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Old 28th Dec 2019, 03:50
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double_barrel
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: 5Y
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Bush first-aid kit

Any thoughts on the content of a lightweight and minimal 1st aid kit to carry while flying around the African bush ? Googling the subject seems to give insanely long lists that drift off into tons of survival kit My thinking is that a messy forced landing could result in significant injuries, but although I might be some hours from help and many hours from competent medical help, the life saving interventions I might make are really limited to controlling blood loss, splinting limbs or clearing airways.

So I thought a kit might include a couple of tourniquets, a couple of splints, some conforming bandage for strapping it all up, and not much else. I don't know what I could do if presented with a smashed-up face and obstructed airway other than traditional clearing with a finger. I am certainly not convinced by kits that include antibiotics, antiseptics, 20 different kinds of bandages, 3 safety pins and the kitchen sink. Those might be good for an offshore sailor for example who is not constrained by weight/bulk of the kit and might be weeks from help, but it seems to me that a pilot could be faced with traumatic injuries, requiring immediate intervention, but is unlikely to be more than perhaps 12 hours from qualified help.


Any thoughts or additions ?
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