Every man must carry a medical kit

Health

When we're out and about, men should be equipped with medical kit to help other people in case of emergency. It's not about being a hero, it's about being able to help.

Carry a basic medical kit and you’ll be ready to spring into action and offer life-saving assistance when disaster strikes. David Hickman, a first responder with lives.org.uk, explains his top five must-carry items:

Two triangular bandages

For everything from head injuries to tying a splint. You can also use them as a tourniquet to stem a catastrophic bleed (with a stick to twist them tighter). But remember: tourniquets can save a life but can also cost a limb. Use them for catastrophic bleeding and nothing else! Buy

Non-adherent dressings

For grazes, use dressings and micropore tape to secure them to the wound. Buy

Scissors/tweezers

Tough, sharp scissors are required to cut off clothes. Medical tweezers can be used to remove anything from a splinter to sea urchin spines. Buy

Sterile wipes/Saline pods

Wipes can be used to clean a wound. You could also use pods of saline and some gauze squares. Saline is also useful for cleaning sand out of eyes. Buy

Bottle of water

It doesn't sound very exciting but water is an essential carry. It has multiple uses from cleaning wounds and cooling burns, to rehydrating a patient.

LIVES has more than 70 volunteer doctors, nurses and paramedics who respond to complex or traumatic 999 medical emergencies across Lincolnshire. Visit lives.org.uk.