How to make a rescue splint

To make a rescue splint you will need to think “outside the box”. You will not have the normal air splints, aluminum splints, the normal material for a sling or any other things that you may used to seeing. You'll have to make do with what you have on hand at the given time.

To make a splint in the wilderness the first thing you need to do is take stock of what materials you have with you that you can use. What extra clothing can you afford for padding? What can you use to make a sling? Do you want to use your trekking poles or tent stakes as the main splint supports? And many more questions that you will need to answer. I'll try to break everything down for you and give you some ideas as to what you can use.

We'll take a look at splint material that you can use to make a rescue splint first and then we will get into how to put it all together.

Splint supports for a rescue splint:
Mother nature can help you with this in a big way. Provided you are in a wilderness area with a lot of trees. Using branches as splint supports is by far the easiest thing you can use but the drawback to using these is the amount of time it takes to find and gather them. You need fairly straight branches and they need to be 2” thick for lower extremities and 1 ½ “ thick for upper extremities, no less.

If you are in an area where branches are not available then you will have to resort to your gear. For lower extremities you can use your trekking poles, tent poles, closed cell pad, camp chair, your pack frame or whatever else is available.

Padding material for a rescue splint:
This area may get a little trickier. You will also need to consider the weather on this one. If you use clothing or some other material that you have on hand you need to make sure the victim can still stay warm in cold weather. Se be careful of what you use and how much you use, think ahead. You don't need to compound the problem with hypothermia.

As mentioned you can use extra clothing and you can also use a sleeping bag, a closed pad (if you don't use it for the supports) and again anything else you have available. If you don't have enough padding on hand use what you have and then you can add leaves, grasses or whatever in between the layers of padding. Just watch out for twigs that can poke.

Tying material for a rescue splint:
Duct tape (you do have some don't you?), parachute cord, cut up your tent footprint, cut up some clothing, strips from a sleeping bag (know your weather before you use this one), etc. You get the picture.

Now we'll get into how to make a splint. There are some rules to follow so please read carefully.

Rule #1:
Always tie the rescue splint above and below the injured area also making sure that if it is a fractured bone you immobilize the joint above and below the injury. Never on top of the injury. The more places it is tied, the more stable the splint will be.

Note:
For a joint injury you only need to immobilize above and below the joint itself. You do not need to immobilize the other joints above and below.

Rule #2:
Always use two supports if possible. A third smaller one on the back of the joint may be considered also but is not necessary. This will be your call. I would definitely consider it if I was on really rough terrain and the victim or myself had to maneuver on that terrain to get to safety.

Rule #3:
Pad the rescue splint and then pad some more. Don't forget the weather.

Rule #4:
When you tie the rescue splint together make sure the wraps can be adjusted. You don't want to cut off circulation.

Rule #5:
Always leave the toes and finger tips exposed or make sure you have easy access to them. You will need to check the circulation in the extremity and this is the easiest way to do that. You will need to check the pulse, skin color and skin temperature.

Rule #6:
Build the splint right the first time. Take your time and spend a couple of extra minutes. The more cautious you are, the less pain it will cause the victim and the better the splint will be. Remember the victim may be wearing this contraption for a couple of days. The few extra minutes will be worth it.

Those are the basics for building a rescue splint. Due to the length of this subject I am splitting this up into two sections to make it easier to read. Next we will cover each fracture or joint injury and how to splint it. In the upcoming e-book, that will be available for purchase, this will all be one section.

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