cave first aid kit (whats in yours?)

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Re: cave first aid kit (whats in yours?)

Postby ArCaver » Mar 17, 2011 7:29 pm

NZcaver wrote:
Cody JW wrote:I just buy a small field kit from Wallmart and transfer it to a nalgene bottle. I also carry a small snake bite kit and a whistle ( I suspect the last two are things some may not think of). And some water purification tablets in the nalgene.

FYI - the concept of a snake bite kit is outdated, and the medical profession generally recommends lay people do not attempt to incise, constrict or suction around the bite area. See this article or google search for others.

Then there was the fellow that kept a bottle of moonshine in case of snakebite. Right next to it was a box containing a snake. That's my kind of snake bite kit.
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Re: cave first aid kit (whats in yours?)

Postby Cody JW » Mar 18, 2011 7:39 am

NZcaver wrote:
Cody JW wrote:I just buy a small field kit from Wallmart and transfer it to a nalgene bottle. I also carry a small snake bite kit and a whistle ( I suspect the last two are things some may not think of). And some water purification tablets in the nalgene.

FYI - the concept of a snake bite kit is outdated, and the medical profession generally recommends lay people do not attempt to incise, constrict or suction around the bite area. See this article or google search for others.
I hate to be contrary here but a close friend of mine was bit out west by a rattler and used the suction device in a kit and restricted his blood flow in small increments , took two hours before he could get to the hospital on a remote hike. He was told at the hospital that action likely of saved his leg. They did the smart thing and captured (killed) the snake so the hospital knew what kind it was. This was about 10 years ago, maybe things have changed since then. They did not make any cuts with a blade, just put a suction cup over the wound. This hospital was ready and had the correct anti-venom on hand as it was a popular hiking area. The doctor on call had treated lots of bites. It was swollen and he was on crutches for a short time but recovered to hike again.
It only takes one person to surrender a dog to a kill shelter ,but it takes many to rescue it.
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Re: cave first aid kit (whats in yours?)

Postby Jon » Mar 24, 2011 1:57 am

Doing the old cut the bite and suck the venom out stuff is great for the lone ranger or the guys on bonanza but in real life you may just bleed to death. If you are healthy enough to do active sports you probably wont die from a snake bite. Variables are just how your system reacts to the venom. One bee sting will kill some people, others will take dozens stings and just be sore. There is some evidence that electricity may be your friend. I have read that stun guns applied to the bite area break down the enzymes in many/most venoms. Haven't heard much about it in a few years but I never bought a stun gun because if I was alone and zapping myself I figured that if anyone came along and saw what i was doing that they would figure I was from California and just having a good time.

Seriously just watch where you and your hands and feet are going as best you can and hope for the best. Once you get past the twighlight zone I doubt there is much reason for snakes to be there and you can relax. A friend and I were at a dig and it was winter time, in a VERY tight area there were 3 rattlesnakes about 20 feet from the surface. Cave was exhaling warm air but even so the buzz tails were slow and lazy. We on the other hand decided that summer was a better time to explore their winter home. I learned that day that we certainly have snakes to speak of.

I wonder..... would a carbide light be a plus or a minus???? A heat source to strike at or a flame to retreat from???? Maybe a carbide caver is a safe caver??? A ceiling burner with a turbo boost flame thrower???

Scorpions worry me as they are small enough to miss seeing and I have seen them (via UV lights) further from light. Have been nailed more than once (not in a cave though) by bark scorpions. Although not fun for me, nowheres near fatal (at least to me). I hate land lobsters almost as much as pit vipers. Now a Dodge Viper is something I would love to have.......

By the way, the suction devices in those kits really can't do much. Think about it if one of them could suck venom out through your skin, a toilet plunger would be a deadly weapon. A single plunge to the body would suck enough blood out of the body and away from the brain to kill a person.
Seriously, as elastic as skin is, the only way you could suck venom out would be not through the pin prick puncture but through the skin itself. Think how many teenagers would hemorrhage to death because of hickeys!!!
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