First Aid Kits

[Martin Milner]

Can anyone tell me the regulations on First Aid boxes in countries other than the UK?

In the UK the official guideline is that the box should be green, with a white cross.

They used to be white with a red cross, but that's the sign of the Red Cross organisation, so it was changed some years ago (not sure exactly when).

I'm planning to replace all my 1st Aid kits with Green boxes for my Hospital/Rescue theme, and every Police, Fire, and Rescue vehicle would carry a 1st Aid kit, so for me that's going to be a couple of dozen boxes.

[playmofire]

I've done a bit of searching on Google, Martin, and found that first aid boxes are available in green, red, white (with a white cross on a red circle) and blue.  Looking at some pictures I downloaded some time ago of German paramedic vehicles, they have silver, white, orange and red cases and bags.  On British paramedic vehicles I've seen green, red and blue bags in use.  Overall, I think you can devise your own rules, therefore.

In the small cases, Playmobil offer red, blue, white and silver and there are two sets of equipment stickers for them (see attachment).  My own system for ambulances, including the air ambulance, and my fire vehicles is:

Red case - defibrillator sticker in the body of the case (I don't know how familiar you are with the cases, but there is a standard insert to take the stickers), with a sticker of wipes, gloves and bandages in the lid, thus creating a case with dual storage.

White case - white oxygen cylinder attached to case handle with wipes, gloves and bandages sticker inside case lid and oxygen tube with face mask in case body.

Silver case - drugs sticker in case body and wipes etc sticker in case lid. 

All of these can be carried on the ambulance and air ambulance (and the custom 4x4 support vehicle for the air ambulance I'm working on). The red case is carried on all fire vehicles but the silver case can only be carried on those which always carry an EMT trained crew member.  At the moment, that's only one of these, the jeep control unit.  Thought is being given to whether all front-line fire vehicles should also carry the white case and oxygen cylinder to allow oxygen therapy treatment for smoke inhalation (the BA cylinders only contain compressed air and so are unsuitable for this).  I suspect that the end result will be the jeep will have the drugs case replaced by a defibrillator as being more useful but no oxygen cylinder and case.

Looking at the attachments, the top one is from the new ambulance, 4221, and is part number 30 88 1292, and the bottom one from the 3925 ambulance is 30 89 3280.

[kaethe]

hi everyone
just curious, with the advent of the aed devices, does anyone know if the new police units will have one?

kaethe

[Timotheos]

What's an "aed"?

Hey Martin

Over hear we have white first aid boxes.  I'm not certain whether we have a regulation on it.  Maybe hospitals do.  The office first aid kit is just a box o' stuff that the secretary sits on.

[cachalote]

we have different colors for emergency material in portugal:
red - for perforating equipment and needles
blue - equipment for respiration control
yellow - pediatric equipment
green - trauma equipment

sometime everything is packed together in a red semi-flexible box (much like a refrigerator bag) with a white cross (or rather a double cross - rotated 0º and 45º) with a red drawing in the middle depicting the snake and the stick).
inside ambulances, loose equipment is stored in bags divided by this color-scheme.

Vermelho — material de punção e administração de fármacos;
Azul — material para controlo da via aérea;
Amarelo — material pediátrico;
Verde — material para traumatologia.

[Martin Milner]

As usual I'm learning a lot, through the medium of Playmobil!

I was initially thinking only of the trauma 1st aid kit - that is the basic kit used in offices and homes for treating cuts & other external bleeding etc. All homes should have something, it's wise to carry one in your car, and all offices are required by law to have a 1st aid kit  and staff trained to use it.

I assume that every Police and Fire Service vehicle would carry at least a trauma kit, and that the more serious kits (defibrilator, oxygen resus. etc) would be carried only be specialists trained in their use - i.e. Paramedics and Ambulance crews.

I was the trained "1st Aider at Work" in my office for 9 years but gave up last May, partly because I got paid nothing for the extra responsibility.

[playmofire]

I assume that every Police and Fire Service vehicle would carry at least a trauma kit, and that the more serious kits (defibrilator, oxygen resus. etc) would be carried only be specialists trained in their use - i.e. Paramedics and Ambulance crews.

Defibrillators are so cheap now and easy to use with some basic training that they are increasingly becoming part of the equipment on emergency vehicles other than ambulances, although the situation varies around the country.

In some parts of North Yorkshire where it may take an ambulance half an hour to reach a remote village, there is a volunteer First Responder scheme where local people have been trained and equipped with a first aid kit which includes defib and oxygen to cover the gap between the ambulance being called and arriving.  If you query on "first responders north richmondshire" you can find out more info. 

[playmofire]

In addition to the first aid cases, my ambulances (land and air) also carry a backpack duplicating the cases for use where a casualty cannot be approached closely by the vehicle, e.g. because of the difficulty of the terrain.  This allows everything to be moved in one pack rather than separate cases where it's unclear what aid the casualty needs.  It's part 30 65 3512.

[kaethe]

AED

oops, sorry:  automated external defibrillator.  these units are small, relatively inexpensive for lifesaving medical equipment ( less than $2000 in our discount stores here in the states) and available to trained first responders personnel or laypeople.  they can deliver the appropriate electrical countershock to a victim in dysrhythmia without requiring the user to make a decision.  they are widely accessible here in the states, on airport walls, downtown lobbies, electrical service vehicles, law enforcement vehicles, everywhere, as immediate accessibility is the key to surviving a cardiac incident. 

the most common units are red, in a soft cordura case, about 9x8x3.  when you unzip them, you see the unit, usually grey, with two disposable pads ready to attach to the front and back/side of the victim.  as soon as you turn the unit on, there are vocal and visual prompts.  and the best thing about them, they work.  we have had patients brought into emergency by the paramedics who were initially defibrillated successfully by the hotel security personnel.

kaethe

[Martin Milner]

I've been looking up the UK National Defibrillator Programme.

I've learnt that there are over 2,000 units installed in public places (airports, railway station, underground stations etc) but not how to rfind one - i.e. they don't tell me what colour box it'll be in, or where it's located.