what first aid equipment do you take?

Pro_guitar

Well-Known Member
Evening,

I was wondering what first aid equipment you guys take with you?
With regards to the gentleman being shot by his dog made me wonder what people are taking. I take a Torniquet and an Israeli trauma field dressing (got to expect the worst).

I wonder if its a gap inthe market for someone to make up kits tailored for stalkers and shooters alike.
 
I find these threads so inviting, but don't want to get too drawn in. I have made my views on tourniquets felt elsewhere on the forum and although I do own a couple they are not without significant pain, difficulty in self treatment and can only treat very specific wounds. You'd need one hell of a disposition with a gunshot wound to your upper thigh to calmly go to the pocket where you kept the tourniquet, open the pocket, slip around the leg and then get it sufficiently tight. They are really designed for your army buddy to treat injured comrades, not for self treatment.

It is always a major compromise how much stuff you are realistically prepared to carry versus the likelihood and severity of injuries you may need to treat. You wouldn't get the chance of many deer with a bloody great backpack full of medical supplies but you would be prepared for everything.

How far from help are you? 15 mins from the car stalking with a mate then you don't need much stuff. Somewhere very remote with no mobile signal, tell wife you'll ring when you get back after tea - more stuff needed. Even the terrain and your experience plays a lot in what you will carry.

My take is that for most outdoor activities I am not too far from some help. The most likely injuries you will sustain will be falls and trips. Possible knife injuries. Debris in your eye. Cuts, scrapes and blisters. I'd say a gunshot wound is very very remote. If out for a stalk and you get a blister or some pollen in your eye it can ruin your day. There should be space for 'comfort' items too.

I have a big dressing, gloves, plasters, eyewash, burn gel, scalpel blade, hypodermic needle, saline pods, haemostatic sachet and a few medicines (Ibuprofen & codeine, antihistamine).

I will usually have a dressing in a coat pocket too.

IF you think gunshot wounds are likely you need 2 dressings - there will be an exist wound too.
 
A headache tablet ,and some plasters ,I did cut myself on a gralloch once and dressed it with my t shirt being an ex scout I am very resourcefull .
 
Just a bit of bog roll. Use the wrong type of moss on yer arse and you'll start to chaff, and you'll chaff through the trees, over the hill all the way back to the car. Forget gunshot wounds.... chaffed ringpiece is murder.
 
Previous posts will show it was something of a key topic for us. Whilst always generates interest - which is good in of itself, that interest seems to peter out fairly swiftly and has little affect of swaying opinion - ie those keen enough do it anyway and threads dont seem to do a lot to encourage others.

In terms of commercial packs. The market - like many other products - is a minefield with the good, the bad and the ugly being marketed for the nice, the ok and the eye-watering ( prices ) with no clear correlation between the two!

We carried and tried to develop stalker packs - but commercially just didnt work. The interest didnt translate into purchase. Or if it did, the message was lost and a £4.99 Tesco jobby was the popular choice.

The position isnt helped for those looking to make a choice as opposed to 'enthusiasts' in that there is a wealth of conflicting information and opinion out there. Often good advice is actually skewed by being given in the wrong context.

We still do various items and Celox goes reasonably well on courses. But pack expiry dates just dont make it viable for us to openly stock online. We still do specific packs to order for Estates, professionals and the like - but fairly often even that only comes in fits and starts.

I think Bog Trotter did a post to a thread way back with the most likely injuries you will face - and gunshot wound is waaaaaaaaaay down it! ;)

In terms of guidance, there's a lot of inadequate tat out there. If comfortable assembling a kit for your needs, then strongly recommend shopping with the likes of St John Ambulance ( good prices and for a great cause ) or SP Services - they simply wont be carrying rubbish stuff.

And always remember kit is great, but you must know what to do with it!
 
You will never be able to cover every eventuality, so there will always be an element of compromise.

Imo the best piece of kit you can have, is a good first aid qualification some courses are better than others, look for one that covers the type of injury's a stalker is likely to encounter.
 
Plastic bag with soft bogroll, saves the need for Sudocrem :D Some antihistamine & ibruprofen on me, plus the usual kit in the car, but nothing substantial enough for a gunshot wound.

ah you see if you had a large clean hankie you could treat that as well!!
 
you need to match your first aid kit with your risk assessment
stings,ticks, thorns, scratches cuts, something in your eye, sprains are fairly likely but not too traumatic
Serious cuts are low probability but possible,
and risks of h.v. gunshot wounds are best reduced to ZERO.
therefore a few good plasters, small wound dressing, large wound dressing, small eyewash, tweezers
 
Clean hanky and mobile phone... have a first aid kit in the car though (never far from it).

Essentials for me are:
Mobile Phone - for calling emergency services (or for playing on during particularly boring high-seat sessions)
Iburprofen (normally in the car) - Headache's will ruin any stalk
Hanky/Plasters - Occaisionally I cut myself

My stalking kit is quite lightweight as my shoots are not at all remote, so 90% of my gear stays in the car:

Comes with me:
Rifle
Bino's
Sticks
Knife
Rope (paracord)
Phone
Hanky/Tissue
Torch/head torch

Stays in car:
Roe tray
Antibac Wipes
Sanitary gloves
First aid kit
Hatchet
Extra clothing
Water

I don't like taking my backpack with me but could probably handle it if I did.

Back to topic - I'm no Rambo, so in the event I shot myself and wasn't dead I'd probably just call an ambulance and apply pressure to the wound rather than removing the bullet and cauterising it with gun powder :D
 
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