GEAR

Survival Emergency Solutions First Aid Kits

Review

WORDS & IMAGES BY GRANT HANAN AND LINDA BLOFFWITCH

Whether you’re heading into your local national park or further afield, we’ll be the first to say a comprehensive first aid kit should be one of the first pieces of gear that gets packed. But when there’s such a vast range available on the market, how do you choose?

We faced this exact dilemma a while ago after finding all kits aren’t equal. In fact, they’re far from it. After coming across long-time Aussie family business, Survival Emergency Solutions and their Australian designed products, we found a range of first aid kits that could help get us out of trouble whether we’re hitting remote tracks or knocking about the paddocks at home. Here’s a closer look at its Workplace and Snake Bite kits.

Every vehicle should have a first aid kit, we open the lid on a range of first aid kits from Survival Emergency Solutions.

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SCROLL TO CONTINUE

WHAT YOU GET
Both kits are made from a moisture-resistant and durable polyester material. Each also has strong zips covered by an extra layer of material for additional protection from the elements. After looking at a range of kits, we found it hard to go past the Workplace kit which is jam-packed with first aid goodies suited to our style of travel. Conceptually, this kit has been designed for a workplace to be compliant, but it was our go-to choice because of everything it contained.

The front of the kit is where you’ll find features like a quick referral CPR card, and a large colour-coded legend outlines how the kit contents have been colour coded and grouped together into categories, making it easy to go straight to what you need. Next to these categories are three QR codes which are linked to the Survival Emergency Solution’s website. By scanning them with your smartphone, you’re taken to the website for restocking the kit, accessing a comprehensive first aid handbook, or downloading the iFirstAid app to either an android or iOS device.

The kit opens into three sections once unzipped. All kit contents are labelled indicating what the item is used for, and everything is colour-coded in either black, red, green, or blue. Where multiples of some items have been provided in the kit, these are shown with the applicable number displayed.

The Workplace Kit is one of the most comprehensive kits we’ve travelled with

A kit designated for snake bites is one of those kits you like to have but hope to never use

It’s easy to see just how much gets squeezed into the Workplace kit

The first section (referred to as the Personal section) has a meshed zipped area where there’s an instant ice pack, and a couple of mesh pockets have been left empty so there’s room to customise the kit to add your own personal medications and other items. They’ve squeezed a lot of gear into the back of this section starting with some general first aid items such as tweezers and shears, band aids and gloves. But there’s also a small quick referral guide booklet covering various first aid procedures and for recording injuries and notes, plus you’ll find an emergency blanket and some cleaning wipes here as well.

The middle and third sections focus on items generally associated with trauma, so this is where you’ll find a CPR kit, multiple types of dressings, and a range of bandages including an innovative heavy duty and reusable SMART bandage for snake bites. What makes this bandage unique, is it pictorially demonstrates how to achieve the correct tension when applying a pressure immobilisation bandage so that it’s effective. The back of the kit features the MOLLE system (an acronym for Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment) which follows the military style of tailored attachment when carrying the kit.

Similarly, the Snake Bite kit is made of the same polyester material as the Workplace kit and comes in a khaki colour for differentiation. It’s a compact and lightweight kit (555 grams) which opens into two sections; and contains a splint, emergency blanket, multiple pressure bandages, some gloves, gauze swabs, and a step-by-step snake bite and CPR instruction card to walk you through the process. There’s also a permanent marker to record the bite details and three pressure bandages (two of these are the SMART snake bite type).

ABOVE Kits come with everything labelled and total item quantities supplied

ABOVE The quick referral guide includes an injury record and notepad // BELOW Instructions on how to apply a snake bandage correctly are included with the snake bite kit

"They’ve squeezed a lot of gear into the back of this section starting with some general first aid items such as tweezers and shears, band aids and gloves."

4WD ACCESSORIES FOR THE REAL OFF ROAD ENTHUSIAST

TRADE
ENQUIRES
WELCOME

DUAL
BATTERY TRAY

COMPACT FIRE PIT /
BBQ FLAT PACK

PREMIUM BBQ
SLIDE-OUT SYSTEM

OUR THOUGHTS
There’s a lot to like about these kits and it starts with their good quality design. Both are a good size with the Snake Bite kit easily fitting into a backpack, and the Workplace Kit isn’t too large that packing it would be a problem. We also liked the consistency between the kits, as the colour-coding and clear labelling provided a level of familiarity, and this made locating items easy no matter which kit you picked up. And unlike other brands of kits we’ve used in the past where we couldn’t remember the quantities of individual items, having the total numbers displayed meant we knew when we’d used items that needed to be replaced.

But a unique difference with the comprehensive Workplace kit compared to other brands we’ve tried is what you get in addition to the first aid kit itself. Having access to their comprehensive first aid handbook and iFirstAid app means first aid support at our fingertips, and they’ve made re-stocking stress-free by simply using the QR code to place an order. In our time poor world of today, they’ve really made that process easy, and that’s clever in our books.

Between our comprehensive Workplace kit ($134.95) and Snake Bite kit ($69.95), we find they’re a perfect duo to complement our kind of travel. And we’re more than confident that we’ve got our first aid kits needs covered wherever we are, and they have us now well prepared for any emergency.

For more details, head to survivalfirstaidkits.net.au

ABOVE The Snake Bite kit is small enough to throw in a backpack // BELOW Kits are made from strong material and have sturdy zips with double stitching

ABOVE A quick first aid referral guide in the Workplace kit provides a range of valuable information for first aid treatment// BELOW A size comparison of the two kits that we travel with

GEAR

Survival Emergency Solutions First Aid Kits

Whether you’re heading into your local national park or further afield, we’ll be the first to say a comprehensive first aid kit should be one of the first pieces of gear that gets packed. But when there’s such a vast range available on the market, how do you choose?

We faced this exact dilemma a while ago after finding all kits aren’t equal. In fact, they’re far from it. After coming across long-time Aussie family business, Survival Emergency Solutions and their Australian designed products, we found a range of first aid kits that could help get us out of trouble whether we’re hitting remote tracks or knocking about the paddocks at home. Here’s a closer look at its Workplace and Snake Bite kits.

Review

WORDS & IMAGES BY GRANT HANAN AND LINDA BLOFFWITCH

Every vehicle should have a first aid kit, we open the lid on a range of first aid kits from Survival Emergency Solutions.

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The Workplace Kit is one of the most comprehensive kits we’ve travelled with

A kit designated for snake bites is one of those kits you like to have but hope to never use

It’s easy to see just how much gets squeezed into the Workplace kit

WHAT YOU GET
Both kits are made from a moisture-resistant and durable polyester material. Each also has strong zips covered by an extra layer of material for additional protection from the elements. After looking at a range of kits, we found it hard to go past the Workplace kit which is jam-packed with first aid goodies suited to our style of travel. Conceptually, this kit has been designed for a workplace to be compliant, but it was our go-to choice because of everything it contained.

The front of the kit is where you’ll find features like a quick referral CPR card, and a large colour-coded legend outlines how the kit contents have been colour coded and grouped together into categories, making it easy to go straight to what you need. Next to these categories are three QR codes which are linked to the Survival Emergency Solution’s website. By scanning them with your smartphone, you’re taken to the website for restocking the kit, accessing a comprehensive first aid handbook, or downloading the iFirstAid app to either an android or iOS device.

The kit opens into three sections once unzipped. All kit contents are labelled indicating what the item is used for, and everything is colour-coded in either black, red, green, or blue. Where multiples of some items have been provided in the kit, these are shown with the applicable number displayed.

The first section (referred to as the Personal section) has a meshed zipped area where there’s an instant ice pack, and a couple of mesh pockets have been left empty so there’s room to customise the kit to add your own personal medications and other items. They’ve squeezed a lot of gear into the back of this section starting with some general first aid items such as tweezers and shears, band aids and gloves. But there’s also a small quick referral guide booklet covering various first aid procedures and for recording injuries and notes, plus you’ll find an emergency blanket and some cleaning wipes here as well.

The middle and third sections focus on items generally associated with trauma, so this is where you’ll find a CPR kit, multiple types of dressings, and a range of bandages including an innovative heavy duty and reusable SMART bandage for snake bites. What makes this bandage unique, is it pictorially demonstrates how to achieve the correct tension when applying a pressure immobilisation bandage so that it’s effective. The back of the kit features the MOLLE system (an acronym for Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment) which follows the military style of tailored attachment when carrying the kit.

Similarly, the Snake Bite kit is made of the same polyester material as the Workplace kit and comes in a khaki colour for differentiation. It’s a compact and lightweight kit (555 grams) which opens into two sections; and contains a splint, emergency blanket, multiple pressure bandages, some gloves, gauze swabs, and a step-by-step snake bite and CPR instruction card to walk you through the process. There’s also a permanent marker to record the bite details and three pressure bandages (two of these are the SMART snake bite type).

ABOVE Kits come with everything labelled and total item quantities supplied

ABOVE The quick referral guide includes an injury record and notepad // BELOW Instructions on how to apply a snake bandage correctly are included with the snake bite kit

"They’ve squeezed a lot of gear into the back of this section starting with some general first aid items such as tweezers and shears, band aids and gloves."

4WD ACCESSORIES FOR THE REAL OFF ROAD ENTHUSIAST

TRADE
ENQUIRES
WELCOME

DUAL
BATTERY TRAY

COMPACT FIRE PIT /
BBQ FLAT PACK

PREMIUM BBQ
SLIDE-OUT SYSTEM

ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

OUR THOUGHTS
There’s a lot to like about these kits and it starts with their good quality design. Both are a good size with the Snake Bite kit easily fitting into a backpack, and the Workplace Kit isn’t too large that packing it would be a problem. We also liked the consistency between the kits, as the colour-coding and clear labelling provided a level of familiarity, and this made locating items easy no matter which kit you picked up. And unlike other brands of kits we’ve used in the past where we couldn’t remember the quantities of individual items, having the total numbers displayed meant we knew when we’d used items that needed to be replaced.

But a unique difference with the comprehensive Workplace kit compared to other brands we’ve tried is what you get in addition to the first aid kit itself. Having access to their comprehensive first aid handbook and iFirstAid app means first aid support at our fingertips, and they’ve made re-stocking stress-free by simply using the QR code to place an order. In our time poor world of today, they’ve really made that process easy, and that’s clever in our books.

Between our comprehensive Workplace kit ($134.95) and Snake Bite kit ($69.95), we find they’re a perfect duo to complement our kind of travel. And we’re more than confident that we’ve got our first aid kits needs covered wherever we are, and they have us now well prepared for any emergency.

For more details, head to survivalfirstaidkits.net.au

ABOVE A quick first aid referral guide in the Workplace kit provides a range of valuable information for first aid treatment// BELOW A size comparison of the two kits that we travel with

ABOVE The Snake Bite kit is small enough to throw in a backpack // BELOW Kits are made from strong material and have sturdy zips with double stitching

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