1st Aid Kit

[rebel heart]

Stuff I've used lately:

- tweezers and a pin (f'n splinters... my kid is a splinter magnet)
- plastic syringe for irrigating cuts and blasting sand and crud out of lacerations
- neosporin / bacitracin
- band aids. GOOD ones that hold up to abuse.
- sunshine and salt water (really)

Most of the problems we've had are just around basic lacerations and wound care. Smashing feet on rocks, big splinters, jagged mooring lines with critters that cut your hands, etc.

In really humid/wet climates it can be hard for things to stay clean and dry.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

belize-
The peroxide spray is probably a nod to the long-established practice of using it to clean off wounds. BUT.
Peroxide is now on the no-no list for that purpose,...

Yes, I've heard some of the current debates on using peroxide...and mostly ignored them. I only use it to clean minor wounds initially and think that addresses most of the issues. I suspect if you used it for a prolonged period, which would slow the healing process, then that could be an issue, but I don't use it for more than a few superficial cleanings. Apparently that works, since I've lived in the tropics for many years without any serious infections so I must be doing something right.

If you have a serious wound that needs lots of deep, and/or repeated, cleaning then peroxide is definitely not the right thing to use.

[bobconnie]

With Connie being a RN. and haveing a Doctor for a son in law,LOL we have everything for up to and includeing semi-minor surgery!! lots of pain-killers, and things for infection, splints, almost every type of bandage, and a huge amount of bandaids!LOL(im a clutze) surgical tools ect. it takes up a bunch of room but we have been able to help others a lot over the years! so we feel it's what we need to do! so the room it takes up is well worth it !!Any way our new to us boat has so much room we are gonna be hard pressed to ever fill the storage anyway !! Ya never know what your gonna need but if ya are going blue water cruising, don't forget pain killers as theres nothing like heavy pain from a fall or burn to ruin a trip and a little pain relief makes watch standing a lot easier to bear!! so go with all you can get of med supplys !! just my 2 cents

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Yes, maggots are the latest thing in wound cleaning because they only eat the dead tissue. Probably should be sold in kits along with the hydrogen peroxide.<G>

Those are laboratory-raised clean maggots, not just ones pulled out of the trash, btw.

Yes, I keep some right next to that little spray bottle of peroxide.

Yes, historically maggots have been used to clean wounds. A little impractical to carry on a cruising boat, but they work. I rescued a badly injured squirrel once, his wounds were full of maggots, this actually is what really saved his life because they cleaned all the dead tissue out of some big deep ugly wounds. We flushed them out and the wounds were perfectly clean -- all nice fresh clean tissue ready to heal.

[atoll]

papaya(pawpaw) peel as a poultice works just as well......and doesn't wriggle and fly away!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

.....pain from a fall or burn....

Speaking of abrasions and burns: Spenco Second Skin is great stuff. And, it keeps surprisingly long in your kit. I just used up the last bit in mine last year. Did not expect it to be good after a few seasons unused, but it was fine (the bag containing it was well sealed though).

[MarkSF]

Medical tricorder, comes in handy when the captain gets taken over by aliens.

[bruce smith]

not first aid, but ,
charcoal tabs, (poisoning),
slippery elm bark (use like pepto bismol , and ballast for poultices),
dried cayenne ( many uses),
aloe, plant or bottled ,(for more than burns, awesome stuff to drink/eat).

[rover88]

Medical Trivia: During the American Civil War the South had far less deaths from infection for two reasons. Uncovered wounds in field hospitals were often infested by maggots and bandage material was in such short supply old bandages were boiled to clean off blood, thereby sterilizing the dressing long before medicos knew what actually caused infection.

Janet, it most third world countries the full cost of a visit to the doctor is less than my $30 insurance co-pay in the states. In serious emergencies the best course of action is to get stabilized and evacuated asap. A good inexpensive medical evacuation policy can be purchased through DAN, the Diver's Assistance Network and this is well worth investigating even for coastal cruisers in the US.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by rover88

...

Janet, it most third world countries the full cost of a visit to the doctor is less than my $30 insurance co-pay in the states. In serious emergencies the best course of action is to get stabilized and evacuated asap. A good inexpensive medical evacuation policy can be purchased through DAN, the Diver's Assistance Network and this is well worth investigating even for coastal cruisers in the US.

Yes, here in Guate there is excellent medical care available at a fraction of the cost in the USA. Of course, there are lots of really remote locations here so that evac becomes important to get you to the care.

[Southernskys]

Greetings everyone...
Been poking around the forums as I am going to shortly order plans for the boat I am going to build. This forum has helped me head off problems I didn't know I was going to have. Thanks to everyone for that.

I was thinking of posting the kit I used as a basis for my medical set up.
Mods allowing and if people are interested but it is long.
about 1 and 1/3 pages.

Much of the equipment requires special training, the stuff I am not trained to use I have in case it is needed and someone there is trained. I have received training beyond my EMT so I know how to use more of it but legally speaking I am not touching anyone but family with that equipment.

[denverd0n]

I would suggest writing up your list, saving it as a pdf, and then putting it someplace like filedropper.com where others can download it if they want.

[Paul L]

One thing that is really helpful in a first aid kit on a boat is to have the equipment organized, bagged and labeled into purpose of use. For example, a burns bag, deep cuts and lacerations bag, broken bones and splints, etc. When you open up the first aid kit in a real emergency, finding a huge collection of bandages, bottles, tapes and tools can be overwhelming. Pulling out bags that are clearly labeled as to the problem they are trying to solve lets you quickly get to the gear you need. Don't think that without extensive training you will be thinking that clearly -- the adrenalin is pumping and the situation maybe dire. Also, having a wilderness medical book that is decision tree/flow chart oriented is very good to help you accurately evaluate and treat the situation.