What should be in a Aussie Shed First aid kit?

[FenceFurniture]

Well the likely injuries are going to be cuts, abrasions and crush injuries, with also a possibility of thermal burns, chemical burns, inhalation of noxious substances, objects in the eye; and a lower (but possible) probability of amputations or major trauma to the head or circulatory system.

Other than that, there are few safer places to be.

[FenceFurniture]

I only voted for (and have) a few basic items. If I can't make it the 10 metres back to the house then I'm unlikely to be able to use or get to anything in the shed.....

Resuscitation gear? I'm almost always in there by myself.

Towels for mopping up large quantities of blood? If it's my blood, and there's that much, I think I'll worry about it later. If it's someone else's, and there's that much, I think I'll worry about it later. Or they can.

[Cliff Rogers]

Duct tape, fixes everything.

Except stupid, but it helps muffle the sound.

[michael_m]

Towels for mopping up large quantities of blood? If it's my blood, and there's that much, I think I'll worry about it later. If it's someone else's, and there's that much, I think I'll worry about it later. Or they can.

No, not for mopping up blood. They're for staunching the flow of blood long enough to put on a tourniquet before bleeding out. But then again sharks will usually take more off than a tablesaw will, so it's not as vital in the shed.

[ian]

I went to a first aid refresher course this evening and it got me thinking about what sort of things should be in a Aussie shed first aid kit.
We have 2 medium sized first aid kits at our place - one for the station wagon and one in the house, plus I have a small one in the Van, but nothing in the shed.

So my poll is what items do you think should be in a First aid kit that would be suitable for an average Shed?
Add more ideas for contents in any posts.

I suppose the starting point is an assessment of likely injuries while in the shed, things like:
foreign bodies -- splinters, etc
puncture wounds
cuts (lacerations)
abrasions
amputation
burns
chemical and fumes
electrocution
impact or crush injuries

then you need to make an assessment of what treatment you might self administer and which injuries will require external assistance.

minor punctures, cuts, foreign bodies etc might be treated with tweezers and a band aid / electrical tape / gaffa tape / super glue

for medium to major injuries punctures / cuts / amputations -- initial treatment should be to stem the blood loss which usually requires a pad of some sort and pressure on the wound till external help arrives
a sterile layer in contact with the wound is good but probably a secondary consideration compared to stemming the blood loss. If you keep a supply of clean rags in the shed for finishing these would do to stem blood loss.

the major consideration would be having access to stuff you can use with your non-dominant hand.


with burns the immediate issue is getting the heat out of the burn site -- usually requires lots of cold water -- in a hot environment you might need to raid the freezer for enough frozen stuff to chill the water.


chemical / fumes -- prevention is probably the best option as IMMEDIATE treatment is get OUT of the shed DO NOT STOP at first aid kit


impact / crush injuries -- treat any bleeding, then ice to minimize bruising


electrical -- again prevention is probably the best strategy, possibly RCDs and separate kill switches for the machines, power points and lights



so the shed first aid kit may not contain much more than tweezers and a few band aids

[Burnsy]

Interesting one, it does depend greatly on how isolated you are in your workshop. I am currently going through this at work ( farm school workshop). Work is similar to the home workshop in the workshop is only about 20 metres from the office where a comprehensive kit is kept, similar to ones home.

For me I say items of convienience for non serious injuries such as bandaids, sterile wipes and tweezers because you want to keep working and don't want to go inside for a minor gut or splinter (I have these in my own wall mounted kit at home and my go to kit at work). Things like antiseptic cream, steri strips, ice packs and the like that I use for more severe non doctor type injuries I consider the next level up and a walk to the house or office is in order.

Other than that, you need gear to deal with major trauma, so sterile dressings, triangular bandages, crepe bandages. Given, in the case of major trauma you are only offering first aid until a ambulance arrives there is not really any need for much more than the above as you need only these items to give compression to stop bleeding. Make sure the mobile phone is handy.

An eye wash bottle and access to running water are also a good idea.

While on the subject, how many of you actually have a first aid kit or a fire extinguiser in your workshop?

[BobL]

. . . . . . While on the subject, how many of you actually have a first aid kit or a fire extinguiser in your workshop?

For the FE part look in the previous Poll!

[Burnsy]

Interesting that only 45% of people rate a triangular bandage. For major trauma say a crush, amputation or laceration, a handfull of new and sealed triangular bandages will generally do all you need, till an ambulance arrives, forget the dressings, bandages and the rest. The less different items you have to deal with and think about the better.

About 6 years ago I had a student pair his calf off his leg while being smart and kicking a window. All I used was triangular bandages and a couple of sterile pads to hold it all together and stem the blood flow, I could have done it without the sterile pads but they were there on hand so got used. After unwrapping his leg to inspect it he ambulance officers commented that they need not have unwrapped what I did and should have just left it to take him to hospital as there was nothing different they would have done.

Go buy some and throw a couple in the glovebox while you are at it, clean triangular bandages are the jack of all trades when it comes to first aid.

[BobL]

All good discussions.

Just a follow up on the duct tape. Speaking to an ambo about what he thought about duct tape and he said yes if you have nothing else but preferably use or make up a wound pad so the duct tape does not stick directly to the skin. One accident he turned up to where the patient was so bandaged with duct tape it made it difficult to check the wound site without adding to the trauma and restarting the bleeding.

[Tankstand]

If you aren't keen on the super glue then I'd add wound closure strips (Steri-strips).
Use them on those super neat cuts with Olfa knives (Many have I had ), I've never needed stitches and when I thought I needed stitches and went to the doctors....Yep! Steri-Strips.

[BobL]

When I fell through a plate glass door I received multiple cuts, mainly on my left arm and shoulder but a number also on my scalp. Overall I only received 27 stitches because most of the short shallow cuts were handle by steristrips while most of the short scalp cuts were closed up by twisting small clumps of hair across the wound and adding a dab of medical super glue to the hair twist.

[skot]

This reminds me of my late Father in Law who was not a "people person"......He ran a small engineering factory which he worked by himself for 40 years.

One day in the 1970's a couple of WH&S officers walked into the factory (which looked like a factory from the 1940's), my FIL was sitting on his worn out chair and the men introduced themselves...looked around and told him that he should have a stretcher in the workshop so that an injured worker can be carried out.

He looked at them, informed them that he was the only person there and "Who would carry the bloody thing out ?"

They looked at each other......looked back at my FIL then apologized for wasting his time then left.

[chuck1]

All first aid is in the house, eye bath, band aids! I have a bag of clean rags in the shed.
a freshly sharpened skew is used for splinters!

[bsrlee]

Been there, got the scars. A mobile or landline phone assumes that you have 3 hands - when you are holding the injured part, and it will usually be a hand, with one hand it becomes nearly impossible to get a mobile phone out of your pocket, open house doors or pick up the phone and dial numbers (DAMHIK). Better keep an eye on which neighbours are home so you can stagger over and ask them to ring for you.

Lesser injuries are the realm of band aids, tweezers and the like - not life threatening or likely to lead to serious problems, you just want to get patched up and keep on working. Keep a bunch of band aids, tweezers (preferably with a magnifying glass attached or extra strong reading glasses) and such in an air and water tight box - remember to check the band aids every year or two as the glue eventually fails on all of them. An eye wash device is also a good investment - you can get them with the eyebath connected to a bottle of rinse water so its a one hand operation - for those times when you get a face full of sawdust and don't blink in time.

[Pearo]

I also put another vote in for electrical tape and a phone, but add to that some clean rags or paper towel to put under the electrical tape. I guess the smart thing to do would be to have some sterile non stick dressing, rather than rags. But in all honesty, when you put a grinder through a finger, a rag is usually the closest thing. The mobile phone is the next closest thing.

I say electrical tape, not as a troll, but in seriousness. I have used that stuff so many times to close up a wound that needed stitches. Its quick, easy and it does a good job. Its also very easy to get a decent amount of compression with minimal effort and the use of a single hand.