“I’ll Figure It Out”

Your loved one is hurt. Blood is flowing, you can’t even tell from where. It’s too dark to see well. It’s cold. You’re alone. They’re scared. You’re scared.

We all know it’s important to have a good first aid kit (FAK*). But even more important is basic, solid first aid knowledge. It’s easy to buy a super-duper, has everything–including field surgery equipment–FAK and think that you are covered when it comes to any first-aid scenario. But buying stuff is easy, you must learn the skills–especially when it comes to first aid.

Fortunately learning basic first aid skills is pretty easy: opening the airway, stopping bleeding, protecting the injury, treating for shock, cleaning wounds, etc. Unfortunately developing the proficiency to be able to quickly react and appropriately deal with these emergencies is much harder. Medical knowledge isn’t like riding a bike, it’s perishable – if you don’t use it, you do forget. That’s why medical professionals, at all levels, are constantly taking continuing education classes, re-certifying, and teaching others. I can show you how to put on a pressure dressing and you can practice a time or two – but a year later, when blood is flowing and must be stopped, you may not remember. You must develop the basic skills needed and then regularly practice them.

Back to the pre-packaged super FAK. Do you even know what’s in that kit? By knowing, I mean, can you identify each item, explain why it’s there, and do you have experience using it? My problem with pre-packaged kits is that everything comes in a nice pretty package, neatly stored in it’s own container, perfectly fit in it’s proper spot. Most of us prepper types–whether we want to admit it or not–are a bit OCD; we like things organized, and neatly put in their proper locations. So when it comes to that pre-packaged kit we do not want to open up all the little packages and see what’s in them, or move them around; we want them left alone, neatly packaged away, for a time we might need it.

But when we do need“it” too many people have the mindset: I’ll figure it out if/when I need to. That thought process implies that you’ll very quickly–under a stress-filled, potentially life-threatening situation–figure out what equipment you have on hand (and what you don’t) and how to skillfully apply it. That’s not the way things work; we don’t rise to the occasion like that. Instead we revert to the level of training we’ve developed proficiency at.

What I recommend, when it comes to your FAK, is to build your own (I differ from some other medical people on this). There are medical people who say that FAKs aren’t like putting together a fire building kit or a BOB; that people don’t really understand what is needed in a medical kit. My response to that is if they don’t understand it, it shouldn’t be in their kits. If it is important to you to have a good FAK, then it’s important to take the time to assemble it and know what each item is and why it is in there.

Also, the side benefit of making your own kit is that you will save money. Anything that is labeled for medical purposes and/or individually packaged costs more. Once you understand what an item is you may not have to buy the medical version of it, ie. a cravat bandage and a bandana are about the same thing. And it’s always cheaper to buy items in bulk.

On Wednesday I’ll write about the FAK my family members carry on a regular basis. What we put in them and why. It’ll be sort of anticlimactic because it’s really just a simple kit. But each of them know where their FAK is, what it contains, and how to use each item in it.

(Wednesday: Quick Grab The First-Aid Kit!)

*For my list of abbreviations and other information, open the above ‘Check Here…’ page tab.