First Aid Kit

Siba Prasad Maitra reads out the list of essentials for an emergency medical kit

With the help of Siba Prasad Maitra, the Club today managed to cobble together a rather rudimentary but much needed ‘first aid kit’ to meet any medical emergency (ref post of April 30) arising in the course of our daily exercises in the Garden.
Apart from band aid strips, cotton wool and bandage roll, the kit contains the following bare essentials:
ELECTRAL: for dehydration
ONDEM: for vomiting
SORBITRATE: chest pain
CALPOL: pain and fever
GELUSIL MPS: antacid
GLUCON-D: fatigue/ exhaustion
SOFRAMYCIN: wounds
DETTOL: antiseptic
Maitra drew up this list based on his assessment on the possibility of a medical crisis and till such time professional help arrives. We already have a so-called Swasthya Kendra (health centre) within the Garden area, but it does not open before 8:30 a.m. – long after we are done with our morning routine.
Among all of us, Maitra is best-suited in putting together the medical kit, considering his wisdom of experience (from a life-long career) in the pharma industry.

Banoo Apa treats us to pudding after exercises

Still, he invited all present for inputs, if any, to improve upon his list, only to

Nagpur pedas from Fahmida Khan (r)

be faced with a peculiar query: “What happens when I get diarrhea?”
Pat came his answer: “Next you will ask what happens when a mad dog bites you. There is no end to medical issues. Here we are concerned with likely medical emergencies that could occur to any of us in the Garden and being better prepared to deal with them.”

Lt Col Angad Singh (retd):
The medicines mentioned by Maitra are quite adequate. However, the serious emergencies are (a)uncontrolled BP and (b)heart attack. These types of emergencies need first aid treatment for which someone should teach us how to handle the situation.