Whats in your First Aid/Emergency kit?

ok, i just pulled mine out: seam sealer, zip tie, hot glue stick, piece of tent screen, piece of cordura, "platypus" patches (for leaks in water bladder), piece of clear gear repair tape, emergency blanket, adventure medical kit ultralight.7 that includes pretty much everything you could want except for what i added plus an additional giant safety pin, water purification tablets, cipro, A BANDANNA ( Nick) and most importantly my "comprehensive guide to wilderness and travel medicine" by dr. weiss which is the most bad ass, carry-able guide. all i will say about that is that i don't want the people with me guessing about how to put on a traction splint when i break my femur. i'd like the step by step instructions with me, thank you. i could also include my multitool as a first aid item, as i used the pliers last summer to remove incredibly giant jumping cholla thorns from a dog's face, tongue, inside of mouth, and paws. tweezers would have been useless.
things i will be adding soon: the awesome tape that Nilauro lent me this weekend, a pencil (why don't i have one?). and blood clotting stuff is a good idea.

i find it interesting that no one has said they carry a list of their medications and allergies...
 
Everyone needs a couple 5x9s, quick clot gauze, not granules, gauze or celox for wrap, sam splint, CAT tourniquet, asst bandaids. Fix about any injury with these. Half the stuff getting listed is not first aid stuff. My FA kit for backpacking trips weighs in at a pound. One for dayhikes, not so much. There is not a fit all, you need to tailor it what you are doing. Remember it could save your or someone's life. Store bought kits aren't great, make one. You don't need the kitchen sink, just to cover injuries you may see, improvise is the other key. Sorry mine maybe has more stuff as I'm a AEMT for Wildland Fire and some of it shifts to my own. MOST important you know what to do, something bad you may have little time.

Sorry colefeet, you better be carrying a few more things if you break a femur. That is probably the MOST serious backcountry injury you can have. Break that, nick the femoral and you have about 2 min to stop the bleeding. You can get a really nice light weight traction splint tho.
 
Bob, this is an emergency kit/first aid kit thread, so yes, many people carry non-first aid items with them at all times. emergencies happen that include getting lost and running out of food etc. That fishhook that aldaron carries could keep him hiking while i'm sitting by the stream wishing i had a net. by thinking outside of the box and seeing what is important to other hikers we can make ourselves so much better. For instance, nilauro's sticky tape saved me from having only one leg of a convertible pair of pants. no, not a first aid item but i guarantee it helped prevent some hypothermia this weekend ;) And bad things happen (very fortunately) very rarely. while i agree that knowledge is important, even if someone has been trained as a wilderness first responder or similar they aren't likely to remember every little detail when the adrenaline kicks in two years after they took that class that they half paid attention to.
 
Sorry, a first Aid/Emergency kit for me dosn't include electronics, purification items, personal meds, etc. My thinking is more geared for trauma concerns in backcountry, a way to mitigate and get you out. All the other stuff falls in the 'misc' catagory for me. I can see however, how you are trying to get people to think. :)
 
Bob said:
Sorry, a first Aid/Emergency kit for me dosn't include electronics, purification items, personal meds, etc. My thinking is more geared for trauma concerns in backcountry, a way to mitigate and get you out. All the other stuff falls in the 'misc' catagory for me. I can see however, how you are trying to get people to think. :)
Click to expand...

I guess a better way to think of this would be what's in your 'ruh roh' kit. I know a lot of folks just have a small bag that combines the medical emergency stuff along with all the other possible mishaps they are concerned about. For me, it would be absolutely tragic to carry a camera 30 miles without a memory card, so a spare memory card in my kit is quite important. Same for a little emergency light source. All good things to consider and be prepared for, some less life-threatening than others.
 
I’m a Paramedic, so my medical kit is a total overkill, but after humping a 100 lb. ruck around for years in the Army, I don’t mind carrying extra weight, so I tend to carry way more than I need. But, It’s the old “Rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it” thing. With the disclaimer out of the way, here’s my emergency kit:
1. First Aid kit:
a. Band-Aids of various sizes.
b. Antibiotic ointment
c. Moleskin
d. Ace Bandage (2,4,6 inch sizes)
e. SAM Splint
f. Ant-diarrheal tablets ( Imodium )
g. Antacid tablets (Tums)
h. Epinephrine Auto-Injector
i. Acetaminophen (Tylenol )
j. Ibuprofen ( RX 800’s )
k. Naproxen ( RX 500’s )
l. Oxycodone (Happy Pills )
m. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl )
n. Hydrocortisone Cream
o. C-A-T Tourniquet
p. Sensi Wrap
q. Kerlix
r. 2 x 2 gauze pads
s. 4 x 4 gauze pads
t. Surgical tape
u. 100 Mile-per-hour tape / Gorilla Tape
v. Celox Hemostatic Gauze
w. Celox-A Applicator
x. Israeli Bandages
y. Nitrile Gloves
z. Benzoin Swabs
aa. Betadine Swabs
bb. Steri Strips
cc. Super Glue
dd. Isopropyl alcohol pads
ee. Tweezers
ff. Hemostats
gg. EMT Shears
hh. Scalpel
ii. Oropharyngeal airways
jj. Nasopharyngeal airways
kk. CPR Pocket Mask


2. Water Purification Tablets
3. AMK Emergency Bivvy
4. Petzel e+light emergency headlamp
a. Extra CR2032 batteries
5. (2) BIC Lighters
6. 100’ 550 Cord
7. Spare Compass
8. ACS - Personal Locator beacon – I spend a lot of my time outdoors solo, and this gives the wife piece of mind about that.
9. Repair Kit
a. Sail Needle -
b. Regular Sewing Needle
c. Thread
d. Bank line
e. Spare Buckles for pack
f. Spare Parts for Stove
g. More Duct Tape
h. Exped Repair Kit
10. I always carry an Adventure Medical Kits – Pocket Survival Pack Plus, and a mini FAK on my person in case I’m separated from my pack.
That’s more or less it. As I stated in the beginning, the medical kit is pretty over kill, but I don’t mind the extra weight. Any idea’s on things I may have missed would be appreciated.

JP
 
I'm hiking with you! :)

But you're still going to need me to catch dinner with my fish hook when we get lost and run out of food :)
 
Meh... There's a fishing kit in the AMK Survival Pak. And I can snare with bank line or '550 cord. But really you can go 2 weeks without food no problem (Maybe quite a bit longer for me... Fat Kid Power!)
 
Nick said:
And a follow up question - how do you guys manage your pharmaceuticals in your kits? I used to toss a bunch of pills in one bottle but that gets messy. Lately I've been putting them into the small snack size plastic bags and then stuffing those all those bags into one bag. Kind of a lot of plastic. It'd be nice to find tiny little baggies, like 2" x 2" with a really good seal.
Click to expand...

Wal-mart carries little plastic pill pouches that I absolutely love for this purpose. They seal very well, and they're durable enough that I re-use them over and over rather than using new ones every time.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ezy-Dose-Disposable-Pill-Pouches-50-ct/10318648
 
I carry a .5 Adventure Medical Kit, a Pocket Survival Pack, an emergency blanket, and a basic Swiss Army Knife.

http://www.rei.com/product/708124/adventure-medical-kits-ultralight-watertight-5-first-aid-kit
http://www.rei.com/product/708135/adventure-medical-kits-pocket-survival-pak
http://www.rei.com/product/813514/sol-survival-blanket
http://www.rei.com/product/403028/victorinox-classic-swiss-army-knife

I also added Iodine tablets, Tums, Pepto tablets, a shload more Ibuprofen, a mini BIC lighter, waterproof matches, and waterproof bandages to my medical kit.
 
I carry just the basic ten essentials:
Compass, little tube of sunscreen, beanie and gloves, headlamp with extra batteries, first aid (ibuprofen, gauze, athletic tape and wrap, tweezers, SAM splint, etc.) 3x fire starter(waterproof matches, lighter and magnesium bar with a ziplock of dryer lint), My knife, a few Clif bars(i hate these things but they are great for emergency), 2% iodine drops(doubles in first aid) and MSR ceramic pump, and I have two space blankets (a thin one and a more durable one).
 
Great discussion! Love to read everyones responses.

I have what I call my survival kit in a small dry sack which
contains my first aid kit in a separate water proof bag =
Tweezers, safety pins, antibiotic ointment, antiseptic
towelettes, duct tape, band aids, ibuprofen, benadryl,
vaseline, Imodium, gauze, lip balm, burn free, tums, syringe,
aloe vera, sun block, surgical blades.

Paracord, compass, candle, a life straw, small tarp,
multi tool, mini fishing kit, a few energy bars, mirror,
snare, needle with dental floss, velcro, DEET, fire starters,
poncho, mylar blanket, trowel, garbage bag and I just added a
backpacking chain saw.

Seems like maybe I carry too much?

I come from marathoning and distance running. The best
blister prevention I discovered is to slather my feet in vaseline.

I do like the idea of carrying
blood clotting stuff
Click to expand...
. What do you use JB?
 
Nick said:
And a follow up question - how do you guys manage your pharmaceuticals in your kits? I used to toss a bunch of pills in one bottle but that gets messy. Lately I've been putting them into the small snack size plastic bags and then stuffing those all those bags into one bag. Kind of a lot of plastic. It'd be nice to find tiny little baggies, like 2" x 2" with a really good seal.
Click to expand...

Here is an odd idea that works for me with pills. If they are small enough I get a straw, melt one end and squeeze with pliers to seal, put the pills into the tube you created, fold end over and wrap with a small rubber band. No damage to pills and a small container that easily fits into my first aid kit! Found this works good for salt and other seasonings as well.
 
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