First-aid contents suggestions?

[Technician]

In article <[email protected]>, scurry63 @earthlink.net says...
> In <[email protected]> Penny S. wrote:
> > Paladin wrote:
> >> Kathleen <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> >>> BB wrote:
> >>>> On Wed, 7 May 2003 09:06:13 -0700, Penny S. wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> most important: the knowledge to know what you are doing!!
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> Probably more important than anything in a kit. Having the good sense not to do things that
> >>>> get you seriously injured might be even better.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>> also: betadyne or alcohol wipes instead of a bottle of antiseptic. gloves. first aid tape
> >>>>> for the gauze. ( covers big wounds) benedryl for allergies.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> GLOVES? Am I the only one that thinks this is overkill? I've survived seven years of riding
> >>>> with nothing more than some napkins to mop up until the bleeding stops.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Color me paranoid, but I'm not going to swap bodily fluids of any sort with a total stranger.
> >>> Not these days, fer god's sake. Yet I feel weirdly compelled to help when I see someone
> >>> bleeding. Gloves are a reasonable precaution and take up next to no room in your kit.
> >>>
> >>> Kathleen
> >>
> >>
> >> OK, you gals have convinced me. I've patched up some pretty ugly biffs in the last few years,
> >> with lots of blood involved. We had just started using gloves in cop work and boxing when I got
> >> out. Makes sense. Helping someone is not always worth dying for. So, do you use those super
> >> thin ones that are used by dentists, et al, that look like condoms? Paladin
> >
> > It's not just aids you have to worry about. Hepatitis B is the big threat.
> >
> > Penny
>
> Get vinyl gloves. Latex ones break down over time. A year from now you'll pull them on and have
> fingerless gloves and little rubber hats on all your fingers.
>
> Cheers, Shawn
>

Simple fix for that. change 'em out every 6 months or so. i plan to do inspections of materials in
my first-aid kit. if the wrapper looks torn or broken, in the trash it goes. I would rather throw
away something that may have been fine, than to unintentionally infect somebody.

so far my first-aid kit (and other bak contents) is all listed off on my mtb page (under the
bike info).

I plan to add some tweezers.

Though it was recommended, i decided not to carry any medications as most of the trails i ride are
within a mile or two of a house or road, or some other place of extraction. of course, if i move to
some larger trails (like Mt Appatite park in Auburn) i may bring some meds along (along with my
trusty zantac). I plan to buy a small water bottle. just a cheap "spring water" bottle, like what's
sold at supermarkets. the trails may be small, but i have seen a few folks that clearly looked
dehydrated. i would rather hand out a bottle than dispense from my bak (never know where their
mouths have been).

I have added too some slips of paper that i printed my name, address, and phone numbers (home and
cell). you never know when you may meet a new riding buddy. i plan to also bring a pen (pencils
break) and a small note pad for whatever i may need to write down (like a phone number or whatever).
--
~Travis

travis57 at megalink dot net http://www.megalink.net/~farmers/

 

[Kathleen]

Shawn Curry wrote:

> Get vinyl gloves. Latex ones break down over time. A year from now you'll pull them on and have
> fingerless gloves and little rubber hats on all your fingers.

Between home, the stuff in my camelbak, and the big human-and-dog first aid kit I keep in
the van, I tend to rotate and use up stuff pretty frequently. Gloves, especially, since they
get used for doing crafts, and also for picking up dog ****. The rules, for home and for the
flyball club are that anybody is welcome to help themselves to whatever they need from the
kit, but if you take the last of anything, you need to let me know, and thou shalt not make
chicken head balloons with the last pair of gloves.

Kathleen