Health Kit�
Top
By eleanor m. Kellon,
5
vmd
First-Aid Kit
heIdI nylAnd PhOTO
Nothing is worse than
trying to hunt down supplies
when your horse is
ill or injured. So a little
pre-planning on your part
— assembling your own
first-aid kit — will make
handling these emergencies
go more smoothly.
The most common first-
Saline vs. water. You may have read or
been told that water shouldn’t be used to
clean wounds because it can damage delicate
exposed tissues. Saline is supposed to
be preferred. However, several studies have
compared saline, tap water, distilled water,
or cooled boiled water in the cleansing of
surgical wounds, injuries, and both fresh
and old wounds. None of them found saline
to be superior to plain water in preventing
infections or speeding healing.
However, if you’re using untested and
untreated well water, bacterial counts may
be higher than in municipal tap water. Keep
a gallon of distilled water on hand to use as
a final rinse.
Bandage removal. In the early stages of
wound healing, the tissue is inflamed and
very sensitive. Traction on the wound dur-
Expert Tips
FREE Online Subscription 14 Click Here Now!
aid situations with horses are: (1) injuries of all
sorts; (2) respiratory or other infectious diseases;
and (3) colic. Your first-aid kit contents
should reflect these situations.
eleanor m. Kellon, vmd, is a writer, teacher,
and internal medicine/nutrition consultant.
Prior to this, dr. Kellon was in private practice
for more than 10 years. She also has extensive
experience with performance horses.
ing bandage removal is often painful. To
make this easier on the horse (and you),
first saturate the area over the wound well
with very cold water for both ease in loosening
and to provide a numbing effect.
Then cut open the bandage using a pair of
scissors or a knife (be careful!). Cut a vertical
line through the bandage, open it up,
and remove it.
Storage solutions. Store your first-aid
supplies separately from other supplies —
such as grooming tools or medical supplies
— yet all together in one place. They will
then stay cleaner and be easier to find. An
inexpensive plastic storage bin with a lid is
a good choice.
A covered toolbox also makes a good
first-aid kit, and many prefer the handle for
easy transport.
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.