Stretch Wrap Self Adhering Bandage | A Must-have First Aid Supply
I recommend that everyone have at least several rolls of these stretch wrap self adherent bandages as part of their overall First Aid preparedness supplies. Why? I’ll tell you why…
The medical stretch wrap is excellent at holding gauze material in place against a wound, especially around an appendage. It stretches and adheres to itself when you wrap it. It can be applied on yourself fairly easily, quickly, and efficiently.
The self adhering wrap material can be pulled really tight, or as loose as you want. For initial bleeding though, you want it fairly tight.
Stop The Bleeding | Plug it – Apply Pressure
First, know this: The best thing you can do to help stop the bleeding during an emergency is to “plug it” and apply pressure. What do I mean by that?
Grab some gauze (the plug) or whatever appropriate clean material you may have to ‘plug’ the wound. Place it over the wound.
Next, wrap it good and snug with some wrapping material holding the gauze ‘plug’ in place. Wrap it tight enough to apply adequate pressure to help stop the bleeding. If necessary, push down on the wound to apply more pressure against the bleeding. Proceed to appropriate medical care.
For traumatic injury, I highly recommend the Israeli Bandage. I wrote about it here and advise that you look into it: How To Use The Israeli Bandage
Stretch Bandage & Gauze to Stop the Bleeding
With that said, for minor to moderate bleeding wounds, ordinary gauze and wrap will get the job done.
How I Used The Stretch Bandage
Here’s an example: The other day I accidentally punctured my palm with a screwdriver. Ouch. My fault.
The Accident
My left hand was holding an assembly while my right hand held a screwdriver. A machine screw was stubbornly stuck as I applied excessive counterclockwise downward force against the head. About 2 seconds before it happened, I said to myself, if that screwdriver slips, I’m going to hurt myself. Wouldn’t you know it, it slipped and punctured my palm.
Near immediate blood. No First Aid Kit in the barn (my bad). Made it to the house leaving a trail of blood. Here’s where good First Aid Kit organization is important:
The Fix
We keep all essential First Aid supplies on one specific shelf in a bathroom cabinet. This eliminates scrambling for what you might need during an emergency!
Mrs.J helped. We grabbed a bottle of hydrogen peroxide (3%), a 4×4 gauze, and a roll of this stretch wrap (love that stuff!).
Dumped some hydrogen peroxide on the bleeding wound over the sink. OUCH! (no pain, no gain). It bubbled and fizzled. Then did it some more to clean it out.
I held the folded 4×4 gauze onto the wound. Mrs.J got the stretch bandage started and I finished by wrapping it tight.
The great thing about this type of bandage is its self-adhering and stretch properties. It’s quick, and it holds itself in place quite readily. You can pull it pretty darn tight to apply pressure (which I did). Later, I relaxed it.
Self Adhering Stretch Bandage | Get Some!
Okay, that was my story which I’m using as a practical example why you might want to pick up some of this stuff. You can probably find it at your local CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, or whatever drug store is in your area.
I got mine on Amazon. I’m glad I did!
Continue reading: 10 First Aid Kit ‘Add-on’ Items
How To Stop The Bleeding With QuikClot
Always have several rolls on hand buy it at tsc in the horse care area. Think it’s a bit cheaper there
Ken
Hope you did not do to much damage to your palm.
I am not sure if you can use this until your wound heals closed but have used it on acdh. It is made from the calendula flower and blended into a sauve-Calendula Off.1x brand name. He had a rug burn from where he fell, and it healed it up in a few days without leaving much of a scare. Rug burns take for ever to heal so I was impressed with this item.
I slashed a huge part of my thumb with a mandolin slicer.
Miraculous cayenne pepper stopped the bleeding after I realized I wasn’t getting success under the running faucet.
My neighbor came after I called and bandaged for me with the cayenne still on the cut. I still have the scar. AND know now to grab the cayenne.
Great for shaving cuts too.
JJ, I’ve used regular black pepper for cuts and such but, cayenne??….OUCH.
This stuff works great for tying tomatoes to cages or other plants to lattice or long bamboo skewers for support. Its strong and flexible. It doesn’t choke off the plant.
Ken, what kind of snowflake are you!! It had to have been the screwdrivers fault. That’s the way it is these days. 🤪
After an accident at home (My fault) my wife and I sustained cuts and burns that required bandage changes regularly. I thought I had an extensive first aide kit. I was wrong. I now have 4 large cases and these are in there in bulk. I’ve always liked them. Much better than tape. As like many items, it is much easier to obtain when not in a bad situation.
I now need to get new hydrogen peroxide. I hardly ever use it, but know I may need the stuff.
Good site, thanks
I think I have as much of this stuff around as I do T.P. Who ever invented this stuff should get a medal or something Ha Ha . Hell we even fixed a radiator hose with this stuff.
Have been using this stuff quite regularly these days as DH has had problems with bleeding from small constantly oozing small wounds that just wont heal.
As I recall, Coban was the first trade name associated with the product and it was invented by a veterinarian to wrap horses legs with. It is great stuff and the guy who invented it made a lot more money tha he expected too.
It is expensive at the brand name drug stores and usually cheaper at animal supply stores and as said, on Amazon. Get a 12 pack as it is very affordable. The ones shown are 2 inches wide but other widths are available.
The Amazon link had some negative reviews, mostly about not being labeled as containing latex and some people are allergic to it. The other complaints were about not sticking and I wonder if the product was used correctly. It does have to be wrapped completely around whatever you are wrapping and then some more. It will work best with at least two wraps but you might get away with one and a half.
It is also reusable but the catch is the free end will meld into the wrap and be darn near invisible. I like to tuck a corner of the end under to give a tab to pull on when removing it. Of course it should not be reused on infected wounds and on between individuals. I also don’t know if it can be sterilized by boiling.
If you click on California Basics at the top of the link it will take you to their website. You’ll find this in other widths. They carry 2″, 3″ and 4″. I’ve used it in 1″ widths in the ER. It can also be cut down in size by cutting lengthwise.
After you have followed Ken’s link to Amazon to purchase this go and look for bulk packs of 4X4 gauze pads. Gauze should be looked at as NRP looks at TP. You can’t have too much. Get the non-sterile as it is much more affordable and can be sterilized in an oven. In the ER to control bleeding we would put a sterile pad on the wound and a stack of non-sterile ones over it. Then wrap it with an ace wrap to compress the stack into the wound. Ace wraps are also available on Amazon (look for elastic bandage as Ace is a trade name) and get several of each size. Ace wraps are roller bandages and are rolled on and for ease in reapplying, should be rolled off. Same with Coban if you are going to reuse it.
4X4s come as non woven and 12-ply. My preference is for the 12 ply as they can be unfolded to make different sizes. Curity comes to mind as the ones we used in the ER.
Should have added a compression bandage is used to control bleeding and a tourniquet to stop it. There can be a fine line between the two. The more you wrap the compression bandage the tighter it will get. Eventually you turn it into a tourniquet. Try not to do this. Capillary refill is checked by pushing down on a finger nail or toe nail. Under the nail will turn pale and refill should be immediate. The general rule was if it takes longer then two seconds to refill it is too tight and should be loosened.
An oozing wound is delivering platelets to the site of the wound. Platelets are what causes the blood to clot and most wounds will eventually stop bleeding. Caveat here is all wounds stop bleeding either from clotting, medical control or bleeding out. Try hard to avoid the bleeding out part!
I order the vet wrap from Amazon. It is cheaper than the human wrap and performs the same. Buy it s dozen rolls at a time. When you need it, you will use s lot of it.
My favorite is when your cordless driver drill slips off a big screw you are really pushing on and finds your hand,,,,,
Even more fun than a regular screw driver
Had a screw gun slip and hit my thigh once. the pressure engaged the clutch and I had a 2 inch drywall screw in my leg. Reversed the gun and out it came. Hurt for weeks but at least it didn’t get infected
Yarrow is a number 1 styptic in the plant world. The leaves can be dried then crumbled between your fingers. Put in jar. Was called the soldiers plant, or some name similar, during the Civil War. Mr. sliced his finger a while back and was able to use on him. Healed very fast. I was amazed. It is antiseptic as well.
We learned by experience too, and now keep a small first aid kit out at the barn. The first ‘accident’ was when I was stung by a wasp years back. I had nothing to use as an antiseptic or any way to cover the sting. I was wearing grubby clothing and it was in the barn area. The sting got infected quickly and within about 36 hours, it looked systemic. Went to the doc’s and was told it was a serious infection, put on strong antibiotics and had to go back for checking the following morning. Had the antibiotics not taken effect, it would have meant hospital time for a heart catheter. So….lesson learned!
We have gads of that stretch wrap — it’s less expensive to buy at a farm supply store, plus you get a fun choice of colors or faux animal fur. What a great product it is, too!!!
In the old days….back woods, that wound would have been doused with kerosene and then wrapped. Lol
I have several rolls on hand in various first aid kits. Cayenne pepper works well as does quick clot. Always keep sports tape or duct tape around too.
In one ziplok bag for Gene—cayenne pepper/cotton balls, scissors and TSC self adhering bandage.
– jj,
Don’t use cotton balls in a wound. You will be fighting to get the fibers out and damage the healing wound. Plain old 4×4 gauze will be much better. Don’t use cotton balls for anything bigger than a shaving cut, and then not a big one.
– Papa S.
Cooper…I just today bought from TSC..this roll for $2.50 is better than the hospital stuff..I cut into two strands so Gene can put in his medical bag he keeps in his truck.
This is stronger, thicker and I will be going back for more in those awesome colors they have.
I like Coban and I get mine from local Farm and Ranch stores under Equine Supplies along with a set of curved forceps and new bandage scissors.
Price comparison between a medical supply house versus farm and ranch store roughly comes out to: same goods for 2/3 the price in favor of the farm and ranch store.
Coban and other adhesive bandages will not last very long within a parked vehicle on a hot day so I would hesitate placing a lot of this within a vehicle based first aid kit like in an ambulance or in your bug-out kit. ( if you do, plan to use it or rotate it out in a short period of time.)
The place I live at now, I am surrounded by fair-skinned white folk with red hair and freckles. A common thing I see among this group is: Allergy to the adhesive on tape and bandaids.
For these people, I use standard roller gauze and split-cut the last 12 inches. I tie an overhand knot and wrap the ends around the extremity tying off with a small bow to make rewrapping possible.
For more bandaging without use of adhesive, find a person who worked ski patrol for a number of years. Working in the cold and wet means the adhesive no longer works like it does on dry warm areas.
I did not mean to imply prejudice towards fair-skinned white folk out there. ( after all, I married one years ago.). I simply noticed allergies to adhesive among this population at both work and home.
DW is allergic to adhesive tape and has weeping wounds on her legs that won’t heal. We use the horse care wrap from Rural King. Works great and we also use the non-stick gauze instead of the regular. She has been put on oxygen this past week. Now it is even more important to keep the electricity on. Please keep her in your prayers.
Car guy
Sending prayers. Few things can make you feel so helpless as when your wife or kids are sick
Just saw your post car guy, our family will lift you and your wife in prayer tonight and in the days to come
Peace like a river, healing for your wife’s legs and medical needs, and Good Providence be with you both in Jesus name…
Keep us posted car guy…
Carguy
I am with you, too…
Sending prayers your way…🙏
car guy, Will do the prayers. Consider this… is she allergic to silver? If NOT thinking colloidal silver spray could help healing… unless weeping is from edema. If from edema ..consider ways to promote circulation.. massage up the leg, if she tolerates.Hope this helps with physical care as well.
Just Sayin’
Thanks for the prayer and advise. The wounds are from edema. She is diabetic and has bad kidneys. I rub her legs every night. This seems to help the swelling and makes her feel a little better.
Carguy,
Have your wife in our prayers.
Hope she feels better soon.
Don’t forget to take care of you. If the caregiver goes down it really isn’t good.
PEACE to all
MadFab
Thanks to all for your prayers and concern.
You probably already know this but keeping her legs elevated helps with edema…
I had a family member suffer terribly with edema and weeping wounds (she would be sitting in a chair) until someone told her care-giver to elevate her legs, it helped a lot….
It’s good stuff. I purchased mine at a Feed/hardware/clothing/general store.
Like I did with the other First Aid stuff, I put one each in Seal-A-Meal bags and vacuum sealed them.
Please don’t do like I did. The vacuum made it work like it was supposed to and I wound up with all my VetWrap self adhered to itself. It needs to be stored pressure free or the pressure side will self adhere.
I have several types and styles of wraps in my go to first aid kit ( small cuts and laceration). I have several in my Trauma kit along with Tampons and Maxi Pads. The wraps hold the bandages great.
I also have a wrap especially for broken bones like for a leg or arm. It is VERY thick and holds it shape. Not really sure if it could be used as a Trauma tool but if it works….