Three things worth adding would be: 1. A cpr mask (mentioned below). You can get fold up clear ones for protection that have the added benefit of giving a good seal in the event of facial trauma or someone with a heavy beard (makes it very difficult, trust me) 2. A tourniquet. Penetrating injuries and extremity injuries with significant blood loss do happen. Despite what one may think, it is extremely difficult to make an adequate make-shift tourniquet out of ski straps/poles/etc. This also takes time and time is blood loss. 3. A very lightweight inflatable pad to keep an injured person off the snow. This makes a huge difference in preventing hypothermia which is a common cause of morbidity/mortality in prolonged rescues. Even a super lightweight backpacking one with cut outs helps quite a bit. I have not taken a WFR course but I am a military physician with a fair amount of real world experience in these sorts of scenarios. Really appreciate the video!
Great suggestions. Usually a mat is part of the team kit. I’m split on the pocket mask but obviously it’s not a bad idea. This kit is my recreational, skiing with my buddies kit. Guiding, expedition, or group stuff would certainly be much different.
A few things in mine that I think are pretty critical: -A real tourniquet. Makeshift ones can actually make things worse, and when you actually need one, you need one FAST. -A quick laminated "cheat sheet." One side is a checklist for major trauma, the other side is other less urgent info. I've been a first responder in a few pretty bad incidents, and you'd be amazed how quickly all that classroom knowledge gets messy in your head when SHTF and your buddy is dying in front of you.
I would carry a multi tool, ( Leatherman Wave + ) and include the items you metioned in my repair kit . I also would carry a separate IFAK kit similar to a military IFAK ( individual first aid kit). However without a chest seal and Haemostatic Gauze. But include a wire mesh splint and a tourniquet.
A kinda weird thing I’m never without in the woods is strips of rubber cut from old bicycle inner tubes. They tie securely and untie easily. I use them for all kinds of things like tying off tarps, repairing gear, securing a splint, wrapping on gauze, a makeshift belt, even starting a fire. I find them to be super useful.
A good idea for lighters is to wrap it with a strip of bike inner tube. It lights in wet or cold and has a good burn time to get your kindling heated, dried and burning. Starting a fire with cold and/or damp tinder is difficult. Alternately, consider what you can burn that you are already carrying (and test it at home).
WFR so high value! Amazed at the quality of those courses. Between more yrs of touring, first aid practice, and winter SAR response reflections, I have moved towards preventing or managing hypothermia as the priority first aid treatment. My traditional first aid kit has both shrunk and grown post WFR (now pretty minimal and sustainable for every day pack) but my keep-warm overnight gear has expanded. Especially in shorter and colder months and poor weather or long bushwacks (all factors leading to extended wait for evac support), our partner group has started consistently sharing a sil tarp (modified to work like Alpine Threadworks), insulated air mat, and small stove and pot.
At a minimum, I want everyone in my group to have a small seat sized closed cell foam mat, either extra, or as part of their backpack frame. Comes in handy for lunch breaks, but also padding for a splint, and, as you mention, in winter/spring, insulating a stationary person (whether injured or not), is key, and clothing and space blankets do (almost) nothing on the bottom.
I suggest you add inflatable air splints. Also use ski poles that have wrist loops, so that the poles can made into a traction splint. This might require using your other partners ski poles as well.
For others, would not recommend a regular mylar blanket for use as emergency shelter. I would instead recommend replacing the space blanket with a SOL emergency bivy or similarly robust/durable product (similar to the entire kit here). Those mylar blankets shred and become tinsel with even a little bit of wind. SOL bags are durable enough that they will last a night in most cases, cheap enough not to cry over, and light enough to justify IMO. My own kit contains two 3-5mm contractor trash bags to use as shelters instead due to their even lower cost, comparable (or even lower) weight, slightly smaller packed foot print, arguably wider use range. For Steri-Strips to work well you need a skin adhesive for the wound edges. You can use tincture of benzoin or a cyanoacrylate based adhesive (dermabond or super/crazy glue) Regarding saline for irrigation, potable water is appropriate for irrigation. no need for sterile liquids. Tap water is good enough to be used for dirty wound irrigation even in hospital (ED/ER/A&E) settings with enough volume of irrigant. Those small ampules will not provide nearly enough volume for any meaningful irrigation. Only use case would be for irrigating eyes, but then again you would need more volume unless you are irrigating for a small amount of dirt, sand, or to flush out a small foreign body.
There’s a SOL lite bivy in the daily kit and a SOL burly bivy in the sled kit! Pretty sure I show both of those in the video. Emerg blankets are added as they’re so thin and still useful. I basically think every pack should have one no matter what. Even if you’re trail running with no FA kit whatsoever, a blanket in the waist belt is nothing. Interesting about the Steri-Strips! I’ll look into that one. Fair enough on the irrigation. That was a friend paramedic inclusion. I’d certainly use water if nothing else.
The one thing I would consider ‘missing’ is a CPR mask. I can’t I Imagine that I’d be able to do rescue breathing on an avalanche victim who is still mostly buried in the snow, so you can’t get your head in a perfect position relative to theirs for rescue breaths. And then there is the protection it provides to both victim and rescuer.
Yeah that’s fair. Generally I’m recreating with folks I feel comfortable without “protection”. That being said, the two times I’ve given CPR, it was another party we encountered. In both cases, there was significant trauma that made rescue breaths not feasible. A mask probably would help in some situations but in my recreational kit, it doesn’t meet the weight:benefit ratio requirement.
@@skiericcarter yeah, same here, the protection part is secondary for me. The main reason for me to carry it is allowing me access to someone positioned in such a way as to make it hard to get good contact mouth to mouth. Luckily I have never seen an avalanche rescue in real life though, so it’s all conjecture!
just went thru it yesterday; en reach mini, 2 voile straps, mini leatherman, zip ties, gorilla tape, SOL survival mini bivi , space blanket, nun tabs, headlamp, mini candle (for waxing skins), 2 larabars.thats it! the first aid kit is the tape, the ski straps, the zips ties and the clothes in my pack. not the kitchen sink approach thats for sure
Really enjoy these types of videos! Would love to see the rest of the gear you are bringing along for a typical ski mountaineering day. Have you considered adding a hemostatic dressing? Would help to control/minimize blood loss in the event of a more serious bleed.
I’ll slowly add more! I just have the one specific dressing but generally we carry so much clothing, I kind of assume we’d be using the jackets and space blankets as a supplement.
If you’re bringing a nasal airway, you ought to bring lube. Especially if there’s trauma to the face and blood in the nose or larynx, you’re gonna want lube to get that thing down there without causing more trauma to the area.
Blood is a good enough lubricant. If they are obtunded enough I am placing an NPA, a little bit of mucosal damage is low down on the list of concerns in an austere environment. Also, please reconsider placing a nasal airway on a patient with significant facial trauma. This is at minimum a relative contraindication due to the risk of basilar skull fracture and introducing the airway through a fracture and into the skull. In many circles, facial trauma is considered an absolute contraindication to a nasal airway placement. If you need to maintain a patent airway through use of a hand free device then either use an oral adjunct (OPA), or pin their tongue to the lower lip or jacket.
@@kylenorder8683 interesting about the skull fracture. Both situations I’ve seen trauma with significant facial injuries and wished I had an airway, I hadn’t considered that it could lead to further damage like that. Good thought!
I just found the NA810 2.5 inch nubby and it’s been awesome this season! www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00M8QVJ5O/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=AA3MGRC7F9EI2&psc=1
Very comprehensive. Love the Leukotape and saline solution ideas. Will add to my kit. Thanks,
Three things worth adding would be:
1. A cpr mask (mentioned below). You can get fold up clear ones for protection that have the added benefit of giving a good seal in the event of facial trauma or someone with a heavy beard (makes it very difficult, trust me)
2. A tourniquet. Penetrating injuries and extremity injuries with significant blood loss do happen. Despite what one may think, it is extremely difficult to make an adequate make-shift tourniquet out of ski straps/poles/etc. This also takes time and time is blood loss.
3. A very lightweight inflatable pad to keep an injured person off the snow. This makes a huge difference in preventing hypothermia which is a common cause of morbidity/mortality in prolonged rescues. Even a super lightweight backpacking one with cut outs helps quite a bit.
I have not taken a WFR course but I am a military physician with a fair amount of real world experience in these sorts of scenarios. Really appreciate the video!
Great suggestions. Usually a mat is part of the team kit.
I’m split on the pocket mask but obviously it’s not a bad idea. This kit is my recreational, skiing with my buddies kit. Guiding, expedition, or group stuff would certainly be much different.
A few things in mine that I think are pretty critical:
-A real tourniquet. Makeshift ones can actually make things worse, and when you actually need one, you need one FAST.
-A quick laminated "cheat sheet." One side is a checklist for major trauma, the other side is other less urgent info. I've been a first responder in a few pretty bad incidents, and you'd be amazed how quickly all that classroom knowledge gets messy in your head when SHTF and your buddy is dying in front of you.
I would carry a multi tool, ( Leatherman Wave + ) and include the items you metioned in my repair kit . I also would carry a separate IFAK kit similar to a military IFAK ( individual first aid kit). However without a chest seal and Haemostatic Gauze. But include a wire mesh splint and a tourniquet.
A kinda weird thing I’m never without in the woods is strips of rubber cut from old bicycle inner tubes. They tie securely and untie easily. I use them for all kinds of things like tying off tarps, repairing gear, securing a splint, wrapping on gauze, a makeshift belt, even starting a fire. I find them to be super useful.
A good idea for lighters is to wrap it with a strip of bike inner tube. It lights in wet or cold and has a good burn time to get your kindling heated, dried and burning.
Starting a fire with cold and/or damp tinder is difficult. Alternately, consider what you can burn that you are already carrying (and test it at home).
WFR so high value! Amazed at the quality of those courses. Between more yrs of touring, first aid practice, and winter SAR response reflections, I have moved towards preventing or managing hypothermia as the priority first aid treatment. My traditional first aid kit has both shrunk and grown post WFR (now pretty minimal and sustainable for every day pack) but my keep-warm overnight gear has expanded. Especially in shorter and colder months and poor weather or long bushwacks (all factors leading to extended wait for evac support), our partner group has started consistently sharing a sil tarp (modified to work like Alpine Threadworks), insulated air mat, and small stove and pot.
Yep - similar situation for me. It gets cold fast and if you’re not moving, you’re probably fucked…
At a minimum, I want everyone in my group to have a small seat sized closed cell foam mat, either extra, or as part of their backpack frame. Comes in handy for lunch breaks, but also padding for a splint, and, as you mention, in winter/spring, insulating a stationary person (whether injured or not), is key, and clothing and space blankets do (almost) nothing on the bottom.
Nice one Eric! Really interesting to see what other folk in other areas are using. Thanks.
Nicely put together video. Always useful information as always.
Nice. thanks for sharing.
I suggest you add inflatable air splints. Also use ski poles that have wrist loops, so that the poles can made into a traction splint. This might require using your other partners ski poles as well.
For others, would not recommend a regular mylar blanket for use as emergency shelter. I would instead recommend replacing the space blanket with a SOL emergency bivy or similarly robust/durable product (similar to the entire kit here). Those mylar blankets shred and become tinsel with even a little bit of wind. SOL bags are durable enough that they will last a night in most cases, cheap enough not to cry over, and light enough to justify IMO. My own kit contains two 3-5mm contractor trash bags to use as shelters instead due to their even lower cost, comparable (or even lower) weight, slightly smaller packed foot print, arguably wider use range.
For Steri-Strips to work well you need a skin adhesive for the wound edges. You can use tincture of benzoin or a cyanoacrylate based adhesive (dermabond or super/crazy glue)
Regarding saline for irrigation, potable water is appropriate for irrigation. no need for sterile liquids. Tap water is good enough to be used for dirty wound irrigation even in hospital (ED/ER/A&E) settings with enough volume of irrigant. Those small ampules will not provide nearly enough volume for any meaningful irrigation. Only use case would be for irrigating eyes, but then again you would need more volume unless you are irrigating for a small amount of dirt, sand, or to flush out a small foreign body.
There’s a SOL lite bivy in the daily kit and a SOL burly bivy in the sled kit! Pretty sure I show both of those in the video. Emerg blankets are added as they’re so thin and still useful. I basically think every pack should have one no matter what. Even if you’re trail running with no FA kit whatsoever, a blanket in the waist belt is nothing.
Interesting about the Steri-Strips! I’ll look into that one.
Fair enough on the irrigation. That was a friend paramedic inclusion. I’d certainly use water if nothing else.
Super interesting, thanks for sharing. Definitely makes me want to bring a little more gear with me for the "what if" moments. 👌
👊
The one thing I would consider ‘missing’ is a CPR mask. I can’t I Imagine that I’d be able to do rescue breathing on an avalanche victim who is still mostly buried in the snow, so you can’t get your head in a perfect position relative to theirs for rescue breaths. And then there is the protection it provides to both victim and rescuer.
Yeah that’s fair. Generally I’m recreating with folks I feel comfortable without “protection”. That being said, the two times I’ve given CPR, it was another party we encountered. In both cases, there was significant trauma that made rescue breaths not feasible. A mask probably would help in some situations but in my recreational kit, it doesn’t meet the weight:benefit ratio requirement.
@@skiericcarter yeah, same here, the protection part is secondary for me. The main reason for me to carry it is allowing me access to someone positioned in such a way as to make it hard to get good contact mouth to mouth. Luckily I have never seen an avalanche rescue in real life though, so it’s all conjecture!
just went thru it yesterday; en reach mini, 2 voile straps, mini leatherman, zip ties, gorilla tape, SOL survival mini bivi , space blanket, nun tabs, headlamp, mini candle (for waxing skins), 2 larabars.thats it!
the first aid kit is the tape, the ski straps, the zips ties and the clothes in my pack. not the kitchen sink approach thats for sure
its worth binging the kitchen sink on the sled, cos you dont need to carry it. an electric chainsaw is money
Nice! Not too much different there!
@@skiericcarter every gram counts. Lol
Really enjoy these types of videos! Would love to see the rest of the gear you are bringing along for a typical ski mountaineering day. Have you considered adding a hemostatic dressing? Would help to control/minimize blood loss in the event of a more serious bleed.
I’ll slowly add more! I just have the one specific dressing but generally we carry so much clothing, I kind of assume we’d be using the jackets and space blankets as a supplement.
Eric I am Wyatt I love Neave
What size are those zipper pouches you're using? Thanks! This is great!
They’re about 4x6in made from Arc’teryx offcut material
@@skiericcarter Thanks!
If you’re bringing a nasal airway, you ought to bring lube. Especially if there’s trauma to the face and blood in the nose or larynx, you’re gonna want lube to get that thing down there without causing more trauma to the area.
Oh there’s always lube. (It’s taped to the airway)
Blood is a good enough lubricant. If they are obtunded enough I am placing an NPA, a little bit of mucosal damage is low down on the list of concerns in an austere environment. Also, please reconsider placing a nasal airway on a patient with significant facial trauma. This is at minimum a relative contraindication due to the risk of basilar skull fracture and introducing the airway through a fracture and into the skull. In many circles, facial trauma is considered an absolute contraindication to a nasal airway placement. If you need to maintain a patent airway through use of a hand free device then either use an oral adjunct (OPA), or pin their tongue to the lower lip or jacket.
@@kylenorder8683 interesting about the skull fracture. Both situations I’ve seen trauma with significant facial injuries and wished I had an airway, I hadn’t considered that it could lead to further damage like that. Good thought!
What antenna is on your Baofeng? Thanks
I just found the NA810 2.5 inch nubby and it’s been awesome this season!
www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00M8QVJ5O/ref=ox_sc_act_image_2?smid=AA3MGRC7F9EI2&psc=1
Any suggestions as to where one could find the ratchet system in Squamish?
It’s a bike tool from Blackburn so perhaps a few of the shops have it! Amazon was easy though…
What's your take on bothi bags instead of the siltarp?