First Aid Kit to support Instructors

[Khaled Alwassia]

Hi,
I am a newly qualified OWI and am in the process of preparing my own First Aid Kit.
I do have the obligatory O2 Kit, items sorced from DAN.
But now the actual First Aid Kit is causing me some confusion.
Shall I assemble the kit only with items I am authorised / capable to use or for the posibility that a nurse or even better a doctor is present. That does happen quit often, and we are not having the benefit off an efficient paramedic service.

My own qualifications are:
1. Dive Leader / OWI
2. Padi Rescue Diver / Dive Master
3. Padi Medic First AID
4. Padi Emergency First Responder + updates
5. DAN O2 Provider
6. DAN First AId for Hazadours Mariene Life
7. DAN Advanced O2 Provider - Planned for next week
8. DAN Automated External Defibrillators for Scuba Diving
9. DAN REMO

Any lists, suggestions, web links are highly appreciated.

Safe Diveing

Khaled

[Martin]

Khaled,

If your going to carry it, then you should probably know how to use it, and how to look after it. In terms of diving, the O2 kit you already have is probably the most important thing. AFter that, a variety of dressings of various sizes, some tape to stick them down with/some bandages incase you need to apply a lotof compression. A litre or so of bottled water, and some 'oral rehydration solution' mix to put in it is important, as is a space blanket, A set of safety shears is a very useful addition for removing clothing and cutting dressings.

Do some calculations for your O2 kit - A small cylinder is good for maybe 20mins on the surface with a reasonably calm casualty. You should work out your likely time from dive site to further aid and have enough O2 for the whole journey.

An AED, as I note you are qualified to use, is a very expensive item which requires some maintenance and attention regularly. If you are minded to do that, then it may be a worthwhile acquisition, but bear in mind that they are very expensive.

After that, make sure you attend BLS updates/refreshers on a regular basis. If you work in a hospital, they make you attend every year. And these are folk who are potentially being involved in the real thing in the intervening period.

Any other additions should probably be specific to the specific hazards in your diving area, perhaps including marine life, but you should investigate local policy on these matters.

--
M



Hi,
I am a newly qualified OWI and am in the process of preparing my own First Aid Kit.
I do have the obligatory O2 Kit, items sorced from DAN.
But now the actual First Aid Kit is causing me some confusion.
Shall I assemble the kit only with items I am authorised / capable to use or for the posibility that a nurse or even better a doctor is present. That does happen quit often, and we are not having the benefit off an efficient paramedic service.

My own qualifications are:
1. Dive Leader / OWI
2. Padi Rescue Diver / Dive Master
3. Padi Medic First AID
4. Padi Emergency First Responder + updates
5. DAN O2 Provider
6. DAN First AId for Hazadours Mariene Life
7. DAN Advanced O2 Provider - Planned for next week
8. DAN Automated External Defibrillators for Scuba Diving
9. DAN REMO

Any lists, suggestions, web links are highly appreciated.

Safe Diveing

Khaled

[W P Griffiths]

A first aid kit is as it says "First Aid", therefore you should only source the items that you are actually have trained to use.

For day to day scrapes and cuts I suggest plenty waterproof plasters, dressings, tape and wound cleaning equipment.

[Nevil Adkins]

Hi,
I am a newly qualified OWI and am in the process of preparing my own First Aid Kit.
I do have the obligatory O2 Kit, items sorced from DAN.
But now the actual First Aid Kit is causing me some confusion.
Shall I assemble the kit only with items I am authorised / capable to use or for the posibility that a nurse or even better a doctor is present. That does happen quit often, and we are not having the benefit off an efficient paramedic service.


Khaled,
I think that you need to take the 'big picture' approach. From your previous postings, I know that you are based somewhere in the Middle East,as I was for quite some time. I therefore know that unlike in Britain where an ambulance is rarely more than a phone call and a few minutes away, you may be diving in some areas in which you need to be much more self reliant. It is therefore a good idea to do some scenario plans and work out what you would need to recover the situation. My guess would be that organisation, communication and transport issues will far outweigh the equipment issues of how many bandages you need to put into a box. Let's face it, having oxygen kits, defibrillators, doctors, nurses, etc. is not going to do a casualty much good if you are diving an hour from the nearest harbour, which is a further hour from the nearest hospital, your boat engine won't start because the kill cord clip got broken in the haste to get going and you left your mobile phone in your jeans pocket in the back of your car.

Having got the basics sorted out, try running the whole scenario. We regularly do our diver training where we lift a casualty to the surface, tow and AV to the boat, dekit and land them and all of a sudden they wake up. How often to we run it all the way through when we have to recall divers who are still under, drive the boat 10-15 minutes whilst still maintaining CPR, land the casualty onto the beach, remove them to the car park to await the ambulance and only then stop the exercise? When I used to teach PRM courses in Oman we would finish the day with a big exercise that went "all the way" and and it was always very illuminating.

Having made your plans and tested them a few times in scenarios, then revisit the first aid kit problem. For example, you may find that a folding stretcher to assist casualty evacuation may be more useful than an AED, and at a fraction of the cost.

Finally, you may want to think about a medical kit as well as a first aid kit. A first aid kit is designed for urgent situations whereas a medical kit can include items such as diarrhea treatments, rehydration salts, aftersun cream, paracetamol tablets, antihistamines, etc. for treating those minor irritations associated with camping/boating/diving far from the madding crowd.

Regards
Nevil Adkins

[Khaled Alwassia]

Hi Nevil,
thanks for your reply I will have a look at the "big" picture once more. In the mean time can you recommend a base list with which i can start my First Aid Kit.
I was not able to find any recomendations on the BSAC, DAN or diveinstruct websites. But then again I am not really internet savy.

Regards

Khaled

[janos]

I was not able to find any recomendations on the BSAC, DAN or diveinstruct websites. But then again I am not really internet savy.

Have a look at www.stjohnsupplies.co.uk

They do prepacked first aid kits. They may be a bit far from you and I'm sure you will get the bits and bobs cheaper in the ME. However they list the contents of their first aid kits.

I think the point about you needing to have a thorough assessment of what is needed is a very good one.

Laters,
Janos

[will swift]

Hi,
I am a newly qualified OWI and am in the process of preparing my own First Aid Kit.
I do have the obligatory O2 Kit, items sorced from DAN.
But now the actual First Aid Kit is causing me some confusion.
Shall I assemble the kit only with items I am authorised / capable to use or for the posibility that a nurse or even better a doctor is present. That does happen quit often, and we are not having the benefit off an efficient paramedic service.

My own qualifications are:
1. Dive Leader / OWI
2. Padi Rescue Diver / Dive Master
3. Padi Medic First AID
4. Padi Emergency First Responder + updates
5. DAN O2 Provider
6. DAN First AId for Hazadours Mariene Life
7. DAN Advanced O2 Provider - Planned for next week
8. DAN Automated External Defibrillators for Scuba Diving
9. DAN REMO

Any lists, suggestions, web links are highly appreciated.

Safe Diveing

Khaled


Plasters
Eye Pads
Triangular Bandages
Safety Pins
Large and Medium dressings
Alcohol free wipes
Latex Gloves
Adhesive Tape
Scissors
Space Blanket
Water
CPR barriers
First Aid Manual

I also throw in some VetWrap which is a type of self adhesive crepe bandage that vets use - I can get it cheap and is also useful when you need to bandage yourself after DIY.

Hope that helps a bit.
Wills.