First Aid Gear List For Activists

by LA Activist Doc Friday, Mar. 21, 2003 at 8:05 AM

This is a list that you can use to help put together a good first aid kit for the streets. No one carries all of this - pick and choose those items that make sense to you, and match your skill level.

This is a list that you can use to help put together a good first aid kit for the streets. No one carries all of this - pick and choose those items that make sense to you, and match your skill level.


http://www.blackcrosscollective.org/gear.txt

Packing Your First Aid Kit
We've organized this list into 2 rough sections- things we believe most people will want to have in a complete kit in the first section and extras in the second section. We like the extras, and various ones of us carry more or less from the second list depending on the specific action (ie is it raining or snowing, is it 100 degrees outside), how much room we have in our pack, and finally what we both have experience using and have access to. Things like epi-pen and several of the herbs in the second section will only be useful if you can not only get them but also use them responsibly.
Finally give some though to your pack- both the pack itself (most of us use shoulder bags as they afford quicker and easier access on the fly) and how it's packed. What do you want on the outside for easy access? what needs to be kept dry? what things do you often or always use together so should be kept together? We all change our packs and how they're packed around a lot before we find the combination that works for us.

The Basics:
Water- preferably in a sport- top bottle
Non-latex gloves
Gauze - sterile and non-sterile 4x4's - have some of each
Maalox mixed 1:1 with water in a squrt-top bottle
Band-Aids (S, M, L, knockle, etc.)
Antiseptic wash (like witch hazel or iodine)
Paper tape
Arnica (homeopathic)
Rescue remedy
Pen and paper
Watch
Emergen-C powder or other re-hydration drink mix
Paper bag (for hyperventilation)
Sun screen (alcohol based)
Mineral (or other) oil and alcohol (only if you fully understand how to use them!)
Energy bars
Bandana (in a ziplock, soaked in apple cider vinegar)
Safety pin or 2

The extras (remember no one carries all of this so pick and choose- they're not listed in the order of importance)
Sam splint
Ace bandage
Cake icing tube (diabetic emergencies)
Benadryl
Calendula/st. john's wort/arnica topical salve
Apis (homeopathic for bee stings & allergy)
Skull cap/lavender tincture 1:1
Asthma inhaler
Epi-pen (epinephrine, for anaphylaxis)
Tampons (good for nose bleeds too)
Topical antibiotic ointment
Space blanket
Clean t-shirt sealed in a bag
Extra plastic bags
Bandage scissors
EMT shears
Chinese burn salve
Tongue depressors (for splinting fingers)
Flash light/pen light
Mole skin
Matches
Goggles
Ice pack(s)/heat pack(s)
CPR face shield
Cloth sling
Eriogonum cinnamon tincture (to help stop bleeding)
Yunnan Pai Yao (Chinese remedy for serious bleeding)
Charcoal tablets (for GI upset & topically for inflammation, stings)


www.blackcrosscollective.org/geardownload.html