Posted: 4/26/2007 12:11:45 PM EDT
| I'm looking at putting together a medkit to keep in my truck for emergencies. Should I build my own or just buy one? Also if I should build one, what should I include? |
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I did both. My Xterra comes with a first aid kit in the rear door - to which I added a bunch of stuff including sun tan lotion, water pouches, asprin, extra bandages and tape .... on and on until the thing was stuffed. It's about a 12x12x8" pack now stuffed to over flowing. For my BoB I started with a 100 piece roll out kit and again over stuffed it 200%. For the house I have five .50 caliber cans filled to the top with supplies. One is specialized for burns, another with the medicines, and the other three are general trama - think gunshot wound needing lots of antiseptic, bandages, and medical tape. I've bought yet a bigger roll for my BoB and will likely use this when I'm out in the Xterra way off the beaten track. I'm planning on adding a snake bite kit as they've gotten a bunch better than they were 20 years ago. The primary thing of importance is the knowlege of how to actually perform first aid reducing the amount of trama that happens to the victim of a sudden illness or accident until the services of a doctor can be obtained. The Boy Scouts, military, and American Red Cross have trained me so I feel I'm smarter than the average bear on first aid matters. |
| If you're just starting out, you could do a lot worse that getting one of these kits from Campmor. They're about the size of a paperback book and there's a decent amount of spare room to add your own stuff, like a small tube of Neosporin, some 4" x 4" dressings, Imodium, more Tylenol/Advil, Benadryl, more bandaids, etc. |
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Here are some links I have pulled from different posts. Adventure Medical Kits Info with some links Chinook Medical Gear Bound Tree Medical Emergency Medical Products Progressive Medical International |
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I can only speak for the Adventure Line. It's a good starting place and their packing method is logical and easy to find things. The manual that comes with it is top-notch. I got their "Comprehensive" and then added a lot of things to supplement the one's and two's of certain items -- aspririn, Claritin D, benadryl, imodium, pepto bismol, more gloves, more dressing, eye wash, swimmer ear medicine, dramamine, tubes of anitbiotic ointment, blistex, jellied alcohol hand wipe, caladryl ivy dry, blistex, antifungal cream, extra rehydration salts, 90% DEET, 50% sunblock, dermabond, LED flashlight, an epinephrine inhaler. My approach was to have enough creature comfort first aid supplies that a five day camping trip would not have to be a mad rush to the doctor just because somebody had a belly ache. It will also handle more immediate trauma care I balanced the convenience of havng a pre-made kit versus having to spend a huge block of time tracking down all these odd bits and pieces. You'll get by cheaper if you put it all together yourself, but the trade-off is in time and hassle. That medical kit has become my main medical kit. It's compact and everything's in one place and not scattered throughout the house/shaving kit/ bathroom/camping equipment. If I leave the house, I toss it in under the back seat. |