First Aid Kits
 

Hey all,
Having trawled through a few threads, i haven't been able to find one on First Aid Kits. so maybe its time for one.
Does anyone a have a recommended general list of which items they would include, i understand certain locations would determine items like Malaria Tablets, etc, but those aside, what do you take?

ill look into this a bit further, and maybe post something soon.

The old rule of "if its not used on the trip, don't bring it again" i believe does not apply here!

Keep safe and upright

hey i bought louis kit a from Motorcycle Clothing | Motorcycle Helmets | Motorbike Boots, Leathers, Gloves, Jackets | Motorcycle Parts, Sports Bikes, Touring, Custom Cruising, Motocross
Contains:
Emergency blanket 210 x 160 cm to protect from cold, weather and dirt
2 pairs of 1-way gloves (pretty useful during a breakdown too!)
8 x wound plasters 6x10cm
1 roll of small plasters 5m x 1.25cm
2 wound pads
1 wound cloth 600 x 800 mm
Scissors
and 10 paracetamols and 10 anti midge wipes.

nice and compact, fits inside a mess tin.

The Item I've used most in my first aid kit is my hangover cure, which consist basically of a rehydration mixture (like Royal D), Vitamin C, Paracetamol, Caffeine and a healthy shot of Vodka.

Another livesaver is something against Diarrhea. Beeing left by a Bus in Cambodia once while having the Shits thaught me that (Motorbike was getting some work done).

Other than that the usual (and maybe some condoms if you're single).

Medical Kits: links and lists etc
 

Also see:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tripplan/safety

for a lot more info on med kits!

Do a first aid course .. that should teach you what you need in a first aid kit.

Here St John do various courses ... I'd recomend the 3 day 'remote area course' - most courses are for teh first 30 minutes of treatment .. the thinking is that help will arive before 30 mins .. depending on where you are going 30 mins may not be long enough .. the 'remote area' course deals with multiple day care ..

Hi Bazza, here's my tuppence worth (from a previous thread http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...ical-box-37093 which you may find useful):

I used to be part of a military training team, instructing combat survival and casualty management, I am also part of various Search and Rescue teams and I'm a volunteer ambulance officer in NZ so I've been involved with my fair share of accidents and backcountry incidents and injuries.

From my own observations and experience this is my basic medi kit:

Latex gloves
Face mask
OP airway (get specific training)
Painkillers – Codine (or Morphine if you can get it - but make sure you know what you're doing with it)
Shears
Tape
Superglue
Glad wrap / cling film
Personal prescription medicine (if any)


Bandages, splints and pads can be improvised (from clothes, sticks, cable ties, gaffer tape etc). Things like Imodium, safety pins and eye wash are handy but not too important if you don't have space to spare. You can always carry a small sickness kit with these things in, and a more serious trauma kit separately.

Any minor injuries are, well, minor. If an injury won't kill you then improvise and get to help asap. If you have a serious injury, but you're still conscious, the best things to have are a satphone/personal locator beacon and good insurance.

Everyone should know how to fix their bike when it breaks, but what about your body? Good first aid training is a must, it's not just about patching holes and slinging arms - do a course! Don't think of it as "just another ball ache" it's just part of your prep. St John in NZ do good ones as Frank says - if you can afford the time then I would recommend the PHEC (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care) course. I know that Welly has it's own ambos not St John, but they should still run courses somewhere close by.

Don't forget that adventure motorcycling is an ADVENTURE and therefore a "high risk" activity, but serious accidents are still pretty rare. Don't let any of this worry you or cramp your style.

Hope this is helpful. Stay safe.

Butch

Quick reply for now....
 

First and foremost you need knowledge

What to do
when

How to use the First Aid kit you have to hand/don't have - improvise!


depending on the situation, most people will only just cope with a FA Kit, without they would/will be stuck, and will not have the knowledge, thought process to improvise sufficiently.

It ALL depends on the knowledge you have - level of training
Where you are in the world, and how likely you are to getting to trained help. If say in the middle of nowhere in Africa then the better the knowledge and kit, will make a massive difference. In the UK the first 10-30 mins in an Urban area, and upto 2 hours in a rural/far from help situ, after that the Paramedics will be there - fingers crossed!

Get basic First Aid training - everyone
First Bike/person on scene
Far from Help/Exped First Aid

THe above in that order - everyone should have at least basic first aid traiining, then think about more advanced training dependent upon: your ability to cope, situation, type of training needed, etc.

There are more and more laws coming into play governing First Aid, Med Kits, FA Training, etc - so knowledge through training is the answer.

ChrisC

Get some heavy duty pain killers for your kit!

When I had my accident & broke multiple bones in my foot off road in Kaz those pills came in very useful!

Depends on......
 

Also Depends on how you travel - Backpacking, Bike - one or two up, Car, van, truck etc, etc

Size does matter!!!

What if you're unconscious. Having your blood group on your helmet always sounds like a good idea and having your medical history in the local language around your neck too.

First aid kits, and lots of other travellers toys.
 

Found this site, TravelPharm Online Pharmacy - Anti malaria tablets (inc. Malarone), mosquito nets, repellents & travel accessories, which seems to have both First Aid kits and meds, though I think there might be a problem sending outside UK. My experiences with customs in different parts of the world have often been overshadowed by mutual suspicion and bigotry, and you would certainly have to pay some import duty.
I noticed a designated sterile kit, rather than a handful of syringes and needles, though my experience is that sterile is available if you can pay, and are conscious.
Peter, in Oslo

I also carry a tourniquet. These are controversial, but I think most of us who were in the military and such were taught how to use them correctly. If you are in a remote area, and bleeding from a limb but still ambulatory, a tourniquet could save your life.

We have those little trasnparent envelopes that stic to the side of your helmet. big red cross on the thig and inside is a paper with all relevant info. For wife it is her blood presuremed and for me an allergy to bee stings. I bought them at a bicycle shop for a buck each. and of course there is room for phone numbers in case you are no longer able to contact anyone yourself.

Also, depending where you are , it could be a good idea to get a sterile needle/iv kit.

I bought one off Amazon for £15.

In Africa, aids/hiv is RIFE and if you're in an accident the chance of you being given a non sterile needle is sadly quite high. They just dont have the equipment in some places.

I also wear a dog tag with my name, blood group, DOB on it etc etc.

Plasters and Codeine
 

The only two things we used from our first aid kit was plasters and codeine.

The codeine we had acted as both a super poo blocker and pain killer - highly recommended to get you through some dodgy moments, when shitting yourself is not practical!

Also ibruprofen is a most, but this lived in the land rover with us as a hangover cure mainly ...

traveling with dogs in africa
 

hello, i am planing to go with my two dogs to africa driweing my camper. somebody knows if there is anny particular medical rules about dogs and do i need to have NOC (no objection certificate) for my dogs on entering countrys in africa. for marocco i know no need, i was already with my dog once. some info?? thanks, svetlana

Mate as an ex serviceman & a Paramedic, If I took all the things I thought I 'might need' I would not have room for items i would need!, I.E. suture set I would take, you unless knew how to use would not, I would take coagulant crystals, most people would not.

like others suggest do a basic first aid course, if you work in a office then you office would have dedicated first aiders, ask if you can become 1 that way you get to do a first aid course for free or contact st johns amb service. and pay to do it whear as doing the office option means you get to possibly help work mates.

Medical kit & tips, 2 people, 1 year in Africa
 

Hi folks

Just finished a 12 month trip from London to Cape Town via west and central Africa. We have posted a summary of our medical kit and hygiene tips, how we used the kit and what we actually treated on the trip.

You can read the full article here

HTH

Nick

Re :
 

Hi,

I always keep tablets like metacin for fever and Dramamine for vomit.In addition to first aid kit,i always prefer to keep fruits with me it keeps me refreshing.

The best thing you can bring is your brain.

I did a first aid course a few years back, and my wife and I decided to do a wilderness first aid course as our trips are usually well off the beaten (or driven) track. It was superb! way better than a "regular" first aid. It goes through what to do for problems where your not expecting professional help for many hours or even days. For the sake of a few quid and a couple of days, this is a super course to do.

As to what to bring, that depends on how many in the group.... 20 folks will get through a lot of plasters :-)

at a minimum, 1 roll of sterile gauze, 1 compression bandage, VERY good sissors (knife if you have to). cling film. good few sterile gloves. loads of clean water. That's it. any more bandages / slings / splints are made on the spot from whatever is around. after that, it's stuff that's medical, but not first aid - tablets for shits, re-hydration powders/drinks, anti-malaria etc.

but the most important - do a course, ideally a wilderness/remote one.

Great if you dont need any of this, but you could easily come across anyone from this group, dying for the want of some help....

Merv.

I like to carry a very small dental kit - enough to do a temporary filling. Toothache one of my pet hates. Broke a tooth in Siberia in July but luckily the root died of its own accord and I had no pain - lucky me !

Where there is no doctor
 

A good tip is to bring the book called ' Where there is no doctor ' a proven publication printed over 3 million copies dealing on basical medical subjects and tropical medicine in particular. It it is extensively illustrated as well.

good travels,
Michiel (MD)

There is a free download : http://weblife.org/pdf/where_there_is_no_doctor.pdf

If toothache is a fear take a small bottle of clove oil. dab a little on your finger tip and rub on effected area. Works like a dream and is the basis to lots of top dental products. If anyone is passing through Pemba (north of Zanzibar ) pop in and ask to look around. Fascinating place. :thumbup1:

+1 on knowledge as the key thing as you can improvise a great deal of things with a bit of ingenuity.

It's also very important to work out what you'll REALLY need, rather than a general kit sold to cover the 'average' trip.

Tooling around in Sierra Leone and Liberia I realised that a lot of 'First Aid' gear is great if an ambulance is on the way, but if you're 3 days drive down a dirt road from an overcrowded, understaffed UN hospital where all they will do is possibly help you get on a helicopter then it may not be much use to be kept alive for that extra hour.

In really remote places I have aimed to carry things that will help me move myself away and organise my own solution. Travelling alone, I never carried a CPR mask or airway kit as the likelihood of someone finding it in my bag and knowing how to use it when I am in trouble is rare. Oral Rehydration Salts, Imodium, Asthma medication, Epipen as needed. Allergies, Cholera or similar and Asthma will cause serious bother if you're not able to help yourself out. A broad spectrum antibiotic is likewise highly valuable.

I don't take painkillers except for Ibuprofen for hangovers as pain won't kill me and opiates can cause big trouble at customs (example - Lebanon, where you can buy almost anything OTC has total bans on a huge number of commonly abused drugs). I found Chlorhexidine antiseptic cream incredibly helpful for minor infections, and carry medical tape and gauze instead of bandaids. I'll definitely take a suture kit next time. I was stitched up without anaesthetic after riding an hour to a hospital once, and am confident I could do it myself or instruct someone else on it if it was a minor thing.

I've also toyed with the idea of getting a small tattoo with blood type and other pertinent medical details in an obvious place.

It might be a bit of a cavalier attitude but I didn't like my chances of getting much emergency help in case something really went wrong, so I just aim to carry what I will either definitely need or what might let me get myself out of trouble.

Hi, a number of the guys in my Regiment had there Blood Group tatooed on there wrist underside where a pulse would be taken normally.

It was common to have a Red Equlatral Triangle (tip of triangle facing up the arm), with the words above the point Blood Group, below it the actual group.
Make sure it is written in plan i.e. If B Rhs Positive (B+)

Of course I would suggest the best option would be to buy a set of Dog Tags then have them engraved, make sure you know you blood group.

Have the following put on them (same as in Army) First initial or (name) Last Name, DOB Blood Group & any allergies you have, if need be can put them on the back of the tags as well!

I still have mine, from when i joined the Army in 79, nothing has changed, probably cheaper than a tat as well lol

Hiya

Although a very good thing for people in the Services, is the blood group bit of any real use at all outside them?

I was told by a UK doctor that you would always always always check for blood type regardless of any tattoo or other markings etc? So no real point to a civilian??

Just asking :)

For anybody looking at Med courses or med packs, that includes Exped packs or just the smaller kits then give me a shout, I can supply kits designed for bikers by a Commando Advanced Trauma Nurse, he fully understands different country needs etc and also that space is at a premium ...

Home - NomadBiker :thumbup1:

my 2¢worth
 

As a veterinarian I would like to add a couple of comments.
Diarrhea is probably the most common malady to be dealt with. Clean water, rest, and possibly a sulfonamide are your best therapies. Be careful with Immodium/Lomotil. While this type of medication treats the symptoms, they are quite dangerous. Diarrhea is a mechanism for ridding the gut of the toxins given off by the invading bacteria. Slow down the gut and those toxins become absorbed instead of expulsed. When the symptoms subside start a 'brat' diet:bananas, rice, applesauce, tea.

For minor pain,take only a couple of tablets of what works for yourself. You can always purchase more as needed along the way. ForMAJOR pain, have your physician prescribe Tramadol. Thse tablets are non-narcotic, but work very well in emergencies.

A 4"roll of elastic bandage can be cut in half lengthwise as needed or used as a tourniquet if required. Make sure to carry it where readily available.

Remember r-i-c-e for infammation. Rest, ice, compress, and elevation.

I have my own sterile sryinges and cannulas you can buy med supplies s & p supplies

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

First Aid Kit
 

I have my first aid kit mounted under the license plate. It contains an Israeli Bandage, Quick Clot sponge, band aids , aspirins, wound gels, bandages, space blanket, tape, marker, irrigation fluid and other items. The location is perfect in case of crash and I never need to pack as it is always on the bike. I pack it all in a draw string bag so I can bring it with me on hikes and into the hotel.

Megan and Matthew have recently posted what has to be the most detailed First Aid packing I've ever seen. Granted a lot of this might not be for everyone, but it's easier to cut things you don't need out than figure out what isn't included.

How to pack a first-aid kit for traveling - The doctors' orders

Nearest Medical Supply store
 

I both mine from a local Medical Supply depot.

I would recommend as an extra for Paracetamol also some Aspirin, as Aspirin also helps as a painkiller and infections.

I would strongly recomend going on the Far from Help medics course in London its a great course plus it enables you to buy some drugs that you can't get over the counter like antibiotics and stronger pain killers they also give you a packing list for your med kit.Including things like:

tourniquet
Your own syringes and needles (For when you are out side of Europe)
Otoscope (If you feel the need) For looking in ears and nosies
Marker pen
Triage table for multipule people injured.
Stetherscope
Oropharyngel Airway
One way valve for CPR (Good to have if you don't know the person you are helping)
The list could go on.You pack to what you ablity is and of course it all takes up room, No use having kit if you do not know how to use it.