daredevilkink | Discussion/Off-Topic Post #1

Silly little EMT anon again.

I don't know if you're tracking this thread, but I have some questions.
I also have a tumblr and a tumblr / Ao3 / handle email if you would prefer to talk there?

Anyway, I'm writing a fic where there is an alien invasion (again) / large scale disaster and people get wind of it before hand. Instead of evacuating like everyone else, my character (who has super strength, a decent healing factor, EMT training as well as whatever other training he would have picked up from being on the front lines) packs a bag of medical supplies and stays.

What would this character pack (he can carry one of those big EMT bags and also a back pack. He'd have only what you can get over the counter)? And, I mean, I could go find my text book but web based information is better, can you link me to a page about doing triage like this?

(OP) As an EMT, I expect that you'd have much better resources to answer this one than I would.

But my big kit includes:
disposable gloves
CPR mask
Thermometer
Sphygmomanometer
Glucometer
Bandage materials (including bandage scissors - at least two pair)
OTC meds for pain, inflammation, and allergies as well as low dose aspirin
L.A.W. (liquid antacid and water) to treat pepper spray or other mild acids
Sunscreen
Instant cold packs
Hand warmers
Cheap plastic ponchos (useful to keep from contaminating your clothes)
Lots of bandannas (useful as easy to carry face-masks)
Water (as much as you can carry - for wounds and hydration)
Granola bars
Honey
Penlight
Flashlight (mine's a solar-powered/hand-cranked flashlight/emergency radio)
Box-cutter

If I were knowingly going into a urban disaster area with only OTC gear, off the top of my head, I would also bring rope, a headlamp, bolt-cutters, cheap aluminum curtain rods (for splinting), at least two smallish tarps, and a least one extra flashlight (maybe several smaller ones). I would wear galoshes (even without natural flooding, damaged water mains can lead to sublevel flooding anywhere), and I would bring heavy work gloves, several extra pair of socks and at least one change of clothes.

All of that said, with a major disaster, a big thing to think about beyond wounds is environmental dangers. With any large urban disaster, you WILL end up with fires. What season it it? Is exposure to extreme temperatures or other weather dangers a potential threat? Downed electric lines and contaminated water are big threats. Smoke and/or airborne debris. Structural damage to buildings which is a very dynamic situation long after the initial disaster.

If any of that makes you go WTF? Please ask! I'd love to get your feedback as well.

This is great. I also think I can follow along with why you would bring most of these and a whole list of reasons why each would be applicable. I'm still not sure what level of detail I want to go into for the actual treating hurt people part.

(I also had to look up Sphygmomanometer because we just called those blood pressure cuffs.)

Would you bring just one of those fold up and disposable CPR masks or multiple? Or are you talking about a different kind of CPR mask?

If your apartment area or what ever had a defibrillator with good batteries that seems to be in working order would you bring that as well? I mean yes, stealing, but since we're working under the assumption that the area you live in is at least partially evacuated eh...

Structural damage is going to be I think the biggest thing to deal with. It's also pretty plot relevant. (The character ends up getting trapped under something that's collapsed at one point.) Seasonly isn't something I've worked out so much yet.

Also, more for anyone reading along, one might decide to do this when an area is being evacuated because there are always going to be people who don't follow instructions or, in my opinion, more pressingly, illegal immigrants who don't think they can evacuate because doing so might require paper work they don't have as well as the ability to speak fluent English. As well as the disabled and elderly who might also be left behind in am emergency like this.

(OP) I personally have this mask set: http://www.redcrossstore.org/item/5000SGI?gclid=CM-KpvbahccCFUE7gQodNigLVQ I probably wouldn't bother with more (unless you had a handful of the flat barriers). CPR isn't really going to be your friend if you can't get your patient to a hospital.

If I had room to carry a portable defibrillator and there was one at hand, sure. But if I was pressed for space or weight, I'd leave it. It's usefulness is limited to a single type of cardiac dysrhythmia, and again the likelihood of survival of anyone that you had to use it on would be next to nil without access to advanced care.

I didn't mention hand sanitizer. I'd bring it too, and maybe pedialyte.

Regarding evacuation, all of your reasons are excellent, and there are a lot of other reasons people don't leave in evacuations: fear of looting, inability to transport loved ones (including pets), lack of transportation to evacuation sites (especially if roads &/or public transport are already compromised), some people also just might not get the evacuation order (I've missed some major news due to my unusual sleep-wake cycle on account of shift work).

Ah! Hand sanitizer!

Yeah, I wasn't even thinking about CPR from the hospital side of things (Why? IDK why, my brain is weird) but, while it seems rather said, it does make a lot of sense.

What would you do if you missed a like, major evacuation? (alien invasion major) Just wondering.

If I still had access to my transportation, I would head to a superstore to stock up on gear. I'd cautiously investigate to see if there was somewhere I could help with a reasonable expectation of not making myself into someone else for others to rescue. If I could help, I would. If I couldn't help, I would hole up somewhere until an organized rescue effort was underway, at which point I would join it.

If there were aliens trying to kill me, and I couldn't escape, I guess I would fight aliens and probably get killed. I'm no pushover, but neither am I a superhero.

^(OP)

OH! Also "why honey?" I thought I asked "why honey?" but erm. I looks like I forgot.

(OP) If someone is hypoglycemic and unconscious, the sugar from the honey will be absorbed by the gums.

Cool! That is not something they taught me in EMT school.

(OP) Because you can place an IV and give dextrose, which works much better. :P

(OP) If anyone else is reading this, please don't choke some unconscious person with honey.

Discussion/Off-Topic Post #1

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