Alpine (rock) first aid kit?

I’m putting together an alpine first aid kit. I want to keep it somewhat light, and pack life saving supplies. Not things like band aids, tweezers, advil, etc. I want supplies that could be the difference between my partner or I living if something goes wrong. Like a tourniquet and emergency blanket. 

What other supplies should I include? Any specific brands of tourniquets or blankets I should look into? Thanks in advance. 

CAT tourniquet, SAM splint, and an emergency bivy bag are my usual kit. A small package of hemostatic packing guaze can also be a good idea for packing torso/groin wounds. Space blankets are terrible compared to emergency bivy bags, which only take up 2x the space for no extra weight. 

hockey tape.  if you have trekking poles wrap a generous amount of duct tape around them as well.  mini bivy sack if weather and terrain  merit. same thing with mini foam pad.  Hockey tape is #1 

James Fulton wrote:

I’m putting together an alpine first aid kit. I want to keep it somewhat light, and pack life saving supplies. Not things like band aids, tweezers, advil, etc. I want supplies that could be the difference between my partner or I living if something goes wrong. Like a tourniquet and emergency blanket. 

What other supplies should I include? Any specific brands of tourniquets or blankets I should look into? Thanks in advance. 

I agree that keeping it simple is good, but the best KISS first aid is a roll of tape.  Once you decide to carry purpose speciffic first aid it makes sense to bring things you could use every time in the alpine, even if just as back-up.   Advil is the most used item in my alpine first aid kit, and I would call it mandatory.  I always throw in some chemical handwarmers, tape, an E-bivy, and some potable-aqua tabs. Caffeine tablets and Benadryl can both make a big difference.  

You may not consider these life saving, but I consider most to be pretty important.  You are far more likely to get cold, and suffer from altitude than break your leg in the Alpine.  If your going to take the weight hit to bring extra stuff it makes the most sense to bring things you are going to need often. 

stash one of those UL, water proof first aid kits in the pack, add a Sam splint if you’re really paranoid about a break or frax (most likely you can make a splint out of other items you have on you (trekking poles, voila straps)) 

Then I keep a little oh shit kit with an extra knife, batteries, pen, and excedrin tabs & tape.

Saran wrap will make a ghetto occlusive dressing

Tourniquets are not generally needed, besides most people don’t know to use them properly and when used properly often will lead to loss of that limb. Quick clot dressing and holding pressure will work better for most things. A small tube of super glue will field repair most lacerations, avulsion or flaps (it’s why it bonds skin instantly and was used in WW I&II, medic kits). Acetaminophen and ibuprofen or naproxen, anti-diarrhea, anti-nausea pills (the weight to usefulness ratio outranks most things). Small knife/needle/tweezers may not seem important until you have a tiny thorn/barb being enflamed or infected in your hand. Some betadine and alcohol wipes are also useful. You could pack an ace wrap, but like the tourniquet it just takes up room, people use them improperly and if really needed can be improvised with gear/ clothes you would already have.

So really the super glue and pills are my must haves, along with the disinfecting alcohol and betadine wipes. Small needle and tweezers, I always have a knife.

Keep it simple and don’t take anything you don’t know exactly how and when to use it.

Tourniquets and SAM splints are pretty damn easy to improvise. Falling trees alone in the woods with that shiny new Stihl? Yes, tourniquet. In the alpine, especially with a partner? The NOLS WEMT in me would never allow it.

I agree with others that medication is actually super high value, probably the single highest. You aren't improvising a tab of oxycodone that will allow you to crawl to a place for the airship to winch you out. Caffeine, zofran, benadryl, sugar (if you're with a diabetic), these are a few of my favorite things. After that, high quality tape, super glue (you can get single dose, medical grade glass tinctures online if you look a little), a couple clotting bandages. All that adds up to like 6oz, the same as just a designed tourniquet and SAM splint.

Knowledge and practice/skill is way more important than stuff in a bag anyway. But that goes without saying?

If I could only keep 2 things out of my alpine FAK- my WEMT course laminated cheat sheet and a couple single wrapped oxycodone. 100%

Wilderness First Responder training should be strongly considered for any alpinist.  Having a partner with a bad injury sucks a lot less when you know what you can and can't do. 

Something not mentioned yet, gauze for packing wounds and steri-strips for closing them.  Very compact and useful.  

Take a WFR class. Then you will know what to pack, and more importantly, what to do.

What is the benadryl for?  Super glue is great.  The medical stuff dosen't work as well as the industrial stuff but it was not invented until Việt Nam.  

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

What is the benadryl for?  Super glue is great.  The medical stuff dosen't work as well as the industrial stuff but it was not invented until Việt Nam.  

Treating an Anaphylactic reaction.

Ryan M wrote:

Treating an Anaphylactic reaction.

True with caveats. You'll probably have a very hard time stopping a severe anaphylactic response with oral benadryl. But if you're fast you might have a shot at keeping an airway open for mild-moderate anaphylaxis in pts with known allergies. Or you might administer it to someone with a sting or other exposure who's showing signs of a new or modified allergic response. Basically, people can develop allergies to bees or peanuts as adults and benadryl can be at least therapeutic, if not a life saving treatment.

There’s some old info out there about tourniquets. You have more like 6 hours before things start getting complicated. They can be applied to help get things under control and then you can wait a bit and try to loosen and see what happens…very situational. But after about 6 hours damage and toxins start building up in the limb to where it should only come off at the hospital.

And, if the bleeding is tourniquet level severe, well, your lower leg or whatever won’t matter at all if you don’t apply it…

Anyway…small, light weight, low cost item. Probably won’t need it, but if you do, it will save someone’s life. Improvising them is possible, but the purpose built ones are easy and reliable when seconds matter.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

What is the benadryl for?  

I find when my body gets run down from a long day in the alpine my allergies can go haywire. They also will knock me out for a time on a bivy.

Nick Goldsmith wrote:

hockey tape.  if you have trekking poles wrap a generous amount of duct tape around them as well.  mini bivy sack if weather and terrain  merit. same thing with mini foam pad.  Hockey tape is #1 

I like to put gorilla tape and climbing tape on 500ml Nalgene and disposable plastic bottles.  I agree a small foam butt pad would be priceless in a forced bivy and weighs next to nothing.  

And people can have allergies to pain medication so it’s not only good to have options but also to make sure people are aware. 

You got me to follow through on [Alpine Savvy's suggestion of a PDF on your phone]( alpinesavvy.com/blog/carry-…) . It looks like a typical WFR manual, so if you've got one you're happy with then I suggest taking that.

Andy Shoemaker wrote:

Tourniquets and SAM splints are pretty damn easy to improvise. Falling trees alone in the woods with that shiny new Stihl? Yes, tourniquet. In the alpine, especially with a partner? The NOLS WEMT in me would never allow it.

I agree with others that medication is actually super high value, probably the single highest. You aren't improvising a tab of oxycodone that will allow you to crawl to a place for the airship to winch you out. Caffeine, zofran, benadryl, sugar (if you're with a diabetic), these are a few of my favorite things. After that, high quality tape, super glue (you can get single dose, medical grade glass tinctures online if you look a little), a couple clotting bandages. All that adds up to like 6oz, the same as just a designed tourniquet and SAM splint.

Knowledge and practice/skill is way more important than stuff in a bag anyway. But that goes without saying?

If I could only keep 2 things out of my alpine FAK- my WEMT course laminated cheat sheet and a couple single wrapped oxycodone. 100%

I am an RN and a paramedic and former EMT and paramedic instructor. I also teach Stop the Bleed. I have to disagree that tourniquets are easy to improvise. Unless you know what you are doing and practice regularly, you can easily make things worse. A CAT 7 tourniquet weighs 90 grams and is inexpensive, as well as easy and fast to apply.

 I am an RN and a paramedic and former EMT and paramedic instructor. I also teach Stop the Bleed. I have to disagree that tourniquets are easy to improvise. Unless you know what you are doing and practice regularly, you can easily make things worse. A CAT 7 tourniquet weighs 90 grams and is inexpensive, as well as easy and fast to apply.

AEMT and ED RN, yes tourniquets are easy to apply and can save a life. However the circumstances in which to use one is not so easily recognized. Just like the traction splint for a femur fracture, when it happens and it’s the right circumstances that splint is priceless, but the right circumstances are very rare. For those untrained in emergency medicine it’s best to apply pressure, and or use a pressure dressing before going with a tourniquet. I agree they are priceless to have when needed, but someone trying to put together a basic first aid kit should probably use the weight and space for other items that are in their medical experience wheelhouse. 

Benadryl is very old antihistamine and the better advice would be to go with one of the newer generation meds like Allegra which will have less effect on the patient’s ability to stay conscious. Benadryl in the oral form is not more effective than the next gen antihistamines.

I disagree with Blake. Life threatening bleeding is not hard to learn to identify and it’s better to apply the TQ than not have one. There’s decent research showing that improvised tourniquets are far less effective than purpose made like a CAT, indicating that improvisation is more difficult than folks believe.

My first aid kits usually have a TQ, and bleeding control supplies, Allegra, Tylenol and ibuprofen, a couple aspirin (can buy time with a heart attack), a roll of athletic tape, and precut strips of Leuko tape for blistering. It’s less than 8oz. The bleeding control is something to consider heavily if your climbing involves a lot of sharp objects like axes, crampons, screws and such. Splints can be improvised easily with a little thought and historically I find SAM splints to not be worth the weight and bulk. I usually carry my one kit and insist that my partners have one as well. Things happen in accidents, and kits can be destroyed or resources need to be pooled to take care of things  

Training matters more than anything. It also requires practice that most people don’t want to put in but it matters when things go wrong. Just having a kit won’t do much if you’ve never had to work through what to do with it.

There are mental components that are part of the “kit.” Knowing what the evacuation routes will be, what the area rescue resources are, what kind of hospitals are accessible, etc. This stuff matters if things go wrong.

It seems like we are flexing credentials as an appeal to authority in these posts so here’s mine…I’m a flight nurse, former ER nurse,11 years as a professional ski patroller, and 10 years teaching outdoor emergency care. 

NateC, the use of a tourniquet is a last resort option, when bleeding cannot be controlled with direct pressure, bandages, or clotting agents. Sure you carry one, but you have the knowledge and experience to use it if and when it’s warranted. I just don’t feel comfortable telling people whom I don’t know their medical training or background to start carrying a tourniquet in case there is bleeding. Just like I wouldn’t tell them to carry an epi pen for allergies or IM/IV analgesics for pain even though those are far superior routes for administering emergency medications.   

Blake Jorgensen wrote:

NateC, the use of a tourniquet is a last resort option, when bleeding cannot be controlled with direct pressure, bandages, or clotting agents. Sure you carry one, but you have the knowledge and experience to use it if and when it’s warranted. I just don’t feel comfortable telling people whom I don’t know their medical training or background to start carrying a tourniquet in case there is bleeding. Just like I wouldn’t tell them to carry an epi pen for allergies or IM/IV analgesics for pain even though those are far superior routes for administering emergency medications.   

It's not that hard to identify. If it's spurting, it's arterial and a potential problem. A Stop the Bleed class is usually free and lasts around an hour or two and can be helpful for those with no training.