Top 5 Essential Items For Your Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)

First Aid Kits come in various levels of sophistication. As such, emergency medicine is always a central topic of concern for those prepping for emergencies or surviving in the outdoors. People who spend much time in the field will instruct that carrying a first aid kit is an essential item. Emergency preparedness literature also advises keeping a first aid kit in your home and car. However, before considering first aid items to carry, what are some general considerations concerning an individual first aid kit?To get more news about Профессиональный FАК, you can visit rusuntacmed.com.ru official website.

The first thing that should influence what you put in your first aid kit is your level of medical expertise. Have you received certified training in first aid or emergency care? Are you a person with general knowledge of medical care from personal experience? First aid kits that are available at a local store are for use by the general public. By contrast, some of the more sophisticated emergency first aid kits are for those with more specialized medical training. For example, if a person does not know how to take a manual blood pressure reading, then to have an analog blood pressure cuff and stethoscope in a kit is probably not wise. Not only is a person’s level of medical expertise an influence concerning the type of first aid kit to carry, but also what is the intended use for the first aid kit.

The Purpose of the First Aid Kit
The next thing that should influence what you put in your first aid kit is your intended purpose for your kit. The purpose of a first aid kit determines what kind of items are in the kit. For example, the two most common types of first aid kits are the general first aid and trauma aid. One will have a tourniquet in it while the other will not. A general first aid kit in the home or car will be different from one that is in your EDC bag. Therefore, it is essential to define the first-aid that you expect to render before deciding what to put in your kit. Thus, as one considers carrying a first aid kit, what are the top 5 essential items that should be in any first aid or trauma kit beyond adhesive bandages, such as band-aids?
1. Quick Clot Bandage
Quick Clot is a blood clotting hemostatic gauze that helps stop bleeding from severe wounds and cuts. Z-Medica, LLC is the company that produces the Quick Clot line of hemostatic bandages used by outdoorsman, emergency medical personnel, and the U.S Department of Defense (DoD) agencies. Quick Clot bandages have Kaolin. Kaolin promotes the clotting of human blood when applied to traumatic wounds. Hemostatic dressings are not practical for general use as a substitute for band-aids or other cloth bandages. The Quick Clot bandage to carry in an individual first-aid kit is the Advance Clotting Sponge by Adventure Medical Kits.

2. Antibiotic Ointment
Antibiotic ointment is a valuable item to carry in a first aid kit. This topical treatment comes in various sizes. The most practical size for an individual first aid kit is the single-use packet containing Bacitracin Zinc (400 units Bacitracin), Neomycin Sulfate (5mg)., and Polymyxin-B Sulfate (5000 units). An individual first aid kit should have 3-4 single-use antibiotic ointment packets at a minimum. A triple antibiotic ointment is only to treat minor cuts and scrapes on the skin to prevent bacterial infections within the wound. Please do not use it on other kinds of infections that require stronger antibiotic treatments such as viral infections of the internal organs. Larger first aid kits for a home or car should have a tube of antibiotic ointment as part of their contents.

3. Benadryl
Benadryl is an over-the-counter (OTC) antihistamine. Its purpose is to treat allergies, hay fever, and the common cold. In limited amounts, it can be used in an emergency to treat life-threatening allergic reactions until emergency medical personnel can treat the allergic reaction with more potent medications. Benadryl is the most commonly used OTC medication to treat minor environmental allergic reactions.

4. Bandage Scissors or Medical Shears
Bandage scissors or medical shears are a critical tool to carry in an individual first aid kit. Both items will allow for the cutting of clothing and gauze bandages while rendering first aid. The smaller instrument will fit better in smaller general use individual first aid kit. Medical shears should be in trauma kits, and larger individual first aid kits carried in a Bug-Out Bag or a vehicle emergency kit.

Pre-hospital Hemorrhagic Control Effectiveness of Axiostat® Dressing

Accidents and trauma are one of the leading causes of death and disability throughout the world. In developing countries like India where emergency trauma care is still emerging, it accounts for almost 10% of deaths every year. Lack of adequate pre-hospital care and uncontrolled bleeding from the wound site are stated to be the prominent reasons for such deaths. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a novel chitosan-based haemostatic dressing, Axiostat® (Axio Biosolutions Private Ltd., Gujarat, India), as a hemorrhage control device in the ambulance setting.To get more news about хирурга и защитные бронежилеты, you can visit rusuntacmed.com.ru official website.

A total of 104 patients with bleeding scalp wounds were randomly allocated into two treatment groups while transporting them to the hospital. Patients in Group I were treated with Axiostat® chitosan haemostatic dressing (n = 47), while a conventional cotton gauze dressing was used in Group II (n = 57). A standard procedure was followed to apply the dressing on bleeding wounds and time to achieve haemostasis, the amount of blood loss, the number of patients with haemostasis, the occurrence of rebleeding, and other side effects were noted.

The mean age of the patients was 40 years and the majority of patients were male - 73 (70%). Most of the wounds were lacerations with venous bleeding. Haemostasis time was 4.68 ± 1.04 minutes and 18.56 ± 5.04 minutes in the Axiostat® and cotton gauze groups, respectively. The use of Axiostat® significantly reduced the time to haemostasis (p < 0.0001). A significant reduction in blood loss was observed with the application of Axiostat®. Successful haemostasis was achieved in 94% of patients in the Axiostat® group and 74% patients in cotton gauze group, respectively (p < 0.05). Moreover, no side effects, such as tissue loss or rebleeding at time of removal, were seen with the use of Axiostat®, while three patients in the cotton gauze group showed some side effects.

Results show that Axiostat® enables rapid haemostasis and can prevent significant blood loss during emergency trauma and accidents. Additionally, it also allows for easier removal from the wound site without leaving any residue, which helps in rendering the wound clean. In conclusion, the study successfully demonstrates the potential of Axiostat® as a first-line intervention in controlling acute haemorrhage in emergency care.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), road traffic accidents are one of the major causes of traumatic injuries leading to death worldwide. The literature states that about one in 10 deaths of the total mortality (that is more than 5.8 million deaths per year) happen due to traumatic injuries [1]. If we throw light on the Indian scenario, the surprising fact is that more Indian people have lost their lives on the roads than any natural disaster or terrorist attacks [2]. As per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, a total of 464,674 cases of road accidents were observed in 2015, which is a 3.1% increase from the previous year, and out of that, 148,707 cases led to a fatality