I'm building a fresh medical kit. Anyone interested in that sort of thing?
If so, I'm willing to share the final build and components (minus any I think average people shouldn't use).
Discussion
How do you define average people?
Honestly, if a person isn't, they'll know it and already know which components they need anyway. That's sort of a non-answer, but I meant to convey that I'm asking people with little to no medical training in case anyone wants a good place to start for intermediate trauma/medical preparedness.
If you know you'll be using advanced or surgical airways (and other higher level stuff), then this would be a boring build. It's going to be for my travel kit. My home or work kit would have these things in addition to other systems for more advanced care. I'm happy to share that stuff too, but it isn't all that useful for average people in every day life (meaning non-professionals).
It still not easy for even professionals to pack all things needed. Too accustomed to get what I need by only asking and reaching a hand.
Just would have needed nose elevator in an off grid setting. Dull table knife didn't fit in 😁
That's part of the challenge (and fun) of building these kits. I work in an ED now, but I have spent time on ambulances and the difference is significant. You really learn to make it with a lot less. Even less than that with some private or tiny services 😂 I also try to make custom or multiuse things to save space/weight.
Another challenge is that "needs" are often dictated by chance. All we can really do is use data and critical thinking to do the best we can. I've had people code or become critically ill in the ED (arguably the best place to do it, and mine is at a major city hospital) and still die. I still have to improvise sometimes even in that environment due to shortages, rare cases, etc.
And medicine, particularly emergency, is really young. So we probably need a lot of things we can't even imagine today.
Yes, please share what you come up with. I need to repack my truck and backpacking med kits and would love to see your take.
My bugout bag has tourniquets, chest sealers, bleed stop and wound closures (the zip-tie kind).
I only want things where it's life or death if you have it.
If I find myself needing a band-aid or tylenol or whatever I will make do.
That's the sort of stuff going into my intermediate kit. I should add that it includes things I'd most likely use on others. Some I could on myself if conscious and able. But that brings up another valuable consideration: training family and friends.
Devil's advocate: If you are less effective at your primary mission for want of a moleskin, antidiarrheal pill, rehydration powder, etc. it could create dangerous situation.
Depends on the environment. It would probably be a waste of space in an urban environment. But certainly worth consideration if you're in a remote setting. I think of med kits as basic, intermediate, advanced, and specialty. With each kit containing everything below it. Specialty is the outlier that heavily depends on what the special case is. Like if I know I'm on a team and my duty is vascular access, airway, etc, my gear will be highly specialized for that purpose. My three levels are broad.
This is an endlessly fun topic to think about, but you can get lost in the weeds as a result.
I think of the kit I described as very basic - just the life or death stuff.
What goes in your basic kit if not that stuff? Band aids?
Basic would include things like small bandages, wraps, bacitracin, aspirin, glucometer, small gauze, a pocket ventilation mask, etc. MY basic also includes a stethoscope and manual BP cuff.
But my basic kits aren't necessarily first aid kits by design, although they do have that stuff. Basic for most people probably is just a first aid kit and that's cool.
Life or death is also kind of an arbitrary metric. You can eventually die from an infected cut that you didn't care to prep for because you didnt think it was life or death. Prevention is a key focus on my lower kits. I don't want to need more advanced care. So I do include bandages, ointments, irrigation (etc) to keep even small wounds clean in my first aid kit (included in my basic life support kit). They don't weigh much and I've seen first hand just how heavy "small" problems can become in the emergency department.
I hadn't thought of it this way (I do it naturally), but designing a kit around not needing the next level is a great way to do it. For example, a device to help remove a foreign body blocking an airway BEFORE a surgical airway is needed. Or a chest seal before you have to needle decompress in the field. You always want to have the ability to address problems while they're as small as possible. Only preparing for the most life threatening injuries could miss that and reduce your odds of survival in some cases. Like not dealing with a small lac. That could eventually require IV supplies, surgery, abx, or even higher levels of care that you may not have access to right away.
And to beat a dead horse, most people in every day life are probably more likely to experience the relatively boring stuff (cuts, choking, heart attacks, etc) vs the really action packed stuff (like GSWs, MCIs, etc).
But again, first aid is a different category for me than my life support stuff. I include it in my basic kit regardless because it's simple and requires hardly any extra space. People should have first aid covered before venturing into basic and advanced life support.
Do it.
Followed. Please share.
I'd definitely be curious. I've got something of a medical kit I usually keep around me in my backpack, but I'm not a medical professional by any stretch of the imagination and would be curious what somebody who knows what they're doing would include. (Though I'm sure some things would be irrelevant to me, it's not like I'd be performing a tracheostomy or anything).
Nor would I in most cases. Especially if I wasn't doing it under any particular approved protocol. I would for a loved one though, but the items in my kit are specifically chosen to avoid advanced intervention whenever possible. Lots of stuff coming in the mail over the next couple weeks.
Yes!!🙌