Medication & Vaccinations
There are 4 main areas we will concentrating on in our preparation for all things medical.
- First aid course
- Medical kit
- Vaccinations
- Malaria medicine
First aid course
We will be doing an exepedition first aid course with a company called Adventure First Aid.
The course covers:
- Recognition and monitoring of vital signs
- Incident management - scene and casualty assessment
- Management of the unconscious casualty
- Control of external bleeding
- Recognition and management of shock
- CPR and blocked airway resuscitation
- Sprains, strains, fractures and dislocations
- Improvised splinting
- Head injuries and helmet removal issues
- Neck and spinal injuries
- Chest, abdomen, pelvis and thigh injuries
- Burns
- Common medical emergencies
- Bugs, bites and stings
- Hypo + Hyper thermia
- 4 + hours of outdoor incident management scenarios
- Remote improvised techniques
- Casualty handling (safe lifting & moving)
- Casualty handover
- First Aid Kits
- PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)
- Bites and stings
- Common overseas illness
- Bowel disorders
- Rehydration
- Vehicle incidents
- Crisis management planning
- Expedition First Aid kits
- Casualty evacuation
- Remote medical help
- Communication options
- Helicopter rescue
It will be tailored to the terrain we will be encountering, and teach improvised techniques taking into account our surroundings.
Medical Kit
We will be taking a comprehensive medical kit which will allow us to treat basic health problems that arise during our travels.
Paracetamol
Strong painkillers (analgesics)
Anti-malarials
Antacids
Anti-diarrhoea tablets (Loperamide 2mg)
Laxatives
Anti-histamines
Rehydration powders
Broad Spectrum Antibiotics (eg amoxicillin 500mg)
Multi-vitamins
Latex gloves
Tweezers
Sterile syringe set. Two hypodermic needles per person
Sterile dressings, plasters, bandage
Alcohol wipes ("Sterets")
Superglue
Antiseptic Cream
Durapore tape
Safety pins
Thermometer
Savlon antiseptic concentrate
Steristrips
Insect repellent
In the event of a more serious problem we will rely on our travel insurance to make us right! We will be using the Premier Blue Policy from STA Travel, which covers, amongst other things, search and resuce and repatriation, which we decided were features we'd like to have.
Vaccines
Some vaccinations are provided free of charge by the NHS. Others that are necessary for travel in Africa are not, so we will have to pay for those.
There are a million and one vaccinations that you can be recommended to take for travel in Africa. However, not all of them are necesary, and some of them aren't even effective, so do your research! There is a great "Search by Country" tool on the 1st Contact website which you can use to work out what's needed.
We will be having the following vaccinations:
Malaria
There are 3 main malaria medications which are recommended for travel in Africa.
Malarone
- Mefloquine (Lariam)
Doxycycline
Malarone is regarded the best, but is also the most expensive. It has virtually no side-effects. If you can afford it, this is the one you want to go for.
Mefloquine has been known to cause terrible side-effects, such as depression, nausea and blindness. Everyone I've spoken to says stay away!
Doxycycline is an antibiotic, and can cause photosensitivity in some people. It is the cheapest of these three treatments. We will be using doxycycline during our time in Africa.