I believe we have a member of the medical profession who can offer some sound advice.
Hi Wayne,
If you already have a bag, you can make up quite a good kit for very little cost. I assume you have done a first aid course or two between Vicpol and SES (if I recall). A couple of points:
1. DRSABCD comes first, and you haven't even opened your kit yet.
2. Your first aid kit is primarily for treating wounds, so most of the space will be taken up by bandages and dressings. Minor wounds occur more often, so you will need plenty of bandaids/adhesive dressings. More serious wounds occur less often. Be prepared with some larger dressings but it is impossible to cater for all eventualities.
3. Knick knacks don't take up much room (eg splinter probe, scissors/shears, pen and note book)
4. To me, everyday things like panadol, medications and sunscreen etc belong in your toilet kit, not the first aid kit.
5. Alcohol swabs are to disinfect intact skin prior to giving an injection. They are not meant for cleaning a wound, but they are an easy addition to a commercial kit for minimal cost to the supplier. Clean a dirty wound with saline or water. A few 10ml plastic ampoules of saline are good for flushing wounds as well as irrigating eyes.
6. You can have a little kit in the glove box with band aids etc and maybe panadol, and the larger kit in the cargo area.
6. Improvise. eg Glad wrap is a good burn dressing and it's sterile after you lose the first layer on the roll. A rolled up towel makes a good neck brace or splint.
This is the list of contents of the StJohn Large Leisure Kit, which sounds like a good assortment. However I've made some suggestions:-
1 Emergency First Aid Guide Shouldn't need it if you've done a course and don't want to be fumbling with a book in a crisis1 Crepe Bandage 5cm
2 Crepe Bandages 7.5cm
2 Heavy Duty Crepe Bandages 10cm
1 Zinc Oxide Tape 2.5cm x 5m
I think this is cloth/strapping tape?1 Hypo-Allergenic Tape 2.5cm x 9m
2 Triangular Bandages 110cm x 110cm
1 Disposable Instant Cold Pack
1 Universal Dressing Small
3 Pkts Gauze Swabs 7.5cm (Pkt of 3)
2 Combine Pads 10cm x 10cm
2 Combine Pads 10cm x 20cm
2 Non-Adherent Pads 7.5cm x 10cm
2 Non-Adherent Pads 5cm x 5cm
2 Sterile Eye Pads
1 Fabric dressing strip 6.3cm x 1m Once you've opened it, it's no longer sterile. The other dressings are better for large wounds1 Pkt Alcohol Swabs (Pkt of 10) 1 Stainless Steel Sharp/Blunt Scissors 12.5cm
1
Sheers Trauma Scissors 14cm
Are they thin and translucent, or do they mean "shears"?1 Stainless Steel Splinter Pointed Forceps
or maybe splinter probes instead2 Emergency Shock Blankets
1 Pkt Safety Pins (Pkt of 12)
1 Notepad & Pencil
2 Plastic Specimen Bags
10 Eye Saline & Wound Irrigation 15mL
5 Primapore Dressings 8.3cm x 6cm
1 Pkt Plastic Adhesive Strips (Pkt of 50)
1 Pkt Fabric Adhesive Strips (Pkt of 50)
1 Pkt Disposable Splinter Probes (Pkt of 5)
1 Pkt Antiseptic Swabs (Pkt of 10) 2 Pkts Sting & Itch Relief Sachets 3ml (Pkt of 5) Toiletries ??5 Pairs Disposable Nitrile Gloves Large
4 Sunscreen Sachets 30+ 10ml Toiletries1 Resuscitation Protection Shield See point 1. Maybe I'd add a little torch, but better off keeping that in the glove box. A head lamp is useful at night. Beyond this stuff, my own kit has diagnostic stuff (stethoscope, BP cuff, oxygen and glucose meters etc), more drugs and airways, splits and collars.
If buying a lot of stock, Google medical suppliers like Warner Webster and RG Medical. Much cheaper than your local pharmacy.
Hope this helps. Greg.
