hello, I am medic mark,ask me a question.

[medicmark]

I dont say this often, sod the regs. Lifting a severely bleeding lower leg or forearm will slow the bleeding down : fact. the aim is to stop the person bleeding to death and its as easy as this

get casualty on floor, get help rolling now.
gloves, eye protection as fast flowing blood in the eyes is bad news for all, and, if we are saying its severe it will be shooting out.
get limb elevated, pad applied and direct pressure on asap.
go to in direct pressure next
if still pissing out get tourniquet on and heamostatics.

all of this should be happening really fast, literally less than 4 mins if arterial bleeding.
if its obvious major spurting go straight for tourniquet/ cellox if appropriate.

splinting, let me just say if it was my arm broken and flopping about I would be pissed off to say the least, and leaving it flopping can easily make a closed fracture open, placing me at severe risk of injury to blood vessels/ nerves and tendons- limb and potential life threatening injury.

sorry my friends sod the regulations in both these points.

Mark. keep the questions going.

[medicmark]

Ok guys after a lot of thought and research heres a really good link for wound closure.

http://theprepperpages.com/have-a-wound ... g-staples/

as said previously- disclaimer I take nil responsibility for your actions or omissions, just giving you information for a SHTF situation.
thanks Mark

[Yorkshire Andy]

Ok guys after a lot of thought and research heres a really good link for wound closure.

http://theprepperpages.com/have-a-wound ... g-staples/

as said previously- disclaimer I take nil responsibility for your actions or omissions, just giving you information for a SHTF situation.
thanks Mark

Ohh staples the nursing practitioner has a hissy fit when she handed me the removal tool to them "Ohh so I take them out myself!?"

At which point she snatched them back....

Quick as a flash I came back with "its OK I'll use these " producing leather man pliers out my trouser pocket (was at work and smashed shin onto steel spliting it )

At which point 2 normal nurses who I'd be having a laugh with whilst they cleaned me up creased up laughing. Along with a Dr who was loitering who had already explained the task and the need to have them taken out by my health centre after a couple of weeks dressing changes et all

She was not amused in the slightest as she gave the tool to the Dr as she stomped off she must have had a bad day

[SooBee]

Sounds human to me! Hope you feel a bit more together now.

[sethorly]

Mark - serious (if topical) question - what's the best thing to carry as an EDC to cope with vehicle-caused injuries? We don't often talk about blunt crushing injuries.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Mark - serious (if topical) question - what's the best thing to carry as an EDC to cope with vehicle-caused injuries? We don't often talk about blunt crushing injuries.

A decent standard first aid kit and plenty of foil blankets....

Wide micropore tape I've seen advised to hold heads still against car head rests one forehead one chin (advisable mark?)



Not much can be done to crush injuries at first aid level other than treatment for shock keep warm and try not to move them as it could worsen internal bleeding ( obviously airway breathing take president)

http://www.trafficaccidentadvice.co.uk/ ... ident.html

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/9 ... aid-tips#5


But before going near a car accident DO NOT BECOME A CASUALTY! Park your car in a fend off position use hazard warning lights / strobe lights / warning triangles,, wear high vis clothing


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/90073/firs ... pictures#5

http://members.stjohnwales.org.uk/asset ... idance.pdf

[medicmark]

Yorkshire Andy has it spot on.. dealing with rtc's is extremely dangerous.. think simply protect mr first, then the scene then casualty.

In rtc's where blunt trauma is the cause of injury theres not a lot you can do at first aid level really, the only exception to this is if the casualty has been removed for safety as the vehicle is unsafe due to fire/chemical/ falling or being swept away.
Simple things I keep in my kit are luggage straps around 4 inches wide, I can use them as cas straps for fractures and can use them with a small blanket I carry to improvise a pelvic splint.

Injuries such as the pneumothorax or tension pneumo can be treated in the field pretty easily, However the risks if you get it wrong, basically the casualty dies.
IT IS a PARAMEDIC skill to decompress a chest, but in a you are it , theres no hospital/help arriving you need to think carefully, is my intervention going to help?, is there any back up from other medics/doctors/nurses near by i.e is my treatment it or is there a definitive care level available?
blunt trauma to the chest is not good in a non shtf situation, and more often than not requires surgical intervention, in our situation can we scan their chest? are we skilled to do thoracostamies or place a chest drain? do we have any blood available to transfuse?.

this leads me on to my next question for you all,

WHAT IS YOUR MEDICAL PLAN, WHATS YOUR LEVEL OF CARE PROVIDED AND FOR HOW LONG?
I will love to hear your ideas.

Mark

[ParamedicPrepper]

Yorkshire Andy has it spot on.. dealing with rtc's is extremely dangerous.. think simply protect mr first, then the scene then casualty.

In rtc's where blunt trauma is the cause of injury theres not a lot you can do at first aid level really, the only exception to this is if the casualty has been removed for safety as the vehicle is unsafe due to fire/chemical/ falling or being swept away.
Simple things I keep in my kit are luggage straps around 4 inches wide, I can use them as cas straps for fractures and can use them with a small blanket I carry to improvise a pelvic splint.

Injuries such as the pneumothorax or tension pneumo can be treated in the field pretty easily, However the risks if you get it wrong, basically the casualty dies.
IT IS a PARAMEDIC skill to decompress a chest, but in a you are it , theres no hospital/help arriving you need to think carefully, is my intervention going to help?, is there any back up from other medics/doctors/nurses near by i.e is my treatment it or is there a definitive care level available?
blunt trauma to the chest is not good in a non shtf situation, and more often than not requires surgical intervention, in our situation can we scan their chest? are we skilled to do thoracostamies or place a chest drain? do we have any blood available to transfuse?.

this leads me on to my next question for you all,

WHAT IS YOUR MEDICAL PLAN, WHATS YOUR LEVEL OF CARE PROVIDED AND FOR HOW LONG?
I will love to hear your ideas.

Mark

Hi MedicMark

May I add here the hardest bit is spotting the injuries with blunt trauma and the tell tale signs to look for. Training and experience will tell you if someone's tensioning, decompressing being the easy part of the skill. Spotting the signs and knowing when to do it is the hard bit if you have never seen before I'm sure you would agree. Blunt trauma generally leaves you with a patient who looks relatively intact with not much in the way of signs to go on if you don't no what to look for. In SHTF people will have to be prepared to move on and make the decision of nothing I can do will help here

[sethorly]

Thanks chaps.

[medicmark]

you are so true Paramedic prepper, in my time with the medical team I have been out to some sights, like yourself, rtc with little damage and they are dead, major vehicular intrusion and they have walked away.
As you correctly say and I keep pushing people to reflect, when SHTF can you keep them alive or do you make comfortable and move on.
Mark.