First Aid and Trauma

Disclaimer : Just like owning the most expensive rig with the best modifications, if you aren’t trained on using it, you likely won’t be successful. The same is true with medical care. It is strongly suggested that you take the time to familiarize yourself with your kit and partake in basic life saving trainings.

CAMO and it’s members are not responsible for any misuse of these items. It is only meant to be a guide on a proper basic trauma kit to save yourself or another while away from civilization. We highly recommend that everyone take a basic first aid class to obtain the knowledge and skills to effectively use these. Also be aware of of your states good samaritan laws when it comes to providing aid. Remember that we spend thousands of dollars on toys but are reluctant to spend a little on a proper kit to save yourself. Let’s change that.

Note: Keep in mind a lot of China fakes float around. Due to this I do not recommend Amazon or eBay for supplies. A great site for ordering supplies is https://www.rescue-essentials.com/

Let’s start out with some FAQ:

1. Why won’t a kit I buy at the local store be enough? It says it’s an outdoor medical kit.

The vast majority of store bought kits have very little to use for dealing with major trauma. Many of these just contain an assortment of band-aids, single use packs of OTC medications etc. Nothing substantial to be used in an emergency and in most cases if a baidaid is enough then it can wait until you’re back in civilization as well (more on that below).

• Why is it important to put together a trauma kit?

The reason is it makes you familiar with the supplies, makes it cheaper and gives you memory on where you put the items in your kit. If you buy a premade kit you may just toss it in the vehicle and when it comes to needing it adrenaline has kicked in and you will find that you will have ripped that kit apart trying to find something only to realize it’s not in it.

• Why a trauma kit?

When away from civilization the most likely thing to kill you is major trauma aka blood loss. If for example you got cut in an artery you can bleed out in minutes without intervention. Extended stays in the wild infection becomes the bigger issue. A band-aid cut if it wasn’t properly cleansed can become infected and if you’re away for a while can start into sepsis. TLDR Short term death=Blood loss, Long term=infection.

• If blood loss is bad what should I do?

If you got cut (even if it seems like a big one) if the blood is dark red and oozing out then it’s a vein that injured. In these cases direction pressure with large ABD gauze is usually sufficient. Once bleeding has stopped or mostly slowed you can cleansed the wound and then bandage it to prevent pathogens from entering. IF however, blood is bright red and squirting out under pressure then that is an arterial bleed (it can shoot out many feet away) if this is happening on a limb go immediately to tourniquet the extremity. Place the TQ a min. of 2” above the injury (4” is optimal) do not place on a joint and tighten the TQ just until bleeding stops. Once it has cleanse the wound and apply a pressure dressing. Note that applying a TQ does not automatically mean limb injury or loss. You have an optimal 2 hours to get to definitive care and approximately 4 hours before limb damage begins. Do not loosen a TQ once it is placed. DO write the time on the TQ’s tab when it was applied.

Alrighty so what are some of the supplies that I need:

From left to right:

1. Packing material / Hemostatics: These are gauze meant to be packed into wounds in order to stop the bleeding. You have regular Z-Pack gauze and then you have a variety that contain Hemostatics agents that help clot the blood. Examples of these are QuickClot, Celox, HemCon Chitogauze. I recommend the Celox or Chitogauze the most due to its agent able to metabolize in the body. Celox also comes in an powder form, packing gauze form or application pen style 

• Pressure dressing : Also known as the Emergency Trauma Dressing the standard for these is the Israeli dressing. These are a dressing with a pressure bar attached and gauze underneth. These can be applied quickly and help stop bleeding. These are great to use on abdominal wounds. Other brands that are great as well are the NAR ETD, Blast, H&H variations and the Olases. These usually come in 4” and 6” variety.

• Tourniquets : These are your go to for any major bleeding. Primary TQ’s are the CAT and SOFT-Wide TQ’s. Good secondaries are the SWAT, Rats or TK4L. Yes these items are expensive but are invaluable to any good trauma kit. A SWAT TQ can be used to make a pressure dressing as well. DO NOT use these around your neck. They are meant for your extremities.

• Chest seals : These are items that should lead find it’s way into your chest cavity it can help relieve pressure and slow or stop the progress of a collapsed lung. The standard is the HALO chest seal but they’re a variety of brands nowadays. I prefer the twin pack Hyfin chest seals personally. In a pinch you can take any ziplock bag or aluminum foil and place over the punture wound and tape 3 sides with duct tape. Keep in mind if there is an entry wound their usually is an exit wound. Treat both.

• Triangular bandage : A cheap and simple bandage that is mainly used to do makeshift slings but have countless uses. If you have enough you can even make a makeshift carry stretcher out of small tree limbs. Carry some. 

• Trauma sheers: You need to be able to see what your working with and cut away clothing or boots to treat injuries. Nothing fancy is needed they all work the same. Smaller versions are available for space.

• Wound cleansing supplies: Most of these can be bought at the local stores but sterile saline/water, betadine, antibiotic ointment and rubbing alcohol of some sort (pro tip but the little sample bottles of spirits are a great size for this) having a clean 10cc or bigger irrigation syringe is a plus to apply with pressure.

• PPE or Personal Protection Equipment: These include gloves, glasses, face shield and gowns. Every kit needs gloves. It’s not just for you but someone else who may be using your kit to treat you.

That’s your basic kit. Below are items that are nice to have.

• Burn Supplies such as Water-Jel Dressings and burn blanket (although it may not be thought about it but large body burns cause you to lose a lot of body heat).
• Hypothermia supplies such as mylar space blankets and some pocket warmers.
• Large Trauma Dressings: Above I showed you All-in-one ETD but having a few large trauma dressings and ABD dressings are great as well in addition to a variety of rolling gauze.
• Non-adherent dressings so when you apply some antibiotic ointment to a smaller wound you won’t have to pull the skin with it when it is removed.
• Steri-strips. These can be used to seal smaller wounds.
• Ace Bandage: Can be used in combination with trauma dressings to create a pressure dressing. 
• CPR Mask: Learn to do CPR and carry one or do compression only CPR. You can save a life.
• OPA or NPA: Using these in combination with a CPR Mask or BVM allow more oxygen to be delivered with breaths. Keep in mind an OPA cant be used if a gag-relex is intact and NPA is not to be used in suspected head trauma.

Kits don’t have to be overly large and you can make a few smaller ones and place them where they can be grabbed quickly such as inside your door and have a larger kit in the trunk when things are more under control. You also don’t need to buy an expensive bag either. Just something to hold it all. Make sure to let your passengers or people your riding with know where it’s at in case it’s needed because remember most people will spend thousands on vehicle parts, offroading or guns but little buy medical equipment.