After one of our perfomers sliced open her foot at our last performance, I decided I wanted to have a more complete 1st aid kit at our shows.

I've looked at some of the commercially available ones, and there's quite a variety; I want something that is both comprehensive, but also geared to the specific needs and risks of what we do (from fire to glass walking to sword swallowing).

Anyone have a sideshow-specific kit they carry? What are the must haves?

Jeremy, I'd particularly appreciate your persective on this.

Thanks.

~Stephon

I carry one that has stiptic pencil, crazy glue, neosporin, bacatracin, new skin (although the crazy glue pretty much serves the same purpose), various sized band aids and bandages, qtips, tweezers, cotton balls, burn creme, small bottle of listerine and a small bottle of alcohol and alchol prep pads(for swabbing/cleaning not drinking). Hope that helps.

Evan Williams (Since 1783)

And yes.....bourbon does the job of all those things, so depends how light you're looking to travel

Add tweezers and a sharp knife for picking any glass shards out of the feet and an ice pack. (The one you have to crush, otherwise the chances of it melting are pretty good)
I prefer Wild Turkey 101 over Evan Williams...it's the extra proof that really cleans you up.

Evan Williams straight from the bottle is unmatched, sorry Addy. Unless you meant on a cut.

All good answers. Bourbon was going to be my first. (I can't believe I didn't check the Café in time to post that first.)

Dermabond (medical grade crazy glue..of course I think it is probably the same and I always ask my nurses "why can't we just use crazy glue, this stuff is too expensive". They always respond "because Dermabond is sterile". And I of course say, "So is crazy glue! What the @#$%* do you think lives in crazy glue?".).

JersyRebel13's list is quite good. I might add: Tourniquet. Hydrogen peroxide or betadine. Addy's suggestion of good tweezers is excellent. If you are going to be picking stuff out of yourself (that isn't a booger), maybe a magnifying glass and a good light.

Ace wrap or coban (like a sticky ace wrap). Enema (well, maybe not an enema).

I like the burn cream idea. Silvadine.
A copy of your insurance card, list of your medications, known medical problems (clearly insanity being one) and allergies and who to contact would be really good.

A lot of this would/should be stunt specific. If you don't do fire, then you don't need burn cream. If you are walking over a beehive filled with angry killer bees, then maybe an epi-pen and a face mask breather (everyone should have that cor CPR anyways). Condoms are always helpful for the most dangerous performance of all--the after party show.

The 101 ain't for the cuts. Pick yer poison, I guess...

Not being a drinker your probably right.
The occasional sippin' Bourbon is good enough for me...I rather not be 'cleaned up' anyway.

Everything's been mentioned except for going all in for sutures. Crazy Glue was the 1st thing that popped, but that's been covered like a new bottle next to Doug's hand. ;-)

Yeah, I don't recommend doing sutures yourself. There is a time limit on when it is ok to suture something shut. Most people can't tolerate the pain (lidocaine = numbing medicine) is really helpful and eliminates unnecessary pain. Sometimes it is good to be able to inspect the wound for foreign objects (e.g. glass), which is really painful without lidocaine, since the wound needs to be probed and poked (sometimes even tasted). Also, there are differences in when to use silk, braided, non-braided, non-absorbable and absorbable sutures. And also in technique to suture different parts of the body.

Superglue will work in a pinch and (probably) people who use it will (hopefully) use it on smaller cuts that really would only need none, one or two sutures anyways. Try to clean the wound first and not glue anything into the wound. Better yet, clean it. Hold pressure. Get help.

We use something called "gelfoam", which is like a styrofoam kind of material that stops bleeding quite well--like a styptic (mentioned above). I don't think it is available for public consumption (otherwise Todd would have tried to eat it already), but let me tell you--it sure works great on shaving cuts (not that any of it has ever made its way into my pocket for personal use or anything). I guess, if you tried hard enough you could find it on the internet. There is something called Surgicel, which is quite good too. It forms kind of an "scab" after having been saturated with blood.

Anyways, the point is that I would not include sutures in a first aid kit b/c you shouldn't be in a position to have to suture something shut yourself. There should be a reasonable amount of time (6 hours or so)to get to a location that has expertise in doing that kind of work. If you are bleeding to death it isn't a suture you need...it is direct pressure....hard....

Finally, just remember one thing we always say: "All bleeding stops....eventually."

(Of course, just as I am administering sedation and the patient is fading into sleepyland, I also sometimes say, "Nurse, do we have the gorilla brain ready for transplantation into the subject?") Oh did I just confess that?

An insurance card really seems to help

I got something that trumps the super glue!

A medical stapler. (and staple remover) I scored it from a friend of mine who is a paramedic at one of the local hospitals, they are the disposable ones, so you just chuck them after they are opened. (and yeah they are still in the package)

... a slinky, a rubber chicken, an anvil, 2 cans of silly string, chocolate syrup, a sack of flour, bottle of White Out, rubber balloons, and an ascot.

Wait, what was this thread about?

P.S., Evan Williams is the best $20 you could ever spend money on.

Thanks, everyone, for the responses. I think I have some solid info for putting together a kit.

~Stephon

that's what I carry in my flask.

On first aid kits... I have a large one. With my mother being a nurse and having a lot of doctors to consult with, I am able to get top quiality stuff. I am prepaired for just about anything. Gaze, wraps, glue, duct tape, alcohol, stapler, band aids, and so on. Can never be to prepared.

I just found at Target in the dollar section a small kit for removing splinters... needless to say I added it to our first aid kit so I don't have to remember to keep putting the tweezers back in the kit, but it also came with other really helpful implements for removing foreign objects from one's skin.
And I have to put another vote in for Lidocaine. It works great and if you do work with fire, an aloe product with this is great for contact burns. Aloe really helps with keeping scarring down and pulling the heat out.

Another item I like to keep in our Kit is Benadryl cream. When doing weekend shows where we are camping I find this stuff very handy for bug bites etc.

How would you rate lidocaine and aloe against a packaged burn cream or gel?

I really prefer the aloe and lidocaine for burns. I use a pump spray that contains both (Notice- PUMP. Skip aerosol types- They contain alchohol which dries out the skin), Sylver uses a heavy aloe gel. A lot of burn creams contain oils that actually hold some of the heat in the skin, aloe does not. The lidocaine takes much of the pain out of a burn and feels cooler longer. Plus aloe is cheaper, so you have no problems applying liberally and more frequently. Really speeds up the healing process.
Plus- We always keep the aloe in the cooler or fridge so when you put it on it is already cold. Amazing and quick relief.
We have a fully stocked first aid kit actually on stage with us at all times- It is inside one of our props. It has pretty much everything short of sutures. If it comes down to that, I'll use the liquid bandage and butterflies until I can get to a real medic.
A couple of unique items we carry as part of our first aid kit- Poweraid powder tubes- The kind you add to a bottle of water and shake. Great to have when you get dehydrated from working long days in the sun. As we tend to work in dirty outdoor venues, we also carry antibacterial "wet ones" or baby wipes (This is one of Sylvers brilliant ideas!). You can't pull glass out of your foot (Or more likely, splinters from the old wooden stage) if you can't see past the dirt. What would take 4 or 5 alchohol pads is done with one baby wipe. The wipes clean up everything quick, no soap or rinsing needed. They are also great at cleaning soot from fire tools off of the skin so you look fresh for the next performance.
Just my two cents...
Gwyd

Okay, I got no response from my (very well done) joke list. C'mon guys, it was FUNNY and you know it!

Anyway, one of the best burn remedies is Tiger Balm (my folks call it 'Chinese Medicine'). Similar to bag balm, Tiger Balm is an excellent way to deal with 1st and 2nd degree burns. When applied immediatley after the burn the balm kills pain and has a soothing cooling effect. Use it a day or two afterwards and it eliminates the water filled blister bubble associated with burns. I will swear by it from decades of use. As a matter of fact, I just used it yesterday as I caught a nasty burn from a lit fireworks fuse on the 4th of July. It is not listed anywhere as a remedy for burns, but it really does work. The stink of balm will follow you wherever you go, and it will smear onto anything you touch, but it works. If you don't believe me, go burn yourself and try it.