What You Need to Know About Sterile Saline Solution.

08/15/14
Prepping

This post will be somewhat of an extension of my recent Wound Care post, which I hope you read.
Sterile saline solution should be in every trauma kit and home surgery kit. Although I don't advise that you have a home surgery kit or trauma kit unless you have training in what I refer to as Pre-Hospital and Field Medicine. Pre-Hospital and Field Medicineis a simple way of defining what Paramedics and EMTs are trained in but they don't really "practice" it in a prepper way because of liability reasons and stuff. When the SHTF and all the hospitals are closed down and to capacity, having training and experience with treating common injuries from scrapes to gunshot wounds will be more valuable than gold.

0.9% Sterile Saline solution is also called Normal Saline. As one might think, saline solution is.... Salt water.
Normal Saline will not burn, which is a common problem with Isopropyl Alcohol and sometimes with Hydrogen Peroxide. Sterile saline has my uses such as to flush wounds and abrasions and used in IV Therapy. Saline is also used to clean contact lenses and Saline is found in eye drops.

I have season allergies but I have yet to use sterile saline as a nasal wash to clear my sinuses.

I REALLY want to emphasize the training thing. Fun things and important things were made illegal because some idiot decided to misuse it. Fireworks are a great example. In CT, we can only have those dinky sparklers because some moron turned his hand into a stump when an M80 went off in his hand. If we want to good shit, we need to go to New Hampshire to get it. If YOU don't know how to provide emergency medical care, DON'T EVEN READ MY POSTS!!!! Please, I beg you. Don't think that "oh, it's that simple?" because it really is simple but the "adults in the room" don't trust us to be responsible. If you are going to be a field medic after the "EOTW," it is worth your time and mine that you spend the time and money to become an EMT-B, EMR (First Responder) and get trained in providing basic first aid and also  in providing trauma care.

The biggest problem is finding Sterile Saline solution. The FDA restricts it and regulates it in a way that prevents  "common folk" from purchasing it. I have some pre-filled BD irrigation syringes that are FDA regulated as a medical device. I searched near and far to find out what the FDA gives as a reason for regulating "medical use salt water" but I have yet to come up with anything. From what I have seen, some retailers will sell 0.9% Sterile Saline to anyone, leaving the responsibility of compliance with the end user and not the retailer. Some businesses require that you complete a medical authorization form to buy saline.
Politically speaking, some businesses don't want just anyone to have saline solution and some businesses don't care either way because they want your business and money and this is America where you and I should be able to do whatever we want to our bodies.

Have you ever been to a hospital to receive treatment for a laceration? Most if not all hospitals only use 0.9% Sterile Saline to clean the wound prior to suturing and/or bandaging. Many medical facilities don't even use Isopropyl Alcohol to clean an injection site prior to drawing blood or introducing IV fluids. They use Povidone Iodine. I believe that Isopropyl Alcohol is only used if the patient is allergic or sensitive to Povidone Iodine.

If you have a prescription, you can buy IV bags of 0.9% Saline for cheap online. Most websites that I have found will ship anyone Sterile Saline for Irrigation. This form comes in 500ml or 1000ml bottles and you need an Irrigation syringe to extract saline from the bottle.

For now, that is all.

Thanks.