Wilderness First Aid

The Essential Gear and Knowledge That You Need to Prepare for Mishaps in the Outback

As we’ve mentioned in previous blogs, one of the main reasons that we started our HCS website back in 2016 was to share the knowledge that we had acquired during our many years of Hiking, Camping and Shooting. So we’re always gratified when someone reaches out to us to say that they found our gear evaluation criteria, product information, blogs, adventure photos, "Useful Apps", and "Other Helpful Information Sources" links to be helpful.
 
In that vein, this week, Marc and his son Tyler (who is in the process of earning his Boy Scout Wilderness Survival Merit Badge) dropped us a note to say that they found our site to be helpful. And, as with many contacts that we receive, Tyler wanted to “pay it forward” by letting us know about another great online resource that he had found; an article from Advantis Medical on “First Aid and Outdoor Recreation”.

Since we’re always looking for additional information, we checked out the article. The article starts out with 9 paragraphs discussing a few of the most significant First Aid risks that you can face when hiking - at a high level:

• Wilderness First Aid Basics
• First Aid Kits
• Wounds
• Dehydration and Heat Exhaustion
• Burns
• Strains, Sprains, and Broken Bones
• CPR
• Hypothermia
• What to Do in an Outdoor Emergency

 
But the real payoff of the article is the fact that it has links to 14 other webpages that cover a wide variety of wilderness First Aid topics from a broad set of viewpoints. So it’s a great starting point to jump off from.

• Wilderness First Aid Basics
• Outdoor Safety
• First Aid and Travel Safety
• Wilderness and Remote First Aid Emergency Reference Guide
• Wilderness First Aid vs. First Aid at Home or at the Office
• Wilderness Survival: First Aid and Health
• Packing a Personal First Aid Kit
• What to Put in a Wilderness First Aid Kit
• How to Build a Hikers' First Aid Kit
• Why Wilderness First Aid Matters
• Essential Items for an Outdoor First Aid Kit
• The Basics of Wilderness First Aid
• What You Should Put in Your Wilderness First Aid Kit
• Nine Things to Know About Wilderness First Aid

 
For us the topic of First Aid is so important that we have different gear for Hiking and Camping and Disaster Preparedness – since because Camping normally includes getting further from civilization, staying overnight and making meals outdoors, the level of activities and risk increases, and in Disasters there are more extenuating circumstances that require additional supplies.
 
So, if you’re interested in relooking your First Aid gear and knowledge before you head out into the wilderness again you should take a look at some of this material. 
 
I know that with these resources Tyler won’t have any problem obtaining his Boy Scout Wilderness Survival Merit Badge.