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Medical Considerations in the Backcountry
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<blockquote data-quote="GBA1776" data-source="post: 954949" data-attributes="member: 20522"><p>Thats very true my FAK is large and heavy, And Ive never had to use any of the more serious stuff in it, I hope I never do. And its much more than most want to lug around, Hell I wish it was smaller and lighter.</p><p> You could get away with cutting the amount of each item down by 3/4, and ditching the minor surgery toolkit, thats about a pound on its own, and if you dont have allergies ditch the epipens. Im not allergic to anything but still like to have them.</p><p></p><p>If you really customize a FAK for your needs you could get it pretty small and still be able to do alot. </p><p>If my kit is overkill for you, It most likely is, you can use it as a guidline and just dont have near so much of each item. </p><p> My kit rides in my Car everyday in a daypack with some survival gear, then I take it with me anytime I go into the woods. I designed my FAK to be a life saver in that worst case multiple injury/multiple injured situation, and I pay for that peace of mind with size and weight. </p><p> </p><p>I did forget to include the NPA and a few sets of rubber gloves. </p><p></p><p> Buying a Marine Corp, or Army IFAK is a good start to any kit.</p><p></p><p> My fak is so comprehensive (overkill) because I had been in a situation where someone was seriously hurt, and the kit i had was "standard" and laughable.</p><p> I came up to a pretty nasty car accident on my way home from work, a guy on a Motorcycle and a Tahoe met on a narrow windy two lane back road, the driver was hurt, but pretty much ok, he was just stuck in the car, it was off the side of the road and in a ditch on its side at about a 45 degree angle, with the driver door on the ground and the passenger wheels in the air. </p><p> He started yelling for help when he heard me pull up and get out. If I remember right He had a broken arm Collar bone and a rib or two, but he was talking and not bleeding, he told me that he called an ambulance already, and asked me about the other guy. I told him the other guy should be fine,I didnt want to panic him.</p><p> The guy on the bike was a complete mess, he was down the road about 50yds, I will never forget what he looked like for as long as I live. I will save you the gruesome details, but he had a severely broken arm, and a worse off leg, thats where the bleeding was the worst. </p><p> I had a basic store bought "Emergency First Aid" that was in a 12"x6" square case that you will find in alot of peoples trunks and it was a joke. It was crammed full of garbage, like little triangular reflectors,flares and a crap flashlight, and a few other dumb things, It had a "trauma kit" in it as well but that was 2 6x6 and 4x4 pressure bandages and some other stupid small stuff only suited for scrapes and bruises, It was no more capable in that situation than a ziploc bag full of bandaids, maxipads and neosporin. </p><p></p><p> the few "compress" bandages of each type were soaked in blood pretty much as soon as they came out of the package, and they were nowhere near good enough to stop decent bleeding in one spot, let alone major bleeding in two spots. </p><p>But i did manage to get the bleeding slowed down and almost stopped on the guys leg with my hooded sweatshirt, I tied the arms into like a pretzle after I put it inder his thigh.</p><p> Thank god he was knocked out, I stepped on his inner thight on the femoral artery with my foot and tightened the sweatshirt arms as much as possible, used a large screwdriver I had as a tourniquet bar and ran it trhough a belt loop to keep it tight, Since the sweatshirt was Cotton I had to keep tightening it as it sretched.</p><p> I then used my knife to cut off the rest of the chest part of my Hoodie and used that as a bandage because my makeshift tourniquet wasnt stopping all the blood. </p><p> I used my Tshirt to tie off his arm, and used another screwdriver in the same way which got the arm to completly stop bleeding.</p><p> I was there by myself for what felt like hours, after I stopped/slowed the bleeding, I sat right next to him, I was half naked covered in blood and soaking wet, listening to the guys slow ragged breathing over the heavy rain , it was in reality probably more like 10-15 minutes. </p><p></p><p> I had no cell signal, but thankfully the Tahoe was onstar equipped and that worked so the driver was able to call an ambulance. I dont know for sure how long they had been there before I pulled up, but with how badly the one guy was bleeding I must have drove up right after it happened. </p><p> The Ambulance crew was confused to see me there no shirt on in 45 degree rainy weather and covered in blood. They thought I was the driver of the Tahoe At first. After checking the guys vitals they immediatley gave the guy a saline IV to get his blood pressure up, Then loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance leaving one EMT there to look after the Driver of the SUV. And they immediatley left for the hospital</p><p></p><p> I was told to follow a cop to the hospital to get cleaned up and checked out and to give a statement . </p><p></p><p> I was told later by the EMT who stayed behind the guy on the bike was in critical condition when the Ambulance crew arrived because he lost a whole lot of blood but, they were able to stabilize him on the way to the hospital so he should be fine. </p><p> And he said the two tourniquets certainly saved his life, Even though I should have put them lower on the limbs, both breaks were below the joint so i should have put one just above the knee, and the other just above the elbow. I had put the one on the leg at the groin, and the one on the arm at the top of his bicep. </p><p></p><p> They wouldnt tell me anything else about the guy on the Motorcycle because I wasnt family. And since I didnt see the accident happen I dont know if they went to court or any details about the driver or the guy on the bike.</p><p></p><p> Now if I had been out in the middle of nowhere with no reception and no onstar, I would have had to drive the guy to the hospital myself, and since I didnt stop the bleeding he probably would have bled to death. Or I would have killed him just by trying to put him in my Camaro </p><p></p><p>Lets move that serious break and bleeding out to where I would be hiking even just a few miles away from my car or a road, If I had to get half naked to stop the bleeding on someone else, or worst case myself, Id probably be looking at an overnight stay, Or if it was someone else Id have to leave them there with makeshift touriquets and bandages, And go out for help. And in that situation Hypothermia could kill me Or them . Hell even on a nice day say 65 degrees during the day and no rain, without a shirt and jacket at night even with a fire hypothermia is a threat. </p><p></p><p> Im not trying to say everyone needs a kit that serious, but if you do plan on going out on a day hike/hunt I at the very least Reccomend an Army Surplus IFAK so a tourniquet, bandages, and a NPA, some sort of space blanket preferably a Bivvy sack. </p><p></p><p> One experience with being woefully uprepared and unequipped to deal with a serious injury, even for just 15 minutes with an ambulance on the way opened my eyes.</p><p> And I will not be put in that same situation again because I didnt make some simple preperations. Circumstances may limit what ive got but the knowlage Is just as important.</p><p></p><p> Thats why Im now CPR certified and have taken a half dozen of more involved and more in depth medical courses, that are available all over and are very cheap to attend.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GBA1776, post: 954949, member: 20522"] Thats very true my FAK is large and heavy, And Ive never had to use any of the more serious stuff in it, I hope I never do. And its much more than most want to lug around, Hell I wish it was smaller and lighter. You could get away with cutting the amount of each item down by 3/4, and ditching the minor surgery toolkit, thats about a pound on its own, and if you dont have allergies ditch the epipens. Im not allergic to anything but still like to have them. If you really customize a FAK for your needs you could get it pretty small and still be able to do alot. If my kit is overkill for you, It most likely is, you can use it as a guidline and just dont have near so much of each item. My kit rides in my Car everyday in a daypack with some survival gear, then I take it with me anytime I go into the woods. I designed my FAK to be a life saver in that worst case multiple injury/multiple injured situation, and I pay for that peace of mind with size and weight. I did forget to include the NPA and a few sets of rubber gloves. Buying a Marine Corp, or Army IFAK is a good start to any kit. My fak is so comprehensive (overkill) because I had been in a situation where someone was seriously hurt, and the kit i had was "standard" and laughable. I came up to a pretty nasty car accident on my way home from work, a guy on a Motorcycle and a Tahoe met on a narrow windy two lane back road, the driver was hurt, but pretty much ok, he was just stuck in the car, it was off the side of the road and in a ditch on its side at about a 45 degree angle, with the driver door on the ground and the passenger wheels in the air. He started yelling for help when he heard me pull up and get out. If I remember right He had a broken arm Collar bone and a rib or two, but he was talking and not bleeding, he told me that he called an ambulance already, and asked me about the other guy. I told him the other guy should be fine,I didnt want to panic him. The guy on the bike was a complete mess, he was down the road about 50yds, I will never forget what he looked like for as long as I live. I will save you the gruesome details, but he had a severely broken arm, and a worse off leg, thats where the bleeding was the worst. I had a basic store bought "Emergency First Aid" that was in a 12"x6" square case that you will find in alot of peoples trunks and it was a joke. It was crammed full of garbage, like little triangular reflectors,flares and a crap flashlight, and a few other dumb things, It had a "trauma kit" in it as well but that was 2 6x6 and 4x4 pressure bandages and some other stupid small stuff only suited for scrapes and bruises, It was no more capable in that situation than a ziploc bag full of bandaids, maxipads and neosporin. the few "compress" bandages of each type were soaked in blood pretty much as soon as they came out of the package, and they were nowhere near good enough to stop decent bleeding in one spot, let alone major bleeding in two spots. But i did manage to get the bleeding slowed down and almost stopped on the guys leg with my hooded sweatshirt, I tied the arms into like a pretzle after I put it inder his thigh. Thank god he was knocked out, I stepped on his inner thight on the femoral artery with my foot and tightened the sweatshirt arms as much as possible, used a large screwdriver I had as a tourniquet bar and ran it trhough a belt loop to keep it tight, Since the sweatshirt was Cotton I had to keep tightening it as it sretched. I then used my knife to cut off the rest of the chest part of my Hoodie and used that as a bandage because my makeshift tourniquet wasnt stopping all the blood. I used my Tshirt to tie off his arm, and used another screwdriver in the same way which got the arm to completly stop bleeding. I was there by myself for what felt like hours, after I stopped/slowed the bleeding, I sat right next to him, I was half naked covered in blood and soaking wet, listening to the guys slow ragged breathing over the heavy rain , it was in reality probably more like 10-15 minutes. I had no cell signal, but thankfully the Tahoe was onstar equipped and that worked so the driver was able to call an ambulance. I dont know for sure how long they had been there before I pulled up, but with how badly the one guy was bleeding I must have drove up right after it happened. The Ambulance crew was confused to see me there no shirt on in 45 degree rainy weather and covered in blood. They thought I was the driver of the Tahoe At first. After checking the guys vitals they immediatley gave the guy a saline IV to get his blood pressure up, Then loaded him onto a stretcher and into the ambulance leaving one EMT there to look after the Driver of the SUV. And they immediatley left for the hospital I was told to follow a cop to the hospital to get cleaned up and checked out and to give a statement . I was told later by the EMT who stayed behind the guy on the bike was in critical condition when the Ambulance crew arrived because he lost a whole lot of blood but, they were able to stabilize him on the way to the hospital so he should be fine. And he said the two tourniquets certainly saved his life, Even though I should have put them lower on the limbs, both breaks were below the joint so i should have put one just above the knee, and the other just above the elbow. I had put the one on the leg at the groin, and the one on the arm at the top of his bicep. They wouldnt tell me anything else about the guy on the Motorcycle because I wasnt family. And since I didnt see the accident happen I dont know if they went to court or any details about the driver or the guy on the bike. Now if I had been out in the middle of nowhere with no reception and no onstar, I would have had to drive the guy to the hospital myself, and since I didnt stop the bleeding he probably would have bled to death. Or I would have killed him just by trying to put him in my Camaro Lets move that serious break and bleeding out to where I would be hiking even just a few miles away from my car or a road, If I had to get half naked to stop the bleeding on someone else, or worst case myself, Id probably be looking at an overnight stay, Or if it was someone else Id have to leave them there with makeshift touriquets and bandages, And go out for help. And in that situation Hypothermia could kill me Or them . Hell even on a nice day say 65 degrees during the day and no rain, without a shirt and jacket at night even with a fire hypothermia is a threat. Im not trying to say everyone needs a kit that serious, but if you do plan on going out on a day hike/hunt I at the very least Reccomend an Army Surplus IFAK so a tourniquet, bandages, and a NPA, some sort of space blanket preferably a Bivvy sack. One experience with being woefully uprepared and unequipped to deal with a serious injury, even for just 15 minutes with an ambulance on the way opened my eyes. And I will not be put in that same situation again because I didnt make some simple preperations. Circumstances may limit what ive got but the knowlage Is just as important. Thats why Im now CPR certified and have taken a half dozen of more involved and more in depth medical courses, that are available all over and are very cheap to attend. [/QUOTE]
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