Storing Blood

[short circuit]

Dont worrie about blood if you have lost lets say two pints your body can and will replace it.
your body uses cells from your bone marrow and other areas of the body to replace red and white cells our blood cells die all the time and are replaced...So what I personal would be asking is the following" maybe the army medic above may know where can you get helistats to stop bleeding.
after blood loss the following can help vitamins B, C and iron helps and if bed bound leg support such as tube a grip to help blood flow and clots...as I say its not all over till the fat man sings just don't panic and get any deep cuts raised in the air so the heart as less chance of pumping it out fast.

[short circuit]

also watch for shock setting in and again army medic might know where to get this powdered anti biotics on it inodine is also good.

[madmedic]

drop the whole blood thing , if its that bad then sorry you'll die,

sad but true. if you dont practice regularly on real people you will stand little chance. if people are needing blood/fluids the chances of you managing even to canulate are slim. as the body goes into shock the peripheries shut down this includes the veins you want

work on learning wound care, then you minimise loss of fluids. more soldiers get saved by good basic first aid than ATLS. if someone needs ATLS/fluids.. they need very specialist care, if there are no hospitals where will you find this.. all you are doing is dragging out the agony.

if you are determined to have blood.. transfusion sets are easy to come by. get your group blood groups known and then do a live transfusion. it is highly dangerous if you do it wrong and insane..

[short circuit]

I can cope with others when ill but I cannot stand to see a needle anywhere near me lol, its true what your saying but folks also need to understand that some will fix up nice with the right care or there going to be writting someone off thats lost a finger or two insted of steming the flow of blood.cleaning out and closing it basic stuff for some but others will panic.

[madmedic]

writting someone off thats lost a finger or two

im not talking about writing someone.. if you loose a leg (traumatic amputation) or has a simple fracture, good wound care will give them a moderate chance of survival even without fluids.

if they have a ruptured spleen or bad child birth or a complicated fracture the need IV/fluids.. and specialist care.. with out both they will likely die..

as an NHS Paramedic i do every thing i can for every patient,, when SHTF/TEOTHW i go back to doing the most for the most. save those you can. make the rest comfortable and stop suffering.. if they survive it is luck not intervention that will do it. shock can be treated without fluids. bleeding out people need the hole plugged (inside holes too).

if you looking at blood.. where do you stop..? who will do the PCI for a heart attack? or the appendectomy? bit unrealistic i know but does get my point across.

[redskies]

Two very old methods I've read of, to help counteract loss of blood. Not sure how valid they are, although I'd say the first can't hurt and would probably help.

The first is honey water, used as an electrolytic fluid. Just keep feeding the patient sips.

The second is a little more dramatic; it uses a heated iron poker to warm a fluid - wine in the case I read of, but hey, 1700's, they didn't trust the water - on the basis that microscopic particles of iron will be in the liquid. Same sort of basis that a traditional balti is good for someone who is anaemic.

[madmedic]

red you are correct on both counts.. i dont know how effective either are though..

for anyone who has given blood.. you will remember that the blood volume will restore its self with in 4 hours and the cells will reproduce within 24 hours.. as long as you keep sipping fluids to avoid dehydration loosing a litre of blood is easily survivable.. a litre is a S*** load when you see it on the floor.. 2 ltrs blood loss will floor you, but lay them down, stop further loss, sips of fluids, and raise legs and they will be quickly on road to recovery

you need to be loosing 40% or more of your blood before you are in deep trouble

[short circuit]

I totaly agree with you medic don't get me wrong I think any untrained person trying to get blood from one person to another without the skills needed is total mad more chance of killing them both. I know you lads do a fantasic job daily without much pay or thanks for what you do...but family comes first, and most medics be looking after there own.
I have in my kits limited antibiotics"Erythromycin ect",otomize ear spray, mepradec,domperidone paracetamol, disperble asprins,ventolin,beclometasone dipropionate,Atrovent,comfifast elastcated tubular bandage, yellow band,actico cohesive inelastic bandage,mefix,tubigrip,allevyn adhesive dressingsall sizes up to17.5 by17.5cm,PVP-I non adherent dressings,Irriclens sterile sodium chloride sprays, sodium chloride tubes, iv small tubes, eye wash, hand wash & latex gloves, gel net for burns, wool rap, gaus, 3m medi tape diffo sizes detol creams ect ect the list is rather long really and of course the basic stuff two for colds and flues, H1N1 antibiotics for three people...to some it would seem a lot of kit but to me if its life or death for my family or someones down have got to help a bit like you;-)

[madmedic]

id do anything for family.. i know my girl is same blood group as me. if she needed it id be doing direct blood to her. you have to use what you think you need and that you are comfortable with. i have IV paracetomol for infection and will use it if needed. but as i said (possibly this post) some people are trying to recreate a hospital. and because of that they are neglecting the basics which are by far the more important..