I was chatting with a mate who, bless his dumb-ass heart, is fucken useless when it comes to being prepared for literally anything. I'm surprised he's made it into his 40's to be honest and that something anything everything hasn't killed him yet. Still, he's a good mate and, while pretty much the total opposite of me, we get along well. Anyway, I was making yet another attempt at getting him prepared for something and he asked me about wilderness medical kits.
I'm not, nor ever was, a medic, but I have a basic understanding of what, why and how meaning what to have on hand, why it's required and how to use it in respect of medical kits - for a person like me who is in the wilderness regularly that's the basics.
Anyway, because nothing on the planet could ever save this guy from one day being killed by literally everything (including me) I didn't get too complicated but thought I'd give him some ideas around getting something together in the hope some of it would sink in to his rock solid thick head. This made me think about how I've approached it myself and I thought I'd share these questions I consider when I'm preparing a wilderness medical kit:
Who will the kit provide for - Is it me alone or is it a group of people and if so how many and do I need to included items that cover non-humans like dogs and horses? Yes, there's medical kits for dogs and horses folks. Generally, basic wilderness kits are a first-response thing only (not to perform brain surgery) but they need to have exactly the right elements within them every time.
How long will the kit be required - This is critical to understanding what has to go in it. I go on short and long trips and running out of medical supplies can go badly. Resupply is often not possible so the length of trip is an important consideration to ensuring everyone is covered.
Where will the kit be going - Obviously this relates to where the people will be carrying/taking it. At altitude different things are needed than at lower altitudes and snakebite kits are not needed in some places either. Extremely hot or cold places are approached differently also...Just a few examples. Knowing where the kit is going helps determine what to take.
How much is required - On a kayak adventure space is limited but less so if using vehicles, whereas trekking on foot means carrying the loadout personally so thought needs to go into the amount that is truly required in each case as weight can bring other issues. This can be complicated for longer trips of course, but with some effort the right balance can be found.
This is not necessarily stuff I spoke to my clueless (probably soon to be dead) mate about as it's over and above what his requirements and understanding would be. These things above are what a military unit might consider, a SAR team (search and rescue), EMT's and the like but...safety should be everyone's responsibility and that extends into the household, vehicle and through to general day to day activities like a hike in the hills, forest and such places; putting some thought into it will mean a greater degree of preparedness and effectiveness.
It's not necessarily easy to put a wilderness medical kit together and the considerations above are just the beginning but to have a basic kit at home or in the car is reasonably easy and a sensible thing to do in my opinion. My kits may be different to yours because the need to have glucagon syringes and medications around hypoglycemic issues due to my medical condition but much of the kit will be the same and will be very easily and quite cheaply created.
I'm not an instructor or trainer, just someone who places a high value on self-reliance and preparedness. So many people put themselves into positions of risk through cluelessness or carelessness and, of course, things sometimes go catastrophically wrong so I figure it's best to be prepared; it's this message I'm trying to get through to my mate...but maybe I should just kill him and put him out of his misery.
Are you a person who likes self-reliance? Are you prepared? Are you responsible for others, a parent with children and family members? Do you have a medical kit at home or in your car? Do you know how to use it and to administer first aid? I think these are questions people should be asking themselves. What do you think? Will you risk your child's life on the ambulance arriving in a timely fashion or on someone else giving first aid? How about your own? Feel free to comment.
P.s. I'll not be killing my buddy.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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