Basic Medical Kit - all vehicles/teams should have

Hi all,

By way of introduction: my name is Gill and I am a serving Nursing Officer in the QARANC. I am the Matron of Larkhill Garrison (no 'oh matron' jokes please!) - working in the military equivalent of a GP surgery but also having a lot of experience in pre-hospital emergency care. I am married to Sandy and we are part of the marshalling team in vehicle Z5.

Having taken part in the rally previously and being the official 'medic' this year again, I thought it would be useful to post some basic advice on first aid kits/basic medicines to bring. Nothing too extravagant but on previous events some people had nothing at all in the way of basic painkillers that I managed to go through my entire stock by dishing them out to others.

First aid kit:

This only needs to be a general vehicle first aid kit - the type you can buy in Halfords/Boots etc. I will be around for the duration of the rally and will have quite a lot of kit in my first response bag, so should anything happen I should have more than enough kit to provide emergency care until emergency services arrive.

Previously we have had a vehicle that rolled during an off road phase - no serious injuries, both driver and passanger got out of the vehicle and only had a few aches and pains the next day. However, several vehicles in the rally came across a RTC on their travels with a seriously injured member of the public and administered first aid (and directed traffic) until the emergency services arrived.

Due to the amount of under bonnet 'adjustments' going on previous years, there were many cuts and scrapes to hands - people seemed not to have any plasters or tape!! It really is the simple things you need to bring - so a first aid kit will be handy.

Basic Medicines:

on previous events it became apparent that many teams didn't bring any simple medicines with them, I had brought quite a lot and ended up dishing it out to many teams. Think about what type of medicines you use at home and bring a small amount of the most common ones. Things such as:

paracetamol/ibuprofen (Calpol - if you have kids with you)
antihistamines (to stop itching from bites/allergies)
immodium (if you are unlucky enough to have an upset stomach, you will need this to continue driving all day!)
and anything else you think you may use.

Also, teams should bring insect repellent, sun cream, aftersun.

I know it has been posted elsewhere on the forum - but a reminder that you should all have EHIC cards (for every person in the vehicle). This will ensure you are entitled to health care in other European countries.

Prescription Medicines:

Anyone who is taking regular prescription medicines MUST bring an adequate supply of them for the rally duration.

If anyone has any medical condition they think I need to be aware of, please see me during registration on Saturday.

I think it important that everyone has the basics for the duration of the rally. Any questions/queries please just ask me. We also have Matt Lynch again this year and his wife Edie who are medical professionals also.

Gill

Good advice there Gill, shame so many, in the past, haven't taken heed.

Tubegrip and Brufen!

Gill,
Im doing a costco run on friday they do trade bulk packs of paracetemol and ibuprofen for not much money.
Do you want any stock?

Mark Avo wrote:

Gill,
Im doing a costco run on friday they do trade bulk packs of paracetemol and ibuprofen for not much money.
Do you want any stock?

Poor new teams may need plenty of paracetemol along with plenty of calming something, all thanks to those lovely tulips

Couple of beers and a glass or two of Port will sort that Richard...

nickburt wrote:

Couple of beers and a glass or two of Port will sort that Richard...

Will they have time for beers Nick and forget the port, it only adds to the headaches caused by those tulips

landie68rover wrote:

nickburt wrote:

Couple of beers and a glass or two of Port will sort that Richard...

Will they have time for beers Nick and forget the port, it only adds to the headaches caused by those tulips

Must be doing something wrong if there's no time for a beer and a port.

Thanks Nick for reminding me. Got the beer but not the port. Trip to Tesco tomorrow.Probably get some alka selzter as well !

tonic wrote:

Thanks Nick for reminding me. Got the beer but not the port. Trip to Tesco tomorrow.Probably get some alka selzter as well !

Don't forget the dark glasses Tony - bright light plays havoc with a hangover as I'm sure you already know