>Does anyone have a favorite commercially available medical kit, or useful information on this subject generally? Our local scout troop is considering >standardizing its med kits, and although we may build our own, we will also considering buying kits that have all the requisite components. I have a >number of wilderness medicine books and I have usually put together my own kits for my personal use. I am a little prejudiced against buying a kit, but >I would like to know others' experience. The kits would be intended for use in North America, without terrain restrictions. > >TFJ ----------------------- This was discussed in my mountaineering first aid class (which went a little deeper than your garden-variety first aid classes), where our instructor was of the opinion that if you're only talking about one kit, it may be cheaper to buy a prepackaged kit. However, much beyond that, you're better off building your own. Also, IMHO the prepackaged kits are 90% various bandaids and tylenol (though they at least come with a nice bag to keep everything in!). For a situations where you may be a day or more away from a doctor, you may want a more complete kit. For example, many kits don't even have items as simple as sugar packets (if someone experiences diabetic problems) or anti-histamines (for bee sting allergies), etc etc. Things like maxipads make excellent and inexpensive bandages for more severe bleeding. There's an excellent list of first aid items in Cliff Jacobson's book "Canoeing and Camping: Beyond the Basics", some of which require a doctor's prescription (which is usually not difficult to get for this sort of thing -- in fact, your doctor may even add some additional recommendations, such as stronger pain-relief medicine than you get from off-the-shelf stuff like tylenol). Evan Dallas Woodinville, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Nov 22 2002 - 15:57:12 PST
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