I'd been researching quite a bit, trying to find a good first aid kit for my family's emergency backpack (to be kept in the car we're in earthquake territory). It seems like other first aid kits just didn't offer enough. That's when I realized I needed to include the word "trauma" in my searches. This lead me to many more appropriate kits that were larger and had a larger variety of necessary items. However they were a lot more money. This one seemed too good to be true when I saw it here on Amazon so I actually called the company in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hopefully I didn't make the guy rethink what they're selling cause I kept saying what a good deal it seemed to be. ;) The bag is about the size I'd imagined not as small as most first aid bags but not one of these big tote ones you imagine the pros having either. It's a good medium size, maybe a bit larger than I expected but not too large for putting in an emergency backpack. Also, if you don't add a lot more items to it, it's flexible so you can shove it in there or even empty contents (use just the bags inside it) if you're really concerned about space. It's a good bright color (blue) and sturdy and roomy, and has two roomy pockets on either side that are empty. I put toiletries on side and water-purification items on the other. The items came in two sealed bags and everything inside seems to be of good quality, e.g. scissors don't seem flimsy at all and everything else seems to be of good quality as well. We'll add excedrin and sunscreen and other things we might need (and if I saw iodine in there can't remember now be careful cause iodine allergies can be deadly though most people aren't allergic).
My only complaint is that it doesn't come with a little booklet of instructions including CPR, but I assume that's cause it's more of a professional's bag. Frankly, I wouldn't have the first clue about how to use the CPR mask and all its little contraptions, nor a lot of the other stuff. I'm also planning on calling them back to see if they have their own booklet of instructions I can get from them just cause it'll fit the products better. If not, I'll just go buy one. So with that in mind, it's not quite as inexpensive if I have to go buy a book still!
Last thing I want to say is that there's a lot of stuff in those bags so I suggest looking them over in advance with some sort of instruction book (however you get it) unless you're already a pro because if you have an emergency on your hands and have to rummage through the stuff, it might be a bit overwhelming. What's nice is that each of the two plastic transparent bags have lists facing the outside which say what's inside of each bag. So that will definitely help.
Edit: I finally got all the stuff out the other night and organized and labelled each item, separating them into smaller ziplock style bags. Since these will be in an emergency backpack which needs to be lightweight, the big bag it came with is just taking up room and adding unnecessary weight albeit not much. What I did while doing this is I looked up youtube videos about how to use each of these items, based on the items' names that were on the lists the bag came with. So now I have a fairly strong understanding of how to use these things. I also added a few items to such as a Quikclot, a thermometer, a CPR mask to go with the shield, a pen light that has replaceable batteries, israeli battle dressing (compression bandage to wrap around a pad on a wound), a pair of latex-free gloves (which brings it to two pairs which should be enough for true emergencies), aspirin in case of a heart attack, tweezers, and a small mirror. Many of these ideas are thanks to other people's suggestions in these reviews.
I started looking into a first aid kit to keep in my car to be used in case of an emergency to either to help someone or myself. I even bought a first aid kit years ago, which consisted mostly of band aids and was sufficient for minor cuts and scratches, but not nearly enough for serious emergencies.
In a typical car accident these small injuries are the least of your worries. In a serious accident you get bleeding, head injuries, broken bones, burns, knocked out teeth, loss of conscious, shock, and even a cardiac arrest. That's when I started looking for a trauma kit.
Things I've added to the kit:
3 Pairs of non-latex gloves
1 36" SAM Splint
2 SAM Finger Splints
1 35g Celox pouch
1 CAT Tourniquet
1 Halo Chest Seal
1 6" Israeli bandage
1 Ambu Res-Cue CPR mask (in addition to the CPR Face Shield)
1 bottle of eyewash solution
1 Save-A-Tooth
1 Silver Cinch Compression Combat Dressing (The "H" Bandage)
1 Z-Pak
6 3M Steri-Strip reinforced Skin Closures
1 metal tweezers
2 packets of uncoated 325mg Aspirin
Things I'm not keeping:
wire splint (replaced by the SAM splint)
tourniquet (replaced by the CAT tourniquet)
airway kit (requires special training to use, and takes up a lot of space)
seat belt cutter (replaced by an EMS knife)
I'm not sure whether or not I'll keep the ammonia inhalants. Some people have allergies, and it is often better to keep the casualty unconscious while medics get there.
The bag is now fully packed, and there is no more space left in it, except perhaps for a bottle of aspirin, and minor stuff. But I think, I've included everything I wanted.
There are a lot of trauma kits available, some are big and expensive EMT/paramedic-level kits, and some are small for individual use. I needed something in-between to keep the casualty alive for these 10-20 minutes until the ambulance gets on scene. That's why I didn't include things like a needle decompression kit, and am removing the airway kit.
I think this is the best trauma kit available on the market for the money for someone without a healthcare provider training, but in my opinion it is not complete. I do have First Aid and CPR training, but to be honest, these classes teach so little, that I had to learn more stuff on my own, especially, how to deal with trauma. So besides adding the above stuff to the kit, I had to learn how to actually use it.
Before buying the additional items, I carefully researched each of them. For example, I decided to replace the supplied tourniquet with the CAT tourniquet, because the latter one has 100% success rate, according to some army research; so does Celox, that's why I chose it over QuikClot.
Yes, these quality items are not cheap, and I've spent more on them then on the trauma kit itself. But if it helps me or someone else, then it is worth it.
The bag itself perfectly fits under my seat, and is not too large, but big enough to fit all of the extra stuff I bought for it. I just wish it had a bit more pockets, although there is one Velcro pocket that can be attached to either side of the middle compartment.
I do recommend this trauma kit, but if I had to look for one again, I'd probably buy an empty bag and get individual items separately. I have done enough research to put one together myself.
What's in your trauma kit?
Buy Dixie Ems Dixiegear First Responder Stocked Trauma First Aid Kit, Blue Now
As a patrol officer I have been meaning to get a med kit for some time but hadn't found one that really had what all I wanted. This kit caught my attention and I ordered it. For the price you cant beat the quality and amount of medical gear a first responder needs. I couldn't speak on behalf of a medic but for a patrolman it has anything I would need to patch up one of my own until the medics arrive including a nice tourniquet. Overall very happy, hopefully ill never have to use it but its good to know its there if I do.
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This kit is great and has everything a good starter kit needs. The bag actually includes an organizer for the main compartment which let me fit everything in the center section while still staying organized. It also has non latex bandages which is great for those with latex allergies. The 1 pair of gloves that the kit comes with seem to be latex, though.
I just added in more gloves, a better CPR mask (the one the kit comes with is a face shield type), some extra gauze pads, misc pain killers/meds, and an ace bandage wrap. These went into one side of the bag. I put some emergency food bars and water in the other side of the bag.
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When I purchased this bag, the dimensions were listed as "Bag size -10.5 x 8 x 5 in" in the description.
What I received was 10 H x 14 D x 20 L inches.
Nice bag, but way too big for my application...
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I'm going to be right up front and say there isn't much to review about Neosporin, even when it's Neo To Go.
