First Aid Kits on Harness

[Husqvarna King]

my ex girlfriend used to nick all the plasters from my first aid kit for her bloody feet when wearing heels!!

[Chris Sheppard]

I did a first aid course with ABC First Aid (or something like that) a few years ago, they advertise in most of the Forestry mags. They were quite good as they dealt with the sort of injuries we'd expect within Forestry/Arb.

 

On teh subject of First aid kits, my boss thinks the little green boxes you can buy in Boots constitutes a suitable kit to deal with chainsaw injuries - I carry my own ambulance dressing - I'd hate to think I was relying on him sticking lots of plasters over a saw cut, especially after he'd made his way back to the landrover and got the kit.

 

When I was working for myself in the woods (and usually on my own) I used to carry one of those personal belt kits that have an ambulance dressing and a few other little bits and then have the main kit in the truck - best of both worlds IMO as you tended not to notice the kit was on your belt.

[Linda]

Your so vague Linda, what days would those be?

 

Are you trying to figure out my age? Don't you know that's considered a bit rude?!

 

(the days= late 90s)

[Mr Ed]

Are you trying to figure out my age? Don't you know that's considered a bit rude?!

 

(the days= late 90s)

Asking outright is rude. Obtuse questions is the gentlemans way

[Paul Smith]

Let me throw another spanner in the works.

 

What if you have been carrying the field dressing about on your harness, rubbing on branches, laying back on it. The packaging has become damage and the dressing has become damp. Perfect habitat for all sorts of bugs.

 

You then whap out the dressing, whack it on your buddies wound and kill him with a lysteria infection. You may as well stuff an oily rag in the wound.

 

At least in a first aid box carried close to hand it's not getting pummled and abused day in day out.

 

...and don't go telling me you change them every few weeks

 

Fair points, you would still save his or her life, The rest is up to Accident and Emergency! We should still have a good First Aid box with a Flap Sheet which contains postcodes grids Emergency telephone numbers etc. If we plan for accidents we will be better prepared if we have one.

[Linda]

Asking outright is rude. Obtuse questions is the gentlemans way

 

Ha!

[andythesquirel]

I have been following this thread with interest. Different people have different ideas as to where to carry there first aid equipment, and what type is required. However, all of us are unanimous in wanting to be able to self treat or assist another, to save life and limb!

First aid equipment is important, but it is useless without knowledge. Many first aid courses only cover basic first aid, such as minor wounds/ resuscitation/ breaks, etc. Unless the course is military run, the instructors are unlikely to want to teach techniques such as torniques etc for fear of being sued when someone applies it wrong or in the wrong circumstances.

These courses are important but the majority of people on arbtalk work in a very hazardous environments, where severe injuries can occur!

I have dealt with many casualties, and in severe cases it is knowledge, speed and technique which saves lives.

In my opinion, due to the type of injuries that can be sustained with saw, chippers, or general machinery, people in this business could definitely benefit from battlefield first aid.

There are lots of ex-forces members. Your opinions?

[DrewB]

Carrying a field dressing doesn't do any harm and if it suits you, carry one.

 

However the point I am trying to make is there's more to it than slapping on a field dressing.

 

I would like to think that whoever helped or tried to stem the flow of blood on me, would know what he she were doing.

 

...and if we were all honest, we could know a lot more about large wound treatment than we do now. It should really be part of chainsaw training.

 

totally agree dean, good point. but i think we need to remember that not all cuts are from chainsaws and silky cuts can be just as bad. sometimes it will be the shock that stops people self rescueing themselves and if we climb up and apply some first aid to them and then get them down, then its good for everyone. and i now think this is going in circles.......

[Dean Lofthouse]

i think we need to remember that not all cuts are from chainsaws and silky cuts can be just as bad. sometimes it will be the shock that stops people self rescueing themselves and if we climb up and apply some first aid to them and then get them down, then its good for everyone. and i now think this is going in circles.......

 

LOL. Very true Drew. I've seen people go queezy at the sight of a spot of blood and pass out at the sight of a needle approaching their arm.

 

Andy:

 

I am ex military and do think military first aid training (or aspects of it) would benefit, especailly pressure points. I wonder how many people have died of arterial bleeds because the first aider hasn't known how to stem the blood flow.

 

I do remember however, a story of a Sgt who stopped at a roadside accident in Germany in which an unconscious young lady had an arterial bleed from a thigh wound. He used a pressure point in the groin area to stem the bleed and saved her life.

 

She tried to proseccute for rape, which thankfully was thrown out.

 

There could also ethical issues in which you could, if first aid is used incorrectly, be prosecuted for contributing to killing the casualty??

 

Oh what a world we live in.

[Andy Collins]

In my experience, which is thankfully very small as far as emergency situations go, its not always down to the quality of the kit or training in such a situation, but down to the character of the personell. I've seen highly trained ex-military types, who've gone on to emergency relief abroad, struggle in a "real life" emergency. Not because they didnt know what to do, but just simply get in a total flap, looking to someone else to basically bark orders and get them sorted. Now I know this isnt everyone, but it shows the kind of character required for such an emergency. I do like the sound of the military style emergency aid training, got to be better than the current civilian training offered.