How to put together a first aid kit for the outdoors
How to put together a first aid kit outdoors
Wilderness personal medical kits
How do you put a first aid kit together for the outdoors? Or a bushcraft first aid kit? Are first aid kits for mountain biking different to ones for kayaking?
Carrying a first aid kit in your rucksack or in your personal kit is pretty difficult to argue against. The problem is – how much do you carry, and what exactly do you carry? Once you start going down the road of visualising every possible emergency medical scenario and wanting to ‘be prepared’ for it. Before long you end up carrying several kilograms of equipment that in all likelihood you will never use – but you somehow feel that you need to.
The reality is actually a lot simpler. There are two important points to remember for outdoor emergency first aid:
- Training is the absolute most important thing you can put your time and money into. Knowledge weighs nothing and the most important lifesaving techniques require good personal skills but little to no equipment.
- If you are on your own in the middle of nowhere then the options open to you self-treatment are actually very limited.
With that mildly-sobering thought in mind – how do you put together a first aid kit for the outdoors?
The answer is dependent on several factors:
- The environment you are travelling too/through and specific hazards it may contain
- The length of trip
- Distance/time to evacuation and medical care in case of emergency
- The number of people (and animals) in the party
- The existing medical conditions of those in the party
- The training and skill level of those in the party
- The activities you are performing
- Your carrying capacity (rucksack, canoe, vehicle, porters etc)
For example – the medical kit for a 5-week sailing voyage to the Lofoten islands would be different to that of a solo lightweight backpacker on a 3-day summer trip in the Cairngorms. For the former a Bag Valve Mask (BVM) and full suture kit would be appropriate but would a little ridiculous for the solo hiker.
I have used various medical kits in my work over the years. In my time in a Mountain Rescue team I carried a small personal first aid kit that contained a minimal number of items and drugs – but it was designed to be pooled with the other kits carried by fellow rescuers to form a larger and more comprehensive kit. I supplemented this with items purchased myself such as Tuffcut shears and nitrile gloves. When working as a remote-area medic as support on long-distance races and outdoor challenges I was either carrying a very comprehensive kit issued by the company employing me, or I was given a budget to supply my own equipment at my own specification. I have also put together my own for various trips, plus also kits for Original Outdoors staff and freelance contractors to use when working with our own clients. Each case has been slightly different…
The easy answer to “what’s the best outdoor first aid kit?” is – they all are. The real skill is choosing or building one that suits where you are going, what you are doing and what you’re doing when you get there. To that end I’ve put together a video on the decision-making process that I go through for any trip or scenario, and the items I carry in one of my personal kits:
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First Aid Kit Contents
The list below is based on the items shown in the video, with links to buy them directly from Amazon. Some of the brands or sizes are slightly different or only a few representations of what I carry. The items are not listed in order of importance, just to roughly match the order from the video.
I’ve also put a link to the Lifesystems first aid kit which is a very similar off-the-shelf kit that I can personally recommend – even if it’s used as a base to add other items to.
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Nitrile Gloves
Get them in any colour other than red or black – you need to be able to see if blood suddenly appears on them when giving a primary or secondary survey as it will steer you towards a major bleed you may have missed.
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Resus Face Shield
An item of personal safety that should be somewhere easy to reach but can also make your CPR technique more effective.
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Anti Bacterial Wipes
Great for cleaning up after dealing with a minor wound and preventing your kit contaminating everything it touches.
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Alcohol Hand Gel
Be aware that carrying alcohol in your first aid kit may cause issues when travelling to countries where alcohol is banned or severely restricted
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Normasol Sachets
Sterile topical solution in sachets for careful application over wider areas.
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Sterile Eye Wash Pods
Sterile topical solution in pods for washing foreign bodies from eyes.
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Fabric Adhesive Dressing Strip
Adhesive dressing strip on a roll for making custom plasters/band-aids for tricky areas like between fingers.
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SteriStrips
Temporary adhesive suture strips for wound closure.
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Blister Plasters
Being able to treat or manage a blister can make the difference between carrying on or turning around to go home
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Non-Adherent Dressings
General use dressings without any adhesive.
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Triangular Bandage
I have yet to use one of these as a sling, but they are quite useful for holding other dressings on or wrapping over wide areas.
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Wound dressings (Various sizes)
Absorbent wound dressings in various sizes
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Travel Mirror
Great for reaching places that the eyeball can’t!
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Glucose Gel
Glucose gel for hypoglycemic emergencies.
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Round-Tip Scissors
Small scissors with rounded ends for safety
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TuffCut Shears
Tough shears for emergency clothing removal
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Tweezers
For removal of small foreign bodies
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Microlance Needles
Tiny sterile needles for making small holes to drain blisters etc
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Disposable Thermometer
Of limited use in a first aid environment but helpful for long-term monitoring of a patient
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Tick Removal Card
For safe removal of ticks
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CAT Tourniquet
Not for general carry and must be trained in use
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SAM Splint
Useful but heavy and other items can be improvised to replace it.
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Lifesystems Mountain Leader First Aid Kit
A comprehensive and well-designed outdoor first aid kit.
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- Published in All Blog Posts, Articles, Bushcraft General, Emergency and Safety, First Aid, Mountain General, Personal, Skills, Tools and Equipment, Videos
Outdoor First Aid Course Report March 2016
Outdoor First Aid Course Report March 2016
we’ve been working witht he team of volunteers at the Brymbo Heritage Project near Wrexham for over 6 months on a few projects, but the one that has really inspired us has been the pilot of a new outdoor qualification and training scheme that we are going to be able to announce in the next few weeks. The very tail-end of that scheme was training in Outdoor First Aid for the volunteers – and we brought in the talented and lovely Teresa from event and remote-area medical specialists Ultramedix.
Here is the video of the course, with testimonials from some of the course delegates and clips from the training scenarios they were put through.
If you want to book your own private Outdoor First Aid Course in North Wales please get in touch.
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- Published in All Blog Posts, Bushcraft General, Course Reports, First Aid, Mountain General, Videos
VIDEO: Flash flood washes away hiker in Hawaii
Flash flood washes away hikers
We don’t normally share videos other than our own, but this one so perfectly captures the phenomenon of a rapidly rising river that it is really worth watching.
Most people have a general sense that rivers in spate (i.e. flowing at faster and higher levels than normal) are dangerous, and care should be taken and maybe avoiding the area completely is the best idea. Whilst this is all true, something that is less commonly known is that rivers can rise very suddenly and without warning. The cause may be natural (a sudden downpour upstream etc) or man-made (a dam release or failure, opening of flood control measures) but rivers and streams can rise in seconds.
This video, shot by a drone, shows a group of hikers in Hawaii climbing on and around a waterfall. The footage clearly shows how quickly the river rises from being a strong flow to a raging torrent, washing one hiker (Sean) over the falls and into the plunge pool below.
Everybody made it out safely thankfully (including a helicopter rescue to extract them – see full story HERE) and the video and the background story can be used as a learning point for anybody who may have to cross or work near flowing water.
Our tips for dealing with rivers and river crossings:
- Plan your route – look at a good map and see where your planned route takes you. Avoid river crossings if at all possible, and if necessary look for marked crossing points. A mile detour to avoid a river crossing is always worth it.
- Have a backup route – even marked crossings like footbridges can be washed away so having a longer route that takes you over safer ground is worth building into your plan. Also, be aware that what was an ankle-deep paddle on your inward journey may now be a raging torrent when you return later that day.
- Study the water – calf-depth water moving at a moderate rate can be enough to knock you off your feet, and most people will struggle to stand in anything deeper without being washed away. If a river crossing is looking likely then check what is upstream and downstream of your position and make a judgment on the best place to cross. Look for shallower water and gravel beds rather than boulders and white water, and be careful of overhanging banks and loose rocks on river edges that can tip you in.
- Practice your techniques – if you absolutely HAVE to make a river crossing without a bridge or other aid then practice some techniques before you need them. Strategies such as facing upstream to spot any drifting debris coming towards you, unbuckling heavy rucksacks and using a walking pole or staff to steady yourself and probe for unseen holes underwater are all useful. A full description of techniques can be found on the British Mountaineering Council website.
- Published in All Blog Posts, Articles, Bushcraft General, First Aid, Mountain General, Videos
The importance of experience in outdoor skills training
The importance of experience in outdoor skills training
This blog post is prompted by a few events of the last few weeks. The first was a discussion on a social media page about first aid courses, and the relative merits of choosing a provider who delivers a syllabus set by an awarding body, and one who delivers a syllabus based on experience of the subject and how it should be delivered. The second was sitting in on one of the 16hr Mountain and Outdoor First Aid courses delivered by Wayne from Blackhill Training, and the third was a chance meeting with another ‘bushcraft’ provider. My interpretation of these three distinct events all follow the same theme – how important is experience of the subject in delivering outdoor skills training?
It would be only fair to talk about myself first. My own experience is in a few limited fields – firstly as a freelancer leading groups of mainly adults in the mountains of the UK and in select places elsewhere around the world. Latterly this has mainly turned to leading bespoke trips, or more often, training groups and individuals in the skills they need to do these trips themselves. Alongside this was the best part of a decade spent as an operational team member in a North Wales mountain rescue team, and assisting with training and operational matters regionally and nationally. The short version of that is that I have spent ten years playing in the mountains and getting paid for it, and spending time in the mountains helping people and NOT getting paid for it. I take the development of my own personal skills seriously, and I am usually working on two or three projects at the same time which will hopefully have the outcome of improving my skillsets in one area or another.
Over the years we have developed a range of courses that reflect the skills we can confidently deliver based on the personal skills and experience of our team of instructors. We often run bespoke training courses where we bring in outside contractors to deliver a certain module, or even the whole course where it is appropriate. There are other courses or events we could run, but I won’t advertise a course until I feel confident that we have a syllabus and instructors who can not only match what the subject requires, but can confidently answer any questions that students may have – because they have ‘been there and done that’. There are two areas where we find that other providers choose to go through a different route, and these are First Aid training and ‘Bushcraft/Wilderness Skills’.
First Aid training is subject to different regulations (albeit slightly relaxed a year or so ago with regards to First Aid At Work provision) and most industries/areas of common interest work to similar standards. The standard required for most outdoor-relevant NGB (NAtional Governing Body) award schemes such as the Mountain Training awards is for “16hrs of outdoor-relevant first aid instruction”. There are literally hundreds of providers around the U.K., and every three years anybody who wants to continue to hold the NGB award and work under it need to ensure they stay ‘valid’ and renew their first aid training. Our Mountain and Outdoor first aid course delivered by Blackhill Training is one of the courses suitable for this, and we run at least one every year.
I’ve attended various courses over the years as a student, observer and ‘casualty’, and know plenty of other excellent providers. I also know several who have been running first aid courses for several years – yet have never used their skills ‘for real’. I will just let that sink in – there is an established training and qualification route to becoming a first aid training provider without ever going near a real patient/casualty. There IS a requirement to ensure that the training you deliver is relevant, up to date and appropriate for your students. But there’s no requirement to know what it feels like to perform a primary survey on a real person – to pull open their mouth gently and check for any obstructions to the airway, or to place your hand on their sternum whilst listening at their mouth for the tell-tale signs of the faintest of breaths.
The same is true for teaching ‘bushcraft’ (an area of the outdoor ‘industry’ that did not really exist in the UK 30 years ago). There are a few courses for becoming a ‘bushcraft instructor’ which are gradualy becoming more recognised, but no one course has become the recognised standard. There are no legal requirements for working under a certain qualification scheme, and it is often more of a case of finding an insurer who will recognise your individual training level. There is no requirement for having experience of practicing the skills you teach.
So what is the point of this aimless rambling? Well, the point is nothing other than my own personal view – that in order to effectively, safely and instinctively deliver good outdoor skills training you need direct experience of using those skills yourself, in a variety of situations and over an extended period of time.
As I said above, Original Outdoors aims to deliver training that is not only within the skills and experience of our instructors, but to do so in a way that our clients and students can relate to. As the 14 students who attended our Mountain and Outdoor first aid course with Blackhill Training will no doubt testify, Wayne draws extensively on his past in the British Army and in Mountain Rescue, as well as work as a private medic, to illustrate certain points and techniques. I do the same when I teach, making reference to stories (amusing, cautionary or otherwise) or anecdotes that are (hopefully!) interesting and relevant to what I am going through with students. We both have to be careful that these don’t become sessions of ‘War Stories’ (“this one time, at band camp…”) of casualties with unusual injuries and having to come up with interesting solutions to problems that arose during a trip. Over the years you develop a kind of filter for these tall tales – discussions on major hemorrhage or fecal impaction are not suitable for the dinner table apparently.
Teaching without direct experience of what performing tasks with those skills feels like is at best dishonest and at worst dangerous. If your experience in that skill is watching an instructor do it, then continually practicing until you are able to repeat it time after time you are not ready to teach it – only display one version of it. It is my opinion that unless you have used a skill ‘for real’ – be it a lifesaving medical technique or just lighting a fire in the rain because you need the heat from it to pass the night in any kind of comfort – then you need to consider carefully whether you will be able to adequately share that skill with others. There are some things which it is difficult to get first hand experience of. Survival techniques are a good example – if you keep needing to employ desperate survival skills then you need to re-examine your planning!
So what does the outdoor student do to find instructors who have the experience to back up what they teach? Here are a few tips based on my observations:
- Look at their history – most instructors who sell themselves under their own name will have an ‘About Us/Me’ section of their website or course literature. Their background should reflect the skills they are teaching – this doesn’t mean that you need an ex-member of UK Special Forces Group to teach you navigation and expedition skills, but an experienced mountain leader with several overseas trips to interesting places of the world would be a good choice.
- Look at the course and how it is run – if you want to have a ‘taster’ day or session in a given skill then there are dozens of courses and providers out there. If you want to learn a skill or set of skills that could save your life one day (or prevent a calamity that would endanger it) then you should choose a course which publishes a course syllabus, and is run in an appropriate environment. There are surprisingly large number of ‘bushcraft’ providers who operate from a scrubby patch of hedgerow or in the middle of a caravan park or tourist attraction.
- Look at what others said – If a course is established and there is past history of clients it is likely that there are reviews and testimonials online, either on the website of the course provider or their social media feeds, or on blogs and third-party sites. These should give you an insight to the way the course is delivered, and who delivers it.
At the end of the day it is your money and time that is initially on the line. If you choose poorly you could end up with an instructor who is only a few pages ahead of you in the proverbial ‘textbook’ and a course that doesn’t achieve what you need it to. If you choose wisely you will find yourself learning a set of valuable skills, but also being pushed in the right direction to continue your learning.
A phrase that really does annoy me is the old cliche – “Those who can, do and those who cannot, teach”. In my experience those who can, do, and those who can do things very well end up teaching. Unfortunately there are plenty who teach who have neither ‘done’ or will ever ‘do’.
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