Posts Tagged first aid
Dermabond for wound closure
On April 10, 2010 I had the chance to see Dermabond in action. While helping someone wire a house for phone, internet and television, we were outside looking at some underground phone wire. This is not your usual phone wire - it has a tough outer jacket, a jell waterproof coating, a heavy aluminum wrapping under the jacket, then another liner that holds the wires.
I wanted to get a good look at the wires before I said if it was going to be ok to run from the main building to the new construction. So I took this small pair for wire cutters and was trying to pull the aluminum wrapping away – when the wire cutters slipped, my hand went forward, and the foil sliced my middle finger open.
This was not the type of cut where you look at it and say “is it going to bleed”. As soon as I pulled my hand back and looked at it, the side of my finger was already covered in blood. The man I was working with got me a rag that I used to apply direct pressure. After a few minutes the bleeding stopped, but as soon as I moved the finger the bleeding started again.
The man I was working with had a first aid kit close by – the wound was washed with soap and water (there was blood all in the sink), the hand was dried using a towel, and then a couple of layers of Dermabond was applied.
For those of you that do not know what Dermabond is, its a topical adhesive that is put on the outside of the wound to help stop bleeding and to keep the wound closed. Its kind like superglue, but its approved for human use and its designed for closing wounds.
The man that I was working with went on to tell me that he has used Dermbond several times. From his explanation, it works best when the skin can be pushed back together, and then sealed.
Within about 5 – 10 minutes we had my new wound closed and the bleeding had stopped.
Post your comments in this forum thread about Dermabond topical skin adhesive.
Ranger Medic Handbook
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Reliability is why the Ranger Medic Handbook is the official medical reference of the 75th Ranger Regiments Tactical Health Care Professionals.
All proceeds from the sale of the handbook go to a Wounded Warrior Foundation
To purchase your copy, follow this link to the Ranger Medic Handbook.
Please post your comments in this forum thread about the Ranger Medic Handbook.
Heat related problems while hiking
Wilderness Survival
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke are serious conditions that should not be taken lightly. When you or a member of your party starts showing signs of being over heated, take action at once. The solution is to get the person cooled off, but when its 100 degrees in the shade, and 105 – 110 in direct sunlight, and your 5 miles away from the nearest house – what do you do?
This past Saturday (July 11), my wife dropped my son, my nephew and I of at the usual hiking location. We start 4.5 miles – in a straight line from our destination and then hike back to the camp. On average its more like an 8 mile hike.
The trip started out as usual, we went to the bottom of a hill, turned right and followed a creek. From the very start I knew that this was going to be a rough trip – because the creek was dry. This stream usually has water in it year round. But the serious lack of rain fall in east texas has pushed us into drought conditions.
The first swimming hole the kids and I came to was 2 feet below normal. The water was not even flowing and the small water fall had dried up.
From the time we left that water hole, it was about 4 hours before we found running water that we could filter. By that time we were all on the verge of heat exhaustion. The creeks were either dry, or the water was a brown stagnated color.
Heat exhaustion had set in and I felt that I was about to go into heat stroke. Confusion had set set in, the first drink of water I took was vomited back up within seconds. To cool down I stripped down to my underwear and jumped into the swimming hole with the kids. About 45 minutes later I was finally able to eat a little something and keep water down.
Post your comments in this thread of the wilderness survival forum.