First Aid

October's First Aid Focus: 

First Aid Kits Part I


Most first aid kits that you can buy are generally well stocked for multiple common occurring injuries.  These kits are great for new scouts to get familiar with the basic implements, but as for most stock products, it can be customized and fitted to specific purposes.  As 'basic' necessities go, band-aids are an absolute must have, BUT if they aren't the soft, water-proof, flexible kind you need to swap them.  Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of putting one of those 'plastic' band-aids knows how poor they really are.  Don't submit yourself to a companies cheap products.  Have knowledge and faith in your equipment and you're setting yourself up for success.
Second key item to make sure you have is a tube or at least a few packets of antibacterial ointment.  I personally prefer a small tube over the individual packets because once a packet is open, you generally don't use the entire thing and there is no way to save the excess.  Gauze is the next major item to a well stocked kit.  Whether it is a sealed square packet or just a roll, gauze is an absolute must have in any kit.  Also, be sure to have a small set of scissors in the kit, because although sterile gauze is the best, any gauze is better than no gauze.  You might open up that sterile pack and only use half of it, or need to cut it to a certain shape.  A time like that is when the scissors come in handy, considering its safer and easier to cut material with those rather than a blade.
Don't let the company who put together your first aid kit hold you back.  Just because they put the item in the kit doesn't mean it's the best choice for being there.  Things like latex gloves and single use thermometers are extremely nice to have on hand when the need arises.  But, when your backpacking and you can assume someone has a fever if they're burning up to your touch, you don't exactly need a thermometer to state the obvious.  Latex gloves are great to keep your hands clean and not infect the wound, but when your fellow scout or hiking partner jumps off a rock wrong going downhill and breaks an ankle, you don't have time to put gloves on to check the bone sticking out of the skin.  Those gloves won't help you with the splint.  Know how to act, know your tools, save a life.