On 10/18/2014 12:41 PM, Deacon Patrick wrote:
Glad everyone is well! Anne is spot on: knowledge and level headedness
trumps kit every time. My first aid kit contains:
-- bandana (also used for a slew of other things, I've yet to use it
for first aid in a real situation
-- pocket knife
-- Pipe ashes or pine needle dust with spit for disinfectant and
coagulant. My daughters have been knows to come to me and say
"Emergency pipe time, Papa!" for whatever scrape they have (nothing
serious yet). Spit in the ashes, mix, apply. Stings like crazy then
good as new. (not for use with free flowing or gashed open trauma --
for those it's compression and bandage and get to aid.
-- Trees and shrubs make ready splints and tourniquets combined with a
bandana or two.
The reality is that unless you carry a trauma ambulance with you, the
best you can do is triage until the trauma ambulance arrives. It
really doesn't take much more than knowledge to accomplish that. I've
had wilderness medical training to whatever the level below EMT is
(20+ years ago). Everything I learned to do can be done with the above
supplies and creativity.
You are right: prevention is your biggest and best defense. Learn how
to use a hatchet or axe safely. Always be aware of where momentum and
ricochet will take the blade if you miss, and don't have any living
thing in that path. Take a quality course in bushcraft to learn if you
need to (or there are plenty of YouTube videos out there).
Simple and easy is the best course 99.9% of the time. People like Bret
Bear make a living focusing on the .1% and going way more complicated
than is necessary. Lost in the woods? Find a stream, head down hill.
Carry a signal mirror. Easy peasy.
And step zero: ask yourself what the **** you are doing carrying a
hatchet on a bike ride anyway. If you don't have a hatchet you can't
maim yourself with the hatchet. Some toys are best left at home.
Seriously, what do you need with a hatchet on a bike ride?
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