Posted: 7/20/2014 6:44:21 AM EDT
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I'll start by saying that I'm an OR nurse, so I am familiar with many of the items I want. Hell, I have a bunch already, however, my problems are many in a manner of speaking.
First, I need a large capacity bag that I can use when I go camping or whatever, as I'm usually the medic guy that will have enough stuff for a few days. Second, I know I need a better way to organize whatever I have, or will have. Third, I prefer one stop shopping, as kits are usually cheaper than piecing it together. I don't have a problem with buying things to add to something, I just need a place to start. Am I off in my thinking? Fourth, I haven't been keeping up on places to get medical supplies. I looked for shits and giggles on Amazon and found tons of crap. Do you folks have favorites? Sixth, I'm not exactly looking for TEOTWAWKI levels of medical preps. Truth be told, that's on my radar, but first thing's first. Seventh, I guess you'd say I am looking at EMT level stuff. I can do all the nurse crap like start IVs, took a trauma class and learned how to do needle de-compression, and in a pinch could likely intubate someone. That said, that's not the level of stuff I'm currently looking for. I've checked Ebay and Amazon but what I really want is people's impressions on suppliers or manufacturers and stuff. I work at a smallish hospital, so I speak fluent "cheap" medical supplies. Our band-aids are worse than the ones that come in the cheapie automobile aid kits. It's mainly the bag, I suppose, that I want to be careful with. Can you folks point me in the right direction? thanks jim |
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If you are looking for a well organized backpack take a hard look at a Stomp II from Blackhawk. My kit is custom built using on do them.
Tookammwhile,to find everything I needed but now it is even possible to do an I'VE and incubate with what is in there as well,a s a host of other things including multiple,GSW, fractures, you name it. Next item is one of those foldable stretchers when I find the right deal. |
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I buy a lot of my supplies from Chinook Medical. How big of a bag are you after? They had their Combat Lifesaver pack in ACU on sale last year for 50% off. I swapped out my larger backpacks in the cars for these. They hold an impressive amount of stuff.
We used Statpacks and Thomas Packs at most of the EMS agencies I worked for. Our flight crews use the G1 Backup. I had an older version of the Golden Hour in my car until swapping out for the Chinook bag. Iron Duck also makes really nice bags. My first volunteer EMS job I was outfitted with a Breathsaver. I had an O2 tank but without that there is a ton of open space in the main pack. You could use that for smaller modules. |
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Thanks for the quick replies folks. I'm not married to bag or pack. I just need portable. Hell, I imagine a properly sized and organized Pelican case would do.
As for size, I'm looking at taking care of 10 people tops for a week tops. More likely is 6-8 for a weekend, but one of my yearly camp-outs is a Filipino martial arts retreat, and though we have had no serious injuries thus far, we are an hour from anything that looks like a hospital and regularly play with edged things  . Part of my problem is having enough of the right supplies. I'm just not familliar with how many of what I need. Does that make sense?
In the OR, I know a person can dress just about anything using some Adaptic, some 4x4's, and someTape (Just kidding, kind of. I hear this stuff is the shit if things are really bloody.). Add an ABD or an Israeli dressing and you can do bigger stuff. Add some quick-clot gauze and maybe a tourniquet and you can do even more. Then supplement with some band-aids, burn cream, blah blah... It gets out of hand in a hurry. Part of my problem is in this minutia. I can sew you back up, but I'm not sure how many band-aids to pack. Medicmandan: Thanks for the links. I took a peek at a few of them, and really like the look of the Statpacks stuff. I'm still in the research phase, but when I do pull the trigger, I'll check back and post something. Keep the suggestions coming folks, a fella can never have to much info. thanks again jim |
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More likely is 6-8 for a weekend, but one of my yearly camp-outs is a Filipino martial arts retreat, and though we have had no serious injuries thus far, we are an hour from anything that looks like a hospital and regularly play with edged things .Let me guess, Kali silat? Most of the dangers you'll face in there will be hematoma and lacerations. Anywhere from minor to severe, depending upon whether or not you drill with real knives, rather than just practice knives or shock knives. I'd recommend one of the larger medical pre-made kits to handle regular stuff. Chinook has some of them, as medicmandan said, but also check these out. For something for more regular events, with just the group you specified, try this. It's for regular boo-boo stuff, minor to moderate injuries from lacerations, burns, and more. If you expect more injuries, you can try this. Might not fit in a backpack (unless you want to carry nothing else), so it would probably stay in a car or tent or something like that. For the more snivel medical stuff, bring some extra hydrocortizone, calamine lotion, and other topical creams to combat bug bites and irritating foliage. Add in some extra compressed gauze, an Israeli bandage or two, maybe even a tourniquet in the event of serious trauma. Since you're so remote, and are trained, a few IV bags in the case of serious bleeding might not be a bad idea. And of course, packing extra latex or similar gloves. |
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Let me guess, Kali silat? Quoted:
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More likely is 6-8 for a weekend, but one of my yearly camp-outs is a Filipino martial arts retreat, and though we have had no serious injuries thus far, we are an hour from anything that looks like a hospital and regularly play with edged things .Let me guess, Kali silat? Yup, Pekiti Tirsia Kali. Thanks for the info, I'll check all those out. jim |
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Yup, Pekiti Tirsia Kali. Thanks for the info, I'll check all those out. jim Quoted:
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More likely is 6-8 for a weekend, but one of my yearly camp-outs is a Filipino martial arts retreat, and though we have had no serious injuries thus far, we are an hour from anything that looks like a hospital and regularly play with edged things .Let me guess, Kali silat? Yup, Pekiti Tirsia Kali. Thanks for the info, I'll check all those out. jim Always happy to help a fellow practitioner. Kali and Jeet Kune Do are my primary two. If you know them, Rich Turner and Kirk Weicht are the two I study under. |
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You might also take a look at North American Rescue, London Bridge Trading (who has been having some tremendous sales periodically; like 90% OFF, especially ACU and ABU).
A couple of our medics are using SO Tech's Go Bag and a similar bag from CTOMS. |
| I got one of the older style surplus medic backpacks and it works great as a camping/travel/tornado bunker bag. It's squarish so fits well in vehicles, lays down and folds out three directions so lots of surface area to organize in. They can be had for $30-50 so if you already have a lot of supplies it's a great way to get it all set so you could use it. |
x2 for the STOMP II.....Heres when I originally set mine up, very little has changed though. I also have an oxygen bag that has of course a D cylinder, various delivery devices and a pocket pulse ox.
Over the last 10yrs or so ive probably had 8-10 different style bags and this has been the best, for me, so far. It also doesnt scream HEY IM A MED BAG like the flouesant colored ones with a huge star of life on it that you can get from galls. as far as supplies, the aforementioned tactical supply sites are good for just that, tac med stuff. I have found the cheapest for your plain jane med supplies (bandaging & splinting, oxygen & airway stuff, etc.) to be medical supply houses, the cheapest (and easiest to deal with) IMHO are EMP and Moore Medical boundtree aint bad either and PMI was by far the cheapest but boundtree bought them. My bag is way more advanced than most (as i have way more advanced training and experience than most) but the kicker is i know how to use everything that i carry. I find that far too many ppl carry equipment that they have no business with (meds.....narcs even!!). Bein a nurse, you are in the same boat as i, good luck! |
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Not very tactical but how about a fishing tackle bag or tackle box?
Lots of pockets, individual bins for organization, pretty well built. You can build it the way you want; more room for 4x4's rather than an OB kit, Tylenol and aspirin in that one... Just a less expensive option for you and that should get you more medical supplies instead of putting out a lot of money for the bag itself. |
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Man, so much good info here. I'm on call this weekend, so I think I'll spend some time digging through these links and come up with what I want. I'll be doing the total build in stages for cost, but I think it'll be fun to plan that out.
Thanks for the suggestions folks. jim |
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I got a voodoo bag, its a copy of the blackhawk STOMP. I toss it in the truck whenever we all go somewhere to augment the vehicle kit with some family specific items. <a href="http://s107.photobucket.com/user/daemon734/media/DSCF2608_zps12ec33e8.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m303/daemon734/DSCF2608_zps12ec33e8.jpg</a> <a href="http://s107.photobucket.com/user/daemon734/media/DSCF2613_zps17427d88.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m303/daemon734/DSCF2613_zps17427d88.jpg</a> <a href="http://s107.photobucket.com/user/daemon734/media/DSCF2618_zpsacca412f.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m303/daemon734/DSCF2618_zpsacca412f.jpg</a> <a href="http://s107.photobucket.com/user/daemon734/media/DSCF2619_zpsbcd64402.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i107.photobucket.com/albums/m303/daemon734/DSCF2619_zpsbcd64402.jpg</a> i have the same bag. i use it a LOT with the FD here. i had some concerns about the straps not holding up well but after a year of getting drug around it's held up well. |
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Not very tactical but how about a fishing tackle bag or tackle box? Lots of pockets, individual bins for organization, pretty well built. You can build it the way you want; more room for 4x4's rather than an OB kit, Tylenol and aspirin in that one... Just a less expensive option for you and that should get you more medical supplies instead of putting out a lot of money for the bag itself. when i started EMS tackle boxes were about all there was. they generally suck. hard to carry long distances to remote areas, nothing stays in place well and thngs are difficult to organize. they are also pretty limited in qty of things you can carry. |