Ah yes, I have a SPOT onboard which allows internet tracking of my track and position, and allows me to send out a pre-determined “all ok” message or “sends emergency responders a gps location”. Not an up-to-date status message, but better than nothing over the middle of Africa. Perhaps.
I also have a floating yellow grab-bag with the important bits inside, which always attracts the attention of customs officials who want to know what is inside. They are usually disappointed.
Snoopy wrote:
MedEwok, your input on first aid and medication to carry?
I’d keep it simple. Even as a trained emergency physician I am fairly certain I could not treat many injuries I might suffer from a plane crash by myself, no matter what kind of kit I carry.
The same kind of first aid kit as mandated for cars is actually mandated for aircraft too in Germany, and this is where I’d start: it contains various sizes of sterile wound dressings mostly, and scissors to cut them as needed. I’d add a desinfectant and yes, a tourniquet. While it is highly unlikely you’ll ever need it – or still be conscious if you do – it is your only means of surviving a traumatic rupture of arteries in the legs or arms. It is also fairly easy to use on oneself even with one arm (if you buy the kit the military has, which I recommend. Nowadays we also carry it on civilian ambulances).
The most likely cause of death after a GA crash is polytrauma (aka multiple trauma in English). This is impossible to treat by yourself, so there is really no need in carrying what’s needed to treat it, i.e. intravenous catheters, infusion bags, norepinephrine/epinephrine etc.
If you survive with minor/medium injuries however, keeping warm, hydrated and having as little pain as possible should be your priorities. So a “space blanket” as mentioned in other posts makes sense, also several smaller plastic bottles of water.
Painkillers: It really depends on which are accessible to you.
As an anaesthesiologist I would in theory prefer fentanyl or piritramide, potent opioids which can take away almost any pain at high enough doses. However, they can only be quickly adminstered via an i.v. which most people won’t be able to do on themselves and which I explicitly recommended against taking with you. The risk of overdose is also high and this might kill you through asphyxia.
And interesting alternative is ketamine, which can also be injected into any muscle and still be quite effective. It is also comparatively safe regarding loss of consciousness or reduced breathing. You might suffer from a psychic horror trip though.
Obviously, all these are only really available to doctors or on the black market. So on to the realistic alternatives:
The strongest non-opioid painkiller available as tablets is metamizole aka dipyrone. It is unfortunately not available in many countries such as the UK or AFAIK the Scandinavian countries, due to a rare but potentially fatal side effect called agranulocytosis. It is widely used in the German speaking countries though, to good effect. 2g of metamizole equal about 10 mg of Morphine in potency. 5g a day is the maximum dose. If it is available in your country (usually still requires a prescription to get, which may be easy or not depending on your GP) I would recommend taking it with you.
The next best thing is Ibuprofen. It is much less potent but usually available OTC. Maximum daily dose is 2400 mg. Usually any strength above 400 mg/tablet requires a prescription, but you can just take two 400 mg tablets for the same effect as a single 800 mg one. Side effects are irrelevant for the scenario at hand, but be wary of preexisting kidney conditions or gastric ulcers.
More or less in the same league you can take Aspirin, naproxen or other so called NSAIDs. If you have a personal preference for any of these typical painkillers, just stick too it.
Paracetamol was mentioned by kwlf. It is slightly weaker than the above-mentioned drugs, but that very much depends on your individual metabolism. For my wife it does almost nothing, for me it works well enough for any “normal” pain. Daily dose shouldn’t exceed 3-4g, be wary of preexisting liver conditions.
The combination with codein is available. Codein does not really work as a painkiller but makes you drowsy. Together with paracetamol it increases the latters potency though. Might be your best choice if you react well to Paracetamol.
Antibiotics:
I wouldn’t take any with me in Europe. As kwlf said, better get professional help soon and they will take care of that much more efficiently. Outside Europe it is a different story.
Summary:
First aid kit:
Medication:
What about diclofenac? Or a combination? IIRC my dentist recommended diclofenac+ibuprofen after an implant operation if I had pain.
Diclofenac ist one of the NSAIDs and thus equally good to use as Ibuprofen or Aspirin. Max. daily dose is 300 mg IIRC. I would not combine them though, as they all work on the same cellular receptors and you usually just make the side effects worse (risk of gastric ulcers, acute kidney injury) while the benefits don’t increase (the receptors are already occupied by the first NSAID taken).
You can combine them with Paracetamol though, it works on a different set of cellular receptors.
Meperidrine (Demerol) is often recommended for Blue Water.
Really effective pain killers and antibiotics are not available of course without perscription in the UK, with mixed availability else where in Europe. Your GP will often be very helpful where there is a genuine need. Many long distance sailors sign up to one of the distance doctor services, as well as carrying a very comprehensive medical kit. Whether your GP would be persuaded GA flying is grounds for carrying perscription pain killers I guess would depend on the circumstances.If you wish to be prepared Marine Medicine is one of a number of good books which addresses the medical aspects of self survival. Carrying medicines and other equipment without at least the basic knowledge of how to use it, seems folly.
Meperidine, better known as Pethidine in continental Europe, is also an opioid and thus suffers from the same drawbacks as fentanyl or piritramide mentioned above. Of course it is hence also a powerful painkiller.
I generally agree with Fuji_Abound that potent medicine or advanced medical equipment should only be carried with appropriate knowledge about how and when to use it. I restricted my recommendations above to very easy to use stuff and widely available medicine.
