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Tom mentioned this in another topic, and I've been meaning to ask about this for a while anyway.

Does anybody have any tips on how to obtain serious painkillers for those people that aren't married to a doctor? Lame excuses for your doctor on how to get them, or perhapt just be honest? What about the strongest over-the-counter painkillers? Or is it possible to order something online?

Resources are welcome. Meanwhile, I'll go talk to my doctor and do some googling.

Cheers,

Jaap

Now THIS is a thread I'm looking forward to following!

I hear airforce medics are helpful...

I think the bigger problem to most base jumpers is not obtaining them, but actually keeping them around to use if a situation occured where you really needed them.
hehehe...

Just ask a friend that had surgery recently for a few.

Uh....

Don't you ever check your junk e-mail? I see loads of them advertised in subject lines.

 

Unrelated, but ever since I started using a forwarding service, I'd say I get less than one spam-email per two weeks. It's quite good.

One word- Mexico!!!!

Removed to protect the innocent.

Hmmm, You could always smash your nads with a hammer a few times and then go to the doctor and get them without having to lie....

But you'd have to be pretty hardcore to go that route. I'd recommend a friendly dentist or something.

Ganja

Instead of pills i would prefer to jump with a pouch that had some morphine. just in case you half to sit for three hours with your knee and femur sticking out. however it could bring problems, you could take to much or when the authorities arrived they might not know you already took some.

Funny, only because its so true.

That was my question, should an injured jumper really be self medicating?

Just in case anyone is thinking of using some morphine in the event of a remote base accident it may pay to remember that opiates can/do:

depress respiratory drive
can be hypotensive
can increase intracranial pressure

Pain won't kill you but the misuse of morphine might. A bit of formal tuition might ease the decision making process....

Marking the time and amount given on the patient may be useful when medical help arrives so that they understand what has been given

Break your tailbone...

Edited to add: Or get hit by a car, see tagline.
It hurt like hell, but they gave me no end of scripts for that one after I truthfully whinged about the lack of effect!

If you take morphine, I would also recommend writing "M" on your forehead and also the time and dosage in case you pass out.

Anybody that will be arriving and giving you morphine will know what a big "M" means. (Outside the US, I'm not sure if this trick will work. I don't imagine that a nepalese emergency medical technician refers to morphine by the same name.)

A sharpie pen is always good to have. I have one on my stethescope, in my adventure racing pack, all over my apartment... etc.

Whatever medication you choose to carry with you, learn the following:

*Dosage and administration
*Indications (when to use the drug and what for)
*Contraindications (when to not use the drug and why)
*Overdose information (the "if one is good, then two is better" argument does not fly with any painkiller worth carrying for this purpose.)
*Actions. Know what is going to happen to you after you take the medication. Since we're already talking about morphine, if you need to crawl out of a canyon after a solo load because help is not coming, it would be a very bad idea to take morphine. Morphine will limit your ability/desire to help yourself.
*Allergies. Know if you or anyone on your load is allergic to the medication. Giving a medication to someone with a hypersensitivity will certainly do far more harm than good. Pain sucks, dying from a painkiller you're allergic to sucks far more.

Pain medications are useful and cool, but misused, they can make everything worse.

If you cant take the pain don´t play the game

When I was in the special forces we were given hydromorphone in ready-to-shoot syringes. The damn thing works as I found out few years later. When you say painkillers I hope you mean opiates because the other stuff is just gimmick.

If you can't find morphine or hyrdomorphone and you are dead serious about it you can always buy some heroin on the street. The problem is to know the "cut", i.e. how much heroin is actually in it, hey you don't want to OD trying to use it as a genuine painkiller! If you find it the painkiller dose is about 10 mg of the pure stuff.

For those of you who don't know it heroin was synthesized first by Bayer (by the same guy who synthesized aspirin, Heinrich Dreser) in 1898 and it was sold it over the counter for many years and claimed it as non-addictive! In 1924 it was banned in the US but Bayer continued to claim that it was non-addicive (deja vu anyone?).

So I guess we'd need to add a spoon, lighter, syringe and rubber hose to our fanny pack eh?

Another key item to have would be a sutcher kit and maybe a local anesthetic if you can get it.
another list I found:
TOOLS

1..... Oral Airway Kit
1..... 7.0 mm & 7.5 mm Nasal Airway
1..... Blood Pressure Cuff
1..... Stethoscope
1..... Digital Thermometer
1..... EMT Shears & Splinter Picker Forceps
4..... Scalpel #11 Blade Sterile
1..... Mayo-Hager Needle Holder 5"
1..... Emergency Blanket
3..... Safety Pins
1..... 20cc. Irrigation Syringe


PERSONAL PROTECTION


1..... LaerdalÆ Pocket Mask
12..... Nitrile Examination Gloves
6..... Antimicrobial Hand Wipes
3..... Infectious Control Bag


TRAUMA


1..... SAMÆ Splint
2..... 8x10 and/or 5x9 Trauma Pads
2..... Elastic Bandage w/ VelcroÆ (2" or 3")
20..... 4x4 Non-Sterile Dressings
8..... Non-Adherent Sterile Dressing
4..... Conforming Gauze bandage (3")
2..... Triangular Bandage
2..... Adhesive tape 10 Yards (1" or 2")


ESSENTIALS


6..... Moleskin and/or Molefoam
2..... Water GelÆ Burn Dressing 4x4
8..... Antibiotic Ointment
1..... Sunscreen 30 SPF 1oz.
1..... Zinc Oxide Sunblock 1oz.
12..... Antiseptic Towlettes
4..... Spenco 2nd SkinÆ
4..... Non-woven Adhesive Knit
8..... Non-Sterile Dressing
2..... Eye Pad
10..... Wound Closure Strips
1..... Surgical Scrub Brush
1..... Tincture of Benzoin
20..... Strip & Knuckle Bandages
6..... Cotton Tipped Applicators


MEDICATIONS


1..... Tender's After Burn Aloe
2..... Oral Rehydration Mix
20..... Acetaminophen 500mg
24..... Ibuprofen 200mg
20..... Antihistamine (Diphenhydramine 25mg)
20..... Aspirin(325mg)
10..... Cold Medicine
10..... Diotame (Bismuth sulfate)
14..... Alamag Antacid
10..... Diamode (ImmodiumÆ)
1..... Eye Wash
1..... Glutose Paste
1..... CavitÆ Dental Filling
4..... Pill Vials
6..... After BiteÆ Sting Relief
2..... Povidone Iodine Solution

Jaap

When u are in the Vancover area....goto the junky area and find yourself some pain pills...

oxy cotton, perk's and etc...they usually go anywhere from 5-10 bucks a pill...

hope this helps

======================

Have you used a Combi-tube?

No laryngescope needed, just shove it in, inflate the cuffs, check placement and go. If someone is seriously fucked up, you will need to intubate them.

Actual intubation is very difficuly, especially in trauma.

With a combi-tube and minimal training, almost anyone can get a secure airway.

Edit: Is there an actual demand in the BASE community for a good first aid kit? I could put some BASE specific kits together, offer several levels of capability, and get them out at cost. Anyone interested in something like that?

Edit#2: Instead of sutures, in the field you should use steri-strips and iodine. The closure is relatively secure and a lot harder to mess up than suturing. I'm the suture master! but in the field I still use steri-strips if I can't properly irrigate and close.

just hurt your self and keep some for later on ;)

sorry im not to bring more than to my own use as i visit or you could have some.. speak to your doc the once i have is named Tramadol they will only take the top of the pain,but im sure you dont want to be asleep at that point anyway mate ;)

see ya soon

two points...

i pulled a ligament directly from the bone a year ago...dealt with the pain with THC and Leffe blonde...six weeks later it was fixed

however on a more serious note try seeing your doctor...tell him what you do and what you need and he may write you a "private prescription"

We did it to go to Baffin two years ago and got the whole shooting match...we were however a long ride to the nearest hospital

i did so once aswell,told him that as he knows its limited by use of date and that i gladly would return the remains each time he gave me a "new dosis" he agreed.. even told me that he couldnt use them i should just say when..