Sanitary Napkins and Their Alternate Uses

 

The other day I heard a friend complaining about the price of first aid dressings. He had been down to the local drug store and was shocked at the price they were asking for absorbent trauma dressings. I suggested that he consider using sanitary napkins. You can purchase them quite inexpensively over the internet or though a local janitorial supply. Yes a janitorial supply, they sell the individually wrapped ones in bulk for the machines that are located in many women’s restrooms. A little quick research on the internet shows that you can purchase a case of 250 Maxithins for about $45 from Uline. This makes there cost about 18 cents each, much cheaper than surgical dressings. Sanitary napkins are clean but are not sterile. They are designed to pull liquids away from the body and create a dry barrier between your body and the wet part of the napkin. Because of this, they make excellent wound dressings. When you place them on the wound, do not put the sticky side down. If you do, the patient will be very unhappy. I recommend that you purchase the ones without wings for use as dressings. There is a definite advantage to storing these over first aid dressing. For one thing, they are multipurpose and inexpensive. In addition to their intended use and as dressing they can be used for fire starters or to pre filter your water to strain out the mud. Don’t forget the tampon, see a previous article I posted on them Yes, that’s a Tampon in my mouth : The Swiss Army Survival Tampon : 10 Survival Uses I know many people recommend stocking the reusable sanitary pads and I agree with them. However, a case or two of the individually wrapped sanitary napkins can come in handy in many situations. Howard