First Aid Kit...

[99UZJay]

Ok, so I have a question. I know we had a discussion about a club first aid kit for when we are running trails together, but how about a club AED? As a paramedic I know all too well that sudden cardiac arrest could happen to any of us, and the farther from civilization we are, the lower the likelihood of survival. These days with AED's being cheap and not requiring a Rx I thought it might be a good thing to have. Any ways, just thought i'd get a group feel for this, since we will be together for both OTMT and the Annual, so maybe we could discuss it further then...

 

[Trollhole]

Pretty sure Chad will chime in.

This was our discussion a year ago.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/sc-upstate-cruisers/204923-uc-first-aid-kit.html

 

[jleeFJ62]

Not to hijack the post, but what first aid kit do you guys carry when wheeling/camping? I used to just carry a basic first aid kit from the house, but thought i should upgrade to something better. What are the essentials that i should carry besides the basics?
I was going to pick up something like this:
Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Weekender First-Aid Kit at REI.com
or
REI Backpacker First Aid Kit at REI.com

Thanks for any input

 

[99UZJay]

Like I said above, I make my own typically from stuff I can wrangle from work. I have all basic things from band aids, triple antibiotic ointment, etc... To IV fluids and stuff like that. I would suggest going to galls.com as they have an extensive first aid/first responder type kits that come pre loaded and have all good stuff in them, and some are pretty light weight.

 

[dbenke]

I've always packed my own too. It seems the pre-packaged ones have too much stuff you don't need, and not all the stuff you need.

 

[delta21]

Ok, here is my .02 on the club carrying an AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) I think that the aed is an importortant piece of the chain of survival for sudden cardiac arrest, but I dont think that the club should carry one. The two scenarios that come to mind are some kind of traumatic event that causes the arrest, which if you go into arrest because of trauma you really need a surgeon more than anything else (and you will probably die anyways) The second would be medical arrest (ie. blocked arteries and the heart cannot get enough oxygenated blood) which needs a cardiac catheterization or thrombolytics and a doctor as well.

If you were to "shock" someone back into consciousness then you would need to be prepared to give additional interventions such as IV cardiac drugs and secure the airway with an endo-tracheal tube, and be able to arrange rapid trasport to a cardiac care facility all of which are way beyond the legal scope of the club. If we do have the rare occasion of a wilderness cardiac arrest, than CPR and trying to correct what caused the arrest in the first place should be our priorties. So while I am all in favor of an adequate first aid kit, I think we as a club should be able to treat and possibily stabilize a person until we can get then to help or help comes to us. We might as club be able to add quick clot to the club's first aid kit as this would be a nice thing to have for severe bleeding and we are a few hours from help; QuikClot® Emergency Dressing™ .: QuikClot® adsorbent hemostatic agent speeds coagulation & rapidly stops blood loss .: Z-Medica Corporation


Just to give a little background on myself for those who dont know me. I am a paramedic for Greenville County EMS I have been in EMS since 1988 and have been a paramedic since 1995, I am an Outdoor emergency care instructor, I am a rescue specialist and wildland firefighter, I fly on the county's helocopter rescue team.

Chad