Touring - First Aid Preparedness on the Tour

Today, my touring pal and I were on a long ride preparing for our upcoming tour. In a freakish accident he slipped and cut his ankle on the pedal. It was so unexpected. I had packed some basic first aid supplies and was actually riding today with my panniers and bike loaded as I anticipate it loaded on the tour. As we tried to stop the bleeding which was more than just a casual cut, we pieced together a "bandaid" with a microfiber cloth and gorilla take. It held until he got to the emergency room. Luckily it was only a few stitches and didn't do much damage.

That got me thinking about what first aid items I really need on a tour. I felt very unprepared. So, what do you take for emergency first aid with you on a tour?

Go to REI, pick out a kit, then buy the individual items at Target. Get a small book on first aid, read it before your trip, and take it with you. Red Cross offers a course too.

You'll find that if you're working on yourself, all you can do is try to stop the bleeding and get help. I mean you're not going to be doing chest compressions on yourself. SPOT makes sense here.

First of all, I have held a First Aid certificate (on and off) since the 1990s. I did my last course in 2007, so my certificate is now expired and I need to do the course again, but I still remember a lot of it ... and I'm hoping to take a course soon.

So I would recommend getting your first aid certification prior to going on tour. As a part of that, you'll learn what you need in a first aid kit.

tombilcze, A Red Cross First Aid course, or something similar is important. Generally I don't like adhesive bandages because they don't adhere well on sweating skin. A roll of gauze is handy for open wounds and to make a sling, sanitary napkins (I know from first hand experiance) are great for really nasty abrasions, medical tape, snake bite kit, scissors, neosporin and iodine are my first aid kit essentials.

Brad

Thanks for the posts. On an interesting note, I am scheduled for CPR and Red Cross certification later this summer as part of my involvement as a volunteer in a non-profit. In the interim, I plan on using feedback from this thread to get me on track for my tour. Yesterday's experience made me aware that mishaps can occur at any time. It made it even clearer that I need to be prepared for the basics when in a remote location.

Superglue may have been an alternative for the wound you described:

http://www.ehow.com/how_4450308_use-superglue-cuts.html

I was a medic in the military and used to carry #60 of gear with me. Take care of the basics...Airway, Breathing, Circulation...everything else can wait. Remember to improvise your treatments/tools and forget the specialized stuff. My 1st aid kit allows me to address emergency issues until I can get home or to a primary care facility if necessary. This kit fits in a sandwich bag so I have a kit on each bike (tour and solo bikes)

On my bike I carry:

1 Roll Sports Gauze Tape. (Sweat will not allow bandages to stick.)
10 4x4 Gauze.
Tube of Triple Antibiotic ointment.
4 packs of Blood Stop powder. (Provides a seal over the wound)
1 Triangle bandage. (Sling, compression bandage, etc)
Motrin
Asprin
Benadryl tablets

Hope this helps
Best regards
Bob

tombilcze, A Red Cross First Aid course, or something similar is important. Generally I don't like adhesive bandages because they don't adhere well on sweating skin. A roll of gauze is handy for open wounds and to make a sling, sanitary napkins (I know from first hand experiance) are great for really nasty abrasions, medical tape, snake bite kit, scissors, neosporin and iodine are my first aid kit essentials.

Brad

Throw your snake bite kit in the garbage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakebite

Here are three links to information about first aid kits and bike touring (http://www.biketouringtips.com/searchTips.html?country=&state=&place=&id=Bike%20Touring%20Equipment&subtopic=17.24).

Two are lists and one is a link to a free downloadable book on first aid.

Ray

I have soap and water with me.If I need a bandaid,I'll use duct tape.If I need a big bandaid,I'll use one of my shirts and tape.If I can't stop the bleeding with a shirt and tape and my belt,chances are good I'm going to die.

As wonderful as CPR and saving somebody's life is,in these days of lawyers gone crazy,I'd think twice about giving CPR to somebody,certified or not.If something goes wrong,life as you know it could be a thing of the past.

Toss the Blood Stop powder in the trash also...yeah it works great but the docs will have to cut of an tissue it's attached to. Fine for abdominal trauma in the AOR but not likely to be needed on a bike tour.