First Aid Kit

[David Stanhope]

What do other people take for a First Aid kit for mountaineering? For single day climbs. Thank you!

[nanook ofthenorth]

I bring:
1-2 thick MaxiPads or Mil Desssings
SteriStrips
Ace Bandage
Triaguler Bandage
A few band aids
gauze, medical tape.
Some painkillers (IB/Acito; perspriction)
Maybe Imodium
1 in tubular webbing is a good idea to have, or some form of tourniquet.

Main concerns are bleading, puncture wounds and trama.
A face mask is a good idea, as are gloves.
Most trauma you can not deal with effectively in the wilderness, main concern is stabilization for evacuation.

Other gear – foam pad/belay jacket for hypothermia. Maybe a SAM splint.
For Craiging, even far from the car I tend to bring more then I would for longer climbs.

What do you bring?

Obviously this is my list based on my own knowledge, you should consult a docter when forming your own as I don't really have the background to advise people.

[David Stanhope]

I have two First Aid Kits.

Adventure Medical Ultralight:

*Includes: (8) 2 x 2 in. sterile dressings, (2) butterfly closure bandages, (5) 1 x 3 in. adhesive bandages, (3) knuckle adhesive bandages and (1) 0.5 in. x 10 yard roll of tape

*Medications include: (4) ibuprofen (200mg), (2) antihistamines and (2) After Bite® Sting Relief wipes

*Wound management includes: (3) After Cuts and Scrapes® towelettes and (2) triple antibiotic ointments

*Plus: (1) moleskin for blister treatment and (2) safety pins

I also carry a SAM Splint in place of my back support on my 30L pack. And I sometimes take my Arm sling with me because of shoulder dislocations in the past. Have never had to use it though.

I'll also mention in terms of 'survival gear' I take an emergency bivy, strobe light, 3 flares, shovel, 2 glow sticks. And as you mentioned I do have a Belay jacket as well.

[nanook ofthenorth]

to be honnet I'd just bring a little bit of stuff for small cuts ect (couple band-aids, bit of gauze, tape), and then stuff for trama/hyothermia. Just the tools you need to stabalize them, for climbing I would get the trainning that you need to deal with trama in a wilderness situation. then what I do is bring equpiment for what I can deal with, on the asumption that I need to provide care for a few hours until and Evac can be aranged.
The reality is that if someone falls badly climbing its going to take a while to evac them, and if they need hospital care (surgery, ect) ASAP they may die before a rescue can be organized or they reach hospital.
So what I'm trying to say is that there is stuff you cant deal with in the woods – bring the stuff for what you can. That said I tend to go heavier on day trips then I do on say a long backpacking trip.

[David Stanhope]

I had a few other good suggestions. Someone suggested Quick Clot, Krazy Glue,Sudafed, Halls cough drops, and a pencil. Someone also suggested having a more in depth kit to leave in a car. And for the climb take a First Aid Kit and a Survival Kit.

[nanook ofthenorth]

ya, not sure about the survival kit, I bring a bothy bag, have a foam pad in my knapsack, belay coat -Maybe a pair of micropuff pants if its very cold.
Just some insurance if I'm going to be benighted, I expect it to be miserable and plan to keep moving as long as possible – but thats for loner routes then you find in the east typically. Halls are nice to have.
The Quick Clot is a good idea (is it temperature depended?), for winter and day trips I prefer SteriStrips over superglue.
Talk to your local ER doc, more important then the gear is something like a WFR course if your worried.

[Elena Lee]

on a few trip to rainier, adams, etc. i bring the same exact stuff that i bring to hiking trips: ibuprofen , aspirin, alergy meds, asthma inhaler, bandaids, small bandage. when i broke my femur while skiiing, the only thing i really wished for some strong narcotic drug, which you can only get with a prescription. everything else can be improvised with the stuff you already have.

oh, and i would definitely take a prescription of diamox next time i'm planning fast ascent for altitude sickness. i had Ams and it was really not fun.

[David Stanhope]

Thank you for your input. I did Rainier last yr and got AMS I agree it wasn't fun. Turned around at 12,500 and when I came down to Camp Muir I felt sooo much better. I work in a ER so I will talk to the doc's and get their input as well. Also an EMT but we work off of already having so much at our disposal so just trying to get a better idea of what to bring.

[j lan]

I think you nailed it, although I would ditch the butterfly bandages for Steri-strips. Better than a suture 9 times out of 10 in my opinion.

[nanook ofthenorth]

Hey David – did not realize you were an EMT, in that case wound dressings (extra T-shirt?), I take some heavy painkillers for evacing – you might want some other drugs. Splint/something for a spinal. Gear to treat for hypothermia. And some stuff to stop bleeding and close/clean wounds in the winter.
You might also want some more invasive stuff – I used to climb with a guy who packed a needle for draining a collapse lung – three kings style, and some other stuff. It was reassuring – until I thought of him actually using it on me 8)
As you know spinals, head injuries, puncture wounds and broken feamers are very often the result of a fall on ice.

[Bob Gross]

David, this is well beyond the first aid kit. But, if you have had any serious bout of AMS, and if you intend to make fast ascents comparable to Rainier in the future, you might want to have a talk with your physician about a prescription for Diamox.

If you are making normal ascents to high elevation, and you are taking normal time to adapt, then you probably don't need it. However, some people have a susceptibility to altitude, and they don't want to keep having their trip screwed up by any serious symptoms, so they take Diamox, starting a couple of days in advance.

I've carried the stuff several times, but I have only used the stuff once, and that was for fast ascent at much higher elevations than Rainier. For most, there are some mild side-effects. Talk to your MD.

–B.G.–

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