Four injuries cause most camp medical problems: cuts, burns, sprains, and blisters. All four are manageable in the field if you clean, cover, and rest — and all four become trip-ending when they are ignored for a day. The decision that matters is early: treat properly now, or evacuate.
Cuts and scrapes
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stop bleeding with direct pressure, 5–10 min |
| 2 | Rinse with clean water; do not use alcohol in the wound |
| 3 | Remove grit with tweezers; leave what will not come out |
| 4 | Apply antibiotic ointment |
| 5 | Cover with a sterile dressing, then tape |
| 6 | Change the dressing daily, and after getting wet |
A cut that will not stop bleeding after 10 minutes of pressure, or that gapes open, needs closure by a professional — not a bandage and hope.
Burns
| Degree | Sign | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| First | Red, painful, dry | Cool water 10–20 min, cover |
| Second | Blisters, wet | Cool, cover loosely, no popping |
| Third | White or charred, painless | Emergency evacuation |
Cool with running water, not ice. Ice damages tissue and makes the burn worse. Do not apply butter, toothpaste, or oil — all three trap heat and invite infection.
Sprains and strains
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| Rest | Stop using the joint |
| Ice | 15–20 min every 2 hours for the first day |
| Compress | Elastic bandage, snug not tight |
| Elevate | Above heart level when sitting |
If the joint cannot bear weight after an hour, or swelling is rapid and severe, treat it as a fracture and evacuate.
Blisters
| Stage | Action |
|---|---|
| Hot spot | Stop, cover with tape or a blister patch |
| Small blister | Leave intact, cover with a donut pad |
| Large or torn | Clean, drain at the edge with a sterile needle, cover |
| Infected (red, hot, pus) | Seek care |
The cause is almost always moisture plus friction. Change socks at midday, and treat hot spots before they become blisters.
Kit contents
| Item | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Sterile gauze pads | 10 |
| Adhesive bandages, mixed | 20 |
| Medical tape | 1 roll |
| Elastic bandage | 1 |
| Antibiotic ointment | 1 tube |
| Antiseptic wipes | 10 |
| Tweezers | 1 |
| Blister patches | 5 |
| Pain reliever | 1 pack |
| Gloves | 2 pairs |
Add personal medication, an EpiPen if prescribed, and a tick removal card.
When to seek care
- Bleeding that does not stop with 10 minutes of pressure.
- Any burn larger than the person’s palm, or on face, hands, or joints.
- A wound with embedded debris you cannot remove.
- Signs of infection after 24 hours: spreading redness, heat, pus, fever.
- A joint that cannot bear weight.
- Any head injury with confusion, vomiting, or unequal pupils.
Evacuation thresholds
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Cannot walk on the injury | Evacuate |
| Bleeding not controlled | Emergency evacuation |
| Burn beyond first degree on a large area | Evacuate |
| Signs of infection and no improvement in 12 hours | Evacuate |
| Suspected fracture | Immobilise and evacuate |
| Head injury with confusion | Emergency evacuation |
The first five minutes
Stop the activity first. Most injuries get worse because the group keeps moving while someone bleeds or limps. Make the area safe, sit the person down, and ask three questions: what happened, where does it hurt, and can you move it.
Then treat what you can see. Pressure on bleeding, cool water on a burn, rest for a joint, a cover for a blister. Only after that do you decide whether the trip continues. Deciding to continue before the bleeding stops is how a small cut becomes a clinic visit.
Write down the time of the injury and what you did. If you do end up at a clinic, that note is worth more than your memory of the afternoon.
What not to do
Do not use rubbing alcohol in an open wound, do not pop blisters to “let them breathe”, and do not walk off a sprain to test it. Each of these adds a day of healing and, in the case of a sprain, turns a rest day into an evacuation.
Restocking
After every trip, replace what you used and check expiry dates on ointments and pain relievers. A kit that was full last year is the one that fails you this year.
Prevention
| Injury | Prevention |
|---|---|
| Cuts | Gloves when cutting wood, closed shoes |
| Burns | Never move a hot pot over a lap; use a stable surface |
| Sprains | Boots with ankle support, light loads |
| Blisters | Broken-in boots, liner socks, stop at hot spots |
Where to go next
For heat-related illness, see the heat illness guide; for tick bites, the tick removal guide; for the trip risk plan, the risk assessment guide.
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