A thought occured to me as I looked at a very expensive and heavy first aid kit in an outdoor shop over the weekend. What do you think constitutes the barest minimum a backpacker in this country should carry, and more importantly what do you carry?

It's a hard one to call. I carry a basic plaster kit, plus triangular bandage, some sterile wipes, a couple of wound dressings, some zinc oxide tape and not a lot more. Oh, some Compeed, which I rarely use, but always seem to end up giving away.

When I'm a bit more out there - Andes for example - I also carry a sutre kit and more wound-dressings etc. Also, sometimes, a sterile syringe kit.

Basic thinking is that most really serious injuries are going to kill you anyway without outside assistance so your main priority is to be able to stop bleeding and patch up cuts and abrasions plus support dislocated arms etc. Beyond that it's improvisation time.

The only bit of a first aid kit that could save someones life, is the bit in between your ears.

I usually just carry stuff to stop me bleeding all over the plae..

Yes, I agree with the above. A common criticism of ML candidates is that they often carry a huge first aid kit that they can't possibly hope to use that just ends up slowing them down. Having said that I think it helps to go through the process of thinking through likely scenarios.
Who is the kit for: You, your group, third parties that you meeet on the hill ?
How likely is it that you are the person called upon to help: Are you a first aider or group leader, is it winter, will there be few people around, remote area, serious route ?
What's the most likely minor medical situation: Blisters or badly rubbed feet, minor bleeds, twisted knees and ankles, headaches, other pains and discomfort, diarrhea, the wall ?
What more serious situations might occur where you stand a chance of keeping the person alive or facilitating recovery: moderate or major bleeds, head injury, frostnip, hypothermia, heat exhaustion, burns from stove, broken bones?

As Mike says, knowledge is the most important thing and often you can improvise wound dressings etc, but in your first aid kit: maybe compeed, plasters, elasticated bandage, safety pin, disposable gloves, triangular bandage (for use as a wound dressing as well as a bandage), maybe antiseptic cream. Medication: pain killers and diarrhea treatment, remember to ask permission before you give these to another person.
Latest first aid thinking is not to try to strap up broken bones, but in a mountain environment? Well, sometimes you have to use your own judgement.

The other thing I carry abroad - as in the Andes, Himalaya etc - are strong painkillers plus Metronazodol or Tinazadol, which are the nasty drugs that kill giardia and/or amoebic dysentry. The prospect of being five days walk from the nearest pharmacy with a load of micro-organisms holding a party in my gut doesn't really appeal...

Lightweight backpacking kit in a ziplock is:
plasters
compeed
one triang bandage ready tied in a sling (can undo if necc.)
ibuprofen
anti-histamines
tubigrip - knee sized
water puritabs
micropore for compeed
- all the above is a TINY flat package.
In summer I add midge spray; and sunblock in a tiny roll-on.

Full basecamp kit or when out with group:
(in addition to above and in obvious RED pack)
second triang not tied
'proper' scissors
non-stick wound dressings
butterfly sutures
more compeed
zinc oxide tape
first aid instruction leaflet in case I'm incapacitated
other stuff I can't remember.

The only things I've used are Compeed (mostly given away), one plaster on a grazed finger (given away again), and wound dressings and micropore for a blister of biblical proportions that the Compeed wouldn't bend round.

For holidays / tropical trips I have a medicines pack with various things like DEET, sting spray, diocalm, rehydration tabs, co-codamol / volterol (I was glad of those when I tore my cartilage in Austria and the local quack wasn't open till next morning) etc.

I am a first aider and have done a specific outdoors course - most courses are geared towards you getting an ambulance within 5 minutes - this course assumed 3 hours before MRT arrived; so we covered stuff like using sandwich bags and gaffer tape. Use a dyneema sling for arm support or stick the arm in your jacket...
The triang bandages however are very good for strapping 2 legs together - I think dyneema would not be very comfortable for this.

As other have said above, the best first aid kit in the world doesn't help unless you know what to do (with limited resources usually) and the essence is conservation - although we were also told that in the event of a wait of 3 hours then we could take a more proactive role than the normal first aider.

Oh - one last tip - put the painkillers and compeed (the only things you use) in a ziplock in the rukky lid - separate from the other stuff which lies un-used in the bottom of the sac.

HTH

What ever you end up taking in your first aid kit, don’t forget the Aspirin. You never know when you will meet (or become yourself) the victim of a heart attack and need to use this. Oh, and do a first-aid course as you don’t buy a tool kit and think you can fix the car do you (well, maybe you do but I don’t).

My basic British kit is as follows:

Aspirin x 6
Plasters
one triangular bandage
zinc oxide tape
latex gloves
mouth-to-mouth kit thing
sanitary towel (among other uses, it can be used as a very good non-stick wound dressing)
3 antiseptic wipes.
1 2x3 inch non-stick pad.

It's interesting how we customise these kits to suit ourselves - e.g. anti-histamines 'cos Bob and I have quite bad allergies and the tubigrip 'cos I have a Knee with a capital K.

Indeed. Personally I don't like being without my elasticated bandage; has been used several times for strapping up knees and as a general coverall for badly blistered feet.

Blimey, you lot make me feel inadequate. My first aid kit consists of a waterproof jacket and a whistle for emergency use.

Can you let me know your routes an then if I injure myself I can pop into your field hospital.

You should see what some of the real first aid enthusiasts in my search team carry! One guy is a postman, and he has done up his postie van as a miniature ambulance, complete with stretchers, neck collars, spinal boards and lots more.

As an Ambulance Officer you would be surprized at the minimum amount of equipment that I carry.

One thing that stands out from all your posts is that you all appear to be forgetting the first rule of first aid. Do not put yourself in danger!

Obviously, with my profession, I am "conditioned" to be thinking of risk to others, I have a professional standard to maintain.

The VITAL elements that I ALWAYS carry with me, even shopping etc is a resuscitation aid (Small face mask) and a couple of pairs of surgical gloves. (I carry these in a small belt pouch and in my wallet. With regards to emergencies on the hills, the most common situations are broken bones/sprains followed by chest pains/respiratory problems and lastly cuts.

It is surprising how much a trained first aider can improvise in any given situation so I would say that rather than worrying on what to carry, then a good first aid course is much more important.

Having said that, in addition to the aforementioned personal safety items, the only thing worth carrying on any "normal" trip is maybe some basis wound dressings for the compression treatment of bleeding. Fractures are best left alone to await "professional" rescue, but a good grounding in first aid will give an insight into when this may not be an appropriate response.

Having said all that I of course always have my Ambulance bag in the car complete with bag & mask etc!!!

Thanks Tony, "resuscitation aid (Small face mask)" thats what it called (mouth-to-mouth kit thing was the best I could cone up with!).
Do you know where you can get them from "over the counter" as it were? I have a few but some of my freinds want them too.

I'd go along with Tony's first comment about first aid - don't put yourself in danger. You can't help anyone if you get yourself seriuosly injured.

I met a guy once who worked at the biggest hospital in Zurich. The head of the A&E dept there was also a mountain guide and reckoned that if he couldn't patch some one up with the essentials he took with him they weren't coming off alive anyway. The essentials in his case was a Swiss Army knife, gaffer tape and a sheet of polythene!

Its a bit extreme but the point was that it doesn't matter how muh you carry if you don't know how to use it you won't be much use.

Heidi,

I suggest you contact your local branch of the St John Ambulance Brigade, they sell a small keyring type that is supposed to be for single use. I also carry a single valve face sheet that can be obtained from any good Medical suppliers, and in my Ambulance bag I have a "Laerdal" one way face mask which as well as being used as a resuscitation aid, it looks like and can double up as an Oxygen face mask and can be connected to an O2 supply!

Alternatively, have a look at SP services website on http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/SP_SERVICES

I have just done a lttle search myself and I forgot that SP services only do a minimum mail order of £10. Having said that, if a number of people are interested thaen I suggest you follw the below links

Product description:-
Vent-Aid Mouth-To-Mouth Resuscitation Face Shield
http://www.999supplies.com/products/proddat.php?ProductCode=RE/011

Discount for ordering 10 @ around £13 for 10=
http://www.999supplies.com/products/proddat.php?ProductCode=RE/012


Hope this is helpfull?

Correction it is £11-16 inc VAT for 10

And anyone interested in the Merlin pocket masks that is smal enough to include in a basic first aid bag then follow this link!

http://www.999supplies.com/products/proddat.php?ProductCode=RE/008

Some Ibuprofen, some plasters, Compeed, A tubular bandage( cos my knees sometimes give out) and a Swiss army Knife. Also carry Buff which can be used to make Sling etc, should the very worst happen. Also found that some Ibuprofen cream/gel is useful for minor sprains/strains. If it is any worse than that, well I'd probably consider the all important first aid devicce...the phone.