DIY Backcountry Med Kit

[pendo11]

I break med kits into two categories, comfort kit and life saving.

Comfort kit
3-4 Tegaderms (2 3/8 x 2 3/4 size)
4 or 5 Nexcare bandaids
A few tabs of Allegra
12 (or more) 200mg ibuprofen
8 (or more) 500mg Tylenol
Small body glide stick

Life saving kit
SWAT-T (heavy at 4.5 oz, but multipurpose)
1 triangular bandage
1 mylar blanket

Multipurpose gear that would be used medically if needed
1 small hemostat (life saving)
Sewing kit (4 needles, 15 lb test fishing braid)
Pack straps (life saving)
Cordage
Trekking poles (life saving)
Knife (life saving)
Water filter (wound irrigation)
Gorilla tape
Electrical tape
Shelter, insulation, stove, pot, food (hypothermia treatment)
Electrolyte tabs

Nice to haves (that I don't carry) would be homeostatic gauze (Quick Clot, Cellox), 1g IM cefazolin.

As a side note, almost all belts make terrible tourniquets as they are too stiff and you cannot effectively tighten them with a windlass (I doubt anyone alive can cinch a strap tight enough to cut off arterial blood flow on an adult with even a moderate amount of muscle mass). 1 inch pack webbing would work better, though you increase the likelihood of nerve injuries when compared to wider options. If a tourniquet does not hurt when you put it on, it is not tight enough. Improperly applied tourniquets tend to result in amputations due to compartment syndrome, as well as not effectively stopping arterial blood loss and magnifying venous bleeding.

Thank you for stating that belts are tough to use for tourniquets. People always said to use a belt, well I was in Vegas during the shooting at the country concert and I tried using a belt on a GSW and it doesn’t work.

 

[Marbles]

However, SWAT-T is very hard to apply one handed if it gets wet or bloody. Know someone that tried to apply to another guy that had an arterial Arm bleed. Even with two hands he was having a hard time because it gets real slick when wet.

That is good to know, something I had not thought about.

 

[AKSandman]

Mostly what everybody else has said. With the following exceptions.

dental cement- if you crack a tooth or loose a crown in the backcountry you will be so so glad you had this!

small tube of super glue- as good as sutures for most small cuts in the backcountry + fixes other odd items like your glasses if you need it.

zpac- lightweight and a good thing to have if you know when/how to use it

Good pain meds in case of injury- tramadol, hydromorophone or hydrocodone. Know how and when and how much to use if you Cary it. (The exlax tabs go along with these)

Epinephrine- not an epi pen, but a vial and a syringe. Again, if you Cary it, know when, how and how much to use.

tourniquet- I only see a few people list this. No, your belt or a pack strap probably isn’t going to work quickly or effectively enough to save your life from a serious arterial bleed. If it does, you run a higher risk of damaging tissue with a 3/4” pack strap. A belt really doesn’t work!

gaviscon - like tums, but way better for heartburn. Nothing kills a good night sleep like heartburn!

suppositories - not pooping is not good! Exlax tabs are also good to have and are a must if you use the pain meds listed earlier.

chest seals- lightweight and good to have if you puncture your chest wall (Think this can’t happen to you? Think again, the short broken branches on tree trunks are daggers waiting for you to slide, fall, tumble or get thrown into them!)

An ELT- if you are really hurt, a heli ride out is just a button push away. If you own an ELT, buy the evac insurance too. (It’s only about $150/year) I have a mcmurdo fastfind 220. It’s the size of a snickers bar, so no excuse not to carry it and it runs on the sarsat system, so it has good coverage.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Good info! Hadn’t thought of the eyedrops. Idk why, just hadn’t. Thanks

 

[Scoot]

Can you guys provide a link to the quick clot products you're using?

 

[Tx270WT]

Really, a good kit will vary based on who goes with you. Knowing medical problems ahead of time allows you to plan rather than react. You guys generally have good trauma supplies but the things that typically go wrong are the same thing out of the backcountry. Props to those carrying those meds for pain, dehydration, GI complaints. One thing that shocks me actually is the limited number of people taking aspirin (particularly the chewable 325 mg) tabs. With the older hunter being more frequent, a good kit really should include at least one dose of the 325 mg aspirin.
There’s a decently written recent article on here about diabetes and insulin in the backcountry for those so inclined. Well worth a read incase you hunt with a diabetic.

 

[Marbles]

Can you guys provide a link to the quick clot products you're using?

Celox™ RAPID - Combat Medical Systems Harrisburg, NC

Celox™ Rapid hemostatic z-fold gauze is the fastest acting hemostatic dressing. One minute compression time. Stops high pressure bleeding. Wound packing,

combatmedical.com

I prefer Celox to Quick Clot. Both work well, neither damages tissue significantly (the original Quick Clot did). The reason I prefer Celox is that it works in the absence of a functional clotting cascade while Quick Clot does not. Not many people in the military take blood thinners, so this is not usually an issue in that setting. However, in the civilian world there are plenty of people on anticoagulants.

Also, hypothermia interferes with the clotting cascade, so Celox will work better if arterial trauma is combined with hypothermia (talk about a bad day).

Also, Quick Clot is mineral based and the body cannot break it down. So, anything that is not washed out by the surgeon will stay in the tissue for life. Celox is polysaccharide based and does get broken down by the body over the course of a year or two. I'm not aware of any studies on long term differences in outcomes between the two, nor am I aware of any long term complications for either one. So, it is purely based on the theoretical belief that being able to break it down is better. It is possible that the opposite is true.

 

[Scoot]

Great info- thanks for that Marbles.

 

[Colorado Kid]

Steristrips or butterfly closures are a godsend if you cut yourself.

 

[Raider07]

All are great ideas. Some have things that I didn't consider. Question is what type of bag are you putting this in? I have a small zipper pouch currently.