stuff to keep in your cruiser at all times

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LED head lamp is the best tool I have in the truck. Used a lot and could be a life saver.

A few caffine pills in the truck for when you need the attention but haven't gotten the sleep. (I like Jetalert because they are easy to break down to the ideal dosage)

I need to assemble a comprehensive bag like LoveTractor's.
 
•baby wipes - cleaning up dirty scrapes/superficial wounds (indespensable for kids and greasy hands too)
•mini maglite on lanyard & an LED headlamp w/ extra batteries and spare bulb
• emergency mylar reflective blanket (survival blanket) to treat for shock
• Nalgene bottle of H2O
• hemostats - toothed and smooth jawed
• Purell

Man, you could add to this thread forever.... great topic!

-dogboy- '87 FJ60
 
Love Tractor listed this but thought it worthy of a seperate post.

Pocket Mask / Microshield CPR Mouth Barrier

If you know CPR of course. I would not perform on a stranger without one. Period.

And always remember the best place to get into an accident is the scene of an accident. If you choose to respond to an accident position your vehicle between you and a potential threat (on coming traffic). Scene safety has already been mentioned but can not be ignored.
 
Hanging in a seatbelt sux, especially in mud. I have one of these tied to my rear view mirror. It's easier to get to than on the keychain but good either way.

http://www.resqme.com/
resqme.webp
 
loctite is good for closing small lacerations or skin wounds.

A splint would be a good thing as well.
 
does anyone know where to buy a air powered splint?
 
Splints? You are going all out! Some of the best splints I have ever made/seen are out of things that were never intended to be a splint. Magazines, pizza boxes, the tubes from gift wrapping, broom handles, not to mention tree limbs and things like that.
We carry the cardboard splints and with them being flat they are easily storable, incredibly cheap and durable. More power to you though, go with your heart.
 
Its great to hear people want to help. I am a Paramedic in Bakersfield Ca and it sounds like you have covered most pieces of equipment. One thing i havent seen is a C-Collar, preferably a universal adult and a universal pediatric. Now as people have said earlier you have to be careful not to help to much, try not to move people unless they would be injured more by staying where they are. But in accidents cars dont blow up so usually you can apply the collars with the patient sitting in the seat. This will help the patients spine from any further damage. Also dont apply any products to wounds that may be bleeding, especially loctite, applying a splint (you might make the break worse and then you would be in trouble) things that arent medical could get you in a lot of trouble. IMO Good Samaritan Law is vague and doing anything to help a person is risky. Chicago in a previous post nailed it just simple thing to get like bp, pulse LOC (level of conciousness) injuries, it also helps the ambulance if you tell the 911 dispatcher how many people are on scene and if THEY WANT TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!, we can only hold two people per ambulance, so we need to respond more if there are more than two people. Oh and if you apply a C-Collar know how to do it, and ask for one from the ambulance if you apply yours i am sure they wouldnt mind.
 
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Did anybody mention an Epi pen? We keep an assortment on campus in case a kid has a real bad allergic reaction and needs an immediate dose. We've all been trained to know when to use them and how in the event it's needed.

I'm not sure how readily available they are though. Seems like something that would be really usefull when way off the beaten path.

Great thread.
 
Interesting thread here. I was on I-4 heading from Orlando to Tampa yesterday with my wife and 3 kids. My wife yells out "whoa" and as I look where she's pointing I see a cherokee coming to rest on it's roof in the median. A pickup in front of me pulls over to help and some others do the same. I didn't stop, I had the kids with me and didn't want them to be in danger stopped on the interstate.

However, reading this thread it appears that something like this could be usefull. You just never know when you might need it.

Unfortunately for the driver of the cherokee, she didn't make it....

http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/NEWS/610150408/1004
 
Splints? You are going all out! Some of the best splints I have ever made/seen are out of things that were never intended to be a splint. Magazines, pizza boxes, the tubes from gift wrapping, broom handles, not to mention tree limbs and things like that.
We carry the cardboard splints and with them being flat they are easily storable, incredibly cheap and durable. More power to you though, go with your heart.

Best homemade splint doctor had ever seen. That day's newspaper and a really long tube sock. Broke my arm once and it worked great. Doc was impressed saying it was a lot better than quite a few splints he's seen in the past :cheers: Great thread
 
LOC (level of conscienceness)
BTW, Sam's club has a really nice first aid kit...I forgot how much it is, but its in the pahrmacy area.
Chicago


I'll second this. I purchased one at the end of last year. If I have money left in my medical flex spending account at the end of the year, I go out and buy first aid kits and such instead of loosing the money.
 
rope swing. hockey puck with 3/8 hole drilled near the edge, 50' of light line.

tie light line to puck. huck over ample limb. pull up rope swing with light line. test. show kids. sit back and enjoy.


LMAO, but I do have a little something to add.
Whatever you decide on, I take everything a put it in my foodsaver and vacuum pack it.

Ed
 
A couple of thoughts

1) buy more than you know how to use. You never know when a doctor will be riding with you, or jogging by, or stopped in a rental car w/o anything.... just because you aren't the care provider doesn't mean that your kit won't be used (see the fourth post in the thread, for example)

2) Keep it fresh. When I was in high school, a buddy got hurt (fell, basketball) and we opened up the 1st aid kit in my car... I think that my mom bought it when they bought the car, when I was about 10. The only thing in there that was of any use was the gauze. Everything else was either WAAYYYYYYY past its expiration date or had decomposed/fused itself into a glob. Remember, you only need a couple of any given thing. You are better off carrying 10 aspirin/tylenol/advil and throwing them out once/year than you are to put an entire bottle in there and forget about it.

3) Don't be a cheapskate. Sure, good medical gear is expensive. But just imagine what the other folks have in *their* vehicle as they are looking *you* in the eyes saying "You've been in an accident" "What is your Name?" "Can you tell me today's date?" "Do you know where you are?"
 
Most people think of medical supplies in an emergency, but survival supplies are just as important. Let's face it, you could drive off a road in the snow in a remote area in the winter and be stranded for days without injury, but perish due to a lack of preperation. This is especially true when we are offroad in a remote location or driving in lousy conditions.

A friend of mine knew a guy who died sitting inside his car waiting for help during a blizzard; he didn't take a warm enough jacket with him and he froze to death, the highway he was on got closed after he drove off the road - he wasn't found until days later.

There is really no excuse for a lack of preparation when you drive something as big a cruiser! There is a ton of storage space for emergancy goodies.

There are two books that are worth reading for those who are truely interested on survival, the first is the "SAS Survival Handbook" by John Wiseman and the other is called "Staying Found" (sorry I can't remember the author). John Wiseman instructs the British SAS survival school and his book covers survival in all regions of the world and for any situation. "Staying Found" is all about compass use and topo map navigation, something that all people who venture out into the woods should know how to do, especially when your PDA battery dies and the GPS quits working!

Buy a good knife that you can cut small branches with and skin annimals with if you have to, multi-knife may be handy but might not be up to these kinds of tasks.

Carry rope and learn how to tie knots! Very handy if you have to make a shelter, hike out of somewhere, belay or make a stretcher to carry out the injured.

Parangs are handy for cutting down bush; for building shelters or clearing a path through thick undergrowth.

If I drive in the winter I throw extra clothes in the car/truck and if its a long drive through a remote area, a down sleeping bag. Case in point, the frozen guy I talk about at the top of this rant! A warm down jacket and hiking boots that are water proofed, and for when its wet I carry a set of rain gear folded up.

Here's a few items out of Wiseman's book, some of these things he suggests you carry all the time:

-Matches: waterproof are best, but regular matches can be waterproofed by dipping the heads in wax

-Candle: provides light of course, but you can keep the interior of your car warm enough to survive with it and if you buy a tallow candle instead of a regular wax candle, you can eat it!

-Flint and saw striker

-Magnifying glass: to start fires with in the sun and to examine the detail in topo maps in case you have to go on the move

-Needles and thread

-Fish hooks and line

-Compass

-Topo maps: that show the area that you are 'wheeling/hiking in, in case you have to walk out and need to navigate

-Snare wire

-Flexible saw: (in a truck you could carry a bow saw) helps you cut firewood

-Medical kit that at a minimum contains the following:

Analgesic pain reliever
Intestinal sedative (Gravol etc.)
Antibiotics
Antihistamine for allergies
Water sterilising tablets for when you can't boil water
Surgical blades
Butterfly sutures (for closing wounds)
Band-aids
Condom - don't laugh :) they can carry up to a litre (quart) of water

-Waterproof pouch that contains the following:

Dry packaged fuel for when you can't start a fire
Signal flares
Mess tin for cooking
Small flashlight
Mirror for signaling in sunlight
Brew kit - instant tea or coffee, powdered milk and sugar
Food - chocolate, dehydrated foods, electrolite powder etc.
Survival bag - heat insulating bag or blanket

Things I carry in my truck for my truck's survival, it beats walking if you can fix it! :)

Come-a-long

Fluids - Oil etc.

Critical belts - not a bad idea when you're really out there

Tow stap

Tubes of Liquid Metal (Epoxy) - poke a hole in the oil pan on a rock? fill the hole with this and fill'er up with oil

Emergency hose repair kit - plastic connectors with barbed ends, blow a hole in a hose? cut it in two and re-attach with one of these.

Small cheapo 12v cigarette lighter compressor

Plug kit for tires - poke a hole in your 2nd tire and already used your spare? Plug it and re-inflate it with the above cheapo compressor

A damn good flashlight so you can see what you're doing when you have to do all of this in the dark!

Small set of tools - important, that's why Toyota put them in every Cruiser they sold!

Odds and ends - hose clamps, teflon tape, rubber cement etc...

I can't think of anything else right now.
 
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...There are two books that are worth reading for those who are truely interested on survival, the first is the "SAS Survival Handbook" by John Wiseman ...
Ditto on this book.:flipoff2: And it's tiny too. 4.8 x 3.5 x 1.0in. Packed with info. I actually have a copy in my BOB which is based around his survival gear list. They also "published" a bound, waterproof flashcard version that I've been lookin' for for quite some time. No luck since it's been out of print for quite some time.
Again, great book to have in case the SHTF be it a car wreck in the middle of nowhere or a nuclear bomb.:flipoff2: Highly recommended.
http://www.amazon.com/Collins-Gem-S...ef=sr_1_4/104-2946234-4865565?ie=UTF8&s=books

Other good books to look into:
U.S. Army Survival Manual FM 21-76
Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook(Waterproof and FULL of info)
U.S.Army Special Forces Medical Handbook FM 31-91B


EDIT::doh: I just looked again and Rusty mentioned Wiseman's "SAS Survival Handbook" and I mentioned his "SAS Survival Guide." They are both very similar. Just wanted to clarify the difference. I think when I was investigating which book to invest in a while back, the Guide won for my needs. And when I was talking about the waterproof flickbook, I was talking about the Guide and not the Handbook.
Oh!. And I found the waterproof SAS Survival flickbook. $135 shipped from Amazon in UK.:eek: That's how popular it is.
 
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Wow. A bunch has been posted since I did..

I think I would have to say the single most important thing you can carry is knowledge. Call up Red Cross or St. John Ambulance and get certified. You can have the biggest kit in the world, C-spine control, O2, hell you could even buy your own defib unit. But knowing how to properly use it all is more important than having it.

Any time you come upon a car wreck there is likely going to be a C-spine issue. Understanding what to do in this situation is more important than having a piece of kit for C-spine control.

Also noted and very important is knowing how to assess the scene. Dead rescuers can't rescue, and make it harder for the next living rescuer.

I was a first responder & St. John Ambulance - we were taught "Fire, Wire, Glass, Gas" although there is much more than that - these are a few good things to assess for before entering a scene.

Personal protection is also very important. It might be nice to save someones life by smashing their window and pulling them out of the car to safety before it explodes in a massive hollywood fireball. But what if that person had Aids, TB or some other disease - you smashed the window and got a small cut your hand. They had blood on their face. Now you have their blood in your blood. Thanks for saving their life, now you get to fight for yours. Sometimes people can get offended if you are wearing latex gloves - "what - do you think I have Aids?" The response I always gave to that was "How do you know I don't" - not that I do, but you can't always tell by the way someone looks.

The only other thing I can think of is "oragell" (sp?) A source of highly concentrated sugar for diabetics.
 
As mr mo mo said, get cirtified. Can be the most equiped person but would be pretty inefective using it if you dont know what to do. I have taken Canadian industrial first aid and would say it is first rate. It goes well beond basic first aid and was pretty darn pricy at seven hundred dollars but was worth it.

Might want to even consider a o2 bottle.
Dont forget the magic hour. The hour to get a person to more critical care if the injury is very serios. This may not be practical if your several hours away from town. In that case you need to have serios first aid skills if the injury is serios and to keep the patient alive. Know where you are at and leave a Expidition plan behind with a trusted friend or familly member so thay know where to direct a SAR mission in case you dont return at a cirtian time. Lastly consider a hamradio and get a licence. HF can travel just about any country and help can be dispatched. SAT phones are normaly reliable 50% of the time with that comment coming from LES. He is the star of survivorman the hit tv show here on the OLN outdoor life network. His show is about survival. This is a serios program where is is placed hundreds of miles from modern civilization and expected to survive on his own with very very little items on his body. This is a popular tv show here in Canada.
 
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We obtained EPI pens from via prescription and through our pharmacy right after each of our children were born.

http://www.epipen.com/

Jer
 

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