First aid designed for solo adventurers

[GermanP]

Hello everyone!

My name is German, and I am a student from the University of Hertfordshire who is a designer and loves the outdoors (caving is a special subject, as my granddad was a speleologist). I'm doing a degree project related to first aid for active people with a focus on solo use, and I need your help in my research! I want to help people with all sorts of interests that are related to the outdoors, from hiking to caving. If you are willing to spend a few minutes and want to help me, please take a quick look at the questionnaire that I made (Microsoft Forms), or you can just make a picture of what you take with you on your adventures and share your story! This can be anything, from what you have in your pocket to what you take with you in your bag. This will contribute to a better understanding of existing problems and potentially help people!

https://forms.office.com/e/2AAREf8c6q

Please note that safe caving is never a solo activity. But we all know people still do it (I was stupid enough to do it when I was younger), and that's exactly why I chose this.

 

[JAshley73]

I saw a few things missing from your sheet that might be helpful to consider. If anything is redundant, I apologize. This covers most of the items in my first aid bag.

-Small bandaids
-antisepic wipes
-butterfly closures
-anti-inflamatory (NSAID)
-Quick-clot powder
-Stomach-ease-medicine
-duck tape
-paracord
-wooden floor shim (for splint)
-garbage bag (for hypothermia)
-candle (for hypothermia)
-chemical glowstick
-toilet paper
-plastic shopping bag (for first aid, or other waste)

 

[royfellows]

Hi, I reply here rather the form as I smell 'check boxes', grr.
Right, this may well be of great interest.
I am 79 this month and have been mine exploring, rather then caving, for about 40 years. I almost always solo, I am still here and fairly confident that I wil see 80 and possibly more.
Reason
I like the freedom to do what I want, as I want, and at my own pace. Also, its possibly within my nature as I was an only child and rather then be spoilt I was brought up, I would say hard but fair. I am happy in my own company and happy doing something dangerous relying on my own skill and judgment and full in the knowledge that if do have a prang its all over.
Preparations
I like to keep carying kit to a minimum. I considered first aid etc but reasooned that a few plasters etc wont help me much if things go south. Essentials are obviously spare lighting. I like this on my helmet rather than in pockets or whatever, I want it there. In the old days of bulbs and pitlamps I would carry spare bulbs inside a plastic roll film container taped inside my helmet. I had practiced changing the bulb working inside my helmet in pitch dark, the helmet would hold the bulb if fell from my fingers. The obsession of never being without a light spills over into my everyday life as I always have a good pocket torch and also a good keyring light. The thinking on the later is that I will always have my keys on me. Recently it paid its dividend when I had a flat tyre late at night on the M6. Could not be bothered with the RAC, got the spare out and changed the thing myself. (Skoda car, comes with a spare)
Basically, thats it apart from some food and drink.

You may find this sheds some like on the type of character that goes undergound on their own.

 

[Pitlamp]

I agree with Roy; blanket statements that solo caving is "never" safe suggest an incomplete understanding. To give one example; much of the exploratory cave diving in the UK is done solo, because it's often the safest option (for reasons I'll not go into here but you can look on the CDG website for a paper arguing this convincingly). Another example; if I was scaffolding upwards through a very loose boulder choke, in some situations I'd not want anyone else near me (if only to allow full concentration).

All caving is potentially dangerous; it's how you go about it that makes the difference. Being inventive with what's available at the scene of an accident is sometimes more useful than carrying a proper first aid kit but being underconfident in its use. I remember a rolled up Karrimat being deployeded as a makeshift splint for a lower arm fracture in an expedition situation, which worked perfectly.

Best of luck with your project; I agree it may provide valuable information to the caving community as a whole!

 

[JoshW]

One of the big risks in UK caving is hypothermia. The ability to move quickly reduces this risk, and caving solo increases ability to move quickly. So I agree with the statements disagreeing with ‘caving solo is an unsafe activity’

 

[GermanP]

I saw a few things missing from your sheet that might be helpful to consider. If anything is redundant, I apologize. This covers most of the items in my first aid bag.

-Small bandaids
-antisepic wipes
-butterfly closures
-anti-inflamatory (NSAID)
-Quick-clot powder
-Stomach-ease-medicine
-duck tape
-paracord
-wooden floor shim (for splint)
-garbage bag (for hypothermia)
-candle (for hypothermia)
-chemical glowstick
-toilet paper
-plastic shopping bag (for first aid, or other waste)

Thank you for your response! I will definitely add some of those to my list of options.

 

[GermanP]

Hi, I reply here rather the form as I smell 'check boxes', grr.
Right, this may well be of great interest.
I am 79 this month and have been mine exploring, rather then caving, for about 40 years. I almost always solo, I am still here and fairly confident that I wil see 80 and possibly more.
Reason
I like the freedom to do what I want, as I want, and at my own pace. Also, its possibly within my nature as I was an only child and rather then be spoilt I was brought up, I would say hard but fair. I am happy in my own company and happy doing something dangerous relying on my own skill and judgment and full in the knowledge that if do have a prang its all over.
Preparations
I like to keep carying kit to a minimum. I considered first aid etc but reasooned that a few plasters etc wont help me much if things go south. Essentials are obviously spare lighting. I like this on my helmet rather than in pockets or whatever, I want it there. In the old days of bulbs and pitlamps I would carry spare bulbs inside a plastic roll film container taped inside my helmet. I had practiced changing the bulb working inside my helmet in pitch dark, the helmet would hold the bulb if fell from my fingers. The obsession of never being without a light spills over into my everyday life as I always have a good pocket torch and also a good keyring light. The thinking on the later is that I will always have my keys on me. Recently it paid its dividend when I had a flat tyre late at night on the M6. Could not be bothered with the RAC, got the spare out and changed the thing myself. (Skoda car, comes with a spare)
Basically, thats it apart from some food and drink.

You may find this sheds some like on the type of character that goes undergound on their own.

I understand, and still, a huge thank you for your response! I got a few insights from what you wrote, so this is really good. Also, I was amazed by what you said and now want to give this interesting hobby a try. Ive always been fascinated by speleology and caving, but unfortunately, my granddad passed away when I was 4, so I had no one in my life to try this.

 

[GermanP]

I agree with Roy; blanket statements that solo caving is "never" safe suggest an incomplete understanding. To give one example; much of the exploratory cave diving in the UK is done solo, because it's often the safest option (for reasons I'll not go into here but you can look on the CDG website for a paper arguing this convincingly). Another example; if I was scaffolding upwards through a very loose boulder choke, in some situations I'd not want anyone else near me (if only to allow full concentration).

All caving is potentially dangerous; it's how you go about it that makes the difference. Being inventive with what's available at the scene of an accident is sometimes more useful than carrying a proper first aid kit but being underconfident in its use. I remember a rolled up Karrimat being deployeded as a makeshift splint for a lower arm fracture in an expedition situation, which worked perfectly.

Best of luck with your project; I agree it may provide valuable information to the caving community as a whole!

Thank you for pointing it out! Unfortunately, my knowledge about caving is too little to say anything, and I just followed what some people said in the Reddit caving community (originally, I got advice from Reddit to register down here, as I didn't know anything about caving). Now I will know more.

I hope one day I will have the chance to try caving.

 

[Ian Ball]

Hi German, I filled in your survey. Just to say my emergency pack is a different set of kit depending on the activity, risks involved and how much I can carry. I imagine for example, the emergency kit for a kayaker and a caver are very different, so adaptability of the pack would be important to me.

 

[PeteHall]

Echoing what others have said, there are many benefits to caving solo and also to travelling light, so I typically carry very little.

Spare lighting on my helmet and around my neck, whatever the trip (minimum 3 lights). For longer trips, water (if there is none drinkable in the cave) and food or rehydration salts. For wet trips, neoprene hood stuffed in my helmet.

If the trip involves SRT or diving, there will usually be some redundancy in associated equipment.

None of the above would typically be described as first aid kit, but it is all additional kit to help survive an unplanned situation.

I have never carried a dedicated first aid kit underground, other than when leading kids groups, where it has been a requirement of the organisers.

PS. I've not been able to complete the survey, as there is no option for "none of the above" for essential items in a first aid kit.

I'm also unsure why you would even consider plasters for a first aid kit for solo adventures. My experience is that a sticky plaster is basically useless for anything except injuries so minor that they can be ignored. They are a good placebo for a bleeding child, but that's surely about it.

 

[Fjell]

I don’t take a first aid kit in the UK. I do take food, water and spare lights. I do go caving solo sometimes. If you want to take something then only stuff to stem a serious bleed is worth considering. I see no point in things like antiseptic, gloves etc. It’s going to get fixed once you get out. You are not days or weeks away.

I have a big first aid kit that would fill a tackle bag and used to have a standard ships medical chest of drugs. I substitute tramadol for morphine as the latter is a pain to clear. I used to carry tramadol in a first aid kit for caving outside the UK. Maybe there is something better now.

 

[undergroundHP]

I have been caving for 20 years and yes in that time i have caved solo numerous times. it certainly makes you concentrate.
I go underground as a hobby and for work and my first aid kit has changed numerous times.
My current kit mainly focuses on warming people and giving people energy to get out of the cave, group shelter, blizzard survival bag, hand warmers, balaclava, energy gels, and flapjack chocolate.
I also carry absorbent bandages for big cuts, duct tape for small cuts, and securing things. (plasters and dressings do not work in cold damp environments).
An eye wash for getting mud out of the eyes and cuts, and a small Sam splint. Basic painkillers, anti-inflammatory, aspirin,

i carry an emergency Petzl E-lite around my neck and then in my bag, I have a spare main light and batteries.
It all fits in a standard 6-liter curtec darren drum.

I will open my caving barrel up and lay it all out to show at some point,

 

[Pitlamp]

Firstly - German - I hadn't realised you'd not had chance to go caving at all (yet) so I hope my words above (re. solo caving) didn't come across in an insulting way! Give it a go some time; you'll meet an amazing bunch of people and make many lifelong friends. (I still have a letter from a certain well known caver in reply to mine when I was only 13, a lot of years ago, which used these very words. He was right.)

Underground HP makes a very good point about solo caving making you concentrate far more. In some ways this makes it safer than caving with a group. It also allows you to move through a cave at the optimum pace; a balance between energy conservation and maintaining a favourable body temperature. (Note comment above on hypothermia in cold / wet British caves by Josh.)

PeteHall makes some good points above. I think the only real use of sticking plasters is probably for blister mitigation on long walks in to potholes, often in uncomfortable wellies. Up here in the Dales an approach (and then return) of two or three miles is not uncommon. So I think plasters do have a place but perhaps not actually underground.

You've started a useful topic German and I'm sure a lot of valuable material will emerge because of it. (Comments above show this is already the case.) When your degree project is complete, would it be possible to put a link to it on this forum? Many forum members do other outdoor stuff, so it's not just your findings about caving which would be relevant.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Greybeard]

How do you light your candle?

 

[Pitlamp]

How do you light your candle?

I think that question was aimed at others who commented above but it prompted me to mention the old trick of dipping matches into molten wax to waterproof them.

 

[JAshley73]

How do you light your candle?

I have a cheap lighter in there as well. In fact, it's in the original plastic wrapper still, for waterproofing.

I like the idea of dipping matches in wax.

 

[ZombieCake]

Clear nail varnish also works very well for matches.

 

[royfellows]

I am fascinated by the above discussion and surprised by the support I have had. So grasping the metal., what are opinions about peer pressure causing a person to do something that they are uneasy about?
One thing that immediately occurs is 'keeping up with the group'
On one occasion I have been underground with friends who have been moving at a pace that has caused me concern and had to speak up about it. Ones progress underground should be careful and deliberate, that is the best way to avoid accidents. You are not in a race.
On this occasion they were trying to make the call out deadline, you can guess some of my remarks! It was a mine we were in so no flooding risks, but force of habit etc

 

[ChrisB]

I like to keep carying kit to a minimum

This fits with what I was told (and discovered) about alpine climbing: "If you take bivouac gear, you'll need it".

I am a relatively inexperienced caver and find that carrying anything at all through crawls and squeezes is awkward. A bag is cumbersome, and anything in a suit pocket gets squashed. On the other hand, there are some things you really do need to have with you - I haven't found the balance point yet (and I'm sure it varies from cave to cave and with conditions and company).

 

[ttxela2]

I am fascinated by the above discussion and surprised by the support I have had. So grasping the metal., what are opinions about peer pressure causing a person to do something that they are uneasy about?
One thing that immediately occurs is 'keeping up with the group'
On one occasion I have been underground with friends who have been moving at a pace that has caused me concern and had to speak up about it. Ones progress underground should be careful and deliberate, that is the best way to avoid accidents. You are not in a race.
On this occasion they were trying to make the call out deadline, you can guess some of my remarks! It was a mine we were in so no flooding risks, but force of habit etc

Absolutely agree, I am very much a sunday afternoon caver (well more of a mine explorer), in mountaineering terms if most folk here are serious alpinists, I'm strolling up Catbells.

As such I'm greatly in favour of the solo trip, I'm not spoiling anyone elses day if I decide I don't fancy tackling something and turn around, I can take as much time as I like pondering over the purpose of some random piece of ironwork or taking a photo and can even stop and have a snooze if the mood takes me.

Sensible precautions are still taken, I always have a spare light and a survival bag (and usually a fair bit of survival flapjack which seems to be needed on most trips!) I usually also make sure I have a drink with me - plus of course always a callout of some sort, usually my wife (who I suspect would first consult the insurance papers and a world cruise brochure before reluctantly calling for a rescue) I rarely take any form of First Aid Kit as such.