# What's in your First Aid kit?



## Airframer (Jan 19, 2013)

Even as a hand tool user I inevitably end up with one or two nicks and cuts every time I am working on a project. This has led me to realize I need to put together a first aid kit of some sort to keep out there so I don't have to do the walk of shame through the house each time trying to avoid being questioned by the wife lol.

So what would you consider a "Well Stocked" basic first aid kit for the shop?


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## Christophret (Dec 2, 2012)

simple, tourniquet, morphine, fishing string, curved needle and a bottle of jack.
You've got to sterilize the curved needle first.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I keep clean rags and band aids handy. Blood is part of every project.


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## Airframer (Jan 19, 2013)

Yeah Monty that is about all I could think of but thought surely there had to be more needed in there.


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## Mosquito (Feb 15, 2012)

Working in my apartment, the only thing I have in my shop room is a role of paper towels, and some different kinds of tape. Duct tape, electrical tape, painters tape, double sided tape.

But otherwise, I've only got bandaids in the bathroom drawer :-/


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## Airframer (Jan 19, 2013)

*Mos* - that reminds me.. I got a box of these for Fathers Day this year


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

I've been meaning to get a decent first aid kit for the shop. Currently, I have a ziplock sandwich bag holding a few Band-Aids. Very pathetic…


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## Biff (Nov 19, 2012)

Band aids and splinter out and a phone. I wont be trying to control level I trauma myself! I'm not afraid to call for help if I see a finger lying on the table.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

I'm an ER doc; I see people every shift with all sorts of injuries. The majority of stuff in home first aid kits are a waste of money. Bandaids, some small, some large are all you really need. Anything larger or needs stitches should be seen by someone with medical training. Ignore what you hear about using crazy glue on cuts; CA adhesive is actually toxic to human tissue; the surgical adhesive we use in the ER is specially formulated and different from normal CA adhesive. I also have a blood pressure cuff in the house that I could use in case of a serious limb injury that works great as a tourniquet. Otherwise, clean any cuts well with clean water (don't use hydrogen peroxide which despite being around for years is actually also toxic to healing tissues) and bandage up. All my projects have my blood on them! The downside to working with razor sharp tools is that they're razor sharp!


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## robscastle (May 13, 2012)

First Aid Kits as Manitario indicated do not usually cater for the home wood worker, ants seem to get into them and the pressure sensitive glues seem to dry out before they are used.
You should have a FA kit and support services where you can access it quickly.
So as Monte replied clean rag and band aids are essential and then consider running water with the ability to use anti septics, Betadine I think is one name that comes to mind, stings like hell but works, its possibly a modern day iodine! or then anything similar.

There is nothing more annoying as trying to work with blood dripping onto you work, or a splinter driving you mad and blood also rusts Cast Iron for some reason.

The water supply and tub has a multitude of uses eye wash for example and general clean up at the end of the day, as well as general clean hands etc, using sponges etc.

Make sure you also consider having a towel hanging where you find it with limited vision, generally right next to the sink.
The phone essential again for calling for help or just the convenience of it.

Any thing bigger than what is needed for a band aid its time to get out of the workshop anyway.

No doubt a phone camera is in your pocket as well so consider recording the event, and doing a blog so we don't make the same mistake !!










And a then vice for getting the nail out later









And finally a cup of coffee, to settle down and reflect on "How the hell did I do that"










for the record I am fully recovered now.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

nice pics Robscastle! I've pulled several large nails out of peoples hands in the ER after nail gun accidents. They always have a sheepish look on their face…


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## Veto (May 23, 2013)

Superglue. No pesky bandaid or stitches necessary when you've got superglue. WWII medics actually carried it in their first aid kits. Its the best. Just hold the cut together, drag a few "Stitches" of CA across it, let it dry and you're all set.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

I have a small first aid kit in my workshop plus I have a supply of "H" shaped "Knuckle" bandages that work very well on finger tips. When I was an apprentice sheet metal worker If I did not get cut that day it must have been Sunday.


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

Paper towels, bandaids, a needle and modified tweezers for splinters, a plastic squirt botle full of water for eye wash, some gauze pads, tape of some sort, a bandana, a good cigar and lighter, some oxycodone and a 6 pack of bud. The bud and the cigar get used post op or post work day, with or without an accident. Anything else, and I trust to pros. Most surgeons don't work wood, and I don't do much self surgery. Why sign your work when you always leave some DNA on it for your clients, whether it be skin or blood.


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## SebringDon (Feb 1, 2013)

After I stuck a 3/4" chisel in my palm a couple weeks ago (a glancing blow, no real damage, luckily) and realized there wasn't a bandage in the house, I picked up a little $15 FA kit at WalMart. It's got some band aids and some gauze and tape for bigger gashes, and a bottle of some antiseptic wash, as well as some other stuff. I'm away from home now so can't give a detailed list.

We stuck it in the guest bathroom, which is just inside the door from the garage/shop, so I won't have to bleed all over the house. 

I told my wife when I started doing woodworking last fall that I'm hyper-careful around power tools, so if I managed to hurt myself, it would be with a hand tool. So far I'm 2 for 2, the incident above and another small gash in a finger with a 1/4" chisel a few days later. I guess that's the price of moving from pocket holes to "advanced" joinery. I really need to start using my vise more, instead of my hands, to hold stuff I'm working on. That's probably the best "first aid" I could practice.


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## Pimzedd (Jan 22, 2007)

Always take the pieces that get cut off. I cut off the tip of my middle finger on a sheet metal squaring shear while teaching shop. When the Doc saw it, he asked where the piece was. Told him back at the machine. He said they could have sewed it back on.

Had a student do the same thing about three months later. I sent the piece and they sewed it back. Oh yea, the district maintenance dept, put a guard on it after that accident.


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## revwarguy (Mar 12, 2013)

One thing to lose that is common in store bought FA kits is "burn cream". I know that burns are not all that common in the shop, but if you do get a burn and apply that stuff, one of the first things they do when you get treatment is scrape all that stuff off…..


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## kizerpea (Dec 2, 2011)

+ 1 james101 everything but a doc in da box,


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## fredj (Jun 4, 2013)

That's a very good question. I have to walk back into the house if I have a small cut or something like that. Now with a 3 year old grand daughter often in the house, if I get ANYTHING, she just has to put a Band-Aid on it. The blessings of being an old fart.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

PG (pure gin). 
Bill


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## redSLED (Mar 21, 2013)

Sawdust. And first aid stuff.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

They call it Bloodwood for a reason…(jus kiddin) Bandaids, peroxide & clean paper towels.


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## revwarguy (Mar 12, 2013)

modified tweezers for splinters

Woodbum, what kind of modification?


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

I file the flat parts real thin, and then sharpen the tips to a pretty good point. That way you can use the tips to dig in and pull enough skin back to grab the little s**ts between the legs and extract. The pointy ends are good too for digging under the splinter to lift it up enough to grab it. If that doesn't work, then minor surgery is called for with a SHARP razor knife or disposable scalpel.


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## fireman010152 (Jun 24, 2013)

I'm a paramedic with 40 some years of experience in emergency medicine and wood working. always have a good first aid kit in the shop and also several class ABC fire extinguishers. I want to disagree with one suggestion that was given and that was to put burn cream on a burn- DON'T - because it will seal in the heat and cause additional damage - you should use clean cool water to cool the burn. stick the part that was burnt under clean cool water and let it run on it for about 15-20 minutes or unto the burning has stopped when you take it out from under the water.

LOL I have had my own accidents in my shop during these 40 some years of experience. One night was I was working in my shop trying to finish up a project when the radial arm saw that I was using hit a unseen knot in the board and snatched the born and my thumb into the saw blade. OUCH- I grabbed some items from my first aid kit and called my brother to carry me to the doctors office to have it sewed up- well after 10 stitches I went into the house for the night. the funny part was my wife didn't know that I had gotten hurt until the next morning when she got up and saw my hand with the big white bandage on it and I thought I was going to have to replace the roof in our bedroom where she went through it. I didn't tell her because I didn't want to upset her- well guess if there is a next time I'll just have to upset her so I don't have to repair the roof again. LOL
fireman010152 @yahoo.com
Billy Norris
Wallace, S.C.


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## Pimzedd (Jan 22, 2007)

Good story Billy!!


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