Doctor-Up Your First Aid Kit
Behold the first aid kit. There it sits quietly in your pack, home, or car, just awaiting the time when it will be called on for service. Have you taken the time to examine your kit recently, or does it suffer from neglect, or even worse-apathy? Odds are, if your kit is two or more years old, your medications have expired or soon will. Now's the time to care for your kit as much as it cares for you.
First things first
You do have a first aid kit, don't you? At a minimum, each person should have a basic, one-person kit in their backpack. A more comprehensive kit is better, especially if you plan to hike in the backcountry for a few days or have several people in your party. However, be sure the kit doesn't get so big that you'll be tempted to leave without it. You'll find that the professionally designed kits from Adventure Medical Kits (AMK)
or Atwater Carey deftly balance capability with weight and size, giving you a carefully selected assortment of medications, supplies and instruments for the rated trip duration and group size.
Also, did you know that first aid kits and supplies are usually acceptable expenses for healthcare flexible spending accounts? That means that you can purchase kits and supplies with pretax money. If you don't already have a kit and you have a healthcare FSA, there's no reason to wait. Give some thought as to which kits (Do you have one for the home, car, boat?) best fit your situation and procrastinate no more.
Out with the old
If you already have a kit, now's the time for a checkup. Toss out any medicine that is expired. Again, toss out any medicine that is expired. There seems to be a quirk in human nature that motivates us to keep medications long after the expiration date. "It's still good" we tell ourselves or "it's never been opened." Throw it away. Expired medications may or may not be safe and effective, so why take the chance? If you have pain, diarrhea, an itchy insect bite, the need to clean a dirty wound or other similar maladies, you'll want relief, not the frustration of realizing that you forgot to replace your expired meds.
Replenish and revitalize
Next, check your supplies. Do you have enough dressings, tape, gloves, antiseptics, pain relievers? Do you need to add some key items because you're now traveling with a larger group or are planning a longer trip? First aid refill kits are a handy way to resupply your kit with the medications and supplies packaged and designed specifically for use in a first aid kit. Refill kits are organized into specific categories such as wound cleaning and closing, bandaging and dressings, medications, blister care and CPR kits, among others.
In addition to refill kits, there are many other items to consider adding to your kit.
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QuikClot clotting sponges have been proven on the battlefield and were recently approved by the FDA for over-the counter sale. Quikclot products stop bleeding fast and have saved countless lives.
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SAM splints are lightweight, malleable splints that can be cut with scissors and formed in many different ways. By creating a curve or fold longitudinally these splints become quite rigid and can be used to splint many types of broken bones.
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Hand sanitizer is not usually thought of as a first aid kit item. Indeed, it should be an everyday item, especially in the outdoors. Common sense suggests keeping a small bottle in your kit so that you'll be assured of having clean hands before dressing wounds or taking medications.
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Waterproof Aloksak bags are an ideal way to keep your supplies clean and dry. If your first aid kit is not already waterproof, use these durable bags to keep everything dry even if your kit is submerged. They are standard issue for AMK's Ultralight & Watertight series of kits.
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Nitrile gloves provide a barrier to prevent the spread of infectious disease. Most kits have them, but if yours doesn't or if you've used yours, be sure to put them on the list. You may have to dress a wound on someone you know little about and gloves can help prevent cross contamination.
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Oral rehydration salts are used to help someone recover from the effects of dehydration caused by heat exhaustion or diarrhea. If you're traveling internationally or have an outing in a warm environment, you'll want to include rehydration salts.
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Blist-O-Ban bandages are an effective way to prevent and treat blisters. There's nothing worse than walking with a painful blister for miles and miles. Blist-O-Bans are easy to apply and work by absorbing friction with a self-inflating dome that glides in all directions.
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The AMK Suture/Syringe Medic is recommended for travelers going to developing countries. The kit contains an assortment of sutures, syringes and other supplies that you can provide to the local health professional, insuring that you're treated with sterile supplies.
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The AMK Dental Medic is first aid for teeth. We tend to forget about dental issues until they come up and then we think of nothing else. The Dental Medic has dental wax, temporary tooth filling mixture, Oragel and a number of other items that could prevent hours of suffering.
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In summary
Like insurance, a first aid kit is something that we hope we never have to use but know that we probably will at some point. And like insurance, we don't give a lot of thought to it until we need it. A little time spent now to assess and restore your first aid kit will give you the confidence of being prepared and could prevent a minor event from escalating into a major crisis.
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