Kit for an ICU Doc

[HKGuns]

Why don't you just put one together for her as a gift? Might be a fun project and be something she may appreciate and use at some point.

I've not found anything available that is better than the kit I assembled for my truck. Start with a good TQ, scissors and gloves and build from there.

My kit sits in the backpack I have permanently in my truck and is in this pouch.

https://www.vanquest.com/best-seller...zer-organizer/

[chuckman]

"We" always think about TQs because "we" think in terms of penetrating/perforating trauma. For general trauma 1st aid and for wilderness medicine, it's a tool to have but rarely a priority of care because P/P trauma isn't as common. For OOC in general and 'back country' certainly it's a balance between C-ABCDE and the probability matrix of events (injuries and illnesses). TQs are cheap and small, no reason to not have one or two, but also not a likely tool to need.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

HK and Chuck, that’s what I was thinking, but just don’t know what put in it. I agree on the TQs, but we are around guns so good to have a couple. Loooking at the kits, I see a lot of cleaning and wipes, and frankly, my thought was how to keep someone alive for 30min to a couple of hours- let the hospital juice them with miracle antibiotics to fix things. Gunshot wound, a nasty knife cut/stabbing, birthing a baby. Work a chest wound. Car accident where you might not be able to get the person out. Broken bones and burns- stabilize?
Retractors, clamps, couple of scalpels. Tubing?.
In her residency she was at one of the busiest ERs in the country, and I mention the ICU just because she isn’t just a pill pushing diagnostician - but yes, she isn’t a ER doc or a trauma surgeon- but she can use her hands and get medieval on things if needed.
But like I said, hard to get her to engage. Might use Father’s Day to get her to play along.
THX

[chuckman]

HK and Chuck, that’s what I was thinking, but just don’t know what put in it. I agree on the TQs, but we are around guns so good to have a couple. Loooking at the kits, I see a lot of cleaning and wipes, and frankly, my thought was how to keep someone alive for 30min to a couple of hours- let the hospital juice them with miracle antibiotics to fix things. Gunshot wound, a nasty knife cut/stabbing, birthing a baby. Work a chest wound. Car accident where you might not be able to get the person out. Broken bones and burns- stabilize?
Retractors, clamps, couple of scalpels. Tubing?.
In her residency she was at one of the busiest ERs in the country, and I mention the ICU just because she isn’t just a pill pushing diagnostician - but yes, she isn’t a ER doc or a trauma surgeon- but she can use her hands and get medieval on things if needed.
But like I said, hard to get her to engage. Might use Father’s Day to get her to play along.
THX

You can be a trauma surgeon, EM doc, 18D, PJ, or whatever...all the 'higher' speed stuff isn't worth a damn if you don't have the logistics to back it up: advanced airway; OK, but with what do you ventilate? Are you going to use room air (21% oxygen)?

The goal of OOH care is to keep the person alive, to which you alluded. The brilliance is in the basics. Catch a baby? Two clamps, scissors, blankies, bulb suction. Keeps someone's guts on the inside? ABD dressings, saran wrap, foil. Sick people--especially trauma--die from hypothermia, so some mylar blankets.

If you look in this kit, it's all basics: https://www.narescue.com/all-product...-kit-ecrk.html

If you want something more-than-basic, with her license she can buy IV solutions; always good for heat casualties, hypovolemia. A basic surgical airway kit (a 11 blade, a Trousseau dilator, a tracheal hook, and a 6.5 ETT--KISS applies here). A suture kit with lidocaine.

Basic splints for fractures. She can purchase epi pen for anaphylaxis. Basic meds like benadryl, zantac, a broad spectrum antibiotic for open wounds.

All that said, 99% of her effectiveness is in a basic kit + her knowledge.

[HKGuns]

I don't think telling you what is in my kit would be as useful. I'm not a Dr. and most of my kit is centered around first aid and is a combo medical / survival kit for a SHTF scenario.

I could ask my PA daughter and MD son in law what they would put in a vehicle kit, but I'd probably get 50 questions back because they'll both want to over analyze it.

My Kit:

TQ - Surgical scissors (Large & Small) - thin and heavy nitrile gloves - N95 Mask - Burn Free Burn ointment - Liquid bandage - Band aids of various size - tweezers - clot packs - Gauze - Anti-biotics - surgical tape - Advil - Signal Mirror - various small tools, including a mini socket kit - Emergency blankie.

The burn ointment has found the most use of the items in my kit.

I like Chuckster's idea of an EPI but don't have any allergies in my family so it probably isn't worth the bother for me.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

ABD dressings, saran wrap, foil.

Chef says what? Patients, not potatoes.

Thanks guys. Good stuff that I hope will move the conversation forward and get her to do it as a ‘Father’s Day present’, and I’ll buy the smoker I want myself.

[chuckman]

Chef says what? Patients, not potatoes.

Thanks guys. Good stuff that I hope will move the conversation forward and get her to do it as a ‘Father’s Day present’, and I’ll buy the smoker I want myself.

...and those two texts I mentioned. Even if she doesn't 'carry' a band aid, the wilderness med text and EM text will be a paradigm shift in how the professions approach OOH care and treatment; the wilderness med book times a million.