Emergency first aid... - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!



Go Back   TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards! > Members Lounge > General Travel Tips, Education, Advice > Health & Safety

Health & Safety Health concerns worldwide, scams, and other safety issues. Don't get ripped off! Also post your safety prevention tips!

Raileurope.com: See Europe by train
 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 07-31-2006, 01:22 PM   #1
Joker
You want fries with that?
 
Joker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Maryland... yeah, i know it sucks.
Posts: 2,230
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

Many of us pack a small first aid kit in our packs just in case something happens. Last nite I made an important addition to my rather elaborate, yet compact kit. But first: a quick rundown of the type of stuff I keep, so you have an idea...

Rolled gauze
variety of bandaids (waterproof)
Dermabond (liquid bandage)
rubber gloves
antacids
pain meds (advil and tylenol)
antiseptic wipes
condoms
photocopies of my passport and driver's license, and other important IDs
burn cream
medical tape
moleskin

You get the idea. Pretty standard stuff, right?

Last night I made a key addition to my kit, and its something EVERYONE should have.

Cayenne powder. Yep. Cayenne powder. The hot stuff. Its use as a coagulant for heavy-duty bleeding is just as good as any store-bought tincture/coagulant, and easier to come by in the pinch. Something at work fell and gashed me in the back of the noggin last nite, and gave me a concussion and a serious laceration that wouldn't stop bleeding with bandages and dermabond. I pride myself on my first aid ability, since I'm the one at work everyone goes to when they cut/burn themselves.

But the cayenne, applied to a wound immediately causes coagulation without any sting/burn that would be associated with using a pepper-powder. Sure, if you taste it, its hot, but on an open wound it doesn't at all.

Later, as the concussion set in and I went to the hospital for a CT scan (apparently I do in fact have a brain, and it was okay), the nurses and docs had never heard of it, and frankly were shocked. The one nurse even asked me point-blank: Didn't it hurt like shit? :D

Anyway, I'm gonna keep a vial of it in my first aid kits from here on out, and I suggest you do, too. There's actually some pretty decent info out there using Google on the uses of Cayenne in various first aid situations...
__________________
Misadventures of a Crazed Kitchen Pirate

"Steve is the prototypical cool American male. Y'know, I'm talking about Steve McGarrett, alright? Steve Austin, Steve McQueen. Y'know, he's the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living, man. He never, ever tries to impress the women but he always gets the girl."


Joker is offline   Reply With Quote
 






Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:46 AM.



 

Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.2.0 (Unregistered)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121