A Traveler's Emergency Kit
by: ThePope
Word Count: 362
This section lists supplies and medications that you should consider taking along when you travel to areas where little or no medical care exists. If you're a physician, you'll find plenty of problems in the indigenous population that can use your help.
For those who want to avoid collecting the supplies and medications, I enthusiastically recommend DAN's DSS Guardian First Aid Kit. It contains most of the supplies I've listed in a handy, compact travel kit. You can easily customize it to your own specifications as well. For example, you can't take along too many one-inch Band-Aids®-I carry at least 100-and several rolls of 1-inch-wide cloth adhesive tape. You'll be the most popular diver on the trip! All of this fits inside a zipper bag the size of a loaf of bread.
Hardware
5 disposable scalpels with #15 blade*
1 needle holder*
1 pair pickups (e.g., Adson™)*
2 small hemostats*
2 3.5cc syringes with 25-gauge needle or dental syringe with 30-gauge needles*
1 tissue scissors*
1 oto-ophthalmoscope*
1 disposable airway*
1 Swiss Army knife or Leatherman tool-really useful to have along!
1 stethoscope
Materials
2 packs each 4-0 Ethanol-Vicryl™ sutures on a PS-2 needle*
1 bottle 1 percent Xylocaine®* with epinephrine (or 2 percent dental capsules)
12 packets alcohol swabs
2 sterile drapes with eyeholes
2 pair each sterile and disposable gloves
2 rolls 3-inch Ace™ elastic wrap
2 rolls 1" cloth tape
1 box Steri-strips™
1 box Telfa™ pads
1 box 1" Band-Aids® #100
2 rolls self-adherent roller gauze (wide)
1 roll Coban™
1 packet of Duoderm™ (thin)
Drugs
1 tube fluorinated steroid (Temovate®, Diprolene® AF)*
1 tube 1 percent hydrocortisone cream
1 tube antibiotic ointment
1 tube topical antifungal cream (Naftin®, Lotrimin®, etc.)
1 tube Duolube™*
20 Tylox® caps
30 Ibuprofen® or Aleve®
30 enteric coated ASA or Tylenol® tablets*
30 prednisone tablets (20mgm)*
20 Cipro® or Cephalexin® tablets (500mgm)*
20 Famvir® or Valtrex® 500 mgm tabs or Zovirax® 800 mgm tabs*
20 oral antifungals (Sporanox®, Diflucan®, Lamisil®)
20 acid blockers (Pepcid®, Tagamet®) or Prilosec®*
20 nonsedating antihistamines with pseudoephedrine (Claritin®-D or Allegra®-D)
Miscellaneous
1 bottle Jungle Juice
1 box Pepto-Bismol® tablets
1 Ana-Kit®
#15 (or higher) broad-spectrum (UVA/UVB) waterproof sunscreen and Chapstick®
1 bottle Domeboro Otic®*
1 bottle Afrin® Nasal Spray
1 box Transderm-Scop® patches*
1 water filtration device
* Indicates either a prescription drug or equipment that requires specialized training to use, so tailor this list to your own skill level.
About the Author
by Dr. Bruce Miller
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