I posted in the "How was todays commute?" thread yesterday about how I came across a young man who was unconcious laying on the sidewalk on my ride into work yesterday morning. He was severly beaten up,bloody, and had several brutal wounds. I won't go into details, but the visual is still haunting me. I was with my buddy who has been commuting with me the last few weeks and luckily he had a plastic bag in his trunkbag and we were able to use that to check the boys pulse (this was to act as a barrier against blood borne pathagens). It wasn't strong but it was there. I called 911 and we used our bicycle headlights on flash mode to help guide the EMT's to the scene. After stablizing him, they were able to get a few words out of him like his first name and age, and come to find out he was only 16 years old. I can't believe anybody would do that to a kid, or anyone for that matter. I am just so glad that we came across him and got him help otherwise who knows how that could have ended. The EMT's were even shocked at how bad of shape he was in. I'm not looking for a pat on the back or anything from sharing my story, but it got me to thinking how my meager pack of bandaids and cleansing wipes was really of no help in this situation. I could have really used some exam gloves for my protection during checking his pulse, possibly some gauze pads to help contain the bleeding, etc. Also, a CPR mouth barrier could come in handy. I know the current method doesn't even require mouth to mouth and just compressions but it might not hurt. Since the incident I have started compiling a small first aid kit that will allow me to really assist better as a first responder if I should happen across another person in need. I'm sure a lot of you are already carrying great first aid kits, and if so what have you decided on as far as contents?