What Light In Your First Aid Kit?

[Cataract]

The only time I actually carry a first aid kit is when I'm hiking. In it is a rayovac sporstman extreme headlamp with 2 spare batteries and a mini crank light (powered by NiMh button cells, not lithiums that die when you don't crank for a while) and my EDC, usually Fenix LD15.

I do have a small first aid kit in the car, but so many flashlights around I never felt I had to put one inside it.

While it's a good thing to have a flashlight at hand, I just wonder how many responders have taken at least a basic course as how to apply first aid to the injured one may encounter?

I went thought first aid several times, not exactly by choice, but I had no objection.

 

[Philip2]

I keep a small first aid kit in my truck it hardly gets used and I keep bandaids in my wallet that get used frequently... As for light; I don't really leave lights in strategic places cause I always have at least two one me. I don't really find a need to keep lights in my tool bag, truck, etc cause they would never be used.

In emergencies often the planned equipment and procedures fail, for innumerous reasons. For example because you are panicking, your fingers are frozen, your house is on fire or flooded, you are heavily bleeding, your gear is stolen, your familiy is crying, etc.

So I think it is wise to store simple backup flashlights in your car, near your bed, front door, elektrical main switch and main water valve. You hope you wil never need them, but one day one of them may save your house, or the life of your child.

And emergency equipment is IMO of little use without regular inspection, maintenance, and training with all the family members.

 

[Philip2]

I don't carry a first aid kit, but there are a few bandaids in my wallet. In the car I have a small first aid kit, and in the glovebox are a headlamp, SF6P and Inova T3.

If someone is heavily bleeding, and there is no large first aid kit at hand, one needs IMO a piece of thin cord (and small scissors) to tie a piece of clothing around the wound.

 

[mhpreston]

Oh – thanks for the nostalgia kick! Depending on your skills, consider a disposable medical penlight, which is normally used to evaluate the pupillary reflex. You should not use a powerful LED for this, as you'd damage the casualty's eyes. They don't take up much space and can be used as a (feeble) general light if you are desperate. Disposable sounds wasteful, but if they get splashed or contaminated it doesn't mean you having to spend ages trying to disinfect them afterwards. I always kept one in my kit next to my clothing shears, forceps and tweezers.

Btw, have you seen the new Leatherman paramedic shears? They look like a 'must have' if you are serious about emergency care. Before disposable penlights became widely available, I got a Welch Allyn Professional PenLite (halogen bulb). It was pretty techie when I first got it and I can see from the web that they are still sold. A couple of years ago I dropped it on a rock somewhere and snapped the switch off (a bit of a design weakness, as the barrel is brass and virtually indestructible). WA replaced it for free – guaranteed for life, which I had forgotten about!

Apart from the ability to do pupil reactions, a headlamp is the light of choice in any emergency. You simply need both hands free to work and holding a pen in your mouth is a pain after a few minutes, plus you can't talk properly. I used to have Petzl lamps but there seems to be a wide choice of good ones, at all price points, one the market now. Hope this helps!

 

[Philip2]

My larger first aid kits come with lightsticks in them. I leave them as is for lights. If I am bleeding or someone else is, I don't want to get blood on my nice lights. I don't want a high power light being accidently turned on in the kit and melting or burning the contents. I don't want leaking batteries or battery fumes affecting the contents. I always have a flashlight or headlight nearby the first aid kit (or on me) but usually not in the kit. For hiking and backpacking, first aid contents are in a quart sized zip lock bag and separate from other survival supplies. However, next to that bag is a survival kit with a coin cell light and other essentials. In the same backpack pocket is usually a flashlight and headlight. The survival kit has about 5 bandaids, 5 alcohol prep pads, moleskin, and duct tape so I do have a flashlight with some first aid supplies, but not in the actual kit.

Lightsticks are useful for a number of survival applications, but for first aid they are IMO too dim.

So I would prefer to throw a dispensible 3 dollar flashlight in a FAK, as a backup light. That has more uses, and after use, you can clean it with alcohol, or give it to the patient. And you can tape it in a transparant plastic bag, to keep it clean and dry.

 

[Poppy]

You carry a basic First Aid Kit, right? What light is in it? Why did you choose that light?

I don't usually CARRY a first aid kit, but I do have one in my car, and my car is almost always near me.
In that kit, I have a $2.50 Rayovac 2 AA light and a Bayco headlamp.

Not a lot of thought went into this.
The Rayovac was chosen primarily due to price and it is a LOT better than nothing.
The Bayco has a spot mode, a flood mode, and a combination of both, runs on 3 AAAs and is less than $20.

In my car I have three 2 D cell rayovacs, a 3 AAA home depot cree 100 lm, a 2AA penlight, and a 22 inch traffic safety wand, and a red traffic difuser that'll fit one of the rayovacs.
Overall, they are inexpensive and can be handed to others and lost without any particular concern.

I have a hiking first aid kit. That one does not have a light. I'd be carrying one separately.

I put together one of those Altoid "Survival Tins"
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-a-mylar-bag&p=4206255&viewfull=1#post4206255

I have a Browning 4 button cell light in there.
Chosen for its small size, and replaceable batteries. It is supposed to get 8-10 hours run-time.
Originally I put a Thrunite Ti in there but replaced it for the smaller size Browning.

 

[mhpreston]

Lightsticks are useful for a number of survival applications, but for first aid they are IMO too dim.

Couldn't agree more. You need lots of white light to see what's happening to your casualty properly. It's very hard to manage someone who is very ill under red or blue light, for example.

 

[whiteoakjoe]

Old Maglite Solitaires, I just about pitched 3 of them because I did not see any use for them. But I put them in the medical kits with lithium batteries to have something in the kits. Seem to work ok for the type of lighting you would need to see something at close range and easy to pop in your mouth to use hands free.

 

[Philip2]

Old Maglite Solitaires, I just about pitched 3 of them because I did not see any use for them. But I put them in the medical kits with lithium batteries to have something in the kits. Seem to work ok for the type of lighting you would need to see something at close range and easy to pop in your mouth to use hands free.

For handsfree operation in a medical emergency, I would prefer a headlight or swivelhead flashlight, if that would fit in my EDC or first aid kit.

Because holding a flashlight between your lips can be unsafe or unhygienic if a patient is bleeding, sweating, vomiting, urinating, etc.

Or the emergency scene might be contaminated with hazardous chemicals, fumes or dust.

If you would fall with an aluminum light in your mouth, you could chip your teeth.

And in an emergency situation you often have to communicate a lot with the patient, bystanders, 911, family, etc.

I am not talking yet about emergencies with multiple patients, violence threats, traffic risks, extreme weather or even disaster conditions.

 

[arcadesdude]

Red "Black Cat" lights from China (dx.com) Single AAA clicky 100 lumen single mode lights. With eneloop battery. Cons: reverse clicky, banding in light (kind of like old mag lights) Pros: bright! Brighter than my Olight i3s eos. Simple use and cheap. I paid like $12 for ea. Also great cool white tint on them.

And at first I thought why does my kit need a light I have one on me. Then I remembered something from a youtube video that said you might not be the one using your first aid kit, it might be someone else and having that flashlight there to not only see in the dark but into the kit as well could be a big plus.

Sent from my ThL W8 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[flatline]

Small, cheap AA headlamps with a lithium primary cell in them. Same as what I keep in the car for tire changing.

--flatline

 

[whiteoakjoe]

For handsfree operation in a medical emergency, I would prefer a headlight or swivelhead flashlight, if that would fit in my EDC or first aid kit.

Because holding a flashlight between your lips can be unsafe or unhygienic if a patient is bleeding, sweating, vomiting, urinating, etc.

Or the emergency scene might be contaminated with hazardous chemicals, fumes or dust.

If you would fall with an aluminum light in your mouth, you could chip your teeth.

And in an emergency situation you often have to communicate a lot with the patient, bystanders, 911, family, etc.

I am not talking yet about emergencies with multiple patients, violence threats, traffic risks, extreme weather or even disaster conditions.

I agree but don't really have room in my kits, there just to small, I have one in the barn and one each on a tractor and ATV. and its not intended to be a Trauma Kit. Just a small med kit for one or 2 persons, for minor injuries. The little AAA lights fit, and gave me some light in there so it works for me. If one of my kids or wife is bleeding or sick, my hygiene means little to me...

 

[Poppy]

For handsfree operation in a medical emergency, I would prefer a headlight or swivelhead flashlight, if that would fit in my EDC or first aid kit.

Because holding a flashlight between your lips can be unsafe or unhygienic if a patient is bleeding, sweating, vomiting, urinating, etc.

Or the emergency scene might be contaminated with hazardous chemicals, fumes or dust.

If you would fall with an aluminum light in your mouth, you could chip your teeth.

And in an emergency situation you often have to communicate a lot with the patient, bystanders, 911, family, etc.

I am not talking yet about emergencies with multiple patients, violence threats, traffic risks, extreme weather or even disaster conditions.

Wow! lots of advice and comments from someone who doesn't know if a headlamp would fit into his first aid kit. Makes me wonder... does he even have a first aid kit?

Wasn't the OP's question... "What light do you carry in YOUR first aid kit?"

Yeah, I have a headlamp in one, and none in the other, but I like seeing what other people actually have in their's.

Personally whiteoakjoe, I think you put those old solitairs to good use with lithiums. Typically when they get used for first aid, they won't need a tremendous amount of run-time, and they don't take up much room.

 

[whiteoakjoe]

Thanks Poppy, I used those lights on keys for a long time and just never could throw them out once the i3's and i2's took their place. Was kind of nice to find a home for them.