[CVORNurse]

Fundraising season is upon those of us who have children in public or private schools. DD#2 brought home a sheet yesterday to sell First Aid Kits for the home, and for the auto. Of course they are just your bare bones basics, but this is an idea they have not come up with yet at our school. It made me think of prepping, and how it is probably a good idea to get one of these for each of the kids to keep in their locker at school, along with their emergency food/water supplies. Our school just happens to be near a chemical plant (like right next door). We actually had school closed for 2 days last year, and no after school outside activities allowed for 2 weeks due to DHS coming in and finding a couple of tanks of HCF that were rusting and getting ready to leak. So I am very concerned that the kids have something available in case they have to get on a bus and bug out to another location.

 

[Jason]

How much are they selling them for? That really is a good idea.

 

[CVORNurse]

the kits ar 8 dollars apiece, no matter if you get the home or auto one, so they are relatively affordable. the auto one comes with a call police banner to put out, which I currently do not have in my own first aid kit.

 

[Rody]

How strict is the school about drugs? I've seen some reports of kids getting in trouble for having aspirins. Most of those kind of kits come with some form of pain relief/fever reducer. Better talk to the school about it first. You never know these days how crazy they can get with stuff.

 

[NaeKid]

$8 for a FirstAid kit? I think that my "cheapest" kit that I purchased was around $55 and I found it wasn't enough to make me happy. What is all included in the kit? Does it include a "first-aid cheat-sheet" that describes basic issues and the best course of action to take (ie: heat burn - apply SkinCool, sliver - use pin and tweazers).

I don't know if I would be happy if my grandson went to a school right beside a chem-plant. Here in Calgary the heavy industrial-zones are fairly well seperated from the light industrial areas (the buffer-zone to the residential areas).

 

[CVORNurse]

As to the drugs, our school (knock on wood) has not yet gotten to the totally irrational point of not even allowing the girls to have a bottle of Midol or ibuprofen in their purse for monthly cramps. In fact, after calling me first to get the ok, both have been given Tylenol, and PeptoBismol.

As to the contents:
Home Kit, 31 pieces:
1 AMA First Aid Guidebook
2 Extra strength non aspirin tablets (acetaminophen I bet)
2 Ibuprofen tablets
5 3/4 x 3 bandages
1 2 inch gauze roll
2 alcohol prep pads
2 antiseptic cleansing wipes
2 2x2 pads
1 pkt antibiotic ointment
1 knuckle bandage
1 fingertip bandage
1 butterfly wound closure
1 5x9 trauma pad
1 2x4 elbow/knee bandage
5 3/8 junior bandages
1 moleskin
2 safety pins

The auto kit is the same, except it has the call police banner and it does not have the moleskin.

As to the chemical plant-- well, I live in an area that is very heavy into chemical plants, at least 5 large plants and an incineration facility in my county, all within 15 miles of my home) I guess we have all grown used to having them around, as well as the threats that come with them. So the schools all have both evacuation plans, and shelter in place plans that can be enacted rapidly if the need arises. Luckily, we had to do neither last year.
I would liken it to the people that live on the coast, knowing that a hurricane could wipe them out. Or the ones that live in the canyons in California knowing every wildfire season that they could possibly lose their homes. We chose to stay, but the smart ones have disaster preps in place so that if the disaster hits.....

 

[NaeKid]

That is an awesome sounding FirstAid kit - especially for the price!

I kind of understand the need to live near work - and have work near the people, but, here in Calgary we have seen the need to have a buffer-zone between residential and industry.

Ten years ago we had an oil-recycler go up in smoke - there was almost no buffer-zone between it and the nearest community (2 blocks to the nearest house). Everything within 5km (3 miles) was coated in oil-soot, a drive-in theater closed down because the soot coated the screens and insurance wouldn't cover it.

You can read more of the story (and further links) at: Hub Oil explosion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Since then, the city-planners make sure that there some kind of buffer-zone between the dangerous-stuff and schools / hospitals / residential. Yesterday it was announced that the area will be developed into light-industrial .. Destroyed Hub Oil site rezoned for development