Hiking First Aid Essentials

What is something in your pack you NEVER really want to use??

By Michele Michel

We pay a lot of care and attention to all the gear that we use regularly whilst at Trek Training and on the outdoor adventures we all love…. Boots, pack, socks, poles. However, we need to always be mindful of that thing that we actually don’t ever want to use- and that is our First Aid Kits.

Accidents do happen- as careful as we are, sometimes things can just go wrong and often when we least expect it. Not so long ago, after 4 hours of scrambling up and down narrow bush paths, negotiating logs, rocks, ledges, mud, and various obstacles, we sat down at the end to enjoy a cup of tea and Diamond slice when a branch fell collecting one of our nearest and dearest, resulting in a nasty bump on her forehead and lacerations to her lower leg…. talk about having to “accept the unexpected”. First Aid training kicked in and the team supported me as assistance was calmly administered. All ended well.

This is what I carry in my pack to all training sessions- it is in a zip-up container and then kept inside a waterproof bag.

  • Quick reference First Aid Notes

  • Gloves

  • Hand sanitiser

  • Emergency blanket

  • 2 triangular bandages

  • 1 snake bandage

  • 1 compression bandage

  • 2- 3 gauze bandages

  • Adhesive tape/fixamol

  • Various non-stick gauze pads

  • Hikers wool

  • Various Bandaids/blister pads

  • Steri-strips

  • Scissors/tweezers/splinter probes/safety pins

  • Saline

  • Antiseptic wipes and spray

  • Tick-off spray/Stingose

  • Ventolin

  • Aspirin/paracetamol/antihistamines

  • Glucose sweets/ hydralyte/water purifying tablets

  • Instant Cold/hot pack

  • Perm marker/Pen/paper/incident report

  • Plastic disposal bag

  • CPR face shield

I also have in my bumbag for very quick access, Stingoes, bandaids, antiseptic wipes, and antihistamines tablets.

If we are on a whole day hike in a remote area, we will always take a splint, a tarp, portable shelter, rope, Personal Location Beacon, extra food, extra water, sleeping bag/down jacket.

Jo Vartanian