# Sling & Swathe bandage question...



## highvelocity84 (Dec 8, 2008)

I know this might sound a little crazy...however, there aren't enough supplies to go around in our EMT class to practice our skills.  One of our RANDOM SKILLS is to do the "Sling and Swathe."

No, we're not talkin' about the blue sling that you see in hospitals that you put on patients.  We're talkin' OLD SCHOOL...lol.  At least I think it is 

Anywho, here's my question.  A friend of mine wants to go to the fabric store and cut out some fabric so that we can do these slings at home.  We have the measurements from the Brady book.

Can anyone tell us the material of the Sling & Swathe bandage?

It looks really thin, but I'm unsure 'bout the material.

Thank you much everyone!!


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## BossyCow (Dec 8, 2008)

unbleached muslin


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## highvelocity84 (Dec 8, 2008)

*Where do ya get it? =)*



BossyCow said:


> unbleached muslin



BossyCow,

Do you know where one can get this triangular bandage?  Like at a medical supply store that sells uniforms for EMS and whatnot??  I live in Modesto, CA.


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## MRE (Dec 8, 2008)

BossyCow said:


> unbleached muslin



Any particular reason you can't use bleached?


highvelocity84:

The triangular bandages that you can get in medical supply stores are pretty junky.  They will only hold up to a single use in most cases.  For practice, get a few yards of muslin and cut it into triangles.  It will hold up much beter for you.  Its cheap too, a dollar or two a yard last time I bought it.  Comes out to about a buck a bandage.


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## highvelocity84 (Dec 8, 2008)

*Fabric store??*



KB1OEV said:


> Any particular reason you can't use bleached?
> 
> 
> highvelocity84:
> ...



Can you get this at a fabric store at let's say, Michael's??  If so, then yeah we'll go get it there for a buck a yard!


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## Sapphyre (Dec 8, 2008)

Yes, you can get muslin, bleached or unbleached at any fabric store.  It usually ends up being near the quilting fabrics.


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## highvelocity84 (Dec 8, 2008)

*Thank you to all that replied!*



Sapphyre said:


> Yes, you can get muslin, bleached or unbleached at any fabric store.  It usually ends up being near the quilting fabrics.



That is terrific!!  Thank you to EVERYONE that has responded to my posts!

BossyCow, KB1OEV and Sapphyre...your help is appreciated!

I will be a sling& swathe expert in NO TIME! lol. 

~Kris


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## BossyCow (Dec 8, 2008)

highvelocity84 said:


> BossyCow,
> 
> Do you know where one can get this triangular bandage?  Like at a medical supply store that sells uniforms for EMS and whatnot??  I live in Modesto, CA.



See the PM


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## BossyCow (Dec 8, 2008)

KB1OEV said:


> Any particular reason you can't use bleached?
> 
> 
> highvelocity84:
> ...



You can used bleached but its more expensive. The packaged ones come with two safety pins and they are folded nicely. Picking up a case of these to have on hand is a good investment of supply dollars. 

Cutting them yourself is a messy business. The stuff frays like crazy and its tough to keep them straight. I found that they ended up odd sizes and weirdly cut. They are single use in the field, as they should be, but I have a large bag of them that I re-use for FA classes.


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## karaya (Dec 8, 2008)

KB1OEV said:


> Any particular reason you can't use bleached?
> 
> 
> highvelocity84:
> ...


 
I've had the same experience with triangular bandages.  We just finished up a shoot for and upcoming Brady book and we constantly had to change out the triangular bandage/cravate shots after only a couple of takes.


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## MRE (Dec 8, 2008)

I looked at both at a fabric store and found the bleached to be the same price, it also didn't have black dots all over it like the unbleached.  Not that they would have been a problem, but made the fabric look like it was dirty.

I'm lucky because my mother used to do quilting and has large cutting mats and tools.  I was able to borrow them to cut up the muslin.  I can see that using shears or scissors could be a lot harder and messier.  On that note, ask the fabric store about a rotary fabric cutter for quilting.  They can't be more than a few dollars.  You can probably use a large piece of cardboard for a mat.



BossyCow said:


> You can used bleached but its more expensive. The packaged ones come with two safety pins and they are folded nicely. Picking up a case of these to have on hand is a good investment of supply dollars.
> 
> Cutting them yourself is a messy business. The stuff frays like crazy and its tough to keep them straight. I found that they ended up odd sizes and weirdly cut. They are single use in the field, as they should be, but I have a large bag of them that I re-use for FA classes.


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## mycrofft (Dec 14, 2008)

*Old sheets. You can have festive ones then!*

At my second company we used old ambulance sheets, very clean, cut them an extra inch long each way and used them once. Then if they somehow came back we washed them again and used them on the vehicles.

The ones for real use are designed for single use and compact storage. For reuseable trainers, use a twill or heavier muslin; use a real one for your measurements, and hem them.


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## FF894 (Dec 14, 2008)

highvelocity84 said:


> I know this might sound a little crazy...however, there aren't enough supplies to go around in our EMT class to practice our skills.  One of our RANDOM SKILLS is to do the "Sling and Swathe."
> 
> No, we're not talkin' about the blue sling that you see in hospitals that you put on patients.  We're talkin' OLD SCHOOL...lol.  At least I think it is
> 
> ...




How much are you paying to go to this school that doesn't have the least expensive piece of equipment on earth may I ask?


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