Shop First Aid Kit

[Sean Troy]

How many have a functional first aid kit in thier shop ? I ask because as I'm working on finishing up the odds and ends on my new shop, I only just today thought about it and went out and bought one.

[Don Bullock]

Sean, that's a good question. It's also a reminder to those of us who don't have one in the shop. Since my garage/shop is directly connected to the house I have direct access to the first aid supplies in our bathrooms and never really thought about having one in the garage. Buying one for the shop's not a bad idea though. Thanks. I'll look into getting one asap.

[Bill Huber]

I have one that I got for a boat shot that is sealed with a rubber gasket and stays nice and clean inside.

I guess I am lucky that the only thing I have ever used out of it was one band aid and some aspirin.

[James Jaragosky]

I have one for my pickup as well, along with a fire extinguisher.

[Drew Armstrong]

Have one... and a fire extinguisher...

Drew

[Scott Long]

I just bought one about 2 weeks ago. In fact I didn't even have time to hang it yet. I also have 2 fire extinguishers.

[Joe Unni]

I do - also with extinguisher.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have the standard St John Ambulance first aid kit, a telephone mounted two feet above the floor, and a 5 pound ABC fire extinguisher at the exit from the shop.

Fortunately, aside from answering the phone frequently(I had two teenage daughters), I haven't required the other two items.

regards, Rod.

P.S. The phone mounting height was from an industrial accident seminar I attended, they suggested that in case you couldn't stand, as well as not locking the doors to your house or shop if you are working alone. I guess you would have to balance that with your personal safety requirements.

[Al Willits]

""""""""
P.S. The phone mounting height was from an industrial accident seminar I attended, they suggested that in case you couldn't stand, as well as not locking the doors to your house or shop if you are working alone. I guess you would have to balance that with your personal safety requirements.
"""""""""

Phone may be a nice idea, but not so sure about not locking your house...least in my neighborhood...

I have a pretty complete first aid kit hanging on the wall, but I've done a lot more than just woodworking in my garage...er...shop, so I need to cover more types of possible injuries.

I also have three commercial grade fire extinguishers, past history has shown you can not have to many of them.
Make sure you keep them current, mine require a inspection evey so often...which reminds me to add that to the project list...

But you can buy a pretty basic first aid kit from target or any of the major retailers that will cover most day to day injuires, there is no real reason not to have one in the shop and house, especially considering these kits are under $20..imho

Al

[Bill Ryall]

2 full first aid kits, 3 fire extinguishers.

[Don Dean]

Have one... and a fire extinguisher...

[Dave Anderson NH]

Most often the inexpensive First Aid Kits found in the drug store, Borg, or at one of the major retailers have serious deficencies for woodworkers. While they might be great on bandaids, antiseptic cream, small dressings, burn cream, etc they need seerious beefing up. Most notably, you need to have an eyewash bottle and at least one or two large military style battle dressings. Foreign objects in the eye- splinters, dust, etc are very common is the shop even if you wear eye protection. A quick flush could very easily save you a trip to either the emergency room or the opthamologist.

The battle dressing or alternately gauze pads larger than 4" x 4" are needed in the hopefully unlikely event of a severe cut or worse yet an amputation. A friend of mine from another woodworking forum took about 5" of a cherry cutoff in the gut a few years back due to a hard kickback. He was very fortunate both that his wife was home when it happened and that she is an RN. He spent 5 hours in surgery.

If you are going out to buy a First Aid kit consider avoiding the regular outlets and go instead to a specialty safety equipment supplier. Most stock several sizes and varieties of kits from a number of good manufacturers. It'll be more expensive than your local discount retailer, but you'll get a far better kit. Expect to pay anywhere between $25 to $100 depending on what you pick.

[Jim Becker]

I have a small first aid kit in the shop and have since I built it. Do make sure you check the supplies once in awhile as some adhesives and other things deteriorate over time, especially in less-conditioned environments like many of our shops.

[Ted Jay]

Most often the inexpensive First Aid Kits found in the drug store, Borg, or at one of the major retailers have serious deficencies for woodworkers. While they might be great on bandaids, antiseptic cream, small dressings, burn cream, etc they need seerious beefing up. Most notably, you need to have an eyewash bottle and at least one or two large military style battle dressings. Foreign objects in the eye- splinters, dust, etc are very common is the shop even if you wear eye protection. A quick flush could very easily save you a trip to either the emergency room or the opthamologist.

The battle dressing or alternately gauze pads larger than 4" x 4" are needed in the hopefully unlikely event of a severe cut or worse yet an amputation. A friend of mine from another woodworking forum took about 5" of a cherry cutoff in the gut a few years back due to a hard kickback. He was very fortunate both that his wife was home when it happened and that she is an RN. He spent 5 hours in surgery.

If you are going out to buy a First Aid kit consider avoiding the regular outlets and go instead to a specialty safety equipment supplier. Most stock several sizes and varieties of kits from a number of good manufacturers. It'll be more expensive than your local discount retailer, but you'll get a far better kit. Expect to pay anywhere between $25 to $100 depending on what you pick.

Mine consists of a Tackle box to hold a variety of sizes of band aids, antiseptic creams, tapes, guaze, alchohol, tweezers and so on. Also include a box of sanitary pads for those "high flow" cuts.....

[Steven Wilson]

No first aid kit in the shop, but I do have a couple of abdominal pads, a box of bandaids and an eyewash kit. Whenever I go in to the hospital I scrounge some supplies from the OR nurses or friendly doctors. The big abdominal pads (not sure of their technical term) can soak up a great deal of blood and work well for applying pressure to slow down a major bleeder. I do have a good travel first aid kit I take on vacations, a small first aid kit in each car, one in the boat, small ones in the tackle boxes and a small one that fits in my fly fishing vest.