make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

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mrvmax
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make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#1

Post by mrvmax »

Did something stupid today and sliced open my leg with a razor knife (the cut was at least 1/4")so needless to say I was bleeding quite profusely. The good thing is that last year I put together a decent first aid/trauma kit with some trauma bandages and other stuff I thought I may eventually need. I actually did not remember I had it at first due to the adrenaline after seeing the cut and focusing on how bad the cut was. I cut myself in the garage and went inside and called for my daughter to assist me in stopping the bleeding and then for a ride to the ER. We grabbed some thin gauze pads we keep in the bathroom and those did little to slow the bleeding then I remembered the first aid kit. Two of the NAR Emergency Trauma dressings stopped the bleeding until I made it to the ER. They have a pretty thick absorbent pad built it with a long wrap and a closure to hold it tight. I will definitely be ordering more of those to restock the kit. I think it would be handy to have some in the vehicle for when I am away from home. I will probably start carrying some when I am hunting too. I was fortunate that I only cut a small artery but that bled bad enough, I do not really want to ever experience cutting a major artery.
So, lessons learned: First keep knifes away from your body when you are cutting, it only took a little slip to cut myself pretty deep. In my 48 years I have never cut myself that bad. Second, have a good first aid kit and keep it where it can be found quickly. I had mine buried in my office under a bunch of paperwork and other stuff so it took longer than necessary to get to it. Third, I realized if my daughter would not have been home I would have had to get an ambulance ride. My truck has a manual transmission so there was no way I could depress the clutch with a big gash on my leg. My wife was gone with the car so my daughter was my only option to get to the ER. I never really considered not being able to shift with an injury but fortunately I had someone else around. Living in Friendswood EMS is pretty close but I would hate to take that expensive ride to the ER. I will be more prepared the next time.

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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#2

Post by pushpullpete »

A good first aid kit IS indispensable. Glad to hear you are ok.

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FL450
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#3

Post by FL450 »

Thanks for the advise
A few months back I cut my right hand on the knuckle
Needless to say holding pressure on itamd driving myself to the urgent care in a standard was not the easiest.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#4

Post by RPBrown »

Glad it wasn't worse and you will be okay.

I've told this story on here before but it's worth a laugh again. First though, do you ever wonder if doctors and nurses in an ER ever talk to one another or even read a patients chart. I'll explain during this story.
Several years ago we (I) was separating some of our pond plants. I was in shorts and flip flops (yeah, I know) and was squatted down with a plant in front of me and a razor knife in my hand. Now I had already separated several others in this same fashion but my wife walks out, sees me and the very first thing she says is "your going to cut yourself like that". Of course I look at her with that "I know what I am doing look" and the very next slice down the knife slips and punctures my ankle. There is a very small but pulsing stream of blood coming out. I put my thumb on it to stop the bleeding and after I had to hear "I told you so" a few times, she takes me to the ER. First, have you ever seen an old fat man walk while holding is ankle. Not a pretty sight. Anyway, the firs nurse brings out a wheel chair for me and proceeds to ask what happened. We told her and she puts it all in the chart they are building. She then takes me in to another nurse that takes my vitals and she asks me what happened. I told her and she writes in the chart. She then puts a pressure bandage on it so I can straighten up and wheels me into a room. During the next hour of waiting, 2 additional nurses came in to check on me and both asked the same thing, "what happened". Both wrote it down in the chart. Finally the doctor comes in sits down, looks at the chart, looks at my ankle, and asks "what happened". By now I am a little irritated and decided to become a bit sarcastic. I looked at my wife and saw the "oh no" look on her face and then I told him " well I decided to end it all by puncturing my ankle". My wife lost it and spewed coffee but the doc closes the chart, leans back and says " Mr. Brown, do you have these feelings often?" I asked him point blank, how many times the cause of my injury was actually written in my chart and he said 5. I said why, no one reads it. He then had the nurse put some antiseptic on the puncture, put in 1 stitch and discharged me.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#5

Post by ELB »

RPBrown,

In small, meager defense of the docs and nurses:

As a medical first responder I have been on the receiving end of patients' explanations of "What happened?" (and "what other medical problems do you have" and a few other questions) and it is interesting how the story will often mutate over time. People suddenly remember stuff they didn't say the first time, leave out things they did say the first time, didn't even realize they left stuff out in the first two stories but repetition #5 suddenly reveals "Oh I was standing on a step ladder at the time" and so on. ;-) I'm sure cops have experienced this at crime scenes.

Being emotionally involved in a scene (especially a self-stabbing! :lol: ) can mess with mind, memory, and logic. It's one of the reasons the big city PD union lawyers have negotiated agreements where the cop gets 24 hours and a chance to talk to his lawyer before he has to make a statement about a shooting, predicated on the research that shows it takes a while for he brain to process stuff and render a complete story of "what happened." (Which is probably something those of us who don't have big city PD union lawyers to ponder as well).

That said, having been to the ER numerous times with a family member, yes I often wonder if docs and nurses really read the charts. :roll:
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#6

Post by parabelum »

Glad you are ok. I sliced my thumb in two halves several years ago when my hand slipped. It was then I learned to keep a decent, quick to deploy trauma kit close by as well as to always work with sharpest blade possible. I put way too much pressure on that dull knife causing the slip. Mine took 12 stitches to fix. Bled like crazy. Garage looked like crime scene. Oh and “I told you so” come flying at me too...

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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#7

Post by crazy2medic »

Never know when you, the spouse, the neighbor or somebody will suffer dramatic injury, have at least a working knowledge of basic first aid, wasn't many years ago that I made a call on a guy was cutting branches with a circular saw, it kicked back and got his thigh, on the way there told my crew on the engine that this one is going to be bloody, when we got there the wound was hardly bleeding at all, we bandaged it and he went by ambulance to the hospital for sutures, i have seen minor wounds that gushed blood, major wounds that were almost blood less, a femur fracture or pelvic fracture can lose enough blood into the surrounding tissue to bleed to death without one drop of blood hitting the ground!
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#8

Post by jmorris »

Tried to cut my hand in half once with a power saw. Luckily, mostly missed. Before I'd heard of trauma bandages, if they were even around, but luckily had a bag of brand new rags handy.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#9

Post by strogg »

I've had more than my fair share of crazy household accidents. The latest one was interesting. I was at home and settled in for the rest of the day, meaning I wasn't planning on going out again. I went into the garage to do some quick drilling on a project I was working on inside. I guess that day, I parked a little too close to the door, because as I finished up, I tripped, and my ankle got caught on the license plate of my car. It really hurt. I didn't really think much of it while I was limping, because I was too focused on trying to get back inside. I had no phone, no keys, nothing in my pocket. I also didn't have a first aid kit in the garage. These are important details, since I accidentally locked myself out of my own home. Fortunately, I was stuck in the garage. I grabbed some power tools and went to town on the doorknob. I found my way in, and realized a big ol' puddle of blood formed in my sandals. That license plate cut me up pretty well. I went straight to the shower to wash it off. Since the cut was so long, I had to make my own band-aid out of gauze and tape from the first aid kit. Fortunately, it wasn't a really deep cut, and it healed itself in 2-3 weeks.

Since then, I changed a few things:

1: I added a deadbolt to the garage entrance and replaced the knob with a regular passage. Now I hypothetically won't be able to lock myself out again.
2: I put a first aid kit in my car. That way, it'll always be available in the garage just in case. I also put one upstairs.
3: I created a backup entry system so if I do somehow get accidentally locked out of my home, there is a non-destructive way to get back in.

Sooner or later, I will get a Knox Box installed. It's useful people who are unable to get to the door in an emergency. Essentially, it's a secure key box that only the local FD or LEOs have access to so they can non-destructively enter the home. Rather than using the universal inward swinging door key (aka a door ram), they can just grab the key from the Knox Box. It will pay for itself in a single use.

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mrvmax
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#10

Post by mrvmax »

RPBrown wrote:Glad it wasn't worse and you will be okay.

I've told this story on here before but it's worth a laugh again. First though, do you ever wonder if doctors and nurses in an ER ever talk to one another or even read a patients chart. I'll explain during this story.
Several years ago we (I) was separating some of our pond plants. I was in shorts and flip flops (yeah, I know) and was squatted down with a plant in front of me and a razor knife in my hand. Now I had already separated several others in this same fashion but my wife walks out, sees me and the very first thing she says is "your going to cut yourself like that". Of course I look at her with that "I know what I am doing look" and the very next slice down the knife slips and punctures my ankle. There is a very small but pulsing stream of blood coming out. I put my thumb on it to stop the bleeding and after I had to hear "I told you so" a few times, she takes me to the ER. First, have you ever seen an old fat man walk while holding is ankle. Not a pretty sight. Anyway, the firs nurse brings out a wheel chair for me and proceeds to ask what happened. We told her and she puts it all in the chart they are building. She then takes me in to another nurse that takes my vitals and she asks me what happened. I told her and she writes in the chart. She then puts a pressure bandage on it so I can straighten up and wheels me into a room. During the next hour of waiting, 2 additional nurses came in to check on me and both asked the same thing, "what happened". Both wrote it down in the chart. Finally the doctor comes in sits down, looks at the chart, looks at my ankle, and asks "what happened". By now I am a little irritated and decided to become a bit sarcastic. I looked at my wife and saw the "oh no" look on her face and then I told him " well I decided to end it all by puncturing my ankle". My wife lost it and spewed coffee but the doc closes the chart, leans back and says " Mr. Brown, do you have these feelings often?" I asked him point blank, how many times the cause of my injury was actually written in my chart and he said 5. I said why, no one reads it. He then had the nurse put some antiseptic on the puncture, put in 1 stitch and discharged me.
I really do not mind them asking me how it happened but I don't like the fact that the initial ER dr. that looked at the cut missed the fact that an artery was cut and they left me bleeding for 20-30 minutes. After he removed the pressure bandages to looked at the cut he said it wasn't as bad as the Urgent care dr. stated and it only required a few sutures. He said they would get an x-ray to make sure the bone was not cut and Instead of putting a pressure dressing back on he handed me the bloody dressing he pulled off that urgent care applied and asked me to hold it on the cut. It was about 15 minutes before they came to x-ray it and it was after that that I got fed up with blood running out of the blood soaked bandage before I had to ask a nurse to stop the bleeding. When the second dr. went to put in the sutures he found out why the bleeding was hard to stop, an artery was cut and the first dr. missed that. The first dr. came in to tell him something unrelated and dr #2 told him that an artery was cut. Dr. #1 just walked out and didn't say anything. I also realized talking to my wife that they never cleaned the wound, they sewed me up without ever cleaning it out with an antiseptic. My wife was there the entire time so it wasn't just me forgetting. I had to call my primary care dr. this morning to see if he would prescribe antibiotics so I do not get an infection since the cut was so deep and I was using a razor knife that I cut no telling what with. I realize these guys are busy but it seems like too many minor issues and this is why I have an aversion to doctors.

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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#11

Post by Abraham »

O.K.

Someone please suggest (if such exists) a trauma kit that I can buy off the shelf.

I've been stitched up more than once, sometimes my fault to have it done, sometimes not...

I'm just now learning how to use a circular saw. I've used it twice on rather (for me) major building and repairing my deck projects. Circular saws terrify me more than a chain saw. Most especially after watching a documentary about ER docs where a patient came in after already sawing off 2 of his fingers awhile back, to go on to finish the job, all with a circular saw. Now, all he has on hand is a thumb. He admitted, he was in a hurry to finish his project and instead finished his hand.

Last week, due to carelessness, I cut my thumb so bad it bled like mad. I tried to bandage it by myself and didn't care to mention it, but couldn't get it done without my wife's help. I was embarrassed. I like to think I can do everything without help. Wrong. She was horrified as my hand looked something out of a horror movie.

All that aside, if a respected trauma kit is made 'off the shelf' (please advise where and what model kit to buy) I'll invest in one or if someone who knows how to come up with a table of contents if you will of what to put together, please advise.

Thanks!

P.S. I couldn't bear to read all the injury posts as I started to feel nauseous - that said, if what I requested is already suggested, please advise and I'll read all the posts, nausea inducing or not.

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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#12

Post by mrvmax »

Abraham wrote:O.K.

Someone please suggest (if such exists) a trauma kit that I can buy off the shelf.

I've been stitched up more than once, sometimes my fault to have it done, sometimes not...

I'm just now learning how to use a circular saw. I've used it twice on rather (for me) major building and repairing my deck projects. Circular saws terrify me more than a chain saw. Most especially after watching a documentary about ER docs where a patient came in after already sawing off 2 of his fingers awhile back, to go on to finish the job, all with a circular saw. Now, all he has on hand is a thumb. He admitted, he was in a hurry to finish his project and instead finished his hand.

Last week, due to carelessness, I cut my thumb so bad it bled like mad. I tried to bandage it by myself and didn't care to mention it, but couldn't get it done without my wife's help. I was embarrassed. I like to think I can do everything without help. Wrong. She was horrified as my hand looked something out of a horror movie.

All that aside, if a respected trauma kit is made 'off the shelf' (please advise where and what model kit to buy) I'll invest in one or if someone who knows how to come up with a table of contents if you will of what to put together, please advise.

Thanks!

P.S. I couldn't bear to read all the injury posts as I started to feel nauseous - that said, if what I requested is already suggested, please advise and I'll read all the posts, nausea inducing or not.
I never found one I liked that had what I wanted so I assembled it myself. All the kits I saw were expensive and had very little in them. Hopefully someone here can post a source for a decent kit. FYI I’ve been told the Israeli bandages are good for stopping bleeding since they hold pressure. Both the Israeli and NAR trauma bandages are for sale on Amazon.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#13

Post by carlson1 »

Abraham wrote:O.K.

Someone please suggest (if such exists) a trauma kit that I can buy off the shelf.

I've been stitched up more than once, sometimes my fault to have it done, sometimes not...

I'm just now learning how to use a circular saw. I've used it twice on rather (for me) major building and repairing my deck projects. Circular saws terrify me more than a chain saw. Most especially after watching a documentary about ER docs where a patient came in after already sawing off 2 of his fingers awhile back, to go on to finish the job, all with a circular saw. Now, all he has on hand is a thumb. He admitted, he was in a hurry to finish his project and instead finished his hand.

Last week, due to carelessness, I cut my thumb so bad it bled like mad. I tried to bandage it by myself and didn't care to mention it, but couldn't get it done without my wife's help. I was embarrassed. I like to think I can do everything without help. Wrong. She was horrified as my hand looked something out of a horror movie.

All that aside, if a respected trauma kit is made 'off the shelf' (please advise where and what model kit to buy) I'll invest in one or if someone who knows how to come up with a table of contents if you will of what to put together, please advise.

Thanks!

P.S. I couldn't bear to read all the injury posts as I started to feel nauseous - that said, if what I requested is already suggested, please advise and I'll read all the posts, nausea inducing or not.
Anything you would ever need could be found here.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#14

Post by LDB415 »

Just didn't get enough of the medical people and hospitals when you had your GB surgery huh. Seriously though, I'm glad you weren't hurt worse.
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Re: make sure you have a good first aid kit at home.....

#15

Post by apostate »

Abraham wrote:Someone please suggest (if such exists) a trauma kit that I can buy off the shelf.
https://www.narescue.com/public-access- ... uum-sealed

I also have a bunch of mix & match OLAES and Israeli bandages, tourniquets, Asherman chest seals, airways, etc. However, I like having the advanced version of this kit for untrained people, especially if they need to stop my bleeding.
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