{"id":532,"date":"2012-03-15T19:27:22","date_gmt":"2012-03-16T01:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/?page_id=532"},"modified":"2012-03-15T19:27:22","modified_gmt":"2012-03-16T01:27:22","slug":"first-aid-kit","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/hitting-the-trail\/gearing-up\/first-aid-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"First-Aid Kit"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not something anyone wants to talk about, but problems do occur in the back country. Most incidents are minor, but even a minor problem can become a serious problem in not addressed.<\/p>\n

My background is emergency medicine is fairly extensive. While in the Scouts, I achieved proficiency in basic First-Aid. I became an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) while in college and have spent most of NPS career working on emergency response teams. I’ve been certified in Cave Search & Rescue and Rope Rescue (Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced). <\/p>\n

Having said all that, the bottom line is that a few carefully-selected items will make for a very adequate First-Aid Kit. Here’s what I carry in mine.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Moleskins (for blisters)<\/li>\n
  2. Gauze pads<\/li>\n
  3. Roller gauze<\/li>\n
  4. Adhesive tape<\/li>\n
  5. Band-Aids<\/li>\n
  6. Advil (for sore & aching muscles and joints)<\/li>\n
  7. Triangular Bandage (for wrapping serious cuts, or to be used as a sling in the event of a fracture, or to hold a head dressing on)<\/li>\n
  8. Neosporin (for cuts and infection prevention)<\/li>\n
  9. Prescription medications<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    While many experts will say that this is not nearly enough, I have never needed anything beyond these few items. In the past I carried a massive and all-inclusive trauma kit. The only result was that I got unnecessarily tired packing things I never used. This is not to say that these items will take care of all medical problems, but if the injury is serious, emergency personnel will be required anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It’s not something anyone wants to talk about, but problems do occur in the back country. Most incidents are minor, but even a minor problem can become a serious problem in not addressed. My background is emergency medicine is fairly extensive. While in the Scouts, I achieved proficiency in basic First-Aid. I became an EMT […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":33,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-532","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3CUQl-8A","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/western-traveler.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}