This week has been interesting to the say the least. In a fit of celebration Jen managed to topple off her bike last Saturday night while we were returning home after watching the Celebration of Light fireworks in Vancouver. I sprung to action, had her brought over to the side of the road (while 400,000 people left the downtown area) and quickly built up a plan to get her back at home away from all the loud noises and madness that usually ensues on our streets at 11pm.
She sprained her knee pretty well. A couple sad days of watching her hop around, before we were able to get her onto some crutches opened both our eyes to a potential issue… “What if something like this happens on tour?!”
I’ve gone through similar (I managed to step on something in June and cut my foot open enough that I couldn’t ride a bicycle for 2.5 weeks, let alone walk comfortably) yet this is all new for Jen. Just papercuts and grease burns for this woman. Clearly, if one of us is hurt, regardless of the severity, one of us is on our own deailng with the cooking, camping, fetching of supplies, and care for the other person, saddling that person with huge amounts of stress.
I’m well versed in my first aid training, and am going to ensure Jen has enough so that she feels comfortable with dealing with little to big issues. Outside of my training, I’ve read books such as the SAS Survival Handbook but one book of note that is offered for free by Hesperian Publishers is ‘Where there is no Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook‘ also available at Amazon.com in a a softcover pre-printed.
| [amtap book:isbn=0942364155] | [amtap book:isbn=0061733199] |
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This book covers various topics, such as how to examine, and care for a sick person. Dealing with medicines, dosages, and antibiotics, and whole chapters dealing with Skin, Eyes, and other internal issues. It is a gold mine of information for those touring cyclists who wish to carry in their panniers, or hold on their Netbook for later review. Hesperian Publishers also has a number of other titles which may be of interest to you.
Look out for the article posted soon regarding “What’s in my First Aid Kit?”. This should aid any cyclist going on long term journeys.
