Here is the information we have been provided regarding the personal medical kit we should take with us on my upcoming elephant expedition to Nepal. Its seems like a lot of stuff but, once you remove all the outer packaging it reduces to a manageable size.
It’s a useful list and followed by some sensible advise worth paying attention to if you ever plan a trip to Nepal yourself.
Medical Kit should contain:
- Water purification tablets (iodine or chlorine based) for all your own water. To take away the taste, bring some 500mg (not 50mg) Vitamin C tablets and put one in your water bottle half an hour after you have put the purification tablet in.
- Sachets of rehydration salts. (Dioralyte or similar). Bring 10-16
- Some Imodium (Loperamide 2mgs) available at chemists. Bring 30 or so
- Antibiotics: Ciprofloxacin 500mg 12 tablets, and Azithromycin 500mg 3-6 tablets (Ciprofloxacin and azithromycin may be bought locally in for fraction of the cost)
Plus
- Paracetamol 500mg 30 tablets, and/or Ibuprofen 400mg 24 tablets
- Anti-histamine tablets, e.g. Piriton (chlorphenamine 4mg) or Phenergan (also good for nausea). Piriton is old-fashioned and can make you a bit drowsy, but is an extremely good antihistamine for allergies, rashes, prickly heat, and also for travel sickness. You can also use it for a sleeping pill at night. The modern once-daily antihistamines like cetirizine are very good for allergies, but do not work for travel sickness, nausea, or for sleeping
- Hydrocortisone 1% cream for allergy rashes. If you are prone to such rashes, bring some Anthisan antihistamine cream as well
- Canesten antifungal cream for mouldy feet, and fungal infections in any skin creases
- Band aids / Elastoplast
- A 3 or 4 inch crepe bandage and a safety-pin
- A small tube of superglue
- Your favourite cold remedies
- A pair of tweezers for splinters, and a tick extracting hook. The best one is the O’Tom Tick Twister, obtainable from: http://www.bada-uk.org/products/tickremover.php
Advice on ticks
If you walk in the jungle rub DEET on your legs, tuck your trousers into your socks and do a tick check in the shower that evening. Ticks are small (like tiny grains of black rice) and harmless. Remove with a tick extracting hook. You push, twist and lift off – don’t pull it. Ticks do not transmit any diseases in Nepal.
Where to go to get help
Have a look at the CIWEC clinic website at: www.ciwec-clinic.com
Print off their front page which contains a map of how to get there and all the contact details. (They have blocked printing it from their website (January 2012) so use “Shift plus Print-Screen” together, open Word, right-click and paste the page onto the document. Then do the next bit.)
