Comprehensive First Aid Kit

Happy New Year,

We have always taken a basic first aid kit with us on our travels, since it can be extremely useful at times. When selecting a first aid kit, you must keep in mind both the level of injury you want to successfully address, and the overall size and weight of the kit.

For short hikes, we have used standard, pre-packaged first aid kits available from outdoor stores such as REI. We have often used these small kits to patch up minor cuts, blisters, and abrasions received from a fall or other minor accident on the trail, and they work great for those situations. For trips when we are in the field for a week or two, and have access to a car, we have extended our basic kit to allow us to deal with more serious injuries for a short period of time. For example, we have included a small splint to stabilize a broken bone until proper medical help can be sought.

As part of our preparation for Tanzania, however, we felt we needed to further extend our supplies, since we would need to be equipped to handle pretty much anything for at least 24, and more likely 48, hours (the time it would take to be airlifted to a hospital that meets first-world standards). Knowing that the potential existed for us to be far from any semblance of assistance should we need it, we also added supplies that are not strictly first aid in nature, but rather general purpose, such as a signal mirror and duct tape. Taking that approach, and knowing that size was not a primary consideration since we would always be in or near a vehicle, we developed a very comprehensive first aid kit.

Unfortunately, we were not able to find all of the information we needed to develop a good kit in a single place. To come up with the appropriate set of items, we had to pull information from multiple sources, including the Red Cross. We hope that the information we present here will help save you a little work in putting together your own kit. The resulting kit fits in a medium sized over-the-shoulder bag (roughly the size of a large purse), and should provide everything that you need to triage after even a fairly significant event such as a car accident. Of course, it also contains all of the stuff required to take care of minor injuries as well. Given its size, it is not likely the best fit for backpacking trips, but it is our new standard for any trip where size is not a prohibitive measure.

Obviously, in addition to the equipment contained in the kit, the knowledge of how to use it is critical. As such, we strongly recommend at least one person in your group take an advanced wilderness first aid class to become familiar with these tools and learn how to effectively utilize them. More than one person would be preferable, as the person who knows how to use the equipment might also be the injured, and possibly unconscious, party.

We hope you find this information useful.

Terence
www.cityescapesphotography.com