Car first aid kit in Ukraine – history
In our country, the first regulation defining the contents of a first aid kit appeared in 1998, and has since been revised twice (in 2000 and 2013).
Older versions of car first aid kits, in addition to dressing materials and antiseptics, contained a number of medications, namely:
- One percent nitroglycerin, to help people with cardiovascular diseases;
- Eye drops containing sodium sulfacyl for washing and disinfecting eyes;
- A strong analgesic (painkiller) – butorphanol tartrate, in the form of a syringe-tube.
One of the main problems with such first aid kits was the mandatory inclusion of medications that are not freely available. Butorphanol tartrate, in terms of its analgesic effect, is stronger than morphine, which is why it can only be purchased with a prescription.
Today, DSTU 3961 (second amendment dated June 11, 2013) is in effect.
The Ministry of Health proposed a draft of changes in early 2018, but it has not yet been approved and agreed upon.
Composition of a car first aid kit in 2020
As mentioned earlier, in Ukraine, the 2013 regulations are currently in force, which provided for two options for the composition of first aid kits for:
- standard passenger cars;
- vehicles capable of carrying 9 or more people.
All items in the first aid kit are divided into two sets for:
- stopping blood loss;
- assistance with injuries.
This is explained by the fact that about 80% of those injured in road accidents die before the ambulance arrives precisely due to blood loss. Accordingly, it is extremely important to quickly bandage the victim or apply a dressing that will stop the bleeding.
The mandatory presence of various medications in the first aid kit was abolished because drivers often forget to check their expiration dates in time. Accordingly, expired medications may not only fail to help the victim but also cause serious harm.
It is planned that in the future, the standard rubber tourniquet will be replaced with a mechanical device similar to CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet). This hemostatic mechanism is a modern replacement for various dressings. Its effectiveness has been proven through use by the US Armed Forces, NATO, and more recently the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
All first aid kits must include instructions for use. Nevertheless, practice shows that for truly effective assistance to victims, the driver must undergo emergency medical care courses. Otherwise, the risk of error is quite high, even with strict adherence to the instructions.
Composition No. 1
The set for stopping bleeding includes:
- One Esmarch rubber tourniquet;
- One roll of elastic bandage 500x10 cm;
- One roll each of gauze bandage (non-sterile), sizes 500x5 and 700x14 cm;
- Two sterile gauze bandages, 500x10 cm, and one 700x14;
- Two wipes impregnated with chlorhexidine - 6x10 cm. An alternative may be gel-based strips with antimicrobial action 10x50 cm;
- Two wipes impregnated with furagin, to stop bleeding 6x10 cm;
- Six sterile wipes 6x10 cm;
- Sterile dressing package;
- Paramedic scissors;
For assistance with injuries:
- Valve for artificial lung ventilation;
- Gel anti-burn dressing;
- Fabric medical triangular bandage 50x50 cm;
- Thermal blanket 1.6 by 2.1 meters;
- Anatomical tweezers;
- Medical polyethylene gloves;
- Two safety pins.
Composition No. 2
The main difference of this first aid kit is the quantity of all items. It is quite logical that for transport carrying a large number of people, an appropriate amount of dressing materials and items for injury assistance is needed.
The set includes:
- Three tourniquets;
- Two elastic bandages;
- Four rolls each of non-sterile gauze bandage 500x10 and 700x14 cm;
- Six sterile gauze bandages, 500x10 and four 700x14 cm;
- Nine wipes impregnated with chlorhexidine or gel-based strips with antimicrobial action;
- Nine hemostatic wipes;
- Twelve sterile wipes;
- Four dressing packages;
- Paramedic scissors;
- Notepad and ballpoint pen.
For assistance with injuries:
- Four valves for artificial lung ventilation;
- Four anti-burn dressings;
- Three medical triangular bandages;
- Four thermal blankets;
- Paramedic scissors;
- Four pairs of medical gloves;
- Six safety pins.
First aid kit for a car. Buy ready-made or assemble yourself?
Fully assembled first aid kits can be purchased in many stores. The cost of such a car first aid kit will not be too high, but the composition does not always correspond to the required list. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully check the contents of the first aid kit.
Expensive first aid kits often contain not only the mandatory set of items but also some medications. In this case, it is extremely important to immediately check the expiration dates of all medications.
Ready-made first aid kits must be accompanied by instructions for use, which should explain in detail how to properly use the means of assistance to victims of road accidents. Unfortunately, cheap first aid kits often contain brochures with terrible print quality or small font. Accordingly, using such instructions, especially in a stressful situation, becomes quite difficult.
An alternative is to independently assemble all necessary items. Fortunately, everything needed can be freely purchased in pharmacies. The only component that may cause difficulties is hemostatic wipes. The pharmacy may simply not have wipes with furagin of the required sizes, but current regulations allow purchasing an analogue with a different active substance.
When assembling a first aid kit yourself, it is extremely important to remember that all components may be of different quality, which naturally affects their cost. Thus, the minimum cost of a ready-made set starts from 100 UAH, and the maximum exceeds a thousand.
On the other hand, when independently assembling a car first aid kit, you can take not only the necessary minimum but also additional medications and items.
Euro standard car first aid kit
If you plan to travel through Europe by car, you need to take care of having the correct car first aid kit. In the European Union, the current standard regulating the set of items and medications that must be in a car first aid kit is DIN13164.
The main differences are a larger number of types of bactericidal plasters and an increased amount of dressing materials. In addition, unlike Ukrainian bandages, the European analogue is made of gauze with fleece inserts.
Today, a ready-made European-style car first aid kit can be easily purchased in Ukraine. Specialized and general stores offer many options of domestic and foreign production.
One of the main points when checking the quality of such a first aid kit is the presence of a certificate of conformity to the DIN 13164 standard.
