What First-Aid Supplied do you take on the Job?

For snake bite here in Oz...stay calm...wrap a pressure bandage from below the bite and up over towards the heart. The venom travels in your lymphatic system not the bloodstream. Movement is what stimulates the lymph system so stay as calm and move as little as possible. The pressure bandage helps limit the movement of the venom from the bite site.
Do not cut, bleed or suck the bite site.
 
And a shoestring works as a good tourniquet - just tighten it enough to bend the skin - that's as deep as the lymphatic system is, so to speak.
 
The thing with compression for snakebite is not to tourniquet it but tight/firm pressure over a large area
 
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  • #83
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In order of "escalation":

1. Prevention
2. Band-aids/super glue/aspirin, etc.
3. Compression bandage (e.g. Israeli Bandage?)
4. Celox impregnated bandages
5. Cat tourniquet (applied "high, wide, and tight")

-- AND KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO USE THEM!

==> and If in a tree -- have a safe, rapid method of descent to ground with one hand

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Also:

* running water (if available(?)) ... bottled water?
* fire extinguisher.
* durable method of taking first aid into the tree on your saddle
* instant ice packs

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For snake bite --- No_Bivy and Bermy are different but not necessarily contradictory.
.... I believe No_Bivy is a certified medical professional --- and yet no question Bermy knows what she is talking about.

So it appears compressing the whole thing... upper and lower would not void No_Bivy's recommendation?

ha, Butch, yeah, I'm not as tough as I used to think I was with the rubbing the dirt in it :) .... older age.... infections... heal slower... etc....
 
That's right...it's all about compression, I've been taught to wrap the whole limb from extremities towards heart, but in reality, say you are bitten on the ankle, start wrapping just below, and go as high as the bandage will allow, over and past the bite site, probably only get as far as the knee....extrapolate that for any other bite site...and stay as calm and still as possible. Most of the wrapping would be above the bite site to prevent further spread of the venom.
 
Toward that point of prevention.

An active, initial walk-through looking for hazards (used lumber with nails, slippery decks, rickety stairs down to the water, power lines, phone/ internet lines) and things that should be moved but were forgotten (bird feeders, wind chimes, hanging art, etc).

A clear work area, with clear footing, and clear exit areas.
My slogan is Distance = Safety. Do you hear about the guy that got accidentally pick-forked from 20' away? Me, neither, but I have seen people work waaay too close to one another with a pitchfork.
It's hard to get hit by the branch the other guy is handling if you're not standing on top of them at the chipper or base of the tree. When you can effectively work, while maintaining distance, it's a win, in my book.

Marking hazards (such as a crater made by a log coming down, put a cone over it or fill it in so nobody turns their ankle in the hole). Get rid of eye-poking limbs right away.


Having a plan. Communicating the plan. Working the plan. Asking: Is the plan working/ did the plan work?


Putting things down intentionally, instead of wherever you are when done with the tool (I try to use only 1 'staging area' if things are not going to be at the truck or in the truck). When you have the tools your need, where you can easily find them, you will more likely use labor-saving tools, like a peavey or pickaroon, both of which keep you a bit farther from the 'action' and reduce strain.

Start with lighter work to start the day, and after breaks. I'd rather do heavy work before a break, than directly after. Cool down.

Drink lots, eat lots (works for me).

Encourage the mentality of everyone is on the same team, so everyone looks out for one another. If you're going to fill your water bottle offer to fill someone else's. If you're hungry/ thirsty on the ground, check in with the climber.

FWIW
 
Its funny, we are in the middle of a re-cert cycle for our EMT licences.

You learn something new every time you go to these things.

The last session talked about snake bite.


I suggested cleaning off the skin earlier....apparently quite a lot of the venom is released on the surface of the skin.

To keep from adding any more venom than is needed.....wash bite location before you wrap or apply pressure.

Last session covered gynecological and psychological emergencies.


Sooo......not sure if that is going to be helpful in this thread.
 
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  • #89
ha, Jim, Kyle, anything like that ought to be interesting -- if not useful to know.... if not directly, maybe indirectly.

Jim, Thanks!...that is a great additional thing to know about the snake bit treatment.

Sean, I really like the way you think. Thanks!
 
I’m beginning to wonder about you RF, fretting about snakebites, MA, portapottys and Christ knows what else.

Basics man! Put some trees on the floor.
 
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  • #91
I’m beginning to wonder about you RF, fretting about snakebites, MA, portapottys...
Basics man! Put some trees on the floor.

just responding to and engaging those supporting my thread, Mick.
... and trying to soak up knowledge in the process.

but you are right ..... more ACTION, less thinking... er, planning/organizing/preparing/what-if's......

... also, it just seems common courtesy to respond and/or acknowledge anyone who responds to a thread I start, at least where the response is:
1) on topic
2) the thread hasn't sat idle for more than a week or so

....but I do like to be prepared.

and yet your rebuke is well taken... less talk/thinking .... MORE ACTION! ... MORE WORK!
 
Unless.....talking, planning, etc. are your thing.....

I traveled and worked with a tree company for a couple of days this summer to be around a lift I'm thinking of buying. On the Sena headsets guys chatted all day, one guy about non stop. I wanted to slit my throat. (I said about 4 or 5 things all day during work.)

Driving home I was thinking, that seems to work great for them. We are all so different.
 
I am a loud mouth breather and chatter box. Guilty.
But I think that is better than the belching, luge throat clearing and spit, or just plain lack of answe ring when asked a question or acknowledgement of a request or command I get regular.
I am now down to just using them in more critical environments.
Chipper running, crane work or heights no one can hear me. Pruning, meh.
 
Sadly, the residual effect only lasts about 10 min. Compulsive chatterers start up the chatter right back up.
 
I'll shout it maybe 3 times... then, it's ass-kicking time. :drink:

chuckpunch1.gif
 
What was it, Butch?

Fight, work or walk?

A little before my time... the elder cats I looked up to were Darin, Leo and Andrew...
 
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