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Right, I'm looking for a first aid kit, it will be carried with me at all times both on and off the bike (more out on the bike).
So which outdoor kit do any of you guys use or recommend?
This gets done quite a bit, but I stand by my kit of a couple of bandages and some duct tape. Sometimes I carry a vial of saline too.
I need it to be more than that, so I am looking at the 'complete' outdoor kit with one or two items that I will add to it.
I'm a full-time pro bike guide in the summers. My kit is pretty-much the same as meehaja's!
Complete kit would be:
Dressings (big military/paramedic ones).
Duct tape
Steristrips
Triangular bandage/sling
Antiseptic (I carry a wee bottle of Betadine)
I do carry some plasters and stuff as well because people expect me to / ask for them, not because I think they're much use.
If going on a remote trip, I sometimes carry a SAM splint.
EDIT: Plus gloves to keep your hands out of the blood and guts. Marigolds are best.
education education education!
Most kits are mostly fancy boxes with:
Lots of dressings (in an emergency, putting a dressing that is "too big" on a wound will do no harm)
Some bandages (for tying stuff on, duct tape does a better job in mud/rain/blood everywhere
some safety pins
some gloves
eye wash stuff (vial of saline)
maybe a burns dressing (dressing soaked in water works well for this.)
Maybe a foil blanket, but generally to warm someone up you'll also need fabric blankets, else you are just reflecting the cold back at them.
[url] http://www.spservices.co.uk/item/Reliance_SportsFirstAidKitinCopenhagenBagFirstAidManualBundle_25_0_3936_0.html [/url] This should provide you with lots of fairly useless items.
The thing is, knowledge is work a thousand fisrt aid kits!
I vote for education and knowledge, both for you and your mates (in case they come accros you lying on the ground).
The other Thursday our MTB group went on a course for biking and 1st aid (ran by fire service, but find someone local, St.Johns etc), the weekend after we went to Scotland for 4 days riding, on the last ride on the last day, my mate was in front (but unsighted by me) and he fell off, so when I came round the corner he was unconscious (HEAD injury).
This was a bit of a SHOCK, but is where the training helps.
I won't bore you with the details, but make sure he can breathe (get training) luckily we had mobile, called 999 and they sent an air ambulance(head injury) he had 3 days in hospital with bleeding on the brain, but he is now OK, Oh and he can't remember a thing!
I've been 20 years biking and one day the knowledge will be useful, go on get training.
Whatever you end up packing, don't forget to add a tick remover to it.
Add some tuff cut scissors as well. If a leg is bleeding badly you need access fast.
First aid kits only need to be basic - you'll not be performing heart surgery on someone!
Have a think about what major injuries you might come across on any ride:
Blood loss - Bandages bandages
Heart attack - Aspirin for the person to Chew on while you wait for Paramedics
Broken bones - Sam splint but only useful for certain breaks and not always the easiest to pack.
Head injuries - well not much you can do other than stem any blood loss and comfort them until help arrives.
That said, in my first aid kit is numerous bandages a vial of saline, some compeed and some zinc oxide tape.
Having knowledge of basic first aid is infinitely more useful than anything you put into a first aid kit!
OK, so in mine is....
Various plasters - Pretty useless in most cases, especially on sweaty skin, but people feel better for trying!
Steri-Strips - No good on stubbly chins
Varying sized dressings and elastic bandages to hold them on
Triangular Bandage
Safety Pins
Gauze and Non stick sterile pads
Antiseptic cream (it was just in there when I bought the base pack)
Burn Gel (Again it was in there)
Foil blanket (Can provide shade too, so useful here)
Asprin and Ibuprofen
Other than that a bit of saline, but only for eyes.
Everything else gets a squirt from the camelbak. I used to carry betadine (iodine solution) but a doctor told me off for using it, saying it left the wound needing cleaning. He was the one who told me to just wash any crap out with water as best I can and get a bandage on it.
I just buy my stuff on line as individual items, mainly large dressings, a few steri-strips & iodine pads plus a load of pain killers.
Most high speed wipe outs seem to result in large grazes / cuts, so that's what I've geared it to treating.
Space blanket came in handy when I came across a guy who'd just crashed on ice and broke his hip at Whinlatter, as it was a fair while before the Ambulance arrived.