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What do you put in your first aid kits around the barn?

I guess the question is self explanatory. I already have the essentials at my barn (bandages, thermometer, stethoscope, gauze, scissors, etc.), but want to know of any different stuff you guys use that comes in handy. I could always improve to the one I currently have, especially considering the amount of "mischief" my pony gets herself into! :)

Public Comments

1. Usually clearly marked with a red cross and by the front door.

2. I know it sounds weird, but we have half a pack of heavy duty maxi pads in ours,
-as well as gauze's, bandages, wraps, and scissors for bleeding injuries.
-Also, wire cutters. You never know and they saved my horses ability to walk once.
-Treats for um, something, just in case
-hoof pick
-body brush (once my horse rolled in the hills and I had to re-groom him on the trail ride halfway up the Mountain)
-Just stuff you might need, like when you get injured. Just think of that, on a much bigger scale.

3. Apart from what you have listed, VASELINE has saved my butt many times! It's perfect for little nicks and cuts! Also, it's good to have a bottle of saline solution for any large cuts that you can use to flush out the wound until the vet shows up. also, it's nice to have vet wrap (it comes in assorted colors :) pink and zebra are my favorite! ) that cottony wrap stuff and idk why but I keep pony tail holders in mine for when I have to get my hands dirty and I need my hair out of my face and it came in handy once when my horse cut him self really bad under his mane so I could keep hair from getting in it.

4. maxi pads!! they work great, really they do, if you get a large gash and need a good bandage that can soak up the wound until vet arrives , ect. then put one on here we keep them in our kit we have used them on a knee injury that was draining badly in the sumer and the drainage was atracting insects so we stuck one of these over it and it would soak up most of the drainage

old socks, these work great as a rag and they come in handy if you need to bandage a knee, dependign upon size of sock and horse but you can cut bottom (toes) out of sock and slip on horse over hoof and pull up to their knee help to hold everything in place.

sunscreen, horses that have white on body or face, nose get sunburn easy in summer time good to keep bottle around handy so you can easily dose these horses with some sunscreen to help keep from getting a burn
Aloe, just incase one gets sunbuned will help out some horses if they get a bad enough burn on their nose it burns to get their nose down in their feed pans and may loose some weight until their nose feels a little better, aloe helps take the burn off
also we stock our first aid kits from the dollar store, vet stores and equine stores charge quite a bit for things you can get from dollar store same things but a lot less exspensive rubbing alcohol, peroxide, neosporane, ect. Saves a lot of money and helps you to get a good stock in case of emergency.

5. Love Love LOVEEE vet wrap !!!
also permanent markers and duck tape are good to have to as well as gloves
Bute
POLTIS! = <3

6. Some good thing to keep in a first aid kit for you and your horse:
-Vet wrap
-Iodine
-antibacterial ointment
-gauze (also, this may sound weird, but if your horse/pony gets an abscess in their hoof you can use a maxi pad. it absorbs a lot of the infection)
-Hoof pick
-The obvious(band aids, rubbing alcohol, pain reliever, some sort of Allergy suppressant, etc.)
I hope this was useful

7. Question
What do you put in your first aid kits around the barn?
We also put our allergy meds bee sting kits in the first aid box and any medication we took. We also had aspirin ,Alkaselzer , and gauze for us as well as foldable crutches and a cain . Often we brought a stretcher . We never needed these things but it was great to have them on hand . I had us all trained in First Aid as well.

8. i just have a couple suggestions, but first some info on using maxi pads, along with infant diapers. They are too absorbent for many wounds. They are great for poultices where you are trying to draw out infection. But for wounds, they will over-dry the wound bed and impair healing. They are never advised for any wound that tends to bleed. their high absorbency is so powerful that it will actually prevent clots from stabilizing to stop bleeding. They are not advisable for use as dressings for wounds, and are only useful when an infection needa to be surfaced. Part of what enhances wound healing is keeping the wound bed moist. Anything that dries it, like absorbant pads, will seriously impair healing.

Have plenty of normal (isotonic 0.9% saline for wounds) on hand. The best treatment for any open wound is normal saline flush, using moderate pressure. You can buy it at a drugstore already programmed to deliver a flush at the right pressure. Also have Vetericyn and EMT ointment. Both are excellent for wounds and lesions to promote healing and prevent infection and proud flesh. I keep packs of makeup removal pads (cotton pads) on hand as well, for drying wound sites after the saline flush and before application of the dressing.
Your scissors should be bandage scissors, which have a blunt edge to place against the skin when you cut off a wrap. Also have Kling bandage wrap and Elastikon tape to secure it for when you have to bandage areas like the hocks where vetwrap is too rigid, or when vetwrap is too smothering. Your local drugstore or medical supply store will have these. Also, have plenty of cotton sheeting for padding under wraps.

9. humans:
- bandaids
- alcohol/peroxide
- neosporine
- gauze
- bandage sissors



horses:
- Wire cutters (Can come in handy if your horse gets tangled in barbedwire)
- gauze
- peroxide/ alcohol
- bedadine
- furazone or another similar wound dressing.
- vet wrap
- bandage sissors
- bute or something similar
- a humane twitch (optional)
- a stethescope (optional)
- themometer (optional)



and thats all i can think of. i hope i helped:)