Cycle First Aid Kit

 

By Vic Oliver, SEM Cycling Vice-Chair

Accidents can happen when we are hiking or on any other outdoor activity. When we go on a hike a first aid kit is always on the list of things to take. My standard First Aid kit is always in my pack – winter or summer. However, few AMC members carry a small first aid kit when bicycling, even though mishaps can (and do) happen. We should carry one to care for minor scrapes and road rash abrasions that occur in a fall. It needn't be the same size and include all the supplies found in a First Aid kit carried on a hike trip, where an EMS isn't just a phone call away.

A cyclist kit should include the following items:

• Small Band Aids (4)
• Large adhesive compress pads (2)
• Antiseptic cleansing pads (4)
• 2x2 gauze pads (2)
• 4x4 gauze pads (2)
• Roll of 2 inch gauze
• Small roll adhesive tape
• Tube of sterile Bacoban or similar ointment
• Ibuprofen tablets (4)
• Mole skin
• Small scissors
• Plastic baggie for bandage trash (1)

These items can be placed in a Zip Lock freezer storage bag and put in the back pocket of your cycling jersey. Sometimes as a leader on an extended trip I carry a little bit more for a larger group of riders. But on day trips or just out for a ride this is all I carry. The Band Aid always makes you better. Hopefully, you'll never need them but it's always better to be prepared.

HAPPY RIDING!