# Sterile vs Non-Sterile Guaze Pads/Dressings



## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Both sterile and non-sterile gauze pads are available. I would think you might use the non-sterile ones (still clean and new) for cleaning wounds if they are being saturated with something like betadine scrub or soap and water when irrigating a wound. I would think that in times of crisis you would save the more valuable sterile pads for bandaging the wound once dressed with antiseptic salve. Non-sterile pads are much less expensive than the sterile ones.


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## rancher1913 (Dec 5, 2008)

You've got it. Very important to use sterile pads for packing wounds as well (after they are cleaned and irrigated well).

Moldy


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

wrap them and bake them and they will be sterile.


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## 1sttimemom (Mar 1, 2005)

Sterile dressings are only sterile if you use sterile technique to apply them. If you unwrap & handle them with unclean hands, lay them on the bed, etc, they are no longer sterile. Clean dressings can work pretty well also, even a clean maxi pad can make a good absorbant dressing and is cheap enough. Basically sterile dressing are used for stuff like surgical dressings. Packing infected, draining wounds can be done effectively with clean gauze and such as a "dirty" wound is worse than the non-sterile dressing. The nasty, stinky, draining open wounds I've had to pack we generally used non-sterile 4x4s damp with saline and then apply dry 4x4s on top and secure. That's a basic wet-to-dry dressing in a nutshell. Works like a wick and pulls nasty drainage away from wound. For surgical sites we often used a sterile abd pad (kinda like giant sterile maxi pad) secured with tape or such.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Outstanding ideas. I think we need a separate "Medical - First-Aid" section of this forum to keep all these good ideas and knowledge in one place. make it a sticky place like some of the others.


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

I package up my sterile dressings with two thin pieces of carboard on each side then a zip lock baggie to protect. Once the factory wrapper is damaged the sterile field is broken. 

~~ pelenaka ~~


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## HendricksHearth (Jul 18, 2009)

You can also watch sterile dressing change videos on YouTube for nursing students to give you good ideas about sterile technique so that you don't contaminate your equipment before it is applied. Some things I was taught was that the sterile pack should only be placed on dry surface at or above the waist. Also, when opening a sterile pack, if there are flaps (and some kits have them, some don't), the first one is opened away from you and the 1" borders of the pack are okay to touch, but nothing inside the pack. No leaning over the pack, breathing directly on the pack, etc. Little things like a hair falling off your head onto your field can contaminate it and therefore the wound. There are also videos about donning sterile gloves. If you are stocking up on sterile gauze or dressings, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a couple pairs of sterile gloves. They are more pricey, but would also come in handy if you ever needed to do something invasive to yourself or another in the event of an injury or health complication in a survival situation. You can get them (you will have to find the right size) at most medical supply stores locally. Best of luck!


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

My degrees are in Microbiology. If there is one thing I understand from college is the concept of sterility. That said - the techniques of maintaining sterility are great to discuss.

I guess the best idea is to stock both sterile and non-sterile 4x4's, 3x3's, and only sterile 2x2's. Preserve your stock of sterile dressings for just that - dressings.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

If someone still has electricity in the house, putting a damp cloth in the microwave for a couple of minute, or ironing it will make it sterile. In a SHTF situation without sealed sterile gauze bandages, this would be a good way to go.

Without electricity, boiling cloth in water for 10 minutes would be the way to go.


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## janetn (Apr 26, 2012)

You do not need sterile dressings for the vast majority of wounds. Sterile dressings are only needed for surgical incisions and severe burns. 

Most wound sites are not sterile - so putting a sterile gauze on a "dirty" wound contaminates the sterile dressing [ ie its no longer sterile!

For prepping purposes good old Kotexes are great inexpensive dressings. They wick drainage away from the wound too. A great bonus. Your better off changing a dressing more frequently so the more dressing material you have the better wound care you will have


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

Very few wounds need sterile dressings. Shoot, even now, I dress our wounds with livestock gauze most times. Its cheaper and I buy it in bulk anyway. I then cover it with vet wrap. DH _has_ requested that I stop letting our daughters pick the vet wrap colors. Apparently, he takes a rash of comments at work when he shows up in pink and purple, but otherwise? Works great. LOL!


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## bourbonred (Feb 27, 2008)

Mom_of_Four said:


> Without electricity, boiling cloth in water for 10 minutes would be the way to go.


Rather than trying to store and maintain the sterility of each dressing wrapped separately in paper (which gets frail with time and can't be allowed to get damp), I'm storing white flat sheets from the junk shops. They can be boiled and re-used, can be used for splinting, or a multitude of other projects. I can probably store 20 flat sheets in the space of 100 dressings. I'm stocking for SHTF. If it hasn't fallen apart, I can go to walmart and buy dressings as needed. My bathroom is stocked for minor emergencies.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

janetn said:


> For prepping purposes good old Kotexes are great inexpensive dressings. They wick drainage away from the wound too. A great bonus.


Yup - in my first aid kit for the critters too. Just wrap with vet wrap (which is also in my human first aid kit).


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## janetn (Apr 26, 2012)

Wolf mom said:


> Yup - in my first aid kit for the critters too. Just wrap with vet wrap (which is also in my human first aid kit).


 vet wrap indespensible!!!


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## jamala (May 4, 2007)

Forgive me for the thread drift, but where do you all buy your vet wrap and other supplies?


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I buy mine at the feed store. Cool colors, too. 

You could probably get it on-line.

Places like Walgreen's have a similar item, different widths, no cool colors, just beige, and I think more expensive.


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

In all but minor emergencies sterile is not found. I once treated a man that was stabbed by using paper towels that were in the truck for a month. Once he got to a DR he took it away and said good job. If you are treating a wound that will never be send by a DR then go ahead and use sterile gauze.


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

Any clean rag, pressure canned, would become a sterile dressing. An autoclave is just a big pressure cooker. It would work for knives etc too.


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## NoClue (Jan 22, 2007)

good info in this thread. I nominate it for the archive.

Feminine pads are extermely useful things to have around, and for multiple reasons. As bandages, they are super-absorbent.


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## janetn (Apr 26, 2012)

bourbonred said:


> Rather than trying to store and maintain the sterility of each dressing wrapped separately in paper (which gets frail with time and can't be allowed to get damp), I'm storing white flat sheets from the junk shops. They can be boiled and re-used, can be used for splinting, or a multitude of other projects. I can probably store 20 flat sheets in the space of 100 dressings. I'm stocking for SHTF. If it hasn't fallen apart, I can go to walmart and buy dressings as needed. My bathroom is stocked for minor emergencies.


The sheets would work well for a wrap but not as a dressing in contact with the actual wound. They are not absorbant, drainage would just sit in the wound bed. Think closed warm enviorment then add drainage - protien and bacteria. You need to pull away from the wound bed the drainage or your going to grow some really nasty things


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

jamala said:


> Forgive me for the thread drift, but where do you all buy your vet wrap and other supplies?


Valley Vet, Jeffers Livestock, etc. I buy a case or three at a time, same with gauze, syringes, needles, suture supplies, etc. Buy in bulk and save money.


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