A friend just pointed out to me that menstrual pads and tampons can be a great first aid item. I hadn't thought of that yet, but indeed it can be! So I thought I would share that with you all.
I once thought of this, but isn't there a danger of toxic shock just like women get from using these products?
This can be true, but you have to use the NON-'Colored' or 'Printed', NON-'Super Absorbent', NON-'Scented', and, NON-'Cleansing' versions. Coloring, any coloring, inks or dies are toxic when introduced to the blood stream unless otherwise proven differently. 'Super Absorbent' pads, like 'Mini-Pads' have a chemical in them that does just what the advertisement says, Just like a disposable baby diaper, it attracts moisture and locks it into a Gel form. I don't want that chemical in my blood stream causing clots in odd places, like my heart or lungs. 'Scented' means chemicals in your blood stream that very well could cause reactions like 'Toxic Shock Syndrome' and other problems. 'Cleansing' means lotions, deodorizers, and other things that again, you don't want introduced to your blood stream, especially since you are headed for blood loss shock anyway... Just what you need, a toxic reaction on top of every thing else! -------------------------------- What will work, Our military field dressings were made by 'Playtex' & Johnson & Johnson the same people that used to make 'Kotex' brand 'Sanitary Napkins' and the bandage people. Our emergency 'Puncture' (bullet/bayonet wound) dressings looked all for the world like a tampon and would swell when dipped in water. Worked well for closing up a bullet wound, I can vouch for that first hand. If I were going to store 'Kotex' as field dressings, I would shop around for the full size pads with the cloth straps on each end (won't be as long as field dressing straps, and won't be green or brown) And I would try and track down 'Institutional' versions. 'Institutions' don't spend money on luxuries like scented and color prints. Everything is about keeping the costs down... So you would probably get a good deal on them. -------------------------- What I would store... 'Economy' Paper towels, plain white, no printing or scents. Not the kind you can ring out, just the plain old white paper towels on rolls... To make the paper white, it's bleached and heated like crazy, so the inner sheets are sterile. (nothing lives through that bath of chemicals, heat and live steam!) Other than leaving behind some fibers when you pull it off, it works great, It's cheap, And it has more than one use so you are likely to rotate the rolls and not let some set around as 'Emergency Supplies' and get damp/contaminated. The inside sheets of a larger city newspapers are virtually sterile also, and for the same reason. The news print is bleached white, or mostly white, and it's heated to make it lay flat on the roll when it's made, and again when it goes through the printing machine. Most news papers are printed, folded, cut and bundled by machines, And are never touched by human hands until the kid throws them at your house. Get one out of the middle of a stack in a paper box and there is an excellent chance it's never been touched by human hands or touched anything dirty. Most news print ink is Soy based ink and non-toxic, and the inner pages of the news print (not glossy advertisement inserts) will work fine to seal up a wound if you are on the move for some reason. ----------------------- DO NOT use the cheap hand towels or cheap material from places like Wally-World or 99¢ stores! They are sprayed with formaldehyde to keep them from growing fungus when in shipping and storage, they are sprayed with pesticides and herbicides for the same reason, to keep bugs and rodents out of them and to keep the mold and mildew from forming when they get damp in shipping & storage. In fact, you shouldn't use any cloths you buy these days until they have been washed a couple of times! Even some of the inks can be toxic from foreign countries.
I'm down to only 2 large battle dressings in my FAK. I still have several small Battle Dressings left in FAK/Individual kits. I've been keeping OB pads in my FAK's to be used as medium battle dressings. I'm having problems finding the old (original) OB pads at pharmacies.
Tampon brands I keep a stash of regular size (for light days) nondeodorant OB brand tampons. They are applicator less and just comes wrapped in a little plastic wrapping. They have worked great for nosebleeds when our boys played football. You just have to trim the string so it's not hanging down their face. We have also used the store brand (Kroger is our store) of maxi pads for bleeding wounds in our house. When Bob whacked his head in the garage, I just duct taped a maxi pad over it (he's bald) and drove him to the emergency room. The attending was an army doctor and said they do the same thing in the field. You would not necessarily keep something in long enough to develop TSS, which is of bacterial origin, both staph and strep. I would definitely buy the purest quality I could find. There are plenty of organic brands out there, but I'm not sure that an organic tampon for a nosebleed is what I'm after.
No pun intended but I'm against the flow.... Let me tell you why. Feminine pads and tampons are used to absorb blood or body fluid away from the site. A trauma/injury dressings should keep the 'blood products' (keeping it simple here) against the wound. The body when injured releases its own 'fluid' to clot and repair itself. If you put a product inplace to pull this 'special fluid' away from the site of injury, the site may bleed longer causing the body a greater stress because it thinks that its own secretions aren't fixing the problem. Don't upset the natural repair order. There are plenty of website to order proper dressings. The descriptions of usages above may have worked but it was likely due more to the direct pressure being applied, and not related to the product being used. I wouldn't put it in my pack or med kit. Keep the fem pads and tampons for the vagina where they belong.
