volunteer service). Something I have found in the short time I have done this is that when I first started, I wanted my jump kit to have EVERYTHING I would ever need in it. As time goes by, I keep paring it down to have the things I need to have until more help arrives. I know this is different than when SHTF, as most of us are on our own or in a small group and all the help you have is already with you. The point is to very carefully evaluate your knowledge and situation to maximize the use of everything you carry. Same as we do for our food and other tools.
If SHTF, I do plan on trading my skills as a medical professional for some of the security and food from my community and I do not plan on bugging out.
My bag includes things like: Oxygen and three different types of administration devices, an advanced airway set up to "intubate", Halo Chest seals, Israeli bandages, a collapsible Bag valve mask (the bulb they squeeze to breathe for someone), about 15 pair of exam gloves, 15 sterile 4x4 gauze, 10 8x10 gauze, 2 24x30 gauze pads, some regular band-aids, Triangular bandages, diagnostic gear, shears, SAM splints, IV administration gear, as well as a field reference book (there is more, I just cant remember it all). I also carry a separate bag filled with EMS drugs like nitro, Epinephrine and IV solutions (that goes inside the house due to temp extremes)
It is too heavy to pack very far, but great for immediate stabilization for injured persons.
Something no one has mentioned in these threads are triangle bandages. They are lightweight and can do quite a few things. You can make slings for arm/shoulder injuries, use them to secure splints or bandages to a person, use them as a bandage, use them as a head covering, used as a support for joints such as ankles, and as burn dressings. You can also use them as water filters, tie them up to use as bag/containers, food coverings to keep insects away but let air flow through, and if you cut pieces off of them- as a dry tinder for fire starter. To me they are worth having along for a lot of uses.
Coppertop