First Aid kit - expiration of items?

I have a First Aid kit on board, bought 7 years ago as an 'approved'
offshore kit (though I can't remember under what regulations). I have never
used anything from it and I was wondering what sort of things in it may have
gone off and need replacing. can anyone help?
--
Duncan Heenan
(Speaking personally)

Duncan Heenan wrote:

> I have a First Aid kit on board, bought 7 years ago as an 'approved'
> offshore kit (though I can't remember under what regulations). I have
> never used anything from it and I was wondering what sort of things in it
> may have gone off and need replacing. can anyone help?

It might contain various pills. Apart from that, I suppose sticky tape
could gum up, or there might be some worry that sterile packaging
could have become compromised with age.

Open it up, take out anything dangerous, and give it to the grandkids
so they can play doctors and nurses. And treat yourself to a new one.

Duncan Heenan wrote:

> I have a First Aid kit on board, bought 7 years ago as an 'approved'
> offshore kit (though I can't remember under what regulations). I have
> never used anything from it and I was wondering what sort of things in it
> may have gone off and need replacing. can anyone help?

I find these ready made kits are a generally a bit inadequate.

Elasotplasts are useful (they do go out of date IME) but some nice big
bandages, such as meolin and the tape to go with them, don't go amiss.

The blister packaging on seasickness tablets seems to age as well.

On Mon, 05 May 2008 16:17:37 +0100, Tony of Judicious
<tony@deletethis.thoward.plus.com> wrote:

>Duncan Heenan wrote:
>
>> I have a First Aid kit on board, bought 7 years ago as an 'approved'
>> offshore kit (though I can't remember under what regulations). I have
>> never used anything from it and I was wondering what sort of things in it
>> may have gone off and need replacing. can anyone help?
>
>I find these ready made kits are a generally a bit inadequate.
>
>Elasotplasts are useful (they do go out of date IME) but some nice big
>bandages, such as meolin and the tape to go with them, don't go amiss.
>
>The blister packaging on seasickness tablets seems to age as well.

You should remove it firsts before ingesting :)
--

Martin

Martyn H, in article <91f2358b-dccf-4930-8cee-6d21efc45d1c@
34g2000hsh..com>, says...

>
>DO NOT REMOVE A FOREIGN BODY FROM A WOUND

That's what I was taught many years ago in my first-aid
course. The first instinct should be to never remove anything
from a wound, since it might be the object that is stopping a
real nasty blood-flow. If you must apply a dressing, use a
ring bandage (made from a sling to look like a doughnut) and
apply it round the wound to it presses the flesh towards the
object if anything.

Of course, if it is a splinter of something of similar size,
then it is unlikely to cause further problems removing the
object.

If the object is preventing movement of the casualty, like
it's part of the boat, then you should look at cutting the
boat away from the person, leaving what is plugging the wound
to continue to do its job.

One shortage in the average First-aid kit is plenty of
bandages of sling-size. These can be used for all smaller
tasks whereas a small bandage, typical of kits, can never be
made larger

--
JohnW.
Replace the obvious with co.uk in 2 places to mail me.

On 5 May, 12:08, Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:

> I recall a recommendation to refill by purchasing items separately using a list
> made by a doctor.

That'll be two bottles of aspirin and a pad of sicknotes, then.

Ian

On 6 May, 13:29, Martyn H <Martyn.Hod...@> wrote:
> On May 6, 2:34 am, Nick Temple-Fry <N...@Temple-Fry.COmpletely.UnKnown> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > Well I'd suggest a bit of wound glue (first aid in any boots),
>
> wound closure is a 'surgical' procedure to be undertaken by trained ,
> registered Health Professionals not the average yottie in Uk coastal
> waters

Why do Boots sell it, then? And what difference does registration
make?

Ian

Nick Temple-Fry <Nick@Temple-Fry.COmpletely.UnKnown> wrote:

> Sterilised water in a sealed container or plastic sachets

Good point.

IMO, an eyewash kit would be a useful addition to a boat kit - could be
syphoning petrol or filling meths stoves, or just applying anti-foul,
etc when laid up.

rgds, Alan
--
99 Ducati 748BP, 95 Ducati 600SS, 81 Guzzi Monza, 74 MV Agusta 350
"Ride to Work, Work to Ride" SI# 7.067 DoD#1930 PGP Key 0xBDED56C5

TonyB wrote:

>>>Suppose someone breaks a leg in the middle of the Irish Sea. A "proper"
>>>break, with bits of bone poking through the skin. It'd probably not
>>>warrant calling out a helicopter, but it's still a bit beyond a few
>>>paracetamols and an elastoplast.
>>
>> A compound fracture is automatically a serious medical emergency, and
>> you should not hesitate to call the emergency sevices. A fracture can
>> cause serious internal bleeding, resulting in clinical shock. You can
>> and should do first aid, but that is what it is - FIRST aid.
>
> I'm with Paul on that one, I think it does warrant a chopper one way or
> the other.

Well, maybe it was a poor example. There must be other examples of
situations where second aid from outside is not going to be viable,
other, perhaps, than advice over the radio or sat-phone.

On the other hand, replace the Irish Sea by the North Atlantic, putting
yourself out of chopper range. Then what? Hope there's a ship nearby
with proper facilities and a trained medic?

On Thu, 08 May 2008 18:30:05 +0000 (GMT), Sandy Morton <sandy@millport.net>
wrote:

>In article
><4da448ca-cba8-4de7-8acc-6326c9f7db1f@d1g2000hsg..com>,
> LeeShore <leeshore@fsmail.net> wrote:
>> Personally I'm looking for a CPR kit for single handers.
>
>A big blonde sounds ideal.

female?
--

Martin