Emergency Preparedness: your health kit

[iris lily]

What do you prepared types keep for health related supplies? Are you always full up on medications? What records do you have in an easy-to-access place?

As always, I am clueless with the human stuff but I do have pet records with general information that would identify each pet and their vet, their health issues, and their meds. I keep that in a notebook in the kitchen bookshelf.

[bae]

OK, I'm coming from this from an odd angle, being a Firefighter/Medical FR, and living 5 miles from my mother, an OR/trauma nurse. I save lives every week, hands-on, sometimes with just what I have on my person.

I keep:

- medical records and important care directives in a zip-lock in my freezer: *all* the first responders here know to look there, we have a program to help folks fill out the data and install them in the designated location.
- a defib unit in my entryway (personally owned) and one in my truck with my gear (department owned)
- more first and second aid stuff than you can imagine
- 6 months meds on hand
- most importantly: training and constant drill.

On my boat I carry a pretty serious dental and first aid kit, enough to do minor surgery.

In my pants, I carry: knife, EMT shears, pile of compressed gauze, quick-clot, 2x Cav-Arms Slick tourniquets, a NP tube, some surgi-lube, chest decompression needle, chest seal, gloves, and some band-aids.

My conclusion is that training, knowledge, skill, and drill are much more important than gear in this area. Please, learn modern CPR -it will not take you long, learn the signs of stroke, learn some basic first aid, get a defib unit if you can afford one.

[Spartana]

I don't have any written medical records as the VA (who I use) has all their records (and thus mine) held electronically. If needed I can access them from any computer - or anyone "official" like a dr or hospital can access that info on my behalf. I genernally carry my VA ID card with me but even if that was lost I sometimes wear my old dog tags (on a pretty silver chain) and also have a small tattoo I got while in the service with some identifying info on it (in case my cold dead or unconscious body washes ashore). Both have my military service number on them and info like blood type and info that could ID me (assuming the VA or military still exists after the Zombie hoardes attack :-)) if someone needed to find out my medical history. But since I have nothing that I have any ongoing treatment for, nor any prescription meds I take that are important (thyroid pills), then it wouldn't matter anyways. Same with The Barkinator. Otherwise I have a large first aid kit at home and a small one in my truck and a very tiny one in a little backpack I have ready to grab in case of emergencies.

[rodeosweetheart]

I have severe asthma, so try to keep an extra fast acting inhaler and whatever other inhaler I have, and when I can get it, I try to keep prednisone on hand since I can get through most anything with prednisone--used to have a doc prescribe it for me because he said it would get me to the ER, but haven't found one lately.
I should have 2 epipens but I don;'t have any on hand right now. Benadryl for same reason.

I have some leftover painkillers from when my husband had hernia surgery, but they will probably never get taken, but knowing they are there is nice.

I think that's about it. Not very impressive.

[bae]

This past weeks I have been nursing my dog through a serious, deep wound in his foot.

I had in my emergency supplies tons of gauze, tape, vet-tape, and all that stuff. I thought I had enough on-hand for the collapse of civilization.

My discovery - a single wound cared for properly can consume an *enormous* amount of these sorts of supplies. If you think you have enough, you don't. Get more. Lots more. And then more.

[happystuff]

I hope your dog is okay and heals quickly, bae. Good point about knowing EXACTLY how much is enough!