Should you be using expired items in your ifak?
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- čas přidán 22. 04. 2014
- I get this question about once a week asking is it ok to use expired items in your first aid kit , trauma kit, or blow out kit. Typically I say that you should use in-date items for your primary kits and then move the expired items to your secondary packs for a grid down, WROL, SHTF situation.
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You know, I started in EMS a long, long time ago; way back before it was even called EMS, actually; and I don't think I ever thought about sterile items - dressings & such - having an expiration date. Who knew? But, as USNERDOC says, when you're in the woods trying to dress a gaping wound there is no sterile field. So, I don't imagine a 10 year old 4x4 gauze sponge still in its original wrapper will do any worse than one new from the store.
As for the items that are actually perishable; like meds - OTC, or otherwise; I agree they should be rotated. I am not sure about putting older and expired items back in long-term storage, though. I suppose my thought is that you should put the newest ones "on the shelf" and use older ones first. Especially if you use and replace them on a regular basis.
Most of us, however, aren't running aid calls every day. So, there isn't a lot of need to resupply very often. Maybe; if you can afford it; when an unopened package of an OTC med is within a month or two of its expiration date and you have purchased its replacement, you could donate the old one to a homeless shelter or food bank to distribute to someone in need.
Not a criticism, just a thought.
right, a patient will need ANTIBIOTICS anyway, and medical corp's can only test a product -- especially a cutting-edge product -- for le's say 5 years. Doesn't mean it WON'T be sterile in 10-20 years, only that we can ASSURE (for LIABILITY $$$$ reasons) that it's sterile for 5 yrs. And your patient will have WAY dirtier shit in most woulds than a 20-years-overdated (but stored CLEAN and with no obvious vacuum-loss) gauze.
I do keep all but 1 or 2 of each item IN MY FRIDGE though (only good if you have a good defroster in your fridge).
I use expired items for practice. So that I know what's in the packet and how to use it in an emergency.
Perfectly answered my question, thanks for posting this!
Do you carry expired items in your ifak? #ifak #trauma #medical
Great video! I agree it's always best to have the most current medical supplies for everyday use/emergencies for carrying to work, trauma kits at the range or in the car etc. It's always good to keep expired stuff at home just in case. What's your opinion about CAT tourniquet expiration? Obviously if exposed to weather or elements they can degrade, but if stored well and unused? I keep new ones in my trauma kit but have some older ones (old as '03-'04) from Iraq just in case
Thanks for all the good tips.
Thank you for confirming some questions I had.
I feel the same way, keep fresh meds in the primaries, and store anything exp. But the way I feel about bandages is pretty much anything in the field is unsterile the minute its opened, but its still clean so i would rather have the possibility of a minor infection, then a dead buddy
Great intel brother!
Great info as always bro!
Exactly right the older stuff looses its strength as it ages meds especially.
Thanks.
As far as expired meds go, I believe the V.A. did an investigation on how long meds were good after expiration date. Maybe you could check it out, might be another great video in it.
I'm pretty good at rotating/checking items in my kits, depending on the kit, contents of the kit and how frequently it's used it's between 2 and 6 months. My edc and main house kit is checked every 2 months at least, and after every use. My workshop kit is only 6 months because it's barely more than a boo boo kit. Stuff like gauze goes into a box for shtf situations or for demonstrating/practice. I don't mess around with expired meds though. Because I take a lot of meds, I run through them fairly quick and with painkillers especially, some get more potent, some get less so it's impossible to dose accurately once they've expired. I'm not chancing overdose
Good info.
How long do those types of meds last? The quick clot and such?
Good points!
Agreed!
A good rule of thumb is 1 year for meds made in the U.S. minus eppi and 20 years from manufacture date for bandages. Minus cloting additives chitosine quick clot etc.
I am not disagreeing with you but do you have data to back this up? I did a video on subject a while back and I could find very few studies.
www.ofcaems.org/ds-Stability_Profiles.pdf
Here is an artical from 2006 it is a published pharm also research the U.S. Army shelf life extention program it started in 1986 the year I joined I posted some other links in the coments on the vidio I am sorry I took so long to figure out the reply feature. Respectfuly John U.S. Army medic retired
Oh as an afterthought I agree with keeping my drugs up to date while I can. I guess that did not come through in my comments like it did in my head. Sorry about that
I agree with you 100% Skinny medic. But a person needs to have a strict protocol in how expired items are stored so that there is 0, none, zilch chance of using expired items without knowing it. If you've got nothing else then use them with the knowledge that they may not work (like quick clot, etc) and so that you make allowances for that possibility and are ready to employ other methods.
DocLarsen44 exactly. I check each kit every 2 months for a main ones (eg edc, car and primary house kits) and 6 monthly for rarely used/non-emergency kits (eg boo boo kits/workshop kit)
How much is quick clot?
I carry a QuikClot Trauma Pak in my car which is in Texas so it gets pretty hot. I wonder if the heat has a deleterious effect on the QuikClot compound?
thepdw Over time yes but generally it is not a big deal
I have used QuikClot sent back from soldiers serving in Iraq that expired in 2014 and it worked as well as the new stuff in my fresh AMK Trauma Paks, its what 100 degrees at night and 120 degrees in the day over there? like Skinny i have fresh clotting agents in my personal and squad packs but i also have two 30 gal tubs of expired clotting agents in my preps, so they are effective after date, i was told by a AMK Rep at Shot Show, that's its generally good for 10 years after date, but as long as they remain sealed and stored properly they are good at almost any date.
The active ingredient there is mineral, not organic, so not much effect. BUT best to store all-but-1-or-2 in a fridge with a good working defroster, and sealed with NPA's/Israeli Bandages/etc with DESICANT inside a vacuum-bag (thick plastic that is clear, and melts to seal onto itself) typically also called "microwaves bags" for LONG TERM storage of the rest:
I buy 10-packs of each item to make it economical, and put just 1 or 2 in a clean ammocan that I take shooting w/me for faster access to THOSE, and it's not THAT much longer to grab the 8 or so others from the fridge & rip my "larger med-pak" open if a school-shooter or something nearby makes me use the fridge-stored ones.
I also try to KEEP A FEW BASICS ON MY PERSON instead of in the car, so no TX sun (We're in Corpus Christi.).for more than a few minutes; if it's too hot for ME, it's coming into an airconditioned place within minutes after shutting off the engine. So what if ppl think I'm a fag for carrying a "man-purse" :-) they don't know what's inside...and hey IF you need to shoot someone, the POLICE/JURY will think the better of you if evidence entered was "He had THESE on his person." (things to save lives, not only take lives). BUT, be sure cardboard/etc protects your products from daily jabs, dropping, etc or the seal may break.
I believe if they sold ROCKS, they would put an expiration date on them. I see medication (if you have access to new) but does Quick Clot go bad? if its in the vac. bag, it should still work as it should.
Salt is "rocks" Salt has an expiration date. (I agree with you...)
Yea I’m wondering that as well. I’ve bought some combat gauze to put in different ifaks that are primary but found that buying a 10pk is much cheaper. I’m not using this stuff as an emt just being prepared for range mishaps and/or this crazy world but it’s not worth buying 10pk to save money if it goes to crap in 2 years
I check a couple of times a year Xmas and birthday always a good gift no ties u what I mean ❤️🇺🇸
Bc every houses should be like a hospital? Alcohol could be degraded to water or hydrogen peroxide if bacteria contaminated and leave catalysts that make the degradation possible.
I think all mine are expired. lol. I need to check that out.
Fortunately kaolin and plastic don't expire in any period of time relevant to a humans lifespan so the most expensive items in your trauma kit will potentially last you a lifetime if you don't use them.
Maybe I should upgrade my kit lol!
It's like 20 years old :)
I think it is about time! :-)
Let me take people by the hand for a minute SM. Just a quick off topic but important. There exist emergency exit bars on alarmed emergency doors, like in movie theatres. So I don't want to hear any nonsense about traping anybody inside or "prison" like conditions. We come and go as we please in secure buildings. If we can tolerate security guards in banks where we protect our non living assets then there is no leg to stand on to argue against securing our most valuable assets: our children. Bank guards and security cameras are prolific, numbering in the hundreds of thousands in the US alone, with cameras at entryways with remote controlled doors to control who & when people gain access to buildings. They are a fact of life and they serve us well. Why, in God's name, do we not extend these protections to include our schools? Install these protections in every school and damn every ignorant argument against them. To continue to adhere to the free and open unguarded conditions that make our schools a shooting gallery is the absolute definition of insanity! And removing the means of securing our entire country and way of life, our right to own and carry firearms, is even more insane! Remember, Hitler succeeded in disarming the people and we all know how that turned out.