EMTI/AEMT for almost a decade with wilderness certs and 5+ years of EMS education, years of ER/ICU work, SAR, ski patrol, and international experience here. Be cautious taking advice from people spouting about, "oh my god what if I trip and blow my arm off and am bleeding to death miles from help," which is something that maybe, if you are a dumbass can happen. The reality is that
if you are responsible, use good risk management , and have situational awareness, the vast majority of care you will render in the field will deal with mild musculoskeletal injury and minor cuts and abrasions. Don't miss 98% of you opportunities to help to catch the bad 2%. I cannot tell you how many tactical morons I have encountered that have tourniquets, IVs (and no clue how to use them), hemostats (TO CLAMP THAT ARTERY LIKE IN BLACKHAWK DOOOOWN) but are in need of help because they don't have basic shit to treat their blisters, scrapes, diarrhea, etc. If you pack your kit right you can handle the 2% with the gear to handle the 98% too.
The first thing I am going to say here:
only carry what you know how to use and stay educated and practiced with your tools. There are plenty of wahoos out there that want to dart chests, try to suture people, or other ridiculous shit that ends up hurting themselves or loved ones, don't be that person.
Take a first aid class, particularly a wilderness focused one. Avoid being taught by tactical dildos that carry tourniquets on their undies, guns, baby carriers etc, get taught by fire/ems/ER trained people that see and respond to these injuries every day.
With my advanced training and skillset, I still carry a pretty limited kit (more or less BLS only) when I'm hunting on foot because I'm not interested in carrying 40 pounds of shit on my back and I don't need most of the fancy shit you'll see in turnkey kits or on forums. I do have a bigger kit in the truck which can be useful for rolling up on wrecks or when you get back to it after a pack out or evac but that's because I still do SAR and medical for local organizations. I do carry two tourniquets in the truck because the only place i've seen signifcant bleeding requiring them outside of work has been roll over wrecks I've shown up on by chance. This small kit will handle most everything you need to do.
Here's what I take in a small 2-3# med kit that fits in a backpack, upland vest easily and also services my bird dogs well:
Tools:
- Exam gloves 3-5 pairs: also handy for breaking down game cleanly
- Trauma shears or good quality lister bandage scissors
- Good strong forceps/pinsers/tweezers: for cactus/thorn removal
- Sterile 18ga needles and/or #11 scalpel blade: picking out pokeys and I/D abscesses
- Small flashlight: really like streamlight 1aa one as it clips to a hat/can hang from paracord
- New, unused Lighter
- Toilet Paper: in a waterproof bag
- IF with dog: heavy wire cutters for traps or entanglements with barbed wire. NOT JUST A LEATHERMAN; a lot of trappers in my area have burly fuckin steel cable/multistrand and I have friends that have lost dogs because they couldn't cut it with a multitool. I use 8" knipex piano wire cutters.
- COMMON SENSE
- OH SHIT BUTTON: SAR beacon of some sort; I get into DEEP country often with no service, if I bust a knee and need flown out this is the 2% fix that is worth money/weight. Do some research, I hate paying subscriptions and don't need advanced comms/texts etc for personal use so I went from a Spot to RescueMe.
OTC Meds: A few pills of each in a small tin or vial depending on duration of trip, follow dosing guidelines
- Tylenol: great for pain relief
- Benadryl: mild sedative effects and important for anaphylaxis (i'm allergic to bees but nice if you cant sleep at camp, works great on worked up dogs too)
- Naproxen: oomphy, long lasting ibuprofen, can stack with tylenol
- Carprofen: doggy pain killer, same class as ibuprofen. Will need to ask vet for Rx
- Lomotil: diarrhea sucks
- Peptobismol tablets: upset stomach suck
- IF you have a few left over painkillers from previous surgery/injury, they are great to have in an emergency, especially if you have an extended stay in the backcountry before rescue don't be a dickhead with the dosing.
- Epi if you are an anaphylaxis dingus like me.
- Prednisone if you are an anaphylaxis dingus like me.
- Pack of hydration salts in hot weather
Wound Care:
- Band-Aids of various sizes (good ones made of fabric tape not plastic)
- Wound cleaning supplies
- iodine or chlorohexidine wipes and a pack of swabs sticks for getting into those nooks and crannies
- Sterile saline wipes
- a few alcohol pads (helps degrease stinky, sweaty hunters so things stick).
- Antibiotic ointment packets
- 4-6 Sterile 4x4 gauze packs - usually 2x/packet (these are really important for packing a dog paw, great for cleaning and dressing wounds)
- A few non stick gauze pads (great for abrasions)
- 1 Abdominal pad (for major bleeding)
- 1 pack of Steri strips plus benzoine for stick factor.
- 1 or two 4x6" tegaderms (for occlusive dressing but can also be cut down for dressings_
Everything above can be vacuum sealed to save space or put in a small ziplock with the air sucked out.
- 1-2 small gauze rolls (the ones I have fit inside my tape rolls/coban to save space)
- 1 3" roll of vetwrap/coban (really important for wrapping up a dog paw, great for keeping wounds clean and covered in the back country)
- 1 roll of transpore tape (great breathable sticky adhesive that doesn;t completely wreck your skin)
- Tube of super glue: if you have a medical pal that can get you dermabond, it's better
Ortho/general:
- SAM splint: cheap, flexible splint that you can use for a lot of things. I carry this flat against the spine support in my backpack so it takes up less room.
- Small cloth sling/strap: I ski and bike a lot so broken wrists/collarbones/elbows are fairly common and these are far more comfortable than a sling and swath. You may find a few cravats for sling and swatch more versatile as extra bandage/dressing material if you don't do stuff that breaks your arms regularly.
- 4" Ace wrap: pressure dressing, can be made into a tourniquet, wrap for joint support, stabilize a sam splinted appendage, whatever. Last used mine to wrap up a dog who put a stick through her chest.
- Roll of leukotape: this shit *****. Sticks to anything, great for blisters, great on dirty crusty hunter skin, tough enough to wrap up a broken boot or patch a garment, great great great.
- or moleskin pads and a roll of Transpore 3m tape; also sticky and great but not as tough as leuko.
- Mylar blanket: because freezing to death in the great outdoors ain't great.
- 15-20ft of paracord preferably hiviz