Customizing Your First Aid Kit  
by Gary W. Campbell
 

The August heat made us feel lazy, and not a single cloud provided shade. A light breeze lapped gentle waves against the boat. Three high school chums swapped stories in low tones with 15 years to fade the memories and thus improve the tales. Two were actively fishing, the third just leaned back, enjoying the company of friends.

Suddenly, Larry’s pole bent almost double. Kenneth reeled his line in to get out of the way, and even I sat up to pay attention. The line jerked up and down, swung side to side, the fish obviously putting up a battle, but Larry had no trouble with him. The excitement on my friend’s faces was priceless. Kenneth grabbed the net and swept below the catfish as Larry pulled it to the surface.

The cat was only about seven inches long, but he was feisty. Larry lifted him from the net amid jibes about whether he’d brought a pan small enough to fry it. Nothing we said took that grin from his face, though. While Ken controlled the net, he grasped the fish behind the dorsal fin and began to remove his hook.

That’s when it stopped being fun.

The squirming, slick-skinned fish slipped, and the pointed dorsal fin sank into the web of Larry’s hand between his thumb and forefinger. Half to three quarters of an inch of that fish’s fin disappeared into my friend’s flesh.

At first, Larry tried to pull it out himself, but he couldn’t. “You do it,” he said to Kenneth. “It’s making me sick.”

So while I stabilized his arm, Kenneth grasped the fish and pulled it out. He then dealt with unhooking it and tossing it back into the lake. We started the boat and headed to camp. You see, there was no first aid kit in the boat.

Once in camp, it was quick work to flush the puncture wound with hydrogen peroxide, apply antibiotic ointment and a bandage and get a couple of aspirin into Larry. We kept an eye on him the rest of the evening, but he suffered no further ill effects.

And if we hadn’t had the first aid kit? Had the wound been left untreated, infection could have set in that might have caused him serious trouble. Without the kit, we had a choice of taking a chance on serious complications or going home early to find medical help.

How Much Kit?

You don’t have to take the whole pharmacy, but you need to consider what could happen where you will be in whatever sport you play. A kit you carry on you is naturally more limited. Your compromise is this: Take what you think you’ll need but keep the kit light enough and small enough so that you will take it. The finest medical kit in the world isn’t going to help if you leave it home.

I had originally planned to use my current first aid kit as an example for this column. I’d put it together before a vacation and transferred it from my car to my pickup whenever we traveled. When I took it out and started to inventory it, however, I noticed that many of its items had expired. Some of the ointments had passed their prime in 1998, the aspirin in 1999. So, it was time to start over.

Among items salvaged from the previous kit -- a forehead thermometer and butterfly closures.

I began by visiting a local discount store and purchasing a pre-packaged kit. Then the task became customizing the kit so that it fit my perceived needs. This plastic box measuring 9 ¾ X 6 ¾ X 3 inches came with many useful items and a few things that made no sense. For example, it included a large box containing 100 ¾” adhesive bandages. The box takes up a lot of space, and even with my kids, we don’t use that many in an entire year.

The first improvement -- replace the plastic scissors and tweezers (left) with steel ones.

Also included were plastic tweezers and plastic scissors with tiny metal inserts for the cutting edges. These things do work, and I’m sure they were chosen to keep the price of the kit down, but they are definitely light duty items. I will not trust them. So the first change was to replace the plastic tools with small steel scissors and tweezers. Both were found in the cosmetics section of the store, the scissors designed for trimming mustaches. The tweezers were the sharpest I could locate.

Spare no expense picking your tweezers. This is one tool that must be the best you can find. Splinters, thorns and stings must be removed, and a sharp, strong pair of tweezers are essential in the task. I’m not happy with the ones I bought, but they will do while I search for better ones.

The kit was well organized for what it covered, using a “clean, treat, protect” cycle for the minor cuts and scrapes that make up most of our first aid needs. A dozen cleansing wipes were supplied, which should be adequate. The treatment aspect, though, was covered with only four single-use tubes of antibiotic ointment. I added a ½ ounce tube of antibiotic ointment and a 1 ounce tube of 2 percent histamine blocking cream to stop itching.

Bandages were well covered, too well in the previously mentioned instance, with one exception. There were no compress bandages for stopping heavy bleeding. Feminine hygiene maxi-pads make some of the best compress bandages. Two went into the kit. And, for – God forbid – bullet wounds, I added two tampons.

For sprains and bruises, the kit’s list states, an instant cold pack was included. This is also your snake bite kit. First aid experts have concluded that the old cut-and-suck snake bite kits we carried for years have more potential for doing damage than for helping. Currently, we are advised to apply ice or a cold pack to the wound and seek medical attention immediately. To hold the compress bandages or the cold pack in place, I added a roll of gauze.

Another place where the kit fell short was in the pain and fever relief section. Only eight acetaminophen tablets came with it. That particular chemical doesn’t seem to do much for me, so in went a small bottle of aspirin. Due to my heart problem, that has now been replaced by ibuprofen. Next to that, I placed nasal decongestant spray. The chemicals in the spray constrict blood vessels and will help cuts clot quickly.

All this went into the pre-packaged kit, and the lid still closed easily.

 

First aid instructions and a pair of latex gloves finished off the pre-packaged version. Years ago, a Red Cross first aid instructor advised carrying a 35 millimeter film canister in a kit with three gloves in it – “a pair and a spare.” It’s advice I still follow. (With the large size gloves, by the way, it takes a bit of work to compress three gloves and keep the lid snapped.)

What Else Do You Need?

I also added a small roll of antacid and one card out of a box of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication. Half a bar of soap went in because the most important treatment of any wound is to clean it. A ½ ounce bottle of artificial tears will help wash foreign objects from the eyes, and a small bottle of insect bite treatment comes in very handy in summer. Salvaged from my earlier kit, I added two butterfly closures, a calume light stick, a magnifier, two tubes of burn ointment and a forehead thermometer.

Another tool I consider absolutely essential is a sharp knife. The blade doesn’t have to be big or long, but it must be sharp and of good quality so it will stay sharp. Spyderco (www.spyderco.com) manufacturers high quality knives, among which are their Clipit series. These locking folders feature a hole in the blade for easy one-handed opening and a spring clip for secure attachment to a pocket.

A sharp blade capable of one-handed opening could be invaluable in an emergency. I once had to fight a roll of tape, tearing it with my teeth while using my left hand to apply a compress bandage on a bad cut. A Spyderco would have come in very handy that night.

I’ve been carrying a Spyderco for years. In everyday use, from opening tape boxes to cutting ¼-inch leather for a holster repair to camp cooking chores, it has performed admirably. I’ve even used it as a steak knife when a restaurant’s tools weren’t adequate to the task. In those years, I’ve sharpened the knife no more than half a dozen times. For the first aid kit, I wanted something smaller. I ordered a Spyderco Jester. With a 1 15/16-inch blade and an overall length of only 2 1/2-inches when closed, the Jester weighs only 6/10th of an ounce (or 16 grams). The handle is made of fiberglass reinforced nylon.

This kit should be adequate for my camping, hunting and fishing trips, and it will spend the rest of the time behind the seat of my pickup. It’s small, doesn't weigh much and covers the most common things that can go wrong. There could be other items to include for your favorite sports – they all seem to have their own kinds of injuries – or for different parts of the country, especially those with extreme weather conditions. Just remember to keep it small and light so that you will keep it with you.

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Here’s the finished product. Complete with all additions, it still closes easily.

How did I cram all that into my little kit? First, I removed more than half of those 100 adhesive strips in the box. All the bandages except one compress bandage went into the box, as did pre-packaged antibiotic ointment tubes, the dozen cleansing wipes, and the acetaminophen tablets.

The kit now contains enough supplies for a year of normal wear and tear. Just remember to replace what you use at the end of each trip. And, for heaven’s sake, watch those expiration dates!