First aid kit contents

morgegurray

Hi everyone,

In your opinion what would you take with you on a ride if you were to use a customised first aid kit.

For myself, if I carry a 1st aid kit i always add a triangular bandage (collar bone), A medium gauze bandage(road rash) and some tape (cut knuckles etc.)
Is there anything else you would class as 'essential' ?

Many thanks

George

homers_double

Sterile wipes?

Bandage is a bit overkill when you cah unroll your spare tube.

sloppyschleckonds

Antiseptic wipes and a bit of savlon

photonic69

2x Paracetamol
2x Ibuprophen

If you break your collar bone you'll be glad you had these. Trust me. I know!

morgegurray

Awsome :)I do always carry sterile wipes and ibuprofen i just forget to add them

keef66

I am a first aider at work, but never carry a first aid kit on the bike, assuming if I crash seriously enough they'll have stuff in the ambulance.

However, based on what I wish I'd had when I went over the bars on a MTB in Tenerife:

Sterile wipes, medium wound dressing, painkillers. (I had to make do with a squirt of energy drink and a dressing fashioned from my buff)

Trouble is, you don't know what kind of injuries you're going to sustain before you come off. Collarbone you can sort just by pinning up your shirt. Serious collision with another vehicle or if your head / face smacks into the road I'd be recommending the ambulance / A&E option and while waiting stop any serious bleeding by direct pressure on the wound.

morgegurray

keef66 wrote:

I am a first aider at work, but never carry a first aid kit on the bike, assuming if I crash seriously enough they'll have stuff in the ambulance.

However, based on what I wish I'd had when I went over the bars on a MTB in Tenerife:

Sterile wipes, medium wound dressing, painkillers. (I had to make do with a squirt of energy drink and a dressing fashioned from my buff)

Trouble is, you don't know what kind of injuries you're going to sustain before you come off. Collarbone you can sort just by pinning up your shirt. Serious collision with another vehicle or if your head / face smacks into the road I'd be recommending the ambulance / A&E option and while waiting stop any serious bleeding by direct pressure on the wound.

I totally agree, I was just thinking if i had space in a jersey/bottle what would you prioritize. Buff's are always great but i would rather use a bandage whilst waiting for a ambulance than my sweaty buff.

rafletcher

Non-stick (Melolin) dressings and micropore tape for fixing same. Good for road rash covering. Scissors.

whoof

I don't carry a first aid kit with me on a day road ride but do when touring.
I'd add some plasters and nitrile gloves, also useful for road side repairs if you don't want to get your hands dirty. A couple of safety pins are useful (again can be used for non-first aid stuff).

Druidor

a piece of paper hankie and a bit of spit to stick it on. anything worse suffer with it until you get home or hospital

Matthewfalle

Duct tape. Never ever, ever, take a first aid kit without duct tape in it. Perfect for holding things up, holding things down, splinting together, patching holes, everything.

Essential part of med bergan (serving Army combat medic, serving dive medic, civvie paramedic).

No need for triangular bandage - use duct tape.

Apart from that unless you know what you're doing (ie more than a first aider from St John) and have the space you're going to just take the standard Millets first aid kit, a few ibuprofen, maybe a SAM splint and fully charged up phone to call the boys who do know what they are doing. Maybe grab a chest seal or two if you think that someone is going to impale themselves on something, but you can use a plastic bag and some duct tape.

Oh - and gloves to avoid the Ebolaids. Always avoid the Ebolaids.

mamba80

Road nothing, mtb always always take a thermal space blanket, no good patching some one up and then they die of hypothermia.
When i kayaked a lot, it was theone thing we didnt have and the guy with the dislocated shoulder almost died, as we had no way of keeping him warm as he went into shock.

Matthewfalle

joe2008 wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Duct tape. Never ever, ever, take a first aid kit without duct tape in it. Perfect for holding things up, holding things down, splinting together, patching holes, everything.

Essential part of med bergan (serving Army combat medic, serving dive medic, civvie paramedic).

No need for triangular bandage - use duct tape.

Apart from that unless you know what you're doing (ie more than a first aider from St John) and have the space you're going to just take the standard Millets first aid kit, a few ibuprofen, maybe a SAM splint and fully charged up phone to call the boys who do know what they are doing. Maybe grab a chest seal or two if you think that someone is going to impale themselves on something, but you can use a plastic bag and some duct tape.

Oh - and gloves to avoid the Ebolaids. Always avoid the Ebolaids.

It sounds like you guys are going to war, it just a bike ride.

Nah - if you're going to war take some safety pins as well for medals and biscuits.

Personally I don't take anything at all apart from a barely charged broken telephone but as these guys here wanted advice ....................

fudgey

I am also a first aider, and on any bike ride the only thing i take that is not bike related is some bogroll in a sealed plastic bag.

Not for medical emergencies, but incase i ever get caught out again and have to take a crap. At least next time ill be slightly better prepared.

Damn energy gels... :shock:

keef66

Well what I needed yesterday was a small mirror. Stung smack in the middle of the forehead by a b@stard bee. Abandoned the ride and scarpered back home to find the sting still attached to my head. Would've hurt a bit less if I'd have been able to scrape it out quickly, but I didn't know it was there.

Still painful and swollen nearly 24 hours later

Matthewfalle

keef66 wrote:

Well what I needed yesterday was a small mirror. Stung smack in the middle of the forehead by a b@stard bee. Abandoned the ride and scarpered back home to find the sting still attached to my head. Would've hurt a bit less if I'd have been able to scrape it out quickly, but I didn't know it was there.

Still painful and swollen nearly 24 hours later

Patch it up with some duct tape.

photonic69

keef66 wrote:

Well what I needed yesterday was a small mirror. Stung smack in the middle of the forehead by a b@stard bee. Abandoned the ride and scarpered back home to find the sting still attached to my head. Would've hurt a bit less if I'd have been able to scrape it out quickly, but I didn't know it was there.

Still painful and swollen nearly 24 hours later

This: http://modernsurvivalblog.com/survival-kit/survival-kit-signal-mirror/

keef66

And 48 hours later I'm starting to resemble something twixt a Klingon and the Elephant Man. Wife was skipping round the kitchen taking photos this morning; I always do seem to get the maximum entertainment from insect bites and stings. Pharmacist just sold me some Piriton tablets, but said if it gets any worse I should go to the docs and ask for a steroid injection. In my face?? I don't think so!! :shock:

mattitheowl

One thing I will say is save yourself some money and buy your first aid stuff at supermarkets or Superdrug rather than Boots or pharmacies.

I work for the company that makes the supermarket stuff and we're always doing testing against brands and Boots.

Boots stuff is cheap and poor quality, brands are expensive.

step83

Road bike tend to carry some painkillers, wipes, plasters, Savlon and some duct tape. tape also comes in handy if you put a tear in the tyre.
MTB ive come a cropper enough times to know a small kit is needed foil blanket etc. used it more on others than myself though.