Macgiver first aid...

Let’s talk about items you can use for first aid when the idea materials aren’t at hand...

 

duct tape.

 

That’s the idea though when the best isn’t available what can work

 

cling film and shop towels from the truck camp cook chuck box. Great pressure dressing. Wide coverage area.

 

I didn’t think about cling wrap

 

As a funny side story to this topic, I once went round and round for about an hour with an officer of the Chilean Navy who was charged with reviewing my first aid kit for a trip I was leading. As luck would have it, on his checklist of things to make sure that I was carrying was a "finger splint" for some reason.

I explained (in his native tongue), and demonstrated, that you can make a finger splint out of damn near anything, if you need to.

His response was - "But you don't have a finger splint in your kit, do you?"

And then I would list off all of the different things we were carrying - spoons, a tongue depressor, a couple ball point pens, etc. that could be made into finger splints if necessary (not to mention just about any damn stick found on the ground where we were going and wrapped with tape).

And he would listen, and then respond - "But you don't have a finger splint with you...."

And then I would re-explain how to make improvised splints, and then he would response with the same question again...

I finally had to concede and promise him that while I didn't have one this time, I swore on my mother's grave that I would make sure I had a finger splint in our first aid kit in the future, and then he checked his little box and sent us on our way.

I love bureaucracy.

 

Seems very time consuming while you are bleeding from your head lol

 

On several occasions I have used superglue to close minor cuts.

 

Very interesting and clever. I’m intriqued by the awake vs anesthesized skin. Makes a lot of sense but I never really thought about it