In the case of an area disaster there may be a great demand for bandages and dressings. This demand will be eased if each home has a ready supply of bandages in storage. You can make triage bandages from any clean scraps of fabric, however, old sheets will work the best. You may want to occasionally visit places like garage sales, the local DI or Savers to find good deals on usable sheets. Choose sheets that are light in color to facilitate the monitoring of bleeding from a wound during an actual emergency. Any size of sheets can be used. Any additional bandages that can be donated to our neighborhood “cache” (emergency supply) would be appreciated!
Dressings
Dressings are the material that is placed next to the skin to cover wounds and hold medicine in place. Ideally, dressing material should be kept sterile and handled with sterile techniques. In emergency situations, it may be necessary to settle for clean in place of sterile in order to stop bleeding.
Bandage Strips
Bandages are strips of fabric used to cover dressings. Bandages should be clean and as germ-free as possible; but don’t necessarily have to be sterile in most cases. Ideally, bandages will be items like gauze pads or strips and some sort of tape. In emergency situations, however, any clean fabric will work. Don’t be afraid to include several long strips since these can be used for securing an injured person to a chair or backboard for safe transport to a care center.
Triangular Bandages
Triangular Bandages are large triangular pieces of cloth that are used to secure bandages in place, to make a sling, or to tie splints in place. They should be large enough to make a suitable arm sling. A standard size for Triangular Bandages is 37” x 37” x 52” but a variety of sizes would be useful.
Instructions:
Unpick (or trim) the hems on the sides of the sheet. If you are working with a fitted sheet you will also want to cut out the elastic and seams at the corners.
Launder the sheet with ¼ cup bleach (NO detergent) in the hottest temperature setting of your washer. (You may want to double rinse to eliminate the smell of the bleach.) Then dry at the highest temperature of your dryer.
Lay out the freshly laundered sheet on a clean surface. Fold the sheet in half to cut triangular shapes. One fold will make 2 – 6 triangles. These will be used for dressing head wounds and arm slings. Use the remainder of the sheet to tear strips of varying lengths and widths. (2”-4” wide works best.) These will be used in wrapping all types of injuries such as leg/ankle, arm/wrist, fingers, head wounds etc.
Flat fold the triangular bandages and roll the strips. Place inside gallon sized Zip Lock bags marked “Triage Bandages”. Place the UN-ZIPPED bag on a microwave safe plate. Microwave at the highest setting for no longer than 10 seconds. When the bag is cool enough to handle safely, seal by zipping the top and store with your emergency supplies.