First Aid on the ground.

[Boomer]

The answer

Correct earhart

Now whats next?

I will look at those links tonight and put together something for the site that can help you with the basics but I would STRONGLY encourage you to get a course organised, if enough people ask for one then something has to be done, failing that I could always lobby the Minister for Defence.....

Just a quick question for my info, how many incidents on average requiring First Aid would the average unit see in a week both on and off exercise (i.e. out in the wet and cold!)

[Come-quickly]

Yeah my qualifications about two years out of date, one thing I always pack is the mountaineers first aid kit....spare warm (I use micro) fleece(s), hot drinks in a flask, gortex bivvy bag and something to use as a splint....triangulars are easy enough to substitute, I used to have a mate who worked in a medical supply place but that source has since dried up.

[Come-quickly]

Oh yeah, prioritise patients

[yellowjacket]

OK then, another question.

Cold wet night, in a foxhole. Person beside you goes quiet, you assume they're sleeping. When you want to swap over and get some sleep, you go to shake person awake. Colleague opens eyes reluctantly, mumbles incoherently, is not shivering, does not wake up properly. His/her skin feels very cold to the touch.

What next?

[Come-quickly]

Can I use light...check for greying of extremities, assume hypo-thermia, get them out of any wet gear give them spare dry clothes (enter Micro fleece), put them in sleeping bag and/or gortex bivvy bag, if possible get someone in there with them...call for casevac

[Earhart]

Assuming you're on tactics (and not in some war) GET HELP! There will be medics (should be at least one) and other people with first aid around you. Keep the person warm and awake until you get help. Don't go risking your comrades live for the sake of proving your skill as a first aider.

Thanks to an officer and a class mate on my Standards course I was kept alive in a similar situation. I never thought I'd be so glad to get a cuppa-soup.

[yellowjacket]

Good answers so far,
hypothermia will kill, so it's definitely an emergency.

- If the person has stopped shivering, their core temp has fallen to around 32-30 degrees.
- If the person is still alert a warm drink is good, otherwise it could choke the casualty.
- Don't walk the person around "to warm them back up". This will draw heat away from the core of the body, and could kill the person.

[Khumbu]

i have used the Emergency blanket a couple of times , Once when i got hypothermia, it was very effective, but the only way it will work is if you are TOTALLY naked under it. It does not keep you warm if you do the following:

"or can be shoved inside your clothes to add an extra layer when its really cold".

I took my emergency blanket hiking once, i didnt even bring my sleeping bag (needed to cut down on the weight of my pack) coz i was so confident of the blankets capability, we got a bloody snowstorm that night...... i froze my ass off...... my clothes were actually frozen to the ground sheet the next morning...... it was painful to say the least!!!!! (now that what i call stupidity...ha ha)

.

[Come-quickly]

Apart from the "mountaineers first aid kit" the only medical equipment that non specialists should really carry are plasters, dressings and disinfectants...bandages are handy but not hard to improvise in the short term until you either find a medic or the bit of him that has the bag attached to it...other stuff you should have in your kit anyway, like plastic bags and something stiff to put over a sucking chest wound.
The plasters and disinfectant are more a matter of personal admin, along with whatever creams and ointments you bring along for bites etc.

Just one question for the experts has anyone here ever tried to put someone into the recovery position in an enclosed space (i.e. trench, dense forest, narrow ledge?

[Come-quickly]

Oh and the space blanket is pap, noisy pap, carry a micro fleece some more mars bars and a breathable bivvy bag so the dry fresh clothes don't get soaked. (if they have a break or potential spinal injury cut the bag open and wrap around them; tuck it under gently, preferably use the secure stretcher role if its possible)

[yellowjacket]

The recovery position is the ideal, stable position for an unattended unconscious casualty. If you're in a confined space, you obviously have to improvise. Once the head and chest are level, and fluids can drain out of the mouth, it'll probably do, but you may have to hold or support them in position.

[Boomer]

Confined space, oh yeah and he was a pain in the neck!

If you have to put them in the recovery position to leave them then you have to do it, how you do it is a different matter. As I have been told at a recent First Aid refresher course "It Depends". Everything you would do as a First Aider depends on the Scenario you have in front of you.

Now for the next part you see 4 people and you are on your own,

Cas 1 is quiet.
Cas 2 is roaring like a bull
Cas 3 appears conscious but his face is white as a sheet
Cas 4 is wandering around.

What do you do?

Shane

[ollie]

most important thing i ever carried in my first aid kit was my hip flask!

in general first aid training in the df was poor ,as said above it was considered secondary in recruit training to other subjects . i dont know how its taught nowadays but having done an occupational first aid for my employers i now see just how weak it was .hopefully things have changed !

a tweesers should always be carried . we were also told to carry iodine or tea tree oil as anteseptics and cling film for use as an emergency protective cover , how hi-tech can u get

[Come-quickly]

Treat 1 and 3 first, sit 4 into a safe visible position, once you've scanned 1 and have tried to wake or resuccitate them, treat 3 for, look for shock, then check 4 who might have been pumping out there own fluids, finally attend to the screamer when you're satisfied that the other 3 are stable.

Yellowjacket wrote:
What contents would you recommend in a first aid kit to be carried in webbing? Feel free to add or subtract to the suggestions below, justify your amendments if possible.

Gloves,
Scissors/Knife (probably already have this anyway)
Antiseptic cream,
Waterproof Plasters,
Compeed blister treatment,
Micropore tape,
10x10 sterile non-adherent dressing pads,
Pressure dressings,
Crepe bandage,
Vent Aid (CPR shield)
Water-Gel / Burnshield burns dressing.
Paracetemol capsules.
Saline steripods (for cleaning wounds/eyewash)

All well sealed in freezer bags.

Total cost should run at less than €25

This is what I have in my kit at the moment, between this, my Swiss army and the aforementioned hot drinks warm layers I reckon this is enough.

[boforgunner]

good answer