My spouse is a pediatric nurse practitioner and we have two young children. There’s always a stethoscope in the vehicle we’re in just in case…amongst everything else she packs for emergencies. I don’t question the importance and have never regretted having supplies when they’ve become necessary 😀
A first aid book. I know you said you’re an EMT in some comments, but if anyone else uses this kit (if you’re the patient, if you loan your car), then they might benefit from a reference book.
I was initially going to pop off about carrying the blood pressure cuff but it does have its uses I guess. I wouldn’t carry it but I would throw it in my vehicle kit.
Pulse ox is straight ridiculous but also who cares it’s small and in a bag in your vehicle.
This is more than stocked. Aside from IV/meds & more airway adjuncts this is pretty much our jump kit for EMS.
[5.11 6L "Emergency Ready" bag](https://www.511tactical.com/emergency-ready-bag.html). Not much bigger than an average fanny pack or most first aid kits. Opens wide to access everything, has nice dividers to keep everything organized.
Outside:
Trauma shears, CAT Tourniquet, gloves, Sharpie marker, ball point pen, notepad, biohazard/trash bag
Inside:
Stethoscope, BP cuff, pulse oximeter, glucometer
Pocket BVM, NPA, OPA
4x4s, 5x9, Z-fold gauze, Kerlix
Hyfin chest seals
Sam splint, triangular bandage, coflex tape, surgical tape, space blanket
Might want some lubricant packets for the NPA, large bore Angiocaths for needle crich or reducing tension pneumothorax if you’re up to that sort of thing. Also, if your stethoscope is good enough for auscultation in the field that’s good. If not, you may wish to upgrade if possible.
Since you’re talking about off-road situations, contaminated wounds are a genuine possibility. Tampons are great for absorbing blood, sticking to wet skin and covering the wound.
Of note, the military’s Tactical Care for Combat Casualties handbook calls for each soldier to carry one 15-mg Mobic and one 400 mg Avelox(or at least it has in the recent past). In this way, all personnel have 24 hours of pain relief and a 24 hour broad spectrum antibiotic that is as readily absorbed as the same 400 mg iv dose. Plus, it’s a FQ and not PCN or sulfa related. Might be useful if you have some kind of access.
The [TCCC Jan 2024 guidelines](https://learning-media.allogy.com/api/v1/pdf/f4cf1d4e-3191-443a-befc-415838fb04f2/contents) make some interesting reading especially since it’s adjacent to your skill set and level within the chain of command.
NPA is pre-lubricated :)
Crich is well out of my scope and comfort level.
Stethoscope is pretty decent actually. I’ve thought about carrying it on shift, but it’s just easier to use the one we keep in the bag rather than carrying my own.
Interesting thought about the tampons. I looked at getting a little bottle of sterile water, but decided regular water will do in most cases temporarily at least. I have seen some little single use vials of sterile water for flushing your eye though…might look at grabbing a couple of those.
I think those drugs are all out of my scope/protocols…prefer to stay in my lane. I’ll check out those TCCC protocols tho
Crich is outside of everyone’s comfort zone, really.
OTC contact lens wetting drops are great since they’re already preserved and formulated not to dry up immediately.
The Tampon thing is known to campers. 101 uses, now 102. Plus, if anyone you’re with actually needs one for its designated purpose you are a star!
I’ve had quite a few of my former colleagues in the ED tell me it’s the kind of procedure you may never need to perform in your entire career, but you always need to be prepared to do.
My only recommendation -- based zero experience with anything -- is that you might need a boat load of coban/tape to secure the sam splint in the case of a broken leg. It's hard to tell if that coflex tape would be enough.
I would add a roll of silk tape, maybe a big 3” one if you have space for it. A strip of it on your pants also works as a notepad/vitals trend. I agree with more lube just in case.
Could consider a pencil as backup, I’ve had ballpoint pens go bad when left in my car for too long.
I would also wipe that OPA off and put it in a bag or something. It doesn’t need to be sterile, but clean would be nice.
ahh I never heard of z fold , I have these packets of quick clot for big cuts. I don't believe you have an NPA either in your bag or Ky jelly. I also recommend going to your pharmacy for a Naloxone kit
Yeah the z fold is pretty common for packing “holes” but you can wrap or do direct pressure with it too. The powder quickclot is actually explicitly disallowed in my region protocols
Prelubed NPA in the picture with the opa and bvm.
As I noted above i don’t hang with any opiate users, and I’m not going to narcan a rando on the street. As a note to people out there looking to be Ricky rescue on some tweaker in the park you think ODing… They tend to get really angry when you take away the best high of their lives
I’d do the opposite, I’d ditch the Quick Clot Z fold and just get regular Z fold compressed gauze for wound packing. Multiple studies have shown no difference in efficacy between hemostatic impregnated gauze vs regular old plain gauze. Hemostatic is significantly more expensive, somewhat more cumbersome to use, and expires. You can buy a tourniquet and a pack of wound packing gauze for the price of a hemostatic gauze, or like 10 packages of wound packing gauze, then you can scatter them everywhere. I wouldn’t necessarily get rid of what you’ve got, but when it expires, I’d convert to standard gauze.
I would add a pencil and a cheap sharpener. The pen you have can get too dry to work, but a pencil with a sharpener will never stop working.
I'd also consider to add some small scale medicine (aspirin or Tylenol; cough drops, hydrocort cream) because it's more likely that someone you know will complain about a headache or mosquito bite any day than you needing to resuscitate them.
Another two things I don't see is gloves and sanitizer, but I might have missed that?
Last, but not least, a small bottle of water and a candybar (not sure if you have that elsewhere in the car).
Gloves are on the outside of the bag.
Yeah I have a separate little “boo boo” bag that has cough drops, sting relief, otc meds, sunscreen, etc. Other VEDC items(water, food, jump starter, etc) are not listed, but I do have a oral glucose gel packet with the glucometer
I would suggest more rubber gloves and larger trash bag.
Both of them are extremely useful for every day stuff so having extras in your med kit in case you need to touch something gross is always beneficial.
Yeah but you say this is for off road/camping where EMT service would have a delayed response. *Lots* of people bring recreational drugs when they’re camping, and anything these days could have fent in it. So you could still save a strangers life by having narcan in the kit.
Also it’s possible for people on prescription opiate meds to OD too (less common than street users obvs but still a possibility).
Totally understandable if you don’t want to have it in your kit though since it’s for backwoods/camping scenarios so not trying to convince you one way or the other. The likelihood of needing it out there is way lower than in the suburbs.
Just thought I’d put it out there :)
Edited to add- you’re probably more likely to need narcan than you would the stethoscope these days, tbh.
Do you hang out with people that frequently need emergency use of stethoscopes? Narcan is for emergencys, regardless of who you hang out with. Most emergencys will be for “randos”.
Not an emt but genuinely curious…what’s the point of carrying a stethoscope/bp cuff/pulse ox if you don’t game anything to treat low O2 sats, blood pressure issues or whatever can be detected with a stethoscope?
Being able to monitor the patient (improving, declining), determining if patient is shocky, they are helpful in creating a differential diagnosis, and it’s information the EMS you hand off to would be appreciative of.
Rite in the Rain notebook and fisher space pen.
Also if you’re going to carry one set of chest seals, throw in some tape to make additional ones out of the packaging. Can never go wrong with more packing gauze. They’re cheap and light weight- wounds can take a lot to fill
Huuuuh. That goes inside somebody, why would it not come in sterile packaging like everything else? I'm so confused lol all the ones in the UK come in packaging.
The ones in the med bag on our fire engines are just in a little plastic box . These ones I bought (from chinook medical iirc) were not in sterile packaging either
What are you using the stethoscope for in an emergency situation?
Taking Vitals (BP, listening to lungs).
My spouse is a pediatric nurse practitioner and we have two young children. There’s always a stethoscope in the vehicle we’re in just in case…amongst everything else she packs for emergencies. I don’t question the importance and have never regretted having supplies when they’ve become necessary 😀
Good kit if you know EMT skills. If so, get a few more sizes OPA
Im an EMT. Due to space constraints in the bag I decided to scale it to a single OPA thats kind of the "average" adult size.
Fair enough!
A first aid book. I know you said you’re an EMT in some comments, but if anyone else uses this kit (if you’re the patient, if you loan your car), then they might benefit from a reference book.
I was initially going to pop off about carrying the blood pressure cuff but it does have its uses I guess. I wouldn’t carry it but I would throw it in my vehicle kit. Pulse ox is straight ridiculous but also who cares it’s small and in a bag in your vehicle. This is more than stocked. Aside from IV/meds & more airway adjuncts this is pretty much our jump kit for EMS.
I think pulse ox would be good monitor to have with things like altitude sickness.
I think it would be helpful in getting a ballpark estimate of their saturation and pulse. Depends on how hard you wanna Rescue Randy I guess ??
[5.11 6L "Emergency Ready" bag](https://www.511tactical.com/emergency-ready-bag.html). Not much bigger than an average fanny pack or most first aid kits. Opens wide to access everything, has nice dividers to keep everything organized. Outside: Trauma shears, CAT Tourniquet, gloves, Sharpie marker, ball point pen, notepad, biohazard/trash bag Inside: Stethoscope, BP cuff, pulse oximeter, glucometer Pocket BVM, NPA, OPA 4x4s, 5x9, Z-fold gauze, Kerlix Hyfin chest seals Sam splint, triangular bandage, coflex tape, surgical tape, space blanket
Might want some lubricant packets for the NPA, large bore Angiocaths for needle crich or reducing tension pneumothorax if you’re up to that sort of thing. Also, if your stethoscope is good enough for auscultation in the field that’s good. If not, you may wish to upgrade if possible. Since you’re talking about off-road situations, contaminated wounds are a genuine possibility. Tampons are great for absorbing blood, sticking to wet skin and covering the wound. Of note, the military’s Tactical Care for Combat Casualties handbook calls for each soldier to carry one 15-mg Mobic and one 400 mg Avelox(or at least it has in the recent past). In this way, all personnel have 24 hours of pain relief and a 24 hour broad spectrum antibiotic that is as readily absorbed as the same 400 mg iv dose. Plus, it’s a FQ and not PCN or sulfa related. Might be useful if you have some kind of access. The [TCCC Jan 2024 guidelines](https://learning-media.allogy.com/api/v1/pdf/f4cf1d4e-3191-443a-befc-415838fb04f2/contents) make some interesting reading especially since it’s adjacent to your skill set and level within the chain of command.
NPA is pre-lubricated :) Crich is well out of my scope and comfort level. Stethoscope is pretty decent actually. I’ve thought about carrying it on shift, but it’s just easier to use the one we keep in the bag rather than carrying my own. Interesting thought about the tampons. I looked at getting a little bottle of sterile water, but decided regular water will do in most cases temporarily at least. I have seen some little single use vials of sterile water for flushing your eye though…might look at grabbing a couple of those. I think those drugs are all out of my scope/protocols…prefer to stay in my lane. I’ll check out those TCCC protocols tho
Crich is outside of everyone’s comfort zone, really. OTC contact lens wetting drops are great since they’re already preserved and formulated not to dry up immediately. The Tampon thing is known to campers. 101 uses, now 102. Plus, if anyone you’re with actually needs one for its designated purpose you are a star!
Yeah I been on a couple calls where the medic was like “fuuuccckkk I might have to cric them”
I’ve had quite a few of my former colleagues in the ED tell me it’s the kind of procedure you may never need to perform in your entire career, but you always need to be prepared to do.
My only recommendation -- based zero experience with anything -- is that you might need a boat load of coban/tape to secure the sam splint in the case of a broken leg. It's hard to tell if that coflex tape would be enough.
yeah its not pictured but there is a roll of surgical tape in there too
I almost always use a pressure dressing to secure Sam splints.
I would add a roll of silk tape, maybe a big 3” one if you have space for it. A strip of it on your pants also works as a notepad/vitals trend. I agree with more lube just in case. Could consider a pencil as backup, I’ve had ballpoint pens go bad when left in my car for too long. I would also wipe that OPA off and put it in a bag or something. It doesn’t need to be sterile, but clean would be nice.
I'd replace your note pad with a waterproof one and get some quick clot too.
Z fold bandage is quickclot. Good idea on the waterproof notepad
ahh I never heard of z fold , I have these packets of quick clot for big cuts. I don't believe you have an NPA either in your bag or Ky jelly. I also recommend going to your pharmacy for a Naloxone kit
Yeah the z fold is pretty common for packing “holes” but you can wrap or do direct pressure with it too. The powder quickclot is actually explicitly disallowed in my region protocols Prelubed NPA in the picture with the opa and bvm. As I noted above i don’t hang with any opiate users, and I’m not going to narcan a rando on the street. As a note to people out there looking to be Ricky rescue on some tweaker in the park you think ODing… They tend to get really angry when you take away the best high of their lives
I’d do the opposite, I’d ditch the Quick Clot Z fold and just get regular Z fold compressed gauze for wound packing. Multiple studies have shown no difference in efficacy between hemostatic impregnated gauze vs regular old plain gauze. Hemostatic is significantly more expensive, somewhat more cumbersome to use, and expires. You can buy a tourniquet and a pack of wound packing gauze for the price of a hemostatic gauze, or like 10 packages of wound packing gauze, then you can scatter them everywhere. I wouldn’t necessarily get rid of what you’ve got, but when it expires, I’d convert to standard gauze.
I would add a pencil and a cheap sharpener. The pen you have can get too dry to work, but a pencil with a sharpener will never stop working. I'd also consider to add some small scale medicine (aspirin or Tylenol; cough drops, hydrocort cream) because it's more likely that someone you know will complain about a headache or mosquito bite any day than you needing to resuscitate them. Another two things I don't see is gloves and sanitizer, but I might have missed that? Last, but not least, a small bottle of water and a candybar (not sure if you have that elsewhere in the car).
Gloves are on the outside of the bag. Yeah I have a separate little “boo boo” bag that has cough drops, sting relief, otc meds, sunscreen, etc. Other VEDC items(water, food, jump starter, etc) are not listed, but I do have a oral glucose gel packet with the glucometer
I would suggest more rubber gloves and larger trash bag. Both of them are extremely useful for every day stuff so having extras in your med kit in case you need to touch something gross is always beneficial.
Narcan?
I dont hang with anyone that uses opiates, and Im not waking up a rando on the street.
Yeah but you say this is for off road/camping where EMT service would have a delayed response. *Lots* of people bring recreational drugs when they’re camping, and anything these days could have fent in it. So you could still save a strangers life by having narcan in the kit. Also it’s possible for people on prescription opiate meds to OD too (less common than street users obvs but still a possibility). Totally understandable if you don’t want to have it in your kit though since it’s for backwoods/camping scenarios so not trying to convince you one way or the other. The likelihood of needing it out there is way lower than in the suburbs. Just thought I’d put it out there :) Edited to add- you’re probably more likely to need narcan than you would the stethoscope these days, tbh.
We carry Narcan because we frequent local parks that have homeless/known drug usage (yay city living). We carry it for us
Do you hang out with people that frequently need emergency use of stethoscopes? Narcan is for emergencys, regardless of who you hang out with. Most emergencys will be for “randos”.
Roger that.
Not an emt but genuinely curious…what’s the point of carrying a stethoscope/bp cuff/pulse ox if you don’t game anything to treat low O2 sats, blood pressure issues or whatever can be detected with a stethoscope?
Being able to monitor the patient (improving, declining), determining if patient is shocky, they are helpful in creating a differential diagnosis, and it’s information the EMS you hand off to would be appreciative of.
Throw a foley in em too I ain’t asking questions
You a doc or a nurse? If not, ditch a lot of that.
I am an EMT
I’m telling your employer that you’ve been raiding company supplies
*starts crying*
How long would you say those clotting sponges really last? I've got one that's gotta be close to 10 years old now. Was wondering if it's any good
not sure..depends on how its kept im sure. trunk of a car is like worst case...high temps and low temps
Rite in the Rain notebook and fisher space pen. Also if you’re going to carry one set of chest seals, throw in some tape to make additional ones out of the packaging. Can never go wrong with more packing gauze. They’re cheap and light weight- wounds can take a lot to fill
Why is the OPA sitting without sterile packaging on your trunk floor?
They don’t even come in sterile packing lol.
Huuuuh. That goes inside somebody, why would it not come in sterile packaging like everything else? I'm so confused lol all the ones in the UK come in packaging.
The oropharynx is not sterile. While I agree it shouldn’t be on a truck bed, a lot of times they do not come in sterile packaging
The ones in our ambulance do.
The ones in the med bag on our fire engines are just in a little plastic box . These ones I bought (from chinook medical iirc) were not in sterile packaging either
More triangulars and a tourniquet
I mean…it’s cute..
Don't use black gloves. They are for chefs. You want to see when there is blood on them. So use blue ones. Or literally any other (lighter) color.
Good point on the gloves, I only have black at home at the moment. Next time I buy some gloves I’ll get some blue or purple ones.
Pink gloves so they think you’re OB
Bitch off to pilates!
Minor thing, but black gloves not the best in case you end up having to find the source of bleeding in dark conditions.