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Carrying a medical kit

I don’t think there is any such requirement in GA, but does anyone?

I’ve read that most kits on the market are actually nearly useless because they are filled with bandaging material which is of limited use in practice. I don’t know anything about this however.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

I have one, the type you would get in a car. It has a sticker that is signed each year at the annual. Not sure if its a requirement for G Reg ?

Alex
Shoreham (EGKA) White Waltham (EGLM), United Kingdom

I don’t think there is any such requirement in GA, but does anyone?

In Austria there definitely is one, in Germany AFAIK too. Can’t speak for other countries.

LOAN Wiener Neustadt Ost, Austria

There was one in the british Experimental I bought 2011 and in the meantime I replaced it by a new (car-style) one.

Anyway I think it’s a good idea to carry one – you never know….

EDLE

EASA’s regs require a first aid kit for CAT, NCC and NCO (unless it’s an aerobatic flight). One per a hundred of passengers IIRC. Not sure about CAT, kits for NCC and NCO don’t need any special approval AFAIK. As I see it, they should be intended for treatment of passengers (or crew) in flight. Even in a car, you carry it so you can help others (if you crash, it’s quite likely you will need the help). And nobody will land (an aeroplane) to render first aid (perhaps in remote areas, but I don’t see that happening here).

Last Edited by Martin at 01 Jun 09:17

Martin wrote:

And nobody will land (an aeroplane) to render first aid (perhaps in remote areas, but I don’t see that happening here).

Somewhat unrelated, but I have been successful in flagging down a passing aircraft.

I was flying with a friend in a Kitfox, we landed at a small grass (farm strip), and found the battery didn’t have enough oomph to start the engine. Of course the place was utterly deserted. We tried hand propping the plane but that didn’t work either, and the phone signal was not very good. We heard a passing aircraft and waved frantically – a few minutes later it came back so we waved frantically again, and it made a circuit and landed.

It was someone in a C182 giving a sightseeing flight, they gave my friend a lift to their home base and returned with a car (I just chilled out under the wing for an hour or so), and we jumpstarted the Kitfox from the car.

Last Edited by alioth at 01 Jun 09:23
Andreas IOM

Back to the medical kit: I think there is little use in carrying one if one doesn’t have the ability to use it. And people who do have the required training and currency are much more likely to carry the really useful stuff. So no I don’t carry one in the plane – I have one the car, because it is mandatory, and have never used or even opened it in at least twenty years of driving. Neither do I much like the “you never know” argument, that could justify carrying a plethora of bogus.

Regarding the Kitfox that would no more start: how was it started for the first leg? It is a queer story. If hand-propping didn’t work, it may well have had a Rotax – those gearboxes have their disadvantages… But the C182 pilot showed the right spirit, meriting at the very least a couple of drinks!

Last Edited by at 01 Jun 09:28
EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

Jan_Olieslagers wrote:

Neither do I much like the “you never know” argument, that could justify carrying a plethora of bogus.

At least around here I’m legally required to render first aid and it’s part of the training for your driver’s licence (not that what is usually taught is really sufficient). Failing to do so is a punishable offence (it’s significantly worse if you caused it). My thinking is more along the lines of if I’ll ever need help, I’ll sure wish people took it seriously.

I think there is little use in carrying one if one doesn’t have the ability to use it.

Using the stuff in these kits is not difficult at all. It’s mostlay about stopping bleedings and using a rescue blanket, both of which is fairly self-explaining. Getting unconscious people in a stable side position (is this the proper english expression?) is easy too, once you have been shown how to do it. Even the rescusitation (?) is not rocket science.

I have had first aid training when getting the driving license (very basic), in the army (more useful) and then a while ago when nobody else in the company wanted to be the legally required “first responder”. All nothing special, but I think especially in aviation (eg. a landing gone wrong at a small airfield) and also in hobbies like motorcycling or mountaineering it can make a real difference.

LOAN Wiener Neustadt Ost, Austria

I remember a YouTube vid, where an (overloaded) fourseater after a high DA-take off went into the wilderness. One of the passengers was filming the badly hurt (and bleeding) pilot after the crash, so I guess he’d been able to provide first aid to him – with the appropriate kit on board. Just an example…

EDLE
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