By Scott Brown - Director & Senior Instructor, Rural and Remote First Aid
I have a confession to make. Whenever I see First Aid Kits in workwear stores or outdoor stores, I usually roll my eyes and grind my teeth. It’s not that I don’t believe in them, quite the opposite. It's just that most kits I see are borderline useless for anything other than the bare minimum minor injury.
I understand why the basic kits are sold; they’re easy, quick, and meet a minimum standard. Sort of a ‘Get out of Jail free’ card. But in my experience in attending farming accidents on the ambulance, we need to be a bit better prepared than the minimum standard. Those of you who have done our Rual and Remote First Aid course with GrainGrowers will have seen firsthand the need for the right gear at the right time.
The major injury and fatality stats around farming in Australia aren’t pretty. In fact, they are alarming, and not representative. There are other industries that are comparable in location, machinery usage, working hours etc. that don’t have anywhere near the injuries/fatalities that agriculture does in Australia. So, to use the old “it’s just part of the job” when someone gets injured doesn’t really stack up. But it does happen, so we need to be prepared with good training to respond and good gear to use to help our injured family member or coworker.
A small First Aid kit will have all the bits and pieces needed for small injuries, but we need to consider that there are major injury potentials on farm that the small kits just can’t handle.
I can tell you from experience, there is little more that is as challenging and affect you for as long a time as feeling helpless in an incident because you don’t have the tools you need to help someone.
Whilst the First Aid Code of Practice does not specifically define the size and contents of first aid kits for remote areas, it does suggest a minimum that all kits contain.
So, let’s look at a couple of things that I would see as non-negotiables in a First Aid kit and some that might be a good backup to the front-line kits.
What goes in your farm First Aid kit:
- Emergency Services’ phone numbers and addresses
- Basic First Aid Notes or book
- Resuscitation mask
- Individually wrapped sterile adhesive dressings (band-aids)
- Antiseptic
- Sterile eye pads
- Sterile covering for serious wounds
- Combine dressings x 3
- Wound dressings x 2
- Triangular bandages x 3
- Small sterile non-adherent wound dressings
- Medium sterile non-adherent wound dressings
- Large sterile non-adherent wound dressing
- Adhesive tape 1.25cm wide
- Compression bandages x 2
- Scissors
- PPE (disposable gloves)
- Thermal blanket
- Burn dressings/sheets
- Additional bandages to manage bites/stings (Consider Snake Bite kit)
- Instant ice packs
- Plastic bags
- A roll of cling wrap
- Whistle and torch
You should also consider including tourniquets and haemostatic dressings for life-threatening bleeding.
Over the years, we have also identified the advantages of having a backup kit that lives in the office. We refer to it as the ‘Grab n Go kit’ - the kit you mobilise when it’s a more major incident. It carries the items you will need in the event of a snake bite, pelvic fracture, spinal or head injury, etc. I consider these kits to be like insurance: you hope you never need it, but to be able to call on it if that day comes may save someone. Or at the minimum, reduce the severity of the incident.
What goes in your 'Grab n Go' kit (recommended)
- Triangular Bandages x 5
- Medium Combine Dressing x 3
- Large Combine Dressing x 3
- Extra-large Combine Dressing x 3
- Snake Bite kit x 2
- Formable Splint x 4
- Pelvic Binder
- Scoop Stretcher
- Trauma Shears x 2
- LED Head Torch
- 10ml Saline x 10
- 30ml Saline x 10
- Haemostatic Dressing x 5 (10cm x 10cm)
- Tourniquet x 2
- Cling Wrap
- BP machine
- Pulse Oximeter
- Evacuation sheet
- Head rolls x 2
- Patient Care Record Duplicate book A4
- Small Patient Care Record Note Pads x 2
In addition to a well-stocked First Aid kit, knowing what to do in an emergency is also crucial. That's where your first aid training comes in. If you haven't got a qualified first-aider on farm, make it a priority this year. To those that haven’t done our Rural and Remote First Aid course with GrainGrowers yet, we look forward to seeing you in the near future!
