Bike First Aid Supplies

[Catrin]

Trek - did you get this kit from the Red Cross?

I am thinking about first aid supplies for the mountain bike. Not that I am planning on pushing beyond my skill level, but there is certainly more of a potential.

Right now I just have 5 large bandaids - I always seem to need the large size...and a little spray bottle of triple antibiotic ointment. Trying to decide if I need one of the quick clot packs - so far I've seen nothing on the bike that caused bleeding. Even the dog bites really did not bleed...

[Bethany1]

I hadn't thought of having the phone number for the local police dept. If you have a medical condition, write it down and the medications you are on just in case something happens. A lot of cell phones have ICE (In Case Of Emergency) numbers highlighted in red if someone needs to call a loved one.

I need to add a first aid kit and the ideas are great.

[Trek420]

Trek - did you get this kit from the Red Cross

Yes, I got 3 kits; home, car, commute bike.

Since writing about that incident I've taken the Red Cross CPR/First Aid course. Now I want to get some of those cool CPR masks. I hope I never need to use one but our instructor (retired from 30+ years as a fireman) humorously peppered in stories from his career that people needing CPR often toss cookies at some point.

It's a great way to get supplies you want AND benefit the Red Cross. They need our help now and since an emergency can happen any time we never know when we'll need them.

http://www.redcrossstore.org/

I hadn't thought of having the phone number for the local police dept.

If you call 911 from your cell phone you reach highway patrol in most states. Here in sunny CA that's in Sacramento. They will then transfer you ... hopefully ... without dropping the call ... hopefully ... to your local police/fire/medical.

Unlike a land line they will not know where you are. Be prepared to give directions and the details they need to help you. I know some of you may say "but I have GPS, I have a smart phone with a mapquest ap, they'll know ....". This is not CSI, they will not know where you are. Your smartphone might tell YOU where you are if YOU are lost or confused. You still have to tell the fire dept.

So skip that first wait by adding the local police/fire and medical numbers for the cities you work, live and or ride in. That allowed me to just say "I'm at the corner of this and that street, there's been a car accident, we have 2 adults and a teen injured ...."

Program local emergency numbers into a land line phone too just in case the 911 system goes down. It rarely does but could.

A lot of cell phones have ICE (In Case Of Emergency) numbers highlighted in red if someone needs to call a loved one.

Someone here on TE who is or was an EMT said that unfortunately EMT's will not just grab your cell phone and dial the ICE numbers. Sadly as a sign of the times some are trained that you don't know what that number is, it may be a trap to them.

However they will look for your Roadid or equivalent so do wear that if an accident happens and you can't speak.

[Tokie]

I especially would encourage you all to include Benadryl - it will help reduce pain and inflammation from bee stings (or other stinging insects). I usually take ibuprofen and Benadryl as soon as I can when I get a bee sting. It helps. tokie

[jessmarimba]

Not so much first aid - but a good idea, at least when mountain biking or road riding in remote places (*ahem* mountains of CO where phone reception sucks) - carry a whistle or flares or some other way of attracting attention. If you wreck on an unpopular trail or go over an embankment beside a road, you want someone to find you!

[Catrin]

Not so much first aid - but a good idea, at least when mountain biking or road riding in remote places (*ahem* mountains of CO where phone reception sucks) - carry a whistle or flares or some other way of attracting attention. If you wreck on an unpopular trail or go over an embankment beside a road, you want someone to find you!

Good idea this - most of where I road-ride has terrible cell reception. There isn't much in the way of embankments around here, but of course that changes in southern Indiana where I will be riding my mountain bike and doing some hill road-training. I will add a whistle to my list.

[owlice]

Acorn whistles are really loud; this is one of those "things one learns how to do as a kid" that I think is great to know, because you can do this with anything of the same sort-of shape, from bottle caps to .... well, acorns! And they are LOUD.

[ttaylor508]

+1 on carrying band-aids and wipes. Just took a good spill at mile 32 of our 100 mile ride this weekend, no band-aids in my bag. Luckily there were three cute fireman pumping gas where I crashed and they were kind enough to fix me up. One note, the band-aids are useless unless you are able to clean the area with wipes or something as they won't stick to sweaty sunscreened skin. Also, I am going to pack a variety of sizes (especially large ones) as the standard band-aid would have done nothing to help as the wound was too big.