Re: What's in Your Survival Kit?

Except that - according to the statistics that I have gotten from my car insurance company and a couple of national (government) sources, on average a US resident has a 50% chance of being in a serious accident during their lifetime. "Serious" was defined in two of the tables, though not defined at all in the other 3, as involving serious injury, death, and/or major property damage (such as totaling the car). So, although the likelihood during any one journey is small, the cumulative risk is high enough that I will keep my harness fastened, thank you.

As long as the original topic asked what in your emergency kit have you used - On my return from Kilimanjaro, while spending the day waiting for my ride to the airport for a 9PM departure, I noticed this Scot sitting in the lobby of the hotel with swollen jaw. As I got to talking to him, he told me he had a filling drop out on his acclimatization hike up Mt. Meru (popular pre-hike for Kili). One of his party, a member of the UK equivalent of the US Army Rangers, had an emergency dental kit and a large quantity of prescription painkillers. This helped the Scot evacuate back to town, where he went to see a local dentist. The dentist at least had a real dental chair, though the office was a shack. At first the dentist was going to do his scraping and preparation without an injection, which the Scot asked for. Just in case, the UK "ranger" (I don't know the proper term for their equivalent) had provided some syringes sealed in sterile packing. So, in 3rd World countries (especially ones where HIV/AIDS is rampant), you might want to carry (1) a dental emergency kit (I have one myself) and (2) a supply of sterile syringes (including the needles), properly sealed, just in case. Having seen it having to be used, I will have to consider this addition.