A Paramedic friend of ours recently brought a DIY antiseptic to our attention called Dakin’s Solution.
In a situation where you might not have a drug store nearby, or commerce has come to a halt during a natural disaster, Dakin’s Solution can easily be made with simple household ingredients.
Dakin’s contains sodium hypochlorite and was developed during WWI to treat infected wounds. While this may sound technical, the solution is nothing more than Baking Soda, Bleach and water.
The mixture makes a great irrigation solution and a cost effective way to kill germs and treat or prevent infection.
Instead of writing out the instructions for you here, we’d like to refer you to a .PDF instruction sheet that you can print out or save for a rainy day.
Dakin’s Solution Instructions from Ohio State University Medical Center
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This will come VERY handy in the field, as well as situations where power isn’t readily available. I’m considering prepping several jars of it for the packing, climbing and camping trips as well.
The biggest issue that I’m going to have though is storage for travel. I’m currently thinking of reusing empty saline bottles, the kind for eye rinsing, etc.
Anyone have any suggestions on this?
I would try the soda bottle preforms. They can be sterilized. I would just pour the solution over the wound form the preform. You could also pour the solution from the preform into a sterile rubber glove with a hole in a finger and use that for irrigation.
Dunno guys, in my Wilderness EMT training we were taught that tapwater or saline are just as good as any other fluid for wound irrigation, at least for fresh wounds. Things change when you have an older, dirty, actively infected wound but resources like http://www.infectioncontrolservices.co.uk/wound_cleansing.htm describe Dakin’s (and other chlorinated solutions) as inhibiting healing.
Not a cut & dried topic, but with the hassles involved with Dakin’s I’d probably just use clean water.
Norm, if you are going to be storing antiseptic solution, why not just buy the stuff? You usually get a container free-of-charge as well. ;)
I see the value of this sort of thing to be more during situations when store-bought gear just isn’t available.
doesn’t seem like prepping several jars might be practical, unless you live in Juarez I guess:
“Throw away any unused portion 48 hours after opening. Unopened jars can be
stored for one month after you have prepared them”
You can always borrow a couple specimen containers next time you go to the doctor. They usually have a few in the bathroom and they are sterile.
@Norm
Isn’t this more for unexpected events? I think if you are _planning_ on carrying it, wouldn’t you do better with stuff that is pre-packaged? That way it’s sealed, and you don’t have to worry so much about DIY storage.
@fuspar, @Tony:
Well, the thing about purchasing sterile solution pre-packaged is that it’s being used in a ‘disposable’ situation. I’m not looking to make and store it for more than a day or two at a time, and in situations that it’d be more practical, I’d rather use what I have around the house to ‘use it up’ rather than purchasing additional materials.
I’m looking at this from the point of view that I’ll be purchasing new bleach/baking soda, etc for replacement of current supplies anyhow, so why not use the older stuff so it’s not just sitting there going to waste.
@code24:
I do have some sterile solutions in with the G.O.O.D and emergency kits and would prefer not to have to pull from those stores till it’s necessary.
Overall, I do agree that store bought is a better solution. But given that the materials aren’t currently being used, I’d rather see them go to possibly helping in a dire situation on the trail, in camp, etc, and then getting rid of it if not used, as opposed to just dumping it.
I think this is a great Idea for “In a Pinch” situations, as stated
“In a situation where you might not have a drug store nearby, or commerce has come to a halt during a natural disaster”
Good job as usual ITS. Thanks for all the good Info -Brandon-
My 2 cents: Dakin’s may be great in a SHTF situation, but it is pretty potent stuff. I’m an ICU RN, so I see some nasty wounds, and see the stuff used once every few years (on FILTHY wounds, and I dunno if I’ve ever seen more than 1/2 strentgh). If you have alternatives available, start there. That being said, the recepie is definitely going into my bag o tricks (along with tourniquets for bleeding (definitely in the last options “compartment”).
As fuspar pointed out, it has a limited shelf life. Also note that it is light sensitive (like hydrogen peroxide).
My wife had surgery eariler this year and had a wound that did not completely close. Her doctor told her about this and told her to clean the wound daily with it and cover the wound with 4×4s. The wound healed and closed up nicely. This stuff works!