Phil (ascentale)Mar 20

@bobjonkman asks:

Q6. What should a cycling first aid kit contain? Anything special not found in other first aid kits? What about a first aid kit for group ride organizers?

P.S. Photos of your first aid kit encouraged!

#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite

Show threadAI6YR BenMar 21

@ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

#BikeNite A6.

Various gauze
Various bandaids
Self adhesive bandages
Triangle bandage (good for broken clavicles)
Nitrile gloves
Kerlix
Gultose (for treating a diabetic emergency)
Elecrolytes for mixing into water
not shown: benadryl (just added thanks to BikeNite)
Hand sanitizer

#FirstAidKit

Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

wth dude, where's the tourniquet??

Show threadAI6YR BenMar 21
@MsMerope @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite Hmm... Yeah, don't have one. Maybe useful bicycling. I do have a few tubes on one of the bikes I could use to improvise one?
Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

depends on how stretchy the tubes are.
you may be twisting until your face turns blue before you stop the blood flow.

Show thread✨buff dog himbo✨Mar 21

@MsMerope @ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite if you have a handkerchief/cloth strip & you have a long thin object like a pen you can improvise a tourniquet by tying one lace somewhat loose upstream of the bleeding & then using the pen to spin in a small loop in the cloth until it is tight enough to limit bloodflow, which is REALLY tight. It will of course come loose if you let it go so it needs to be either held in place by hand or fastened with the second cloth.

Edited for bad info.

Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@itsmeholland @ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

improvised tourniquets should be ~1.5 - 2 inches wide. with a thinner material you run the risk of digging into the skin or as we call it "cheese slicering" the limb. Likewise the windlass should be at least an inch in width of sturdy material that will not break under the strain.

The American College of Surgeons - the STOP THE BLEED® people - do not recommend the use of improvised tourniquets unless one has been trained in their use.

Yes, I am a StB instructor.

Show thread✨buff dog himbo✨
@MsMerope @ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite OK my bad, I'll amend my post to avoid bad info. Forgot the cheesecutter possibility with shoelaces! Sorry y'all! I had CPR training a while back so I'm not a medic or anything like that but yeah improvised tourniquets are never good unless you have literally no other option.
Mar 21 at 5:19amTusky
Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@itsmeholland @ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

the last time we had a training with a trauma surgeon [pre covid so it was awhile back] he was telling us that vascular surgery has come so far now that a tourniquet can be left in place for 6-8 hours without losing function in the distal portion of the limb.

Show threadAI6YR BenMar 21
@MsMerope @itsmeholland @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite Yeah, the training and the book we teach has changed as a result of that. Though it is amusing they have a lot of diagrams about how to write the time on someone's head with a piece of tape. 🤔
Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@ai6yr @itsmeholland @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

not that the person would be diaphoretic or anything.

CATs come with a little velcro dohicky to secure the windlass that has a place for the time to be written. We teach put a T on the person's forehead. In simple terms: most tourniquets are black, people wear a lot of black clothes and a tourniquet might be missed.

[In our lay classes we don't teach "expose"]

Show thread✨buff dog himbo✨Mar 21
@ai6yr @MsMerope @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite oh yeah I figure a medical team could readily do that. This is just what they told us in the CPR & first aid class I took a while back regarding improvised tourniquets which of course... are not a go-to option unless someone is clearly dying right there. It's a shame to think of someone losing a limb from a crappy emergency tourniquet when they could keep the limb with proper medicine but it did convey the gravity of the situation.
Show threadDavid DunhamMar 21
@itsmeholland @ai6yr @MsMerope @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite I took a “Stop the Bleed” course about a month ago. We learned how to use a commercial tourniquet, but were discouraged from improvising.
Show threadMsMeropeMar 21

@itsmeholland @ai6yr @ascentale @bobjonkman @bikenite

he was a UC Davis trauma dude, at a level 1 trauma facility so his skills were probably tops in the field.

........Or he was the bumbling boob they wanted to get rid of for an afternoon.🤔