4WDing

That changes what you carry. You need enough dressings to change them, not just apply them once. You need a splint, because a broken limb has to be stabilised for a long drive. And you need the confidence to manage something serious rather than just cover it.

The SURVIVAL First Aid KIT - Medium mounts easily in a vehicle and is the practical starting point. The Outdoor Bundle (Gen 8) adds the snake bite capability that remote travel demands.

HOW LONG UNTIL HELP ARRIVES

Ask this before every trip and pack to the answer.

On the Oodnadatta Track or through the High Country, a serious injury might mean a satellite call and a wait measured in hours. Carry a way to raise the alarm that does not depend on mobile coverage. A KIT and no communications is half a plan.

SNAKE BITE IN REMOTE COUNTRY

Pressure immobilisation, then stay still. The bitten person should not walk, which means your recovery plan has to include carrying them.

The SURVIVAL Snake Bite KIT includes a SMART Bandage, developed with snake safety experts SSSafe. A pictogram printed along the bandage changes from a rectangle to a square when you reach the right tension, so you can see it instead of guessing. That matters more when the nearest hospital is a long way off and there is no second chance to get it right.

Keep it somewhere you can reach from outside the vehicle, not buried under the drawer system. SURVIVAL recommends proper first aid training alongside any KIT.

RECOVERY GEAR CAUSES INJURIES

Snatch straps, winch cables and shovels hurt people every season. A failed recovery point under load turns hardware into a projectile, and the injuries are crush and laceration rather than scrapes.

The SURVIVAL Trauma First Aid KIT and a tourniquet cover serious bleeding. If you tour in a convoy, make sure at least one vehicle carries a trauma capability and that everyone knows which one.

PACK IT WHERE YOU CAN REACH IT

The most common mistake is a good KIT stored under a fridge slide, behind a drawer, at the bottom of the load.

Mount it somewhere reachable from a door. If the vehicle is on its side or you are treating someone away from the truck, you want to grab the KIT and go, not unpack the back half of the car first.

A SURVIVAL Waterproof Dry Bag keeps dust out, which matters more on corrugations than most people realise.

Also see Camping, Car and Remote & Outdoor Work.