With that said my Trauma bag for an 18 day Grand trip is an ALS paramedic bag with IV, fluid, splinting stuff, suture kit.and lives on the boat. but we usaully have 10-16 folks in deep for 18. oh yeah and rafts...   

 

 For kayaking..... My kit is small and your group and day range is smaller. Gauze pads and kerlix or coban to stop bleeding, steri-strips with benzoin tincure to close big Lacerations, Iodine for in the field antiseptic germicide, Foam tape (my favorite) CPR mask , I agree on a coulpe drugs something strong if you break something. first aid is in triple sealed plastic bags. old school and super light weight. that goes in my cordura dry bag with a couple other little things like the lighter and headlamp in the same bag as my pin / repair kit.  super light. 

 

 Airway, breathing, circulation and you should be able to do all this with just your hands and knowledge. design a kit that is practical. you don't need burn strips in a kayak first aid kit.  Again I agree with learning CPR and Learning how to reduce a shoulder which is not hard on pt's with no shoulder history. If there is truly trauma you wont have a bag that will work and getting out to infinitive care is your only option.

 

 Carry light

 know your sh*t

 my supply changes for every river I do depending on how deep I am and how many p[eople.

 

I also carry in my personal kit: (and have used them more frequently than nearly anything else on trips)

-"ace" bandage

-SAM splint

-thin "maxi" pad (best thing out there for absorbing lots of blood fast!)  :-)

-saline eye wash for getting grime out of your eye

-Cheap plastic sringe for irrigation of wounds

-Waterproof bandages (worth every penny on the river)

 

I don't recomend cotton balls as they tend to leave behind nasty fibers in wounds.

 

For the group kits that I made up for my company I included:

-the EMT scissors

-Quick Clot

-various "feel better" stuff (Tums, Motrin, etc)

and most of the other stuff you already mention

 

HTH

Kalli

 

 

 

Mr. Fluid- way to emphasize what is most important in such a sucinct manner. It's what you know not hwat you have.

 

I'm going to get a CPR Mask into my kit, and...

some Maxi Pads! Awesome idea! This may be the wrong reason to pack them, but it's easy for me to imagine myself at the take out with beer in hand, loudly bragging about how stokeed I am to have some Maxi Pads in my med kit!

 

I would suggest one additional cheap and effective little item for your kit: a small piece of 1/2" thick waterproof foam, roughly 18x18". I cut some out of those blue sleeping pads you can get at REI for about $25 bucks. I keep one in my car and have one stuffed in the back of my creekboat. I should probably stick one in the playboat too. Here are a few uses l can think of to have it. I'm sure there are many more.

 

It weighs virtually nothing.

It adds floatation to your boat should you swim (stuff it between float bag and pillar).

It makes a very comfortable splint in conjunction with a triangular bandage (I prefer it to the Samsplint by a large margin).

It's great to sit on at camp on multi-days trips.

It's great to kneel when changing a tire or fixing a muffler, etc.

You can make a number of them out of one sleeping pad and give them to your pals as presents.

It's cheap.

 

Stay safe out there!

 

 

For those not familiar, the Happy Seat is basically a float bag with a bunch of styrofoam peanuts in it. It has an airhose to inflate, or suction all the air out for a vacuum-packed experience.

 

I like to minimize weight as much as possible, so I try to make things have more than one use. Keep it simple. There's less to forget that way ;)