Field Medicine for Terrorist Attacks

Editor’s note: Lots of folks are asking about tactical first aid classes after yesterday’s bomb attacks in Belgium. Here is an article I wrote after the Boston bombing titled “Field Medicine for Terrorist Attacks.” It describes the basics of what you need to know about stopping serious bleeding and some links to trainers who can […]

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DIY Hemostatic Gauze Cayenne Pepper Blood Stopper

8 Lifesaving Treatments That Should Be a Reflex

by James Hubbard, MD, MPH

If you’ve been reading The Survival Doctor for a while, you’ve learned a lot about survival medicine.

Yet all the long-term treatments in the world are useless if the victim dies in the first few minutes. So it’s important to continually return to the basics, to reinforce those quick, life-saving skills I believe are most important to remember.

After all, saving a life or limb in the short-term is often as simple as taking one easy step—but doing it quickly enough to make a difference. People die all the time just because no one around them knew the fix that would have turned things around.

To become a hero at-the-ready, memorize these eight quick treatments and tips. Share them with your friends and family so they’re prepared in case you’re the one who needs care.

The goals is to memorize these so well that when you need to use them in real life, you won’t have to stop and think. They’ll be the first things that pop to mind—almost as quickly as a reflex. Then you can take a breath and figure out what to do next.

Important note: In this post, I’m assuming calling 911, if necessary, is either taken care of or impossible. I’m also assuming that if you’ve come upon an injured person, you’ve first made sure you’re safe—not threatened by a wild animal, a shooter, or whatever else caused the injury. And, of course, don’t forget aboutCPR and an AED if there are no signs of life. 

1. Suspect carbon monoxide poisoning? Provide fresh air.

Headache and drowsiness are a few of many possible signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. Step one in treatment is to get the person fresh air. Get them outside if you can. If you have pure oxygen, give that. Carbon monoxide is often thought of as a winter concern, due to certain heat sources, but it’s also a risk in summer when RVs and boats come out to play.

2. Think you’re having a heart attack? Chew an aspirin.

A child- or adult-size aspirin may keep the clot from worsening. Chew and swallow. Then lie down and make sure someone’s looking for an AED if you’re in a public building. Here are more heart attack tips.

3. Get a cut? Apply pressure.

Direct pressure works for most cuts. For extra help, elevate the wound to heart level or above. (Lying down puts everything on heart level.) The bleeding will probably stop within five minutes, but you may have to continue pressure to keep it stopped.

Alternately, you could try pressing above or below the wound, depending on where the bleeding is coming from.  If all else fails, a tourniquet will stop most bad bleeds on an arm or leg. If a tourniquet is obviously needed from the beginning, go straight to it.

For safety, always use a barrier between your hand and the blood, like a medical glove or thick towel.

5. See someone who’s badly bleeding? Cover to help prevent shock.

Shock is when the blood pressure goes way down. This can be deadly. One thing you can do to help prevent it is cover the person with a blanket. (While looking for wounds to address, keep other parts covered as you go.) Keeping the person warm reduces stress on the body’s circulation because extra blood doesn’t have to be routed to the skin to regulate temperature.

Of course, don’t cover the person if they’re already too hot or if it’s a hot day, they have plenty of clothes on, and they’re dry.

6. Feel sick in the heat? Cool off, and drink water.

If you’re hot and feel a flu-like symptom (like weakness, dizziness, headache, or nausea), you may have heat exhaustion. Other potential symptoms are cramps and a sudden increase in sweating. Cool off, drink water or a sports drink, and stay cool the rest of the day. You may have just prevented heatstroke.

Also beware confusion in the heat. That can be a sign of either heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

7. Shiver in the cold? Get to warmth—before you stop shivering.

Shivering is a sign of mild hypothermia. If you stop shivering, you’ve progressed to moderate hypothermia. Either way, get to warmth. Both the mild and moderate forms can cause confusion, and you don’t want to be stuck outside with that. For further treatment details (or for times when you can’t get to warmth), click here.

8. Get a burn? Cool with water.

The first step for a burn is to cool the area immediately. Don’t use ice for this because it stops healthy blood flow. Instead, run water over the burn or drape soaked material over it. The latter option is especially helpful for big burns.

9. Chest pierced deeply? Seal with a special kind of one-way valve.

When a puncture or bullet penetrates the chest cavity, air may get progressively sucked in through the wound as the person breathes, putting potentially fatal pressure on the lungs and heart. If you catch a chest wound before this happens, you can help prevent it by creating a one-way valve that prevents air from getting in but allows trapped air to escape. Here are two simple ways to do that:

1. Place a driver’s license or plastic wrap on the wound, or
2. Coat gauze in petroleum jelly, ointment, or honey, and place it on the wound.

http://www.thesurvivaldoctor.com/2015/07/07/lifesaving-treatments/

Avoiding and Treating Poison Ivy and Plants from Hell in 2 Min

As a prepper, you’re likely familiar with the horrors of poison ivy, oak and sumac.  And you can probably avoid them most of the time.  But in the darkness of night, accidently brushing against a plant while out on patrol, or worse, when using the “facilities” - is not uncommon.

If you know you’ve been exposed, you can wash the slippery resin off your skin in time.  But most never realize their trespass, and only learn of it 12-72 hours later when blisters begin forming.  By that time it’s too late.  The oily resin on the underside of the leaves has now firmly attached to your skin.  After 30 minutes, there’s no way to remove it.  It must fall off on its own – and that takes three weeks.  Symptoms are most severe on days four through seven.

The oil can rub off you and onto your pets, clothes, bedding and friends during this period.  You end up sharing the itchy, swollen, red rash and its weeping blisters with others.  That being said, the poison is rarely spread from one person’s skin to another’s after it’s been washed with soap.  Further, if the blisters break open, the fluid will not contaminate other people.

The itch-inducing resin in all three plants is Urushiol.  It’s an oil that’s contained in the plants’ roots, stems, and leaves.  It sticks to anything it touches.  If your dog rubs up against you after he’s brushed against one of the plants, you end up with a rash.  Worse yet, if someone is burning the plants and you’re close by, the resin can aerosolize and land on your skin.

You’ll know the rash is from poison ivy, oak, or sumac because of its linear chain of blisters, something you’d expect after brushing past one of the leafs.  When aerosolized, this rule no longer holds true, and blisters are randomly spread over areas not covered by clothing.

Poison ivy, oak, and sumac all have a three leaf design at the end of their stems.  All grow in most regions of the country.  And all carry the Urushiol oil or resin.  In each case it sticks to a surface for a month before falling off.  Once the rash appears, the sap like substance can’t be washed off.  Right after contact, it’s believed the oil can be removed with soapy water or alcohol, but only if you get to it within the first 30 minutes.

Poison Ivy

The features of this plant are its green pointed leaves hanging from the stem in groups of three.  It grows as a shrub or a vine, and its appearance changes with the seasons.  Yellow-green flowers are seen in the spring, and change to yellow-red in autumn.  Typically it grows along river banks in the form of a vine.

Poison Oak

Much like poison ivy, poison oak leaves also cluster in sets of three.  The edges of the solid green leaves look a little bit like condensed leaves of an oak tree.  Most often seen in shrub form, it can also be a vine, and is mostly found on the West Coast.

Poison Sumac

Usually growing as a small tree or shrub, sumac loves boggy areas and is usually found in swamps.   Poison sumac leafs are packed with Urushiol, so much so they produce black or brownish-black spots.  Leaf stems contain 7-13 leaflets arranged in pairs, and grow abundantly along the Mississippi River.

Treatment & Management

One of the most important things to do, is to scrub under your fingernails to prevent the resin from spreading to areas you’re unconsciously scratching.

Important Safety Tip:  Never burn poison ivy, oak, or sumac.  While the aerosolized resin may cause a terrible rash, inhaling it will cause potentially lethal blisters in the lungs.

Take Home Message:  It’s easy to recognize the three leaf pattern of poison plants. But that’s a real trick at night. So if you see a linear chain of blisters, treat the dog, consider carrying prednisone in your emergency kit, and for the Love of God… don’t burn the evil-doer plants!

Mass Casualty Incident- S.T.A.R.T. Triage Part 1

Veterinary Blood Stop Powder or Yunnan Baiyao

Click on image or links:

BLOOD STOP POWDER 16 Oz

YUNNAN BAIYAO POWER

  Veterinary supplies are a fantastic source for emergency medicine, and one of the medicines few people know about is called "hemostatic powdered medicine." It stops bleeding FAST.

From the world of conventional veterinary medicine, the product you want is called "Blood Stop Powder." It's made from a combination of iron sulfate, ammonia, aluminum and tannic acid. When it meets blood, it rapidly forms a solid mass (an instant scab). Farmers and ranchers use this all the time to stop severe bleeding from animals such as when cows experience a difficult birth and tear part of the birth canal in the process.

The product label carries a warning that it's "Not for use on humans," but in a life-or-death emergency, I doubt you'll care what the label says. The product works just fine on any mammal with blood, and unless you've already been turned into a zombie, that probably includes you.

A nearly identical product has existed for literally thousands of years in the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It's called "Yunnan Baiyao," and it also stops bleeding almost instantly. The ingredients remain a family secret, but it is believed to be made primarily from natural TCM herbs and plants.

Both of these products are available off-the-shelf right now, without a prescription. Search for "Yunnan Baiyao" on Amazon.com and you'll see that you can even buy this online. Both of these hemostatic powders may become invaluable in a collapse scenario when medical supplies are very difficult to come by, so I encourage everyone to consider adding this to their medicine chest right now while there's still time.

TREATING BURNS POST-SHTF

No matter how hard you try to prevent it, it’s going to happen. At some point someone is going to get burnt and there will be no doctor to attend them. Some burns will be severe and there will be nothing you can do about them. For those you can offer first aid for, advice is given below.

Chemical Burns

It’s vital to keep chemicals in their original containers, the label will have advice on what to do should the chemical get onto the skin. Some chemicals should not be mixed with water, some should be rinsed off etc so knowing what you are dealing with is vital and can prevent permanent injury or in some cases death.

• Wearing protective gloves, remove any chemicals from the skin by running the affected area under cool tap water for 20 minutes, or more.
•  If the chemical involved is in powder form, such as lime, brush it off the skin before running the skin under water.
• Remove any jewellery, or clothing, that may have been exposed to the chemical.
• Apply a cool wet towel to help relieve pain, if safe to do so.
• Cover the burnt skin with a dry, sterile dressing, or clean cloth.
•  If you experience an increased sensation of burning, rewash the skin for several more minutes.

Electrical Burns

Electrical burns can come from those people stuck by lightening or from exposure to mains electrify and in either of those cases there is little you can do. Less severe but still damaging electrical burns can come from any devise that stores energy, batteries for example. These burns are to be taken seriously even if they look pretty minor. The discharge of electricity if strong enough to burn the skin is strong enough to cause deeper tissue damage.

A word of caution about microwaves. DO NOT be tempted to scavenge bits from the circuits etc. Even when switched off and unplugged they retain enough electrical energy not only to burn but to kill outright. Taking the back off is quite literally dicing with death unless you really know what you’re doing and even most electricians would not take the risk.

Lightening strikes are considered to be electrical burns. Often there will be little to see but massive internal damage often results. If the person survives the strike there will be no way of knowing the internal damage that has been sustained. There can sometimes be a slow breakdown of one or more internal organs after the event. Other people have impairment to a given limb, or memory loss after a lightening strike. Personality change is not uncommon. The burns should be kept clean and covered with a dry dressing as should any type of electrical burn.

Radiation Burns

If you’ve ever been sun burnt you have had a radiation burn. Radiation burns are painful in the extreme. How severe the burn is depends on the exposure. Wrap in cool damp clothes that are changed frequently. Natural yogurt takes the heat out of sunburn very effectively. Radiation burns are also possible if you have been exposed to fallout from a thermo-nuclear device.

Having a radiation burn means the body has been exposed to ionizing radiation but unless the expose time and dose is known it’s impossible to say if the internal organs have been affected and if death will follow.

Not all exposure to nuclear radiation kills, and a short burst reddening the skin is much less dangerous than a long drawn out low level exposure such as that experienced after Chernobyl or the ongoing situation with Fukushima.

Contact Burns

Contact burns as the name suggests results in coming into contact with something hot. This could be any number of things, a spark from the fire, a pan handle or contact with a hundred and one other things. Scalds from boiling liquids can also be considered contact burns, as can steam burns.

•  Immediately get the person away from the heat source to stop the burning.

• Cool the burn with cool or lukewarm water for 10-30 minutes minimum, longer if the pain returns within a minute or so of removing it from the water. Do not use ice, iced water or any creams or greasy substances, such as butter.
• Remove any clothing or jewellery that is near the burnt area of skin, but do not move anything that is stuck to the skin
• Make sure the person keeps warm – for example by using a blanket – but take care not to rub it against the burnt area.
• Cover the burn by placing a layer of cling film over it. Plastic bags are idea for burns on the hands or feet.
• Give pain relief such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen. Children under 16 should never be given aspirin though it’s fine for adults.
• Do not interfere with the burn or break any blisters even if the burn is very painful or appears to be getting worse.

First, second and third degree burns

• First-degree burns affect only the outer layer of the skin. They cause pain, redness, and swelling.
• Second-degree (partial thickness) burns affect both the outer and underlying layer of skin. They cause pain, redness, swelling, and blistering.

• Third-degree (full thickness) burns extend into deeper tissues. They cause white or blackened, charred skin that may be numb.

Symptoms

• Blisters
• Pain (the degree of pain is not related to the severity of the burn — the most serious burns can be painless as nerves are destroyed)
• Peeling skin
• Red skin
• Shock (watch for pale and clammy skin, weakness, bluish lips and fingernails, and a drop in alertness)
• Swelling
• White or charred skin

Children under age 4 and adults over age 60 have a higher chance of complications and death from severe burns.

The main danger from severe burns is dehydration due to loss of fluids, and colonization with pseudomonas, and aggressive form of bacteria that flourish in the moist open environment provided by burnt skin.

Be aware that severe burns smell, even before any infection sets in severe burns smell and it’s the kind of smell you will never forget. In any kind of very severe burn you will only be able to offer palliative care and this should be concentrated on making the patient as comfortable as possible. 

Care should also be taken to make sure that full barrier nursing is employed,gloves and some kind of gown or apron at a minimum. Pseudomonal infection is opportunist and is as happy infecting any cuts or grazes you have as it would be infecting a burns victim.

Airway Burns

The airways can be burnt due to the inhalation of smoke or other hot gases.

Symptoms of an airways burn:

• Charred mouth; burned lips
• Burns on the head, face, or neck
• Wheezing
• Change in voice
• Difficulty breathing; coughing
• Singed nose hairs or eyebrows
• Dark, carbon-stained mucus

Airway burns are survivable but the chances of survival depend entirely on the amount of lung damage which in turn depends on the temperature of the smoke that has been inhaled. Severe impairment of gas exchange due to damaged airways will usually result in death either immediately or very shortly after the fire. 

Should the victim survive there is no way of predicting how much damage there has been and what the medium to long term effects will be outside of a hospital environment.

Take Care

Liz

Originally published at   www.undergroundmedic.com 

How to Care For Wounds When the Medical System Has Collapsed

From Wikimedia Commons

In my opinion, our medical system will be one of the first to collapse during a major catastrophe.

We have a shortage of primary care doctors in the U.S., a shortage of emergency rooms, a shortage of nurses, and most hospitals have gone to a “just in time” ordering system, where they stock two to three day’s supplies vs. several weeks.

Plus our hospitals are utterly dependent on electricity, although the all have backup diesel generators – but what happens when the diesel tanks are empty.

Furthermore, especially in an outbreak of contagious disease, many hospital personel will just not show up, be injured, or caring for ill or injured family members at home.

I can tell you from personal experience, our national medical disaster preparedness is a sad joke. Think Katrina, but ten times worse.

The incidence of wounds will skyrocket after a catastrophe due to broken glass, chainsaw injuries, people falling off ladders, and on and on. Therefore, I’m writing this article on how to take care of basic wounds when the system has collapsed.

A wound requires four simple things to heal: blood flow, oxygen, nutrients, and the ABSENCE OF INFECTION. If possible, a member of the group who’se wounded should get some extra food, and a vitamin pill a day.

In terms of oxygen and nutrients, these are all provided by blood flow. This brings up the subject of tourniquets. Tourniquets should ONLY be used as a measure of last resort, to prevent the patient from bleeding to death.

Remember – direct pressure stops 99% of bleeding. Take a piece of cloth, ball it up and press HARD against the bleeding area for five minutes by your watch – which will seem like five hours – then check and see if the bleeding has subsided – only if three or four attempts fail should a tourniquet be used.

Direct pressure will stop bleeding from major arteries – I know, I’ve stopped lacerated femoral arteries from bleeding with direct pressure.

If a tourniquet is used, two hours is the maximum time for the arms, four hours for the legs.

If that time is exceeded, the tourniquet must be completely released for a while to allow blood flow, or you will wind up with a dead arm or leg. By the way, “gangrene” just means dead tissue in medicalese.

The most common problem that you will face with wounds is infection. Surgeons classify wounds into two types: clean, and dirty. A clean wound is, for example, when you cut your finger on a broken glass while doing the dishes.

A severely dirty wound is when you cut your finger with a trowel while digging in the garden Organic material is the WORST form of contamination.

I do not suggest home suturing under any circumstances, and here’s why – if there are any germs in the wound – you’ve  just sealed them in – and infection is very likely.

In a VERY clean wound, you could use butterfly bandages, Steri-Strips or Crazy Glue (yes, you can buy surgical skin glue, but it is just Crazy Glue at $150 per milliliter).

All other wounds should be CLEANSED, and then left OPEN to heal by TERTIARY INTENTION – medicalese for skin growing in from the sides. This allows the body to extrude germs from the wound in the form of pus.

Over 3-7 days, the body will convert most dirty wounds to clean wounds by it’s natural immune system if the wounds are left OPEN. This may seem too basic, but wash your hands before working on the wound.

Now, how about cleaning wounds?

First, if there are any large pieces of debries, such as twigs, leaves, or gravel – remove them with tweezers. Most antiseptics KILL healthy tissue and dead tissue is FERTILIZER for bacteria.

If it stings when you put it in your eye – it kills healthy wound tissue. Under no circumstances would I use tincture of iodine, or any form of alcohol. Really, washing using mild soap and water is a good way to clean most dirty wounds.

If you have Betadine SOLUTION (NOT soap), mix 1/4 Betadine with 3/4 water. Hydrogen peroxide is helpful as it’s bubbling action helps lift dirt out of a wound.

Be aware that a bottle of hydrogen peroxide becomes inert 2-4 weeks after opening, no matter how tightly you close it.

Next, I suggest everyone include in their first aid kit a 30 or 50ml syringe. Fill with water and press as hard as you can – this basically pressure washes the wound, and has been proven time and again to reduce infection.

If there is tissue with ground in dirt (for example, the patient slid down the road), and the dirt can’t be removed by washing or irrigation, it must be cut out.

This can be done with scissors, a scalpel blade, or a sharp knife. Remove as little tissue as possible. Also, any dead tissue must be removed. Dead tissue will look purple, and WILL NOT BLEED. Cut back until you get bleeding tissue – bleeding tissue is alive.

Now you have a cleaned wound – what next?

If you want, you can apply some antibiotic cream. I don’t think they help any, but they don’t hurt. If at all possible, give the patient antibiotics. I suggest cephalexin 500mg twice a day.

If I could only have two antibiotics during a crisis they would be cephalexin and doxycycline, but I haven’t time to go into that here. HOT TIP! Tetanus is everywhere.

The only reason thousands of Americans don’t die of tetanus as people do in many third world countries is because we have tetanus shots.

I can pretty much guarantee tetanus shots will not be available during a crisis, so get one NOW if you haven’t had one in the last 5 years.

Everyone wants to close wounds, and that is exactly the wrong thing to do with anything except a perfectly clean wound. You want to KEEP THE WOUND OPEN so the body can “pus out” any germs and foreign material present.

The best way to do this is to pack the wound open – so the edges can’t come together, with clean cotton (boiling is a great way to field sterilize instruments and bandages). Then wrap the wound with a LARGE amount of cotton.

The #1 mistake I see in bandaging is too small a dressing. It needs to absorb the pus and blood that will ooze from the wound.

I laugh when I see “first aid kits” with 2″ x 2″ pieces of sterile gauze. Get 4″ x 4″ or 6″ x 6″ – you can always fold these or cut them if necessary, but you can’t make a 2″ x 2″ piece of gauze cover a 5″ wound.

The bandage should not be too tight. Most wounds swell up a lot in the 1st. 24 hours, and you don’t want your bandage to turn into a tourniquet.

If, after several hours, the patient complains the bandage is too tight, or hurts a lot – CUT IT OFF and apply a new bandage.

Wounds at joints (knuckles, knees, etc.) should be splinted just like a fracture, or continued movement of the joint often makes it impossible for new tissue to grow over the wound.

Now, here’s the tough part – the whole bandage must be removed and replaced at least once a day – this will HURT. If you have any pain meds, even Tylenol, give them to the patient one hour before the dressing change.

Liquor is still a great anesthetic – you are going to have to rip the bandage off the surface of the wound, which hurts like heck -but removes all kinds of contaminants.

After about a week, if the wound was small, new skin will have grown back over the wound – congratulations – you saved the patient.

With a big wound, you will often get bright pink, granular type tissue – this is called “granulation tissue” and is good news – it’s a normal part of healing, skin will grow in from the edges and cover it up.

Now all you need is a protective bandage to keep dirt out. You can apply an antibiotic ointment, Vaseline, or honey (an effective disinfectant) to the granulation tissue as you don’t want to rip it off during dressing changes.

Now, the toughest part of all – field amputation. Dead tissue does not heal. It promotes wild growth bacteria which will inevitably kill the patient. Dead tissue looks purple/green.

If you press your thumb against it, it will not blanch and then get it’s color back (try this on your forearm). So, dead tissue must be removed.

This can be done with a knife, saw (preferably hacksaw) and fishingline. Boil all supplies and bandage material.

You do not want to take off too much tissue – so start where it looks bad and work your way up – when you come to bleeding tissue – that’s where you want to amputate.

Cut the soft tissue with a knife – any tissue that doesn’t bleed must be cut out. You will encounter some large bleeding arteries and veins.

If you have some Quick Clot, this would be a good place to use it – otherwise grasp each vessel sideways with a hemostat or a Kelly clamp so the bleeding stops, and tie fishing line in four granny knots just above your instrument.

If you did right, when you release the instrument, there should be no bleeding from the vessel.

Saw the bone. Please, do NOT cauterize the stump with a red hot piece of iron! You will just convert live to dead tissue. Apply a very large bandage, and give antibiotics if available. Change dressings just like you would for a dirty wound.

Lastly, the art of bandaging using only strips of cotton is a long-dead, as you can now buy pre-formed bandages to fit any part of the body. Try applying a cloth strip bandage to the shoulder or hip so it doesn’t fall off.

I recommend you get a WWII or early nursing manual of bandaging for your survival library. Those old nurses could perform miracles with strips of cotton. Amazon.com carries quite a few.

Everyone should have a couple of gallons of bleach. Buy the cheapest brand. Mixed one part bleach with 9 parts water, it is excellent for killing bacteria, mold, and mildew. It will kill all germs in blood spills, including HIV a hepatitis C.

Many items and even homes were saved after Katrina with plain old bleach. It is NOT for use in wounds, but if boiling is not an option, soaking surgical (or improvised surgical) instruments in 1/9 bleach provides pretty good sterilization.

WARNING! Never mix bleach with ammonia – this produces chloramine gas which is a lung irritant. I have treated many people with this in the E.R., and at least half of them need to be admitted to the hospital.

As an aside, part of my prepping includes collecting used or cheap medical supplies, so when there are no hospitals or clinics, I can turn my spare bedroom into a clinic. I’ll gladly take payment in food, .22 ammo, firewood, etc. (In fact, I’d gladly take that stuff now).

Believe it or not, you can pay $25,000 for a medical exam table that is electronically controlled, with all the bells and whistles – or you can make one out of a sheet of 3/4″ plywood, 2 x 4’s, some foam, and a sheet of vinyl.

Disclaimer: This site is not designed to and does not provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, treatment or services to you or to any other individual. Always seek the advice of a qualified health care provider whenever possible.

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/how-to-care-for-wounds-when-the-medical-system-has-collapsed/ 

8 Uncommon First Aid Items

Generally speaking, I have a fairly decent first aid kit. It includes everything from a large variety of bandages to pain killers, antibiotics, essential oils, trauma supplies, first aid books, and equipment such as braces, splints and a blood pressure monitor.

That being said, I put the kit together a few years ago and as they say, I wish I knew then what I know now. As with all things preparedness, my knowledge has increased over time and I now recognize that I need to go back and revisit my first aid kit, adding items that are missing and removing certain items I no longer consider appropriate or necessary.

Over the years, something I have learned is that in a survival situation, it may be the less common items in our supply closet that turn out to be the most useful. The same applies to a first aid kit.
Today Backdoor Survival Contributing Author Rob Hanus is back with us to share his take on 8 uncommon first aid items.

8 Items You May Have Overlooked In Your First-Aid Kit

Having a well-stocked first aid kit (FAK) is a given. You should have one in your home and one in your vehicle, as well as in each of your emergency packs.
Once you have a basic first aid kit, consider adding these 8 items:
Liquid Bandage: Though this has become more popular, surprisingly, many people still don’t know about it. Liquid bandage, like New Skin, is just like it sounds: you apply a the liquid to a small wound and within minutes, it dries into a protective bandage. It’s good for keeping out dirt, germs and water, without the annoyance of a bandage.
Link: New-Skin Liquid Bandage
Super Glue: This is a common household item that also has a use in first aid. You can buy the expensive, prescription-only version called Dermabond, but it’s far cheaper to use a common tube of super glue.
This works a lot like the liquid bandage above, in that you apply it to the wound and when it’s dry, it will hold the cut together. The glue doesn’t go into the wound, it’s suppose to go over the wound. Basically, you hold close the cut and apply the glue over it, to bond the two sides together. Most people do this wrong and don’t wait long enough for the glue to dry.
Just make sure not to use super glue on the following: eyes, lips, genitals, wounds with a high risk of infection like animal bites, and deep wounds that involve damage to muscles or tendons. Also, note that will sting more than Dermabond will.
Link: Super Glue – The Original
Tampons and Maxi-pads: While using these for their normal role is one aspect, they also have uses in first aid. Tampons are good for plugging up puncture wounds, like bullet holes, and the pads make good dressings. Just make sure you get the non-scented type so you’re not injecting the scent chemical into the wound.
Link: Playtex Unscented Tampons, Always Maxi Unscented Pads
Hand Sanitizer: You can’t always wash your hands in the wilderness, but you can sanitize them with the common alcohol hand sanitizer. This is good to use both before treating wounds and after your hands have been covered in blood. As an aside, it’s also a very good fire starter (it’s essentially gelled alcohol).
Link: Purell Hand Sanitizer
Safety Pins: While this seems like a common item found in first aid kits, you would be surprised at how many kits don’t have any. Not only can you hold bandages in place with these, but they are also good for digging out splinters. They’re safety design makes them easy to carry in your kit. One non-medical use for them is when you lose a button on your shirt or pants.
Link: Singer Safety Pins, Multisize
Tongue Depressors: While common in pediatrician’s offices, you should have a few of them in your FAK, too. The main use for them is as a finger split. The best way to treat a broken or severely sprained finger is to immobilize it. They’re also good for kindling if you need to make a fire
Link: Tongue Depressors
Self Adherent Bandage: Most of us have probably learned that the way to dress a wound is to put gauze dressing on it, then wrap in gauze roll bandage and secure with a safety pin, or tuck the end under one of the wraps.
In talking to a Navy corpsman, the preferred method is to use the self adherent bandage or cling wrap. This wrap looks much like an Ace bandage, only that it clings to itself. This makes it far easier to wrap, unwrap and rewrap a wound, as you’re not having to mess around with pins or other fasteners. A few rolls of these and some maxi-pads and you have some excellent field dressings.
Link: Pac-Kit Self-Adhering Cohesive Wrap, 2″ Wide
Hemostatic Agent: These go under several brand names, like QuikClot, Celox, and HemCon. What they do is quickly cause the blood to clot, stopping the bleeding much faster. These are best used in large wounds where the risk of death from blood loss is high. These can be more expensive than other first aid items, but they literally can mean the difference between life and death in severe trauma.
Link: Israeli Battle Dressing, 6-inch Compression Bandage, Quikclot Sport Brand Advanced Clotting Sponge
Whether you’re making a new kit or adding to your existing kit, the items above can add to the functionality of your first aid kit. And, if you don’t have any FAKs or want to run a quick check on them, I suggest starting here: The Preparedness Podcast: First Aid / Medical.

http://www.backdoorsurvival.com/fast-track-tip-8-uncommon-first-aid-items/