Everyday First-Aid kit - gloves and portability

Personal protection during emergency response is the first priority of all responders. After all, it's no good responding to an incident, and becoming a casualty as a result.
Training, exercises, shared experiences all help prepare a person for protecting themselves... and there are also procedures to help (S.O.Ps cover things such as equipment, PPE, and biological protection)

I've attended a few incidents where my first responsibilities have been more of a firstaid/ medical response, as opposed to rescue, or fire. All of these incidents have been motor vehicle accidents (MVA), and the ambulance service has not arrived prior to fire and rescue personelle. The first MVA I worked at, I forgot to wear nitrile gloves under my leather gloves due to the tunnel vision of responding. The discussion with leadership afterwords brought the training home hard. Since then I've prepared some disposable gloves and store them in my helmet for protection.
I purchased some strong disposable gloves (shown in photo below) and sorted the gloves out into pairs.


I then rolled (from the fingers to the wrist) the gloves to exclude as much air as possible, and placed the rolls in some ziplock bags. The photo below shows two pairs of gloves, in the bag - one pair on the left, the other on the right.



The gloves do settle down over time, and the bags never seem to seal 100% against air, but dust, sweat and water don't seem to get in the bag,  so that's what's important.

I got to thinking about those incidents, and came to the conclusion that I would be wise to make up a small firstaid kit. The professionals I work with use the large "Thomas packs", but for my duties and daily roles, this would represent overkill, and would be beyond my current experience and training. My criteria for the kit would be:

1 - small enough to sit on the front seat of my car, and not be in the way of passengers, or work activities.

2 - able to be placed either on my shoulder, or around my waist , thereby keeping my hands free for scaling stairs, ladders, or other paths to an injured person.

3 - contain the essentials to maintain life for the time needed for a fully equipped ambulance to arrive (estimated at 20 mins - worst case)

The intention was to be able to provide resuscitation, observations, and rudimentary bleeding control for a casualty until the ambulance arrives, or until I expect to "run out of steam".. and based on my previous experience, I'd been totally worn out after 20 mins of providing full CPR.

I purchased a "bum bag" off one of the airsoft sellers on Ebay (Note to US readers... "Fanny pack" isn't the term in Oz.. means something totally different here). I wasn't too worried about colours, but went with the typical OD green so dirt stains wouldn't be as noticable. This particular bag had a strap which could be moved from a waist strap, to a shoulder strap, which added appeal for what I was trying to accomplish.


I added a "hard shell" security case I bought from another seller, and filled it with bagged gloves (3 packs, each containing 2 or 3 pairs of gloves). The security case simply clipped on to the strap/belt.
Since the photos were taken, I've added a smaller "pouch" on the side of the bag between the bag and the glove case. This pouch holds a pair of 7" shears for cutting clothing, etc.

The bag as purchased from the airsoft guy has a number of pockets (one on the front, plus one on each end, and the main big section in the middle). I basically put a resuscitation mask, and my observations notebook (with a pencil) in the front pocket (as shown below).


Some standard bandages (not a huge selection, I'll prioritise their use on assessment of the scene), and a selection of bandaids were placed in the middle pouch with a mylar sheet (Space blanket)


A number of safety pins were pinned on the straps dotted around the bag, and some pens were clipped in convenient locations (The aforementioned pencil is my backup).



The downloadable pupil chart mentioned in the previous post has been laminated, and a copy is taped inside the obs notebook, and a strip version is loose in the front pocket.
There's still some room inside the kit, but I won't fill those spots until I have some more experience, or insight on suitable items.

Most of the time I carry my torch, and a Leatherman with me. Between those, and this kit, I'd like to think I'm more able to help others than I was previously.

I've used the Leatherman a few times at incidents and been very impressed with how well it's worked. I ended up procuring a second Leatherman after the loss of my first, and deliberately choose the Charge model for the hook blade, and the intent of using it to cut seatbelts.

I'll do up another post someday about Leathermans (and other multitools), but simply put...

I've owned several pocketknives over the years, some I've sorely missed, others I'd rather forget. I've yet to use a Leatherman I didn't trust, but certain models seem to suit my needs better than others. My previous favorite was the heavy Core model, and upon it's loss, it was replaced with the Charge ALX. I've tested the Charge TTi, Wave,Surge, Fuse, and SuperTool300. They all have their features and purpose, and none has failed to impress me. I've also evaluated a few other multitools for use... I won't mention names, but one particular unit was so bad to hold and use, I couldn't even give it away at the end. My current everyday Leatherman is the Charge ALX, carried in the old nylon pouch from the Core on my belt beside the Fenix LD2 torch. I have a backup Charge TTi in my turnout gear, with a LD20 torch.

Bladesmithing is one of my interests, and once I get the forge finished (yes another project to document) I'll get more into the forging of blades (instead of my previous "stock removal" projects), but I'll still carry the Leatherman.

ERT/ EMS/ EMT torch and pupil gauge

I use the Fenix LD2 as my current "every day" torch - it's no longer available and has been replaced with the better LD20 (click here for the amazon listing). The torch has multiple power levels, and can be switched between them quite easily (some via the push button at the rear, others through turning the bezel)
The main appeals of the LD2 series is that the battery life is great compared to the brightness, and the torch is nearly indestructible.(These comments are compared to the 4 other LED, and 3 bulb torches I used in the hunt to find a torch which fulfilled my needs at work) The battery life (in the lower power modes) is amazing, the only problem I've found is stopping other people from "borrowing" it.

I was trying to find a torch for my first-aid kit, and was looking hard at this type of torch. (image taken from a medical supply mob in UK) to clip on my kit, but most I could find contained sealed battery setups, and would be treated as disposable. Not an issue, but in my case the torch might only be needed a few times and the last thing I need is to find the heat has deteriorated the battery.



The main difference between the torch I carry everyday (in lowest power mode), and the medical torch is the pupil gauge printed on the side.
So my solution (for now) is to make up a pupil chart, and have it sitting in my observations notebook, and a strip copy laminated and carried in the pack.
Googling for a printable pupil chart was interesting... millions of  hits, but the only one I found I could download was a PDF Neurological diagnosis flowchart. To make the chart more useable to my needs, I captured the chart from the PDF, and then pasted it into a BMP (Bitmap). Then it was a simple case of copying parts of the image and pasting the pieces in the arrangement that suits my needs.



The BMP file is shown above, and you can download the bitmap chart here

I copied the BMP into a word document so I could print it out at 100%. Download the printable chart here as a word document, should anyone else need this file for similar purposes.

I'll be posting some details on my first aid kit soon, I've built the kit to reflect the incidents I've attended, and what I think I need for responding when I arrive at those incidents. The kit is built from parts purchased on Ebay, and taken from my supplies of kits at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hose suspenders - Part 3

The other major component of a hose suspender is a loop of rope which is wrapped around the hose (lark's head method if you're interested) prior to hooking the hose suspender on one of the ladder rounds.
I obtained several metres of 15mm polypropylene rope for this project and did consider splicing the rope, but came up with another method which reduced the bulk, and rigidity of the rope.
I was concerned that if I spliced the rope into a loop, I'd effectively double the cross-section of the rope at the splice, and thereby reduce it's flexibility.
I decided a better way would be to use the method of splicing used for making "quoits". This method does not change the cross section of the rope, and therefore doesn't change the flexibility.
To make a quoit, you determine the diameter of the loop, and then roll out three and one half turns of that diameter - see photo below.
You then separate the three strands of the rope, and using only one strand, reform the loop. You will find a point in the loop where the strand "sits" nicely into the twist of itself. I looped the strand through the eye of the hook as part of the first loop, and commenced the twist as shown below...

You basically reform the twist of the original rope by threading it around itself as you move around the loop. The strand will settle back into it's original twist, and forms up nicely as if never unwound. The picture below shows the second turn coming around, and commencing the third turn.


As seen above, where the three turns have been made, the rope looks normal, full diameter, and no unusual lumps or bumps.
Once three full turns are made, you have to join the strand to itself. For a quoit, you'd normally do something a bit fancy, but for these hose suspenders I simply took a heated knife blade, and cut the two strands so they overlapped by 3mm (1/8"). I then heated the knife blade again, and placed it between the two ends so they both heated, and then withdrew the blade so they came together and fused cold as one strand.

I have a collection of "garage sale" utensils which are used for this sort of abuse - there's no way I'd survive sticking one of our kitchen utensils in the flame of a butane torch - quite simply, "the Boss" will string me up.

The hose suspender weren't the only things done... I also made up three suction line ropes (15M) long, 56 lanyards for salvage sheets (1.8M long), and the 9 hose suspenders.

Lessons learned? don't cold forge 3/8" rod without strong tooling, and if necessary, use cuts to weaken the rod for tight bends... also, don't put "the paint is dry" hose suspenders on the kitchen table to splice the loops unless the paint has had at least 2 months to dry... 48 hours is not enough with thick paint, and for some reason what doesn't come off on your hands, will come off on the table cloth - sorry dear.

Hose suspenders - Part 1

OK, I'll openly admit it, I'm not a tradesman... I'm a dabbler. If you haven't already noticed it, some of what I show in these pages are mistakes, errors, and substandard welding. It's not from a lack of wanting, just a lack of training. Half of what I put these pages up is to show what can be done, the other half is to show what shouldn't...
I was once told that a Wise man learns from the mistakes of others - learn from mine. (you won't have time to do them all yourself!!!)

I offered to make some "hose suspenders". These are used by firemen for securing hoses running up ladders during structural fires. The suspender comprises two main parts, the first being made of steel, and resembling a large fish-hook. A sketch of it is shown on the welding table below....
The one I saw (to take dimensions from) had been forged from 3/8' (10mm) rod, but since I haven't built my forge yet, I figured I'd built these from welded pieces of steel. The ring at the bottom would be made from small pieces of pipe, and the two "hooks" would be made from 3/8" rod.

I obtained some 3/8" rod from the workshop, but all that was available was square rod, not round. I decided to make the "round hook" first by bending the rod around one of the pipe offcuts left over from Bender's legs. I welded the offcut to a scrap of steel as a jig.

The above photo shows the steel in the jig (Mk1) - all chalked up for the photo, and the arrow pointing the direction of the bend.

Cold bending 3/8" square rod was fairly easy, but getting it to conform to that curve was not easy. Sure I could have threatened it with the hammer, or swore at it, but I needed a better plan.

Mk2 jig basically added a "slipper" to the bend - a 1/2" (13mm) rod was welded in the centre of the pipe via a hole and plug weld, and a pipe handle was made to hold a slipper against the rod being bent. The slipper was nothing special, just a 1" (25mm) piece of pipe dropped over a 1/2" (13mm) rod.

The slipper keeps the 3/8" rod against the former in the jig through the entire rotation of the slipper pipe. This forces the rod to bend just as tightly all the way around the 180 degree turn.
The photo below shows the Mk2 jig, with the pipe (and slipper) at the commencement of a bend

about 20 degrees through the bend, I would place the larger yellow pipe on the slipper pipe as a handle to increase leverage, and then complete the bend

I found it easier to place my body between the end of the rod, and the pipe handle, using my hip to guide the rod stock, and my hands to guide the pipe. Sounds awkward, but it was actually easy, and quite quick. Once the rod was bent, I aligned it with a mark on the jig, and cut it off with the grinder, and started again. All up, nine hooks were made in about two hours including making, and remaking the jigs.
Part 2 will cover why the same solution failed for the other hooks.