8 August 2001

I have tried to do some "meaningful" research to come up with the answer and
the proper first aid kit for the Birddog. It is not as easy as it sound to find this answer. Paragraph 2-134, TM 55-1510-202-10 (the "DASH TEN") and
Paragraph 4-220, TM 55-1510-202-20 (the "DASH TWENTY" or maintenance manual) tell you that you will have a First Aid Kit and where it would be properly located. They DO NOT tell you what would be found in that First Aid Kit. To find out the items found in early First Aid Kits, you would have to read Chapter Eleven, First Aid Equipment, AAFM 55-0-1, Personal Equipment. This was the post W.W.II Army Air Force Manual that dealt with this issue. There was an overstock of First Aid Kits in the warehouses after W.W.II and these kits, with the same contents were used in the first Birddogs in Korea.

Korean War:

Kit, First Aid, Aeronautical, Item No. 9776500

Small first-aid dressing, 3 boxes
Tourniquet
Halazone tablets, one bottle
Sulfanilamide, one box
Adhesive bandages, one box
Scissors, 4 inch
Iodine applicator, 10
Morphine syrette, one box
Sulfadiazine, two tubes
Eye dressing unit

VIETNAM ERA:

First Aid Instruction sheet and artificial respiration instruction sheet

Weck blades, 5
Betadine solution, 1/2 ounce
Ammonia inhalant solution, aromatic ampoules, 1/3 cc, package of 10
Bandage gauze compressed, camouflaged, 3" X 6 yards, 2Tourniquet
Compress and bandage, camouflaged, 2" X 2", 4
First Aid kit, eye dressing
Dressing, first aid, field, individual troop, camouflaged, 100 X 120 mm, 2
Dressing, first aid, field, 4 X 7 IN
Dressing, first aid, field, 7 1/2 X 8 IN
Bandage, muslin, compressed, camouflaged, 37" X 37" X 52"
Gauze, petroleum impregnated, 3' X 36", 3

As you can see, some things changed and some didn't in the 15 years between the two conflicts. From the information that I have, the FIRST AID KIT was
commonly and usually modified as the location and situation changed. There would be a different kit for Europe and Vietnam. There were even different modifications among the many different units. The kit mentioned above, from the Vietnam era, would be a very typical kit with useful medical items.

What is REALLY important in a First Aid Kit? I would go back to the basics. Just as I do when I teach Advanced Trauma Life Support. Save the injured person first. That sounds very simplistic, but it follows the same lines as, "fly the airplane first." You SAVE a person by remembering " A-B-C." And YOU ALWAYS do it in that order! AIRWAY-BREATHING-CIRCULATION! You check the airway. The most common airway problem in an unconscious or injured person is for the tongue to block the flow of air. You only need to pull the jaw, gently, forward. Then you check breathing. If this is not happening, you start artificial respiration. If you don't know how, go to a basic Red Cross course, now! We all should know this.

The third most important item is to check for circulation. If this is not happening, once again, you start CPR (cardiopulmonary respiration). AFTER you take care of the A-B-C's, you can stop the bleeding, etc. People can be bleeding, and look REAL bad. BUT, they will do well if you take care of the A-B-C's first!

We probably won't put and artificial airway and a "bag" in the Birddog. But we ALL have the capability to breath for an injured patient. The typical Vietnam era items cover the other problems. In that kit there is a tourniquet (we all have belts), many different types of dressings and razor blades (Weck). The petroleum impregnated gauze is for a chest wound.

I hope this helps cover some of the issues of a first aid kit. Remember that there was no absolute, standard kit. For any person flying away from civilization, an aviation survival kit should be considered. They can be easily purchased in most aviation papers or magazines.

Fly Safe! REX 79

Written for Birddog owners by Dr. Steve Frushour, IBDA Aero-Medical Officer

FRESH4MEDX@aol.com