Rescue Diver First Aid Kit

[holladaydoc]

All Takers

I need advice on building a good diver first aid kit fromm scratch or buying a prefab one for my large dive bag. Obviously, I am thinking trauma and not band-aids and neosporin. Does anyone have some adviceof items or a product in existence?

Holladaydoc

 

[NudeDiver]

Google knows all. In this case, "EMT Kit"

EMT Kits: Emergency Trauma Kits - CPR-Savers & First Aid Supply

 

[Ann Marie]

Divers Alert Network has some nice first aid units. Is this something that you would carry on: your personal boat?, your vehicle?, or just on every-day-regular-dives? Are the dive sites that you go to in an out-of-the-way area or near/in the city?

The reason I ask is because I believe that dive boats that are USCG certified are required to carry first aid and O2. If it is in your vehicle you can have a larger stocked first aid kit. If you are going to be diving in a populated area your response time would be shorter than in an area far from where EMTs may be stationed.

Most of the time, your first aid kit would be used for that first-aid, meaning you are keeping the victim alive until EMTs can arrive.

If I'm somewhere close by to EMTs or somewhere I have to carry all my gear with me, I carry a basic one. If I were going into an area where the response time would be longer I then would bring something more advanced. If I'm diving out of my vehicle, I'll toss in my advanced kit and O2.

I also think that your background is important too...would you know how to use items in a trauma kit? I'm not asking for specific answer but giving you things to think about.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Another good source is Galls. I especially like their bags with the waterproof bottoms. I use their bag with my own supplies.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Straegen]

An interesting place to get really good kits is to go to a high end military surplus store. EMT kits are also a great way to get a solid kit. Check the dates on the supplies though.

Obviously you need to know how it all works. I went to EMT classes a few years ago myself just so I would know. Never took the exams, but found first responder classes to be immensely useful. Learning to stitch and practicing on fruit is always a handy skill to develop and maintain as well. I seemingly end up stitching someone together every couple years often myself.

 

[holladaydoc]

Thanks to all, these are great ideas but I welcome any more. i am a military veteran of 20 years with pretty extensive casualty care and first responder training so rest assured I know how to use just about any trauma item there is, unfortunately. Specifics I am looking for are what I could carry with me in my bag all the time, such as nasalpharyngael, resuscitation mask, tourniquet, IV kits, etc. I will look at these links and just want to have the necessities for immediate response on hand in my bag all the time. Like you said- not surgery, just golden hour stuff to get them to better help. Thanks for all your advice.

 

[cninsd]

A item I've started to carry with me in my dive bag is celox (Chitosan - or one of the hemostatic agents). These packets are expensive, but worth it when you talk about trying to stop major blood loss from arterial wounds.

 

[rescue15]

From a liabillity standpoint, keep it simple. Most states have no duty to respond and protection under good samaratin laws can be limited. Get things to help out with the ABC's. A pocket mast with one way valve, bleeding and bandaging items such as gauze pads and bandages, maybe some sterile water or eye wash. All of these things are available at Galls. You may also want to include rubbing alcohol, vinegar and bakingsoda as home remedies for colos encounters with sea life. For PERSONAL use you may want to include draminine, benedril, and tylenol. If you are on a boat, they should have oxygen and maybe a bigger first aid kit. Stay away from "invasive" treatments...airways, IV's etc.

I mentioned Good Samaratin laws earlier. Generally, you will be protected if you do what you are trained for no more - no less. But don't put all your trust in these laws.
A good lawyer can easily fond ways you were negligent.

Good luck,

Steve

 

[mikeb663]

I would also recommend staying just with basic first aid and Basic life support items such as basic airways and pocket mask or bag valve mask. This allows you to start care of the injured/ill diver and leave the more advanced care to the professionals. Anything more than this can open you up to some huge liability issues should you start an IV or perform invasive procedures, and that is if nothing goes wrong when performing these procedures. I understand from your previous posts that you have a military background and I appreciate your service, but it is important to consider the vast differences between civilian and military EMS. Hope this helps

 

[diveandclimb]

IV drips are not something thatjust anybody can administer even with proper training. You need to be a doctor or a state licensed paramedic working for an ambulance company. There is no way you could legally purchase IV supplies not to mention the fact that many IV solutions expire rapidly which would mean you couldnt really keep them in your first aid kit anyway. Now that Ive gotten the negative stuff out of the way I can say that you should look at kit made by Adventure Medical. We use their stuff for wilderness rope rescues and S&R missions as well as ski patrol work and they have several different sizes of marine first aid kit. If you wanted you could supplement something like their Marine 1000, 2000, or 3000 kits with a small oxygen kit (if you are training in oxygen administration). Unfortunatly, these days, no matter how much actual experience you have as a first responder, unless you are certified to do whatever you are doing there is a pretty good chance you are going to get sued.