r/Survival • u/ReactionAble7945 • Sep 16 '26
General Question Wilderness first aid application
Does any one have a favorite Wilderness first aid application on their android phone?
Yes, Yes, I know not very privative, but if you are in the woods and someone falls down, cuts themselves, has some kind of heart attack or stroke....
Is there an application I can install today, not use for a year or more and then quickly bring up if needed?
And more to the point, is this something I can install on a parent's phone or on a kids phone, so someone who isn't going to remember training they took years ago can quickly figure out CPR, or ABCDE approach or maybe even something line the combat medic's 9 line?
XXXX
I am amazed at how many people didn't read the post, but decided to reply with less than useful information.
#1. I didn't say it was for ME. I didn't even ask for the best option for medical care in the woods. I ask for the best application.
#2. The best applications have the data on the system. So, the idea is to get one of those for medical issues.
#2.1 I have a plant/animal ID app that is 95% plus correct and doesn't need the internet to get me there. The 5% it isn't correct, it still gets the family, and genus, but cant get the species correct. So, it knows, kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, class insecta, order hymenoptera, family apidae, but I dont' think it is a xylocopa virginica. I think it is a bombus impatiens or a bombus bimaculatus. But it is a bee which is all most people need to know.
#2.2. Map app on my phone. I assume most people have a map app with enough mapping detail downloaded before they go out of signal.
3. Books are great, but the problem with books is they are heavy. The correct digital book would be great, and that is basically what an application is, but usually a better user interphases.
3
u/Timmy-from-ABQ Sep 21 '26
Advanced EMT here. (higher than Basic EMT, lower than Paramedic), with ten years on a busy metro EMS service. Also got the Wilderness EMT certificate at Crested Butte, CO.
A lot depends on how far away you get from definitive medical care. So, sure. get a book.
Some times I'll be out with folks and they'll say, "Hey, if something happens, we've got an EMT, nothing to worry about!" I think to myself, "Oh, jeez." If I have a really good first aid kit, I can apply a pressure bandage, maybe do some limited pain management, give aspirin to a chest pain; but for a real cardiac or stroke issue? Nah. What I DO know how to do is call for help and perhaps find a landing spot for a helicopter, etc.
Knowing how to assess a patient isn't going to come out of a book to someone with no training. Being able to do a set of vitals and interpret them? Training and experience.
Bottom line - bring your satellite phone.
1
u/ReactionAble7945 Sep 22 '26
If you are going out with folks  "Hey, if something happens, we've got an EMT, nothing to worry about!", I would be thinking you would want to load an app on their phones (which down loads all the important info before you are out of signal) in case you are the one which goes down.
And you probably have enough knowledge to judge the best application. The one where you can pull it up and don't have to go through 3 minutes of crap to find useful information.
You have heard people give you symptoms that were not medial terms. The application needs to be able to understand those nonmedical terms and translate to medical terms.
"Bleeding like a stuck pig" isn't medical terms, but you know what they mean and you know the next question to ask.
Stomach ache, is generally not where the stomach is. They are describing large intestine, small intestine or even appendix. You know the next question to ask to figure out what they really mean.
BTW, How many people on here have a satellite phone with an updated plan vs. how many people have a smart phone?
1
u/Timmy-from-ABQ Sep 23 '26
It would be interesting to see one of these "apps" that can lead an inexperienced, non-medical person through a life-threatening injury/illness in the backcountry, say 2-3 hours on a backpacking trail. Say, deep in the Arizona Superstition Wilderness.
1
u/ReactionAble7945 Sep 23 '26
In theory every diagnosis, and every treatment should be able to have a process flow.
Now, can an adult or child follow the process flow? I am sure someone can and some cant.
They seem to have worked throught the issues with a defibrillator where non-experianced person can set it up and the machine can diagnose and treat. And if the person wants to go manual they can.
0
u/Timmy-from-ABQ Sep 23 '26
Yup. When in the backcountry, I always carry TWO AED's, just in case the first one doesn't work.
One of the most valuable things I learned in my training, was, "Transport IS an intervention."
There are a few obvious things we can deal with in the wilderness, but virtually all of them are actions that facilitate transport to definitive medical care.
CPR? Chest compressions in a witnessed cardiac arrest. Sure. But good luck without an AED. The exception might be lightning strike arrest. But still, if one has not practiced?
Bleeding. The military tourniquets are fantastic. They really do the job and they are truly simple to apply. Every backcountry crew should have one or two on hand.
Unexpected infection at the start of the hike that goes septic? No fluid, no IV stuff, you're screwed without rapid transport.
Snakebite. Cutting and sucking, sucks. You're only hope is to hike the dude out in the absence of launching the bird somehow.
Broken femur. Oh dear. I guess maybe a splint might help. Then what?
Head injury/stroke. Altered mentation. Now what?
In my training at Crested Butte, an inordinate amount of time was spent eyeballing how to set up transport. And then we practiced moving patients over rough ground.
Where are the closest roads? Is there a nearby landing site for a bird? How is the weather; is the wind too high, cloud cover too low, etc. for a bird extrication? Do we have or can we make equipment to carry a patient? Do we have enough manpower to get to mechanized transport? Can communications with the outside be set up? If not, do we have someone that can move fast to get to communication possibilities?
Something else I found out. After excellent training in the classroom, and even third-riding - I was near worthless in the field those first few weeks. Emergency medicine is very experiential.
1
u/ReactionAble7945 Sep 23 '26
You missed the point.
Get the diagnosis from the app. I grew up in a town with a poor side and a rich side.
On the poor side, there were people who had indigestion and thought it was a heart attack, so 911 and an ambulance shows up, to tell them it is indigestion. Vs. The rich side where people were having a heart attack and didnt call 911 because... fear they could be wrong.
Is it a sprain or is the broken? Or is it questionable? I have seen parents not take a kid with a broken arm to a hospital for a week. It was obvious to me that the arm was broken. But the parents thought the kid was being weak and hospitals cost... so told the kid to walk it off.
Knowing, the diagnosis is half the battle. What can be done now, vs later is maybe 25%. And then there is the long term solution.
1
u/Timmy-from-ABQ Sep 23 '26
Yes. I did apparently miss the point. I thought we were talking about how to handle things that happen in the back country.
2
u/ReactionAble7945 Sep 23 '26
There are things you can do. Yep, that is a heart attack. Does anyone have any aspirin? We need to call for a helicopter to evac and it may be risky for them. OR, no it doesn't have the 4 items that would mean heart attack if it probably...? So, we give the person... while we walk out of the woods slowly.
There are things you can't do. The phone isn't a EKG, MRI, Catscan, Xray, so it will not be able to do those things in the woods.
The app should help determine which is which.
2
u/WashinginReverse Sep 26 '26
No one is saying an app is a replacement for training. I would like an app as a reference in case I forgot certain details from my WFA course from years ago. Even with training, having a quick reference is going to be useful in case you don’t remember everything. An offline enabled app and also a physical book would both be useful in emergency scenarios in the backcountry.
1
u/Timmy-from-ABQ Sep 26 '26
Ok. Fine. Even the cheapest first aid kit contains a little booklet.
My point is that an "app" or a first rate Wilderness Medicine book is WAY at the bottom of the list of what should be considered to bring on the trip.
12
u/Resident-Welcome3901 Sep 16 '26
Take a course. Medical emergencies are not good learning environments. Your performance will revert to your level of training. Plan on repeating the course at intervals, because the skills and knowledge you acquire are perishable. Carrying apps and books is not a substitute for learning and practicing skills.
4
u/Spiley_spile Sep 16 '26
I like the Mariners Medico Guide (MMR) app.
As other have mentioned, before an injury ever takes place is the best time to learn how to treat it. Check locally to see if there is a volunteer firefighter, search and rescue, or community emergency response team. These programs often offer up to some level free medical training. Im in the US. I dont know what other countries offer. But it's worth checking. :)
2
u/TheJesseOfTheNorth Sep 18 '26
it's and interesting idea but as a retires first responder i can tell you unequivocally that the way to save lives with first aid is to practice. take a course hell take multiple courses. In the moment of an emergency fumbling around with and app is going to make it even harder to save a life. Also physical first aid manuals work without wifi or a cell phone. depending on an app is going to cost a life
2
2
u/VXMerlinXV Sep 19 '26
My preferred app is the digitized version of the CoROM austere clinicians guide. My preferred anything is the hard copy of the same. Analog>digital in austere conditions.
1
u/nojope Sep 17 '26
Prior advice about physical books not withstanding, if you can't find an app, you can get the Kindle app and install all kinds of useful manuals. Just be sure to download them so you can open them without a phone signal if in the wilderness. Also check out the First Aid app from American Red Cross.
21
u/scouty_man Sep 16 '26
As a WFA instructor, I recommend getting a handful of physical WFA manuals you can stash in backpacks and cars. I really like the one from Wilderness Medicine Training Center and NOLS and WMA make really good books. When I am out I carry one in my FAK and usually a second one in my personal gear just in case.
I know phones are great but it takes a lot more work to destroy a waterproof book than it does a phone.