Warning: this may be unpopular
Permit me to weigh in here as a former paramedic, emergency nurse, attorney and professor of nursing who also sometimes has time to kayak.
First to answer the original question: buy a commercial kit or as others suggested take a course and build one using the course materials. You can fit all of what you need into a small dry bag.
I would not (as a nurse and attorney) suggest carrying a host of specialized and prescription items unless you are a nurse or physician and even then I’d advise against it. First of all, if you’re guiding for a living then you need to tell your clients to alert you to their medical condition AND bring their meds. You are not in the business of healthcare. I’m in that business and I don’t carry any of that stuff. The most important thing I carry is my level head, a pair of scissors/knife, bangaging supplies, signaling mirror and phone. If I need more than that, I need an ambulance and hospital!
You do not want to open yourself to endless liability for presenting the appearance that you have all this gear to run an ICU in the kayak when you don’t have the medical training to back it up. Even if you are trained, local good samaritan laws will only protect you so much. Do CPR improperly in the woods and there’s probably no legal liability. Whip out your own bag of prescription meds (that were prescribed presumably for you but you’re giving to someone else) and now you have huge liability issues. Same thing with buying your own AED, anesthesia machine etc etc. If you carry it, the people with you will assume that you’re expertly prepared to use or dispense it.
If you are guiding for a living, you might want to investigate some type of release that says “I give the guide permission to render medical assistance including using prescription medications” but I don’t think that would offer you complete protection. Maybe on an overseas expedition but not in the US.
Keep in mind that even if you are an MD or RN, your license is not universal. I cannot go to another state and just start practicing nursing. In a lifesaving situation, this might not be the most pressing concern but sooner or later someone will ask what legal right you had to dispense Penicillin to your kayaking buddy. What diagnostic training did you have? Why penicillin and not another antibiotic? What if you give a Darvocet to someone who crashes during the drive home?
Morphine, Nitroglycerine and ASA are all beneficial to heart attack patients for different reasons. I’ve used all drugs in clinical practice for almost 20 years but would never ever think of taking any with me when paddling (other than the ASA). I don’t carry oxygen or an EKG machine with me, which are also important tools for treating a heart attack.
I apologize for preaching. But some of the responses that advocate carrying prescription meds are irresponsible and dangerous. Carry the meds that you need for yourself and tell your travelling companions to do the same.
Cheers
Bob
Children’s benadryl
All excellent advice, I just had one comment to add on your suggestion of opening a benadryl capsule and giving it to patient - another option (though a little bulkier) is to carry liquid children’s Benadryl which is already solublized and faster-acting than swallowing a pill, so a similar effect (maybe even slightly faster acting?) to your suggestion. Even childrens’ medicines tell you what the adult does should be.
Benadryl
Just a short note. Benadryl now makes an “instant” dissolve strip that you just place on your tongue. Works fast and takes up very little space to pack it.
for pain consider Toradol
is is equipotent with morphine yet is an NSAID and causes little or now drowsiness, important if you have a fracture and need to kwell pain yet still think without a cloud in your mind.