Field Expedient Items
 

As the spin off of the Tampon thread lets begin a new thread listing all of the itmes that can be used to treat various illnesses and injuries.

To keep it simple and organized lets list the FE item, what stock item it would replace, and what it is being used for. After we have compiled an extensive list maybe we can edit them together and have it added in a Medical FAQ.

I will begin with:

1.) Pantyhose instead of Coban for an elastic dressing

2.) Sheets for Cravats.

3.) Elastic waist band from underwear for IV starting tourniquet.

4.) Kerlix soaked and covered in gray river clay instead of plaster for a cast. This would be used to make a soft cast and then wrap with elastic bandage. When dry it becomes very hard.

5.) Quilting inside a 'cho liner for padding under a soft cast. (see above)

Holy crap I can add something to the medical thread I better post fast before someone steals my idea.

Crazy Glue......for whatever the medical equivelant is called or FE stitches

Sorry I'm a cop not a Doc.
:)

Crazy glue? Any of you medics going to do this?

Not a medic, but I have been using it on clean cuts, works pretty well, like Derma Bond.

TR

"Crazy glue" aka "super glue" or polycyanoacrylate cement can be used for simply lacerations. Makes a nice primary intention healing wound as long as you can get close approximation of the wound edges.

A lot of ER's are using it now... It is even being marketed in my realm of the world.

How simple are the lacerations?

Ribbett....RIbbett:eek: Feeling froggy huh?

I know you have covered this topic before because we did it on Socnet once. You are just fookin with us aren't you? LOL

Me personally, don't use the stuff b/c I like to sew... I am a hell of an epidermis seamstress.

Any wound that does not involve deep tissue suturing where the wound edges can be easily approximated and bleeding can be controlled easily. It the same stuff as liquid Band-Aid. You just pay for it when it is that brand.

Edges must be smooth. The surfaces must also be free from tension which pretty much means it cannot be used on skin over large muscle groups.

http://www.dermabond.com/

check it out.. good website covering uses,etc.

I'll look at the website, but I'm not using glue.

I have heard that you can use vinger to dissolve the glue, but I have never personally tried it

Sissy :D

I read a book called The Dressing Station by Dr. Kaplan that talks about a improvised one way valve that is used to treat a tension pneumothorax after needle decompression if no chest tube and pleurovac were available. He said that he learned it from some SF medics that he was working with in northern Iraq during the first Iraq conflict. He briefly describes it as cutting the finger off a latex glove and then making a small hole at the tip of the finger. He doesn’t go into more detail but I assume you attach the base of the finger to the needle and the small hole in the tip allows air from the pneumothorax to escape during expiration and collapses on itself during inspiration. I was wondering if anyone that had experience with this method would comment on the technique and how well it works.

Roger that, works well. The other way to do it is cut the running end and keep it moist, works like a flutter valve. They used to teach it in the schoolhouse as SOP.

NDD- Thanks for your reply. Just a couple of quick questions if you don’t mind.

1. How do you attach the base of the finger to the needle? It seems like the diameter of the base the finger would be bigger than the needle.
2. When you said to cut the running end, does that mean the area of the glove around the wrist?
3. In your reply you said, “used to teach at the schoolhouse.� Does that mean they are currently teaching a different technique?

Thanks.

1. Tape
2. The end not attached to the needle
3. I don't know, I went through in '85. The Army didn't spend as much on SF then and we had a lot of Vietnam vets as instructors with FE knowledge. Most of our bags were busted and we didn't have a lot of supplies. Ascherman's and that hadn't been invented yet. I honestly have no idea what they teach now, but whatever it is, it will work. They do not teach things that don't work - ever.

That glove finger will also work on a chest tube.