Do you know first aid, or even have supplies?

[brownbook]

I was watching 24 several years ago, terrorists kidnapped an OR nurse because their companion was wounded and "she would have supplies at home."

Wow, another TV show showing stupid medical/nursing information. The nurse is stealing supplies from work? She would have suture, dressing, IV supplies at her house?

I realized how little I have on hand in my own home. I had at that time a small box of plain band aids in various sizes! I would be no more prepared to administer first aid than any person on the street!

I always have to look up what to do for minor burns! (Well, I think I remember that one now...not that my family ever listens to me when I offer first aid advice!)

Our book club read a book who's main characters were nurses. For fun when we met we practiced putting on splints. I had to Google first aid for orthopedic injuries!

Yeah maybe I kind of know some basics....but I still think a boy scout with a first aid badge would be a better go to person than me!

[No Stars In My Eyes]

amolucia, You are right about dry rot; I recently found a baggie full of gloves in the trunk of my car, in a box of stuff from my Home Health visit days, which was, um, maybe ten years ago. The blob of partially melted gloves within the baggie was yellowed and pretty solidified. Gross, not to mention totally useless!

[PomMom65]

My supplies consist of things that I have brought home in error from work in my pockets. I have a few 10mL saline flushes, quite a few alcohol wipes, tape, 4x4s, barrier cream, gloves (tons of gloves). If I cut myself now I would have to use that 4x4 and tape to bandage it. I don't even have a box of band aids.

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Lets see, Trauma experience, EMT and wilderness Search and Rescue oh and Boy scouts. I have been getting first aid training since I was a wee little one. I have a decently stocked kit ( Super glue and duct tape ). Thats the thing with first aid, you make use of what you do have, not necessarily the fancy stuff.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

I put together a first aid kit for my kid's hockey team this year.... mainly SAM splints, tape, Ace / Coban rolls, various dressings and bandaids, steri-strips and butterflies, triple antibiotic ointment, ibuprofen, cold packs, scissors.

Just a month into the season and we had to break into it for a SAM splint today for a broken arm (fortunately, we had an orthopedic surgeon on hand to reduce the fracture in the locker room before splinting). The ibuprofen gets used regularly too.

Last year I had to splint a broken arm with a shinpad and hockey stick tape.... I vowed never again, and this year I petitioned the team's parents for funding for the kit. $5/player supplied me with everything in the kit, and the kit is present at every single game. You can bet that the parents of today's broken arm player are grateful they pitched in their five bucks!

Nice thing about SAM splints is they have instructions written right on them, and they are simple to customize -- bend or cut to the shape/size you need. Definitely handy to have around!

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

I had just moved into my new condo and was there for maybe 3 months. I was leaving my place to go to work, when my leg felt funny. I looked down and noted my right pants leg to be grossly soaked with frank blood. Made it to the bathroom and stripping off my pants, I realized a superficial varicose vein had abraided and was spurting away, like a little Old Faithful geyser.

I managed to get to my living room desk and grabbed the scotch tape and with more toilet paper to make a bandage. Didn't have any ice trays but I was able to grab a bag of frozen veggies from the freezer. With a plastic trash bag to protect my bed from the blood I was finally able to properly apply pressure, elevate and chill my leg.

With some help, I made it to an ER where they treated my leg. They must have really, really felt sorry for this nurse with my fancy schmancy toilet paper/scotch tape bandage and frozen peas. They made me up a first aid kit to manage at home until...

I had just moved in - didn't think about first aid stuff. I have stuff now.

And to JBudd - be careful about your first aid kits. In hot summer and cold winter weather, the contents can dry rot. You need to check them.

OMG, this is so like my house! I never have bandaids, having a special needs child that loves them and uses them on any part of her body. I once cut my finger bad enough to need stitches. All I had was duct tape and toilet paper to get myself to the ED.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

I put together a first aid kit for my kid's hockey team this year.... mainly SAM splints, tape, Ace / Coban rolls, various dressings and bandaids, steri-strips and butterflies, triple antibiotic ointment, ibuprofen, cold packs, scissors.

Just a month into the season and we had to break into it for a SAM splint today for a broken arm (fortunately, we had an orthopedic surgeon on hand to reduce the fracture in the locker room before splinting). The ibuprofen gets used regularly too.

Last year I had to splint a broken arm with a shinpad and hockey stick tape.... I vowed never again, and this year I petitioned the team's parents for funding for the kit. $5/player supplied me with everything in the kit, and the kit is present at every single game. You can bet that the parents of today's broken arm player are grateful they pitched in their five bucks!

Nice thing about SAM splints is they have instructions written right on them, and they are simple to customize -- bend or cut to the shape/size you need. Definitely handy to have around!

Coming from a sports med background, I'd say that your first aid kit appears to be pretty well customized for hockey. You might want to add finger splints or tongue depressors to your kit. They won't be game legal, but they'll make splinting fingers so much more comfy. I would also suggest that you meet up with a Certified Athletic Trainer for their advice about how to safely remove a player's helmet and pads should the need arise, or at least to move any face guards out of the way. There is a real issue with improper removal of helmets and pads if there's a c-spine injury.

I've been witness to 2 C4/5 injuries in Football... getting the equipment off properly almost certainly prevented the immediate death of the players. Both survived to go home, though they were quads. While the two are different sports, they're both classified as collision sports and the equipment the players wear can become an issue in certain instances with both sports.

While I rarely have a very well stocked first aid kit, I'm no stranger to custom building kits for various sports needs. I don't work sports events any more so I just stock my personal kits for whatever I anticipate that I'll need. Usually I'll have some 2x2's, 4x4's, an abd pad, a couple rolls of athletic tape, a roll of plastic tape, small bottle of saline for contacts, a light stretch tape like vetwrap or one of the ones with adhesive, and sometimes Elastikon for heavy duty work...

[RNperdiem, RN]

I have some bandaids, gauze and some OTC meds in the cabinet at home; a cold pack stays permanently in the fridge. Maybe if I lived in a remote area where medical care was further away than a 911 emergency call (less than 5 minutes for the fire department to reach the house, a couple minutes more for the paramedics), then maybe I would need more supplies.

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

I used to have a jump bag back when I was a volunteer firefighter that I won from a convention but everything is probably expired and old in it now. In all honesty, I wouldn't treat people with my own supplies unless they were friends.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

Coming from a sports med background, I'd say that your first aid kit appears to be pretty well customized for hockey. You might want to add finger splints or tongue depressors to your kit. They won't be game legal, but they'll make splinting fingers so much more comfy. I would also suggest that you meet up with a Certified Athletic Trainer for their advice about how to safely remove a player's helmet and pads should the need arise, or at least to move any face guards out of the way. There is a real issue with improper removal of helmets and pads if there's a c-spine injury.

Yes, this kit is specifically for hockey games -- the rest of the time, it's just stored at home until the next game. And I do have finger SAM splints in the kit. in addition to 9", 15", 18", and 36" sizes. Finger jams happen quite regularly in this sport!

As for removing gear, in a suspected spinal injury, we would leave the gear intact and wait for EMS to immobilize in situ -- we don't have a cervical collar or a stretcher/backboard (the longer SAM splint can be crafted into an emergency c-collar, though), so even if we did get the gear off, we'd have no way to properly immobilize without the EMS equipment.

Fortunately, the face masks on hockey helmets are a simple hinged swing-away design, so we can access the face for assessment/rescue breathing without removing the helmet at all.