First aid kit for rural living

[Paso Quito]

I live in a fairly rural area, about 45 minutes from the nearest emergency room. I have an old first aid kit that is years out of date & want to update it. I would guess that the most likely issue would be from a chain saw accident, maybe I do something stupid with my lawnmower (72" zero turn), accidental gunshot (there is a lot of shooting around here and of course we shoot), horse wreck, natural disaster (tornado probably), or car accident.

I am looking at the Chinook Medical Home & Vehicle kit, https://www.chinookmed.com/01374/hom...html#!contents, or the Plus version of the same kit, https://www.chinookmed.com/01375/hom...html#!contents.

My goal is to have something I can easily grab & take with me if I have to jump into the tornado shelter, if neighbors call, or if something happens to me or my wife. My wife & I will be taking a first aid class once we find one that is close enough to attend. I have taken many classes over the years ranging from 4 hours to 24 hours and have basic understanding of general first aid.

I would appreciate any/all input regarding a good kit and any classes in east/east-central Texas.
Thanks.

[RevolverRob]

First question: How does a first aid kit in your home help you with a chainsaw accident, gunshot, or lawn mower incident that occurs outside of your home?

It's rhetorical, but you want to think about kits that you can have on your person or in your nearby working vehicle in the event of these things.
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In my home, each vehicle, garage, and my day-to-day bag I have one of these: https://www.adventuremedicalkits.com...-quikclot.html

In my bag, each vehicle, inside the house, and in the garage I have one of these: https://darkangelmedical.com/sof-t-gen-5/

That covers major bleeding trauma, bear in mind - I don't work with power tools farther than about 20-feet, the whole lot our house sits on is ~1/8 of an acre. If I did, I would carry an bleeding trauma kit on my person: https://darkangelmedical.com/every-d...dc-trauma-kit/

For general first aid:

In home I have a general OSHA approved first aid kit and in the garage I have a 'Contractors' first aid kit.

In the vehicles we have these: https://www.adventuremedicalkits.com...first-aid.html

And in my daily carry bag I carry one of these: https://www.adventuremedicalkits.com...t-aid-2-0.html

These cover general needs more than adequately and provide additional layers as needed.

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If you're 45 min to the nearest ER, you may want to think of getting a Life Flite (or similar) subscription. In the event of severe trauma being able to transport you to a trauma center quickly is important. And the cost of the subscription pales in comparison to the cost if you don't have the benefit.

[Tensaw]

Similar situation for me. Not what you asked, but... Bleed Kit in the shop *and* the house; TQ, phone, and car keys on person when doing extra hazardous stuff like running a chainsaw; and TQ/Bleed Kits in every vehicle.

Speaking of chainsaws... (forgive me if you know this but maybe it helps someone else). Get chaps and wear them. If I'm honest, I tend not to wear chaps when just felling trees, but for bucking or delimbing they are a must have. Try to have someone on overwatch when running the saw (I find running a chainsaw to be the epitome of task fixation between concentrating on what I'm doing and the noise/ear pro - even though I am trying to watch the top of the tree while cutting). And if you aren't up to speed on how to run a saw safely, by all means get up to speed. There are resources online for this if nothing else. Take regular breaks and stop when fatigued. Even when you know how a chainsaw can bite you and you work to avoid that, shit happens fast; and when they bite, they bite *hard*.

[Paso Quito]

First question: How does a first aid kit in your home help you with a chainsaw accident, gunshot, or lawn mower incident that occurs outside of your home?

This is a good question. My plan it to have the kit in my truck when working with the chainsaw so it will be pretty close and my wife & I work together on those kinds of projects so she would be available to quickly help with any issues.

We take our current first aid kit with us when we go shooting and the kit I am looking at would be an upgrade for the current kit (old contractors kit).

[MickAK]

Be aware of knock-off counterfeit tourniquets, they are becoming more common.

Other than the small trauma kits that go in your bag or on your person I think you get better value and function making your own kit. I have a bag with customizable dividers, and items can go in or out depending on what I might need and how much of it.

One of the dividers is reserved for communication stuff, because it's easy to forget and important for a medical emergency. Radio, backup phone, satphone if you have one etc. It's a little weird to see it sitting there in the medical bag but it's just as important as anything else in there.

[rd62]

I went with a Trail Personnel Aid Kit in my Tacoma and pull it out to have on standby as needed.

https://www.narescue.com/trail-perso...-tpak-coy.html

Separte more task specific or complimentary kits live in the glove boxes, hunting pack, chest rig, etc.

[60pilot]

I went with a Trail Personnel Aid Kit in my Tacoma and pull it out to have on standby as needed.

https://www.narescue.com/trail-perso...-tpak-coy.html

Separte more task specific or complimentary kits live in the glove boxes, hunting pack, chest rig, etc.

I have CLS bags, which seem pretty similar to this, in the cabin and pickup truck. An IFAK stays in my shooting bag itself.

For the OP - make sure that you are actually familiar with using whatever first aid material that you decide to keep on hand. While nothing beats hands on training, DHA made an app with decent training materials regarding this subject.

https://www.deployedmedicine.com/

[whomever]

Those are similar to our home made one. We just got something like this:

https://mtmcase-gard.com/products/ca...oxes-spud1.php

and filled it with the appropriate stuff. I didn't track the cost closely, but I think it came in a lot cheaper than those. For example, we had the meds at home in gonzo Costco sized bottles, so we didn't spend any extra $$ on those.

We have a small IFAK type kit (tourniquet+quik clot) attached to the plastic ammo 'chainsaw' box that carries bar oil, spare chains, etc.

[rd62]

I bought boxes of travel packsoff Amazon of ibuprofen, benadryl, pepto, etc to stuff in as extras in the boo-boo kits in the vehicles and to supplement the kits in my hunting pack and hiking gear.

Sucks to get deep in the woods and have an allergic reaction or even just some indigestion. More enjoyment and ability to stay in the field.

Seemed a little out of the scope of the OP's initial inquiry so I didn't mention it first.

[lwt16]

https://www.stopthebleed.org/training

PM for any questions you may have. I’m a STB instructor as well as my department’s TECC instructor. Multiple saves over the last few years.

North American Rescue is good to go for gear.

Regards.