Bike First Aid Supplies

[Artista]

There is a bunch a great info here. I'll use the suggestions to beef up my first aid kits, (one on the road bike & a second for the mountain bike).

One of the items that I haven't seen mentioned, but I use a lot, is a little tin of salve. I've used it to keep a bit of road rash comfortable during the remainder of a ride. The salve will even stem minor bleeding. It works as a balm for wind chapped lips & cheeks. And, it has come in handy to clean chain grease off my hands with something slightly abrasive like a tissue.

Another item that I keep in my kit is a $20 bill in case I need to buy other emergency supplies during a ride. I used to carry my debit card but frequently forgot to return it to my wallet after the ride. Carrying cash saves me from having to remember the card.

[sundial]

I keep a first aid kit in my bag when I mountain bike and bandaids/antibacterial wipes on the bike. One of the products that I highly recommend is QuickClot. Think of it as a chemical tourniquet that rapidly halts bleeding from punctures, tears and abrasions.

[TrekTheKaty]

Great ideas. I also do the ziploc bag of band aids, wet wipes and aspirin. I also have a small bottle of antiseptic rinse. Once I scrapped my knee and all I had was two bottles of sports drink (note, to self--one bottle sports drink, one bottle water). Besides, you can guarantee dirt or gravel to be involved :-(

Oh, and an small bottle of backup sunscreen and bug repellent wipes.

[Grits]

I want some of the Quik Clot travel packs. There have definitely been a couple of times when we could have used that on a ride. I've never seen it in stores. Do you know of any that carry it, or should I just order it on line?

[Crankin]

The one thing I always carry is a tube of antibiotic ointment. It has helped avoid scars and trouble in many instances, and not just for me. I generally wash a cut/ minor road rash with water from my bottle and spread the ointment on. I also have a couple of band aids, too, which I have used on occasion.
On our first tour, we were crossing a main street in Austria, as the cycling path crossed over to the other side of the street. I am not very good at hard right turns, and instead of unclipping and dabbing my foot down, to get up the curb cut, I turned my wheel too much and ended up rolling right down a pretty steep ravine, into woods full of brambles. Since I had brought my own saddle bag to put on the rental bike, I just took out my little tube, spread it on my leg, and, I was off. The leaders never even knew what had happened, until I told them.

[Catrin]

hmmm, good information everyone. I did not do this last year though I should have. Since I am moving to a larger Camelbak, there will be room for a small kit and will consider what to add to it.

Am considering the bike boo-boo kit, the price is certainly right!

Is there anything missing from this kit that I should add to it? I should mention that most places I ride does not have good cell phone reception...at least not with AT&T...

[Trek420]

On todays ride to the farm market I happened on what looked the aftermath of a head on crash. Did not see the crash itself just two cars with significant front end damage and lots of debris in the middle of the road.

The 3 people involved (two adults and one teenaged male) were seated at the side of the road.

Luckily they seemed ok but all 3 had small cuts and bruises on their face, arms and legs.

As I pulled up, stopped and parked the bike I asked the 3 crash victims if they needed help. No response. One of them was on the cell phone but I could tell he was calling a friend and not 911.

Three people had stepped out of a nearby office to see what happened, another guy walked across the street from another office.

None of them had called for help.

So I did.

I have the local PD in cell phone memory, got right through, gave the address. Dispatcher asked if anyone was hurt, I said I only see minor abrasions and bruising but the teen is visibly shaking. I have no medical training but thought he could either be scared or in shock. Let's get them some help. Dispatcher said help is already on the way.

Then I grabbed my woefully small first aide kit. Antiseptic wipes, band aids, passed those around ... and it solidified my feeling that; you get first aide kits for others, not you.

I'm passing these out, let's get these wounds cleaned up. I start with the guy who has a kid. He seems obviously more injured than the other driver who says "I have cuts too".

Dude, I'm on a bike. One with an awesome rear rack equipped with Wald wire basket I have a wallet sized first aid kit. Dude, you have an SUV. You don't even have a bandaid and you're wanting more of them from me? Ok, here.

I could hear sirens and lights from all directions, the guy who'd come over from across the street actually had a radio that picks up police dispatch. We both could hear the cavalry being called to the scene.

I waited for traffic to clear and got back on the road. Now off to shop for a new kit from the Red Cross store.

Maybe this one: http://www.redcrossstore.org/Shopper...niqueItemId=76

[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.

[owlice]

Then I grabbed my woefully small first aide kit. Antiseptic wipes, band aids, passed those around ... and it solidified my feeling that; you get first aide kits for others, not you.

This. Definitely this.

(And Trek, good job with the accident!)

In my first aid kit:

Band-aids in various sizes
Bactine wipes
Regular handwipes
Neosporin
Gauze pads
Pain meds (aspirin and ibuprofen)
Benadryl
Latex gloves (so I don't need to go through my saddle bag to get the other pair)
Chamois butter
Sometimes (depending on the riding): Cortisone cream (I have heat rash issues sometimes)
Sometimes (depending on the weather): Mylar blanket (I keep a couple of these in the car, too)

All in a Ziploc bag.

[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.