After a quite frankly harrowing incident at Heaven of the South at the weekend I'm need to start carrying some bandages. What's the go to solution in a long lasting packable (hip pack) format for wrapping round big holes in middle aged men?
First Field Dressings or the civilian equivalent. I used to have a link to a place that sold them, but St. Johns has a web store that might have something similar.
super glue ?
Updated: Yeah, they do, sort of: https://www.sja.org.uk/first-aid-supplies/first-aid-supplies-and-consumables/first-aid-dressings-and-pads/dressings/10-x-18cm-Traumafix-Dressing/
Don't forget to also take with you disposable gloves and a resus mask. If you need one, you'll want one.
@Klunk Super glue contact can irritate and burn the skin (and eyes) & set off an allergic reaction.
So Dermabond or vetbond are the better alternatives but won't fill big holes
get a Haemostatic dressing to go with. Way I see it there's injuries you're going to die from, and injuries that are best left to the experts when they arrive. My first aid kit has very little stuff in it for minor injuries other than a bottle of anbesol and some superglue. Other than that it's things I really hope I never get to use.
T-shirt.
Or a trauma dressing.
I have these at home and one of these is small enough to carry:
Steroplast Trauma Wound Injury FFD Haemostatic Bleed Control Field Sterile Bandage Dressing - 10cm x 18cm (3 Pack)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CLHG63G/ref=pe_27063361_487055811_TE_3p_dp_1
I was going to suggest a buff and some vet wrap / cohesive bandage.
To clarify further, in my hipbag I carry:
Non adherent dressing pad
Waterproof film dressing (Boots - faster, healing)
Sterile dressing pad
Blister plaster
Sterile moist cleansing wipe
4" Strips of elastoplast (and some pre-cut ones)
Tick remover card
Takes up minimal space.
I am on warfarin and bleed like a fountain - taping up even a small cut stops me looking like a shooting victim.
Club issue us with what they call an ‘Israeli Bandage’. Another member had to use one on some poor runner they found gushing blood and I’m told it was very effective.
I carry a 4 inch pressure bandage, comes in their own waterproof pouch, same as an Israeli bandage really although not sold as such IIRC.
Buy at least two, one to keep, one to learn how to use.
Ta all, I'll get some of those special bandages in. It's only really major bleeding I'm now scared off, everything else can wait for the experts.
This was way, way past superglue time...
Annoyingly i've normally got a decent stash of out of date (but still usable) dressings and gauzes and such.
They were in my other bag though...
I'll bring them to the Alps, fret not Doc Martin...
DrP
For the less bloody stuff I carry a Cycling Saviour kit on my hip belt's strap:
The founder is a keen cyclist and a doctor for more than 30 years. He first noticed a need for high quality first aid materials when providing medical cover to a cycling sportive. Over the next five years, he logged all the accidents faced by his local cycling club, analysing all incidents and providing a tailored first aid course to the club.
He found that existing first aid kits weren't tailored specifically to cycling and often provided inappropriate or even incorrect medical items, that were being used in dangerous scenarios.
The kits we provide are a combination of three decades of medical experience and a catalogue of the most common cycling incidents. All of the contents are of the highest quality. As well as this, we supply you with a user guide, to help you understand how to use the contents in the most common scenarios.
Edit: The kit came in handy when I went OTB at Rogate on Sunday and broke a finger. I was able to strap my fingers together and drive home before visiting A&E - although the one thing I might add to the kit is a couple of lollipop sticks to use as splints.
Our first aid course suggested using tampons if you didn't have absorbent pads to hand
"Our first aid course suggested using tampons if you didn’t have absorbent pads to hand"
A couple of snatch mice would have worked a treat..but Pictonroad had used all his...
I suggested ripping the chamois out of my bibs.
Not for any first aid gains..i was just feeling frisky...
DrP
Any bleed slap on a tourniquet - job done.
Any bleed slap on a tourniquet – job done.
Deffo don't do this, BTW....
Apply pressure. Firm pressure. To the wound. Bleeding will eventually stop.
In the OPs case we didn't have anything on us, so I just rolled up the injured's glove and got him to hold it against the wound - bleeding eventually stopped.
Obvs a decent bandage would have been better!
DrP
DrP
Full Member
Any bleed slap on a tourniquet – job done.Deffo don’t do this, BTW….
Especially not for a nose bleed.
Depends on the size and location of the hole. Control The Bleed was set up in memory of a stab victim but the ideas apply to other situations with uncontrolled bleeding e.g. traumatic limb amputation due to car crash, victim impaled on railing or car part. The kit I've linked to below has trauma bandage and tourniquet as mentioned above. Both have their uses.
https://controlthebleed.org.uk/prometheus-medical-bleed-control-kit.html
@pictonroad - is this the guy who ended up getting 18 stitches after coming off on some gravel?
It happened behind me, but some friends came across the aftermath and said it was gnarly.
What’s the go to solution in a long lasting packable (hip pack) format for wrapping round big holes in middle aged men?
While the incident may well have been harrowing, there is a balance of likelihood and severity here.
That said, I do carry a bigger wound dressing in my mini and big first aid kits. Along with resci-aid and a few other basics. I have now come to the conclusion that for me and family on our own, my first aid kit is aimed at life-saving and anything below an arm hanging off is to be ignored until we can get back to the car (where a larger kit is stored).
I have lugged around first aid kits personally and for work for over 30 years now, some were frankly ridiculous in size. I have used them 'properly' about 5 times - one was a mate who used his head to stop his bike at 30mph up Helvellyn (see BBC999 ephisode and STW pre-hack for the story), one was a heather stem punctured through a wrist (DofE participant), one was head gash from a minibus door(!), one was a crashed minibus full of kids, and one was a dislocated knee on a remote beach near Kirkcudbright. Yes I have had a few serious cuts and bangs, plus a broken finger - but all were patched up and taken to A&E.
I have used my car first-aid and training more on the roads - see the minibus full of kids above and other crashes.
Only 10 stitches in the end (I think)... my forearm is a mess and still smarts a bit. Much thanks goes out to PictonRd, DrP, the HOTS crew and Yate Minor Injuries unit for looking after an epic idiot.
I'll spare you the photos.
I go for the sterile dressing and vet wrap (cohesive bandage) option, as they take up minimal room, and the vet wrap is quite versatile in emergencies.
As good as emergency bandages are, they are really only a one trick thing.
Vet wrap can be used for other things. If you also combine it with a Sam Splint, it makes a good combo for stabilising breaks.
However, I'd also suggest doing a 2 day outdoor first aid course run by a good instructor (I've always done courses run by people with lots of outdoor experience, but I'm aware there are some people run them who's limit of outdoors is going to the local park!)
I’ll spare you the photos
Arghh, that made me check your Strava just so I could have a look. Nasty (and the injuries )
Vet wrap is very useful, makes for good strain/sprain wraps too. Just make sure you get the bright pink stuff for maximum shame factor.
And if you do a few wraps a bit too tight with vet wrap, it's effectively a tourniquet.
So if it's somebody you don't like anyway, and they don't die from bleeding out, the toxic poisoning should give a good second attempt, and you can claim ignorance about cutting of their circulation
*I say this as a joke, but for anybody thinking a tourniquet is a serious option, you may save somebody from bleeding out with a tourniquet, but if it's on for any longer than a few minutes, the lack of blood flow causes toxins to build up, which when the tourniquet is removed, will flood the body and cause far more serious problems.
The best first aid kit you can have is to learn what to do.
Get yerself on an outdoor first aid course. Then you will learn and hopefully retain the information for when you need it. Because next time it might be a heart attack or a broken bone, a head injury etc. Even people who have learned what to do can freeze.
They're quite good fun and whether you can do anything for an individual is only part of it, there is a good post on here somewhere...
Here you go. About half way down.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rip-barry/
It's as much about incident management and for people to know that someone was their for their loved ones.
Also look after yourself if you had a rough one. Talk to someone if you feel like it's affected you.
That said, I do carry a bigger wound dressing in my mini and big first aid kits. Along with resci-aid and a few other basics. I have now come to the conclusion that for me and family on our own, my first aid kit is aimed at life-saving and anything below an arm hanging off is to be ignored until we can get back to the car (where a larger kit is stored).
I carry an eye wash given it to a dad in Glentress to sort his screaming waen out and saving the day.
Got one of these in my big first aid kit.
https://www.firstaid.co.uk/wound-care/celox-rapid-haemostatic-gauze/
*I say this as a joke, but for anybody thinking a tourniquet is a serious option, you may save somebody from bleeding out with a tourniquet, but if it’s on for any longer than a few minutes, the lack of blood flow causes toxins to build up, which when the tourniquet is removed, will flood the body and cause far more serious problems.
This is not really correct. Tourniquets are for catastrophic bleeds, the patient will die quickly and direct pressure isn’t stopping the bleed. If it is a catastrophic bleed that requires a tourniquet put it on tight, stop the bleed and leave it on and don’t release it. You don’t release it the doctors who know what they are doing do so the toxins side is irrelevant. A tourniquet can stay on longer than “a few minutes” Probably not a mountain biking scenario.
I have a T3 israeli bandage in all my kits. I've never had to use one, hope I never do but I decided to "waste" one and practice and I was blown away by how well thought out it is. The packaging's durable and they're rated for 8 years, so they're a "throw in and forget" option for a camelbak and don't get annihilated or full of dirt like a lot of stuff does, I'm confident a years-old one will do the job perfectly. And even fitting it onehanded was impressively simple- ease of use is definitely going to be a big deal if it's me I'm patching, but even if it's not it'll take tons of stress out of a horrible stressful situation, making things easier is not just a luxury. Even the unravelling-protection is so clever. And being able to strap it on frees up hands and lets you leave the scene if you really have to. You could also use it to jury-rig a sling or similar, actually I wish I'd thought of that when I broke my bloody arm!
Downsides- it's a little bulky and stiff, and it's not haemostatic, Steroplast do an emergency dressing that fixes those two points that we had at work but it's not as simple to fit and it's got sort of "shelf packaging" instead of "live in a camelbak packaging", all in all it feels more like trained professional kit and I'd definitely rather use the israeli one in an actual shitshow emergency.
Oh yeah, this is the exact opposite of the thing you asked about, but asprin. Even if you carry nothing else for emergencies, carry some asprin, heart attacks are something you can make a very easy and very big difference to in seconds and they're fairly common in our sort of sport, probably more common than a big bleed? Anyway, carry some asprin.
I carry a small pouch in my bib that has celox, a swat-t tourniquet that doubles as wrap for the celox or gauze. Yes some aspirin. Longer rides will carry a flat sam splint in my backpack and a 2 pers both bag.