I suppose I read too far into the thread.
I understand and appreciate that it was started for the average person, but I also know that some of the people on this forum, yourself included based on the I4WDTA logo, do lead trips/training and have a professional responsibility to clients which may exclude coverage under good Samaritan laws. While I know that an oily red rag held on a cut is probably not going to cause an issue (I've used them on myself before but they really don't absorb well) I'd hate to read about someone getting jacked up over something that is easily preventable. As I'm sure you are all too aware, our litigious society is unfortunately out of control and that extends into our hobbies as well. One of the downsides of my work has been that these sorts of topics have been introduced and I have to touch on them when teaching i.e risk mitigation.
I also agree with your comment re. sterility and cleanliness but, as you say, this thread is for the average Joe who may confuse them. I think we are on the same page (sometimes hard to convey on a typed forum even after looking through the smiley things) as you and I both know that clean/potable water, soap and a clean dressing are sufficient for most wounds yet how many people include any sort of soap in their first aid kit or even think of it as a first aid item? The main reason I even mentioned it is that the subject of wound closure came up, as it always seems to in 1st aid discussions. Again, based on our training (both of us are in the medical field at a higher level than basic 1st aid), we are probably going to forego wound closure in the field in most situations, yet we see from these threads that lots of folks carry suture kits without any training on their use. I certainly wouldn’t tell someone not to use an available resource in an emergency simply because it’s not in a sterile package, we can deal with infection later if required.
Now back to your regularly scheduled thread....
<insert thumbs up smiley here since I couldn't find one>
