Discussion of first aid, basic rescue equipment & training

[go_browns79]

Ouch! Hope u feel better soon.

[Joanne]

Ken, I can't imagine how painful that must have been. I will be praying for your complete healing.

The one thing that this incident highlights is that you can be injured without ever stepping into a mine. Many of us are out exploring very remote areas where medical assistance can be hours away. Having basic first aid training and a first aid kit is just common sense....

Joanne

[Norman Johnson]

Wow, sorry to hear about that. Next time you are stomping wood---safety goggles---and a helmet---and a cup.

NJ

[tails]

Oh man, sorry to hear about that. Don't mess with your vision, you definatley want this to heal properly. On a recent descent out of Devils chasm last week I took a 3 inch diameter branch to the eye socket, jagged edge and all. And all I got was a black eye and a small cut on the eyelid. Looks like I got out lucky considering your accident. Too bad we won't see you in Darwin next week. LMK when you get better and plan a trip down to the Fallout shelter mine. Take care

[Therrin]

Hey thanks for the well-wishes from everyone. I just got my gear back today. It had been left in another vehicle during my escorted ride down to the hospital, and Dav was kind enough to gather it all together and take it home with him so that I could pick it up today while I was down there in Valencia.

So, I got my camera back, and here's a picture that Rob had taken of my eye about 5 mins after the injury, so that I could see what it looked like, because I wanted to know what I was dealing with.
You can see the blood pooling up inside my eyeball, totally bad juju.



The bandaid naysayers were right about this one though! Bandaids would have totally been worthless!

[Norman Johnson]

I know we all want to go there, but seriously, no pirate jokes. And, I'm only posting this because I know you will be okay. Goggles. Just ask Kareem. Worthy. ETC.

NJ

[Therrin]

I actually have and use goggles when I'm exploring.

I don't typically use goggles when I'm just camping and sitting around the fire and collecting firewood though.

You know, for all the crazy stuff I do, it's always during the most mundane activities that I get injured.

(alright, we can go back to the main discussion; I didn't mean to entirely derail this thread. Sorry)

[Joanne]

Ok, given that we participate in a high-risk activity, what emergency information do you carry on your person when you are exploring? It recently occurred to me that I lock my purse in my vehicle when I head underground. When I’m with others I have no idea if they are carrying any form of identification with them or not. I would have no idea how to contact anyone in his/her family.

I’ve seen quite a few folks who have their last name printed on their helmet. Is this for identification in the event of an accident, or just to make it easier to identify whose in front of you as you explore?

I think I’m going to take it one step further and make up a small laminated card to carry on my person that lists: my name, address, blood type, drug allergies, contact name, contact phone number, and contact address. There’s no reason it should be any larger than a driver’s license.

Any thoughts as to additional data that should be listed on the card?

Joanne

[Therrin]

That's actually a great idea Joanne. I also usually leave my wallet in the car. A laminated weatherproof card with all of your pertinent personal and medical info sounds fantastic.

Perhaps we could set up a form with MU's logo and some kind of a basic statement at the bottom on one side, and have all the personal info with it, then all the medical info on the other side.... or something like that.

Have people fill out the form, like a fill-in PDF file, then have the cards made up and laminated and sent to them for like $5 or something.

[Mike369]

I usually carry my wallet with me when I enter mines. I'll put it in a ziploc bag and just tuck it in the outside pocket of my pack. I have kind of decided that it is not the best idea to take my whole wallet into a mine just in case I lose it. I haven't really thought of it until now but in the Marines we carry a feild medical card. It contains all the basic necessary information that a person would need. They are roughly 3.5"x6" and when they are folded in half they fit in your pocket very nicely. I think that one could take this form and modify it a bit to better fit the civilian side. The major drawback of these cards is that they aren't normally laminated but that is an easy fix. Like Therrin was saying we could get the MU logo put on and maybe something like "in case of emergency call MU."
Anyways just something to think about.

[Stuart]

These are some great ideas! I think we could condense all the vital information onto a laminated business card size. Should I draft a sample card to post on here? I think we could either make a bunch at once for a small cost and ship them out or I could provide a template and let everyone take care of it on their own, what do you think?

I know that on all our activities we require everyone to fill out a medical information sheet and liability release form that we keep in a big binder on file in the office and we bring it out with us on all our trips with groups. It would be nice to have this backup system and also cards that everyone can carry personally with their information.

Would be a good idea for all mine explorers nationwide to carry something like this, actually would be good for anyone who spends time in the back-country.

[Therrin]

If you had a form people could fill in and order one, they could pay a small fee and it'd cover the expense of materials as well as a good thick laminate, S&H, and maybe a $0.50 or $1 donation to MU.
Then they would get it in the completed form, and not have to bother with trying to find a place to laminate it, or have it end up in a drawer while waiting to get laminated or never get around to it; or have it end up getting soggy and fall apart for some reason.

I think it's a very reasonable thing, it seems that a lot of people would be fine with it, but if there's any doubt we could put up a poll or something to check.


I butchered part of your forms, and spliced them with some others I had been given, and made a very reasonable Liability Release, Medical Authorization & Medical History form (front and back) which I also have set up for the folks to fill out that I'll be working with and training in the future, as well as that one upcoming Project we spoke about.

I think having this information on-hand not only helps to cover you legally, but it provides a solid foundation to assess any health factors for people in your crew and to provide the best care possible in an emergency situation.

The card would be excellent, because it would always be with the person, and could be used to refer to by any care giver or emergency personnel.

[Norman Johnson]

Obviously, you guys have hit on a much needed service that not only fits with what we all do in exploring mines, but also would be useful to many sport activities that involve a certain amount of risk and the special clothing needs that make taking along a wallet unlikely. Mountain biking, skiing, water sports, hiking, sailing, backpacking, etc.

Follow through on this, charge a small fee, advertise at REI, sporting good stores, camping websites, Cabella's, and make a fortune.

NJ

[Therrin]

I doubt that this general idea is patentable. Likely, by approaching larger outfitters they'd be like "no thanks" then turn around and do it themselves.

There are plenty of companies out there already doing this. Our cards would likely be an in-house thing available to anyone who orders them.
I don't see this as a big industry profitable idea unless we were to devise some specialized way of doing it.
But it seems like the more specialized you get, the more pieces there are to break or malfunction.
(for example: the ones that use the mini-box viewer with the micro-imprinted data spot, that needs the built in magnifying glass to view the data)