first aid

in the early hours of this morning,after getting up and dressing ready for work,i somehow scratched/cut open a large varicose vein on my left calf.this resulted in me having to go to a&e in an ambulance for treatment etc...i am not kidding you,that the amount of blood pouring out of the wound all over our carpets was like turning on a tap,it wasnt trickling out but literally pouring out...
anyway,i`m home now and all is ok....
this got me thinking though,what if this had happened while i was out fishing alone???what if i had injured my self in some other way and was totally incapacitated???i am an absolutely terrible swimmer,what if i had fallen into the river etc...???
how many of us think about our own personal safety???how many of us actually think to take some simple first aid items with us when fishing???infact,how many of us know some basic first aid???
i know some anglers object to hearing mobile phones going off while fishing and that hearing the ringtone "is this the way to bloody amarillo" from the opposite bank of a lake etc... can be most annoying but at the end of the day,that mobile phone could save someones life.
even something as simple as a whistle around your neck on a bit of string could alert fellow anglers or say a bird watcher or dog walker when you`ve collapsed on the ground with say a broken leg etc...
my missus is a first aider and a massive thanks goes out to her for using skills gained at work for looking after me etc while the ambulance was on its way.i am gonna get her to show me some basics and i am also gonna purchase some simple first aid items to pack away in my rucksack.....you never know,it could mean the difference between life and death.
who out there will do the same???

Its a good point Nick.

Glad you are recovering.

I have the first aid bit covered from my fire service training. I usually don't fish alone (and the guy I usually go with is an abulance technician).

Phones are very useful in these circumstances but that doesn't mean that they can't be switched to silent/vibrate when on the bank.

As for the first aid kit it is something that I keep saying I will get, but somehow never seems to happen. May be this will spur me into action.

totally agree about switching volume down or putting it on vibrate etc...

An excellent point Nick.

I take a first aid kit about, but it lives in the car. Not a problem if I'm nearby, but it may be a better idea to have one in the bag. Thanks for the heads-up

just had a thought....perhaps graham knows someone from st johns ambulance etc who could perhaps write a piece for the fishing magic website outlining basics etc...???

Sounds like a good idea to me.

It sounds like you had an really bad day Nick, but I hope you are recovering well enough now.

I took my first aid training years ago with the company I worked for at the time, and ever since I have had a first aid kit in my rucksack or tackle box, and wouldn't be without it.

forgot to mention that the hospital is about10-15 mins drive away in another town.as my missus doesnt drive,i had to get a taxi back home at 5am this morning.
it cost ?25.00!!!
pass the oxygen mask quick!!!!!!!

Same as Clickfire I'm lucky enough to have First Aid training thru the Fire Service and I recomend taking a First Aid Course and refreshers. Find out where your local St.Johns Ambulance are and enrol for the next course when available. I don't know what they charge now but it's well worth it even if you, hopefully, never have to use it.

Close call that Nick. Glad to hear you're ok now though.

Best solution for that type of injury is just to press your towel on it. Don't worry about the bream slime and tench are said to be the doctor fish, but there'll be enough blood pouring out to keep the wound clean.

However, I never go anywhere without a bottle of KLINIK. )

glad to hear you are alright Nick

I have always carried 2 first aid kits with me when I got fishing, one is perminently in a pocket inside my rucksack and the other is a large green first aid box which I always throw in the bivvy, when I travel abroad I enhanch it with insect repellants, sun creams and a small phase book country specific of course, all this however didnt help when I got bittern by a rare viper in an Eastern European country once, when i had to spend a day in a Turkish hospital (and you think our NHS is bad)

Not Turkish delight then Monk !!

well talking of Turkish delight Bill, I was in this club one night---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- what a women mate!!!!!!!! Phew!!!

Glad to hear you're OK nick, must have been scary!

Last year I got stung several times by wasps, luckily I didn't have a reaction. I've been told by some F.M guys that next time I get stung it is likely I will get a reaction. So, on their advice, I will be carrying some anti-histamine tablets.

I think it's a bit awkward to carry a tench with you everytime you go fishing, although I used to know a bloke who had a pet bream, that used to end up in his net every time we had a match!

You should have been taking the antihistamine for some days beforehand for it to work properly. My son was already on some for hay fever and when he got stung it was all over in three minutes. Pain gone, no swelling.

Glad to hear your ok. Just completed my refresher coarse for First Aid. Glad to say never had to use it. A article on items for the Rucksack is a excellent idea. As jeff says bang your fishing towel on any open wound. The risk of infection is slight and can be treated later, unlike the problems caused by not stopping the bleeding.

I have had 2 heart attacks and a triple bypass therefore I am especially vulnerable, so three or four years ago I decided to buy a mobile phone purely as a 'just in case'. The biggest problem with that is sometimes there isn't any signal miles from anywhere on the river so I'm not really any better off.

Its a bit difficult doing heart massage on yourself as well. Ah! well, at least I would die happy.