First Aid Packing List

[rckxxmedk]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new the forum, and I would like to say it is a valuable resource. My friends and I are going on a the High Sierra Trail in July, and it will be my first advance kind of hike. I've done moderate to moderately strenous hikes before, but I'm psyched for this one.

Now for my main question for all those medically inclined:

For my 72 mile, 7 day hike, how much medical equipment should I bring for a group of five people? This is my current packing list.

Splints
Ankle wraps
Cravats/triangular bandages for fractures
Band-aids (of varying sizes)
Moleskin (for blisters)
Hydrocortisone (for bug bites)
Steri-strips for when stitching is required (until advance help can arrive)
1000mL bag of Intravenous Normal Saline (for heat strokes or heat exhaustion)
Thermal blanket
Tweezers/scalpel (for splinters)
Gauze for moderate to severe bleeding
Quikclot
Antiseptic and normal saline for irrigation of wounds
Emergency airways
Trauma scissors
Oral Glucose
Tourniquet
Foot powder
550 Paracord

---

Is this being excessive? I'm accustomed to packing 40lbs of medical gear on top of a 30lbs of Army rucksacks for long marches, but I was wondering for a hike if this would be excessive. I want to ensure the hikers I'm going with are met with top-notch field clinical care and sustainable trauma medicine.

[swoosh]

are you responsible for everyone's first aid kit? i'd make em carry their own

are you looking for advise of what to keep and what to dump?

if so i'd dump:

tourniquet - can make one w/ a belt/parachord/shoelace and some sticks

trauma scissors - can use scalpel for same purpose

ankle wraps - duct tape would do just fine

splints - see tourniquet

hydrocortisone - just take some sudafed. multiuse med

quikclot - can't you just put the gauze on and apply pressure?

IV solution - some gatoraid powder and salt would work

i'm not sure what cravats or oral glucose are, so i won't comment about them. but that should tell you taht i don't carry em.

i'd maybe think about packing an epipen, just incase someone is allergic

[desdemona]

Unless this is quite a dangerous hike, I think I'd go with HikingPA on this. Not on agreeing on everything but just that less is more.

Unless you can give IVs then I think the gatorade/salt idea makes more sense too. I think I'd keep the hydrocortisone. Oral anything is not as fast effective though the tube should be small. I'd take oral antihistamine as well. Also ditto on the epipen though if someone is that allergic, I feel that they need the prescription and should get it.

Oral glucose is also only valid for a diabetic who should be bringing his/her own supplies. The same with any other medical conditions. But hard candies that sort of thing seem to be a good thing to put in the food stuff or elsewhere.

I agree also on the tourniquet. A cravat is a large hankerchief, seems a valid item.

Just take your regular multitool and make sure there is a scissors on it. Also a needle would be useful.
I think most people think moleskin isn't too effective.

--des

hikingPA wrote:

are you responsible for everyone's first aid kit? i'd make em carry their own

are you looking for advise of what to keep and what to dump?

if so i'd dump:

tourniquet - can make one w/ a belt/parachord/shoelace and some sticks

trauma scissors - can use scalpel for same purpose

ankle wraps - duct tape would do just fine

splints - see tourniquet

hydrocortisone - just take some sudafed. multiuse med

quikclot - can't you just put the gauze on and apply pressure?

IV solution - some gatoraid powder and salt would work

i'm not sure what cravats or oral glucose are, so i won't comment about them. but that should tell you taht i don't carry em.

i'd maybe think about packing an epipen, just incase someone is allergic

[rckxxmedk]

I suppose I'm falling into the trap of a new hiker: Tendency to overpack.

haha, yeah, I am a bit of everyone's first aid kit. I'm a medic during my day job, so the responsibility of making sure everyone is good for our hike more or less falls on my lap. Which is fine, I'll just stress the fundamentals which they can take care of their own - and the finer, more advance points can be left up to me.

I'm so used to overpacking everything I need and then some for my day job that I don't know how to pack lighter for something that probably won't offer a whole ambit of injuries.

I probably will get rid of the tourniquets, though they're small, and just bring some extra triangular bandages/cravats for the same purpose plus use them for my splints. The splints are SAM, and those in-disposable because they're extremely versatile when it comes to fractures. I suppose glucose can go out the window, but I'll have to think about that. Just because one is healthy doesn't mean he/she can temporarily become hypoglycemic.

Hydration salts are good, but up to that point, I'm gonna tell them to just drink water. I don't plan on giving someone an IV unless they've completely passed out from dehydration, heat exhaustion/heat stroke. Hydration is a personal responsibility, but one I like to stress quite a bit. More they hydrate, the less practice I get with my needles. lol

Epi-pens seem like a good idea, thanks for bringing that up. Someone might have a sudden, unknown allergic reaction.

I personally like moleskin. I used to issue em out to the grunts all the time, and they loved it. The crux is applying it effectively. There's multiple techniques, but my favorite one was to cut a circle that was larger than the blister, then cut a whole in the middle that accomodated the whole blister. Ensure that the circle doesn't go over the blister itself. Then cut another piece with the same radius and put it over the top.

If that doesn't work, Tagaderm (sticky plastic they put over IV sites) works just as well. It prevents rubbing, doesn't allow for a large buildup of moisture underneath, and sticks well to the skin.

-Mike

[swoosh]

just remember mike, you'll be out in the mountains, not near an ER. so some of that stuff is kind of pointless. all you need is supplies to get said person to an area where they can be evacuated. you won't be doing surgery out there - way to unsterile. if you want to carry all that weight it's up to you, but i think most of it is unnecessary. if you're a trained medic you won't let someone get to the point of passed out from dehydration, etc.

however, if you're goign to be responsible for the group's 1st aid, then see if you can at least convince others to carry some stuff for you in exchange! (hey, i'll carry and administor the 1st aid if you bring the stove and cook for me/filter my water) heheh

[swoosh]

oh i carry a bit of athletic tape (like a 2 ft strip). it sticks even when sweaty, and can be used over the moleskin or bandaids to keep em in place

[rckxxmedk]

hikingPA wrote:

just remember mike, you'll be out in the mountains, not near an ER. so some of that stuff is kind of pointless. all you need is supplies to get said person to an area where they can be evacuated. you won't be doing surgery out there - way to unsterile. if you want to carry all that weight it's up to you, but i think most of it is unnecessary. if you're a trained medic you won't let someone get to the point of passed out from dehydration, etc

haha I'm a travelling ER. That's why I bring all that stuff. Seeing how we'll be literally days from the nearest ranger post, I figured it would be prudent to bring enough to sustain for a while. If this was a two or three day hike, I would gladly just bring a couple triangular bandages, some tape, and an epi-pen. Splints and litters can be made with available twigs and branches.

And by the way, people may remain well-hydrated, but still go into heat exhaustion/stroke. Seen it many times during training. You can even have it happen to you at 35 degrees. It isn't a matter of hydration, but rather over-heating your core temperature.

I thought briefly about bringing my suturing kit. Nevermind that I'll do it in the middle of nowhere - if you gotta stitch, stitch! Patient can worry about infection later. But I figured steri-strips would be sufficient, since they're nice and light, and hold things in place until you can get stitches. I almost briefly considered bringing a venous cut-down kit... haha...