Parachute First Aid Packet

[Quartermaster]

I have never delved too deeply into the collecting of paratrooper militaria because it was a little far from my main interests and vintage items are quite often expensive (sort of why I have strayed from USMC items, too.) Oh, I got into "Band of Brothers", "The Pacific" and other sources concerning those areas - interesting chapters in WW2 history but not tops for me.

 

That being said, I have a couple of paratrooper helmets and have always liked seeing the various ways the First Aid Packet was attached to the helmet and other locations so I did a little homework as to the contents of the packet and decided to create a display of those contents.

 

 

 

In my reading, there was apparently changes of the content over time so I decided to recreate a later packet's items.

 

Here's my display with an unopened kit shown also.

 

 

Originally, the kit contained the Carlisle Bandage, Tourniquet, Morphine Styrette and an instruction sheet - later the Wound Tablets and Sulfa Power were added.

 

Here are some shots of the individual components - some original and some reproduction that I came up with to complete the display.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, I'm not a paratrooper geek but liked the challenge of doing the research and gathering the parts and pieces.

 

I like my results and would welcome comments and suggestions.

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[Rakkasan187]

Excellent display.. Very comprehensive and detailed..

 

Thank you for taking time to post this.. An invaluable tool for research..

 

Leigh

[Ronny67]

WOW

[dmar836]

I have two packs but they are old and unopened(I certainly won't open them!). Nice seeing what's inside. As a point of interest 1/2 grain is about 30mg of morphine. I have gave a lot of morphine in my career but little or no IM(intramuscular) that I remember. 30mg IV at once would be a buttload but the IM is absorbed differently. Still more than I thought it would be.

Thanks for the great post!

Dave

KC

[Ronny67]

I have two packs but they are old and unopened(I certainly won't open them!). Nice seeing what's inside. As a point of interest 1/2 grain is about 30mg of morphine. I have gave a lot of morphine in my career but little or no IM(intramuscular) that I remember. 30mg IV at once would be a buttload but the IM is absorbed differently. Still more than I thought it would be.

Thanks for the great post!

Dave

KC

 

Interesting. Can you please explain the mechanics of Morphine administration please?

 

I have always been fascinated by the use of this drug during WWII- crazy to think about with the opioid epidemic of today.

 

Thanks for your post, and any reply you give.

[Quartermaster]

Thanks for the kudos, folks!

 

I recall reading that after the Normandy Landings there was a concerted effort to collect all the unused Morphine Styrettes (I suppose meaning all the paratroop First Aid Packets) they could to avoid abuse by the troops which apparently was a documented problem. (They also tried to round up as many of the paratrooper's switchblade knives as possible as they presented their own problems especially when combined with drinking!)

 

The Aeronautic First Aid Kits also contained Morphine Stryettes and those kits were highly controlled and were supposed to be returned after missions then checked out the next time out.

 

There was an interesting portrayal (although fictional from both the book and move The Longest Day) where the British pilot (Richard Burton) had a terrible wound (leg split from knee to groin and held together with safety pins applied by a medic with few supplies) was receiving waves of pain as his morphine injection was wearing off! Pretty graphic from a 60s movie.

[Persian Gulf Command]

Very nice assemblage of Parachute First Aid Kit inserts. Could you differentiate the Styrettes and Boxes you photographed which are authentic or reproductions?

[Quartermaster]

The front right styrette is real. It is empty and flat.

 

The other three are reproductions - all have solid metal bodies.

 

The front reproduction is the best one that I could find. it actually has an injection needle embedded in the solid tube then the little stick pin is inserted within the needle. It also has a very nice tax revenue stamp.

 

My judging standard comes from a vintage WW2 B&B medical box with 4 originals. Not to worry, all four are dried up so all empty and flat.

 

 

 

 

 

[dustin]

Nice displays, you learn more when you dive into variants to understand assemblies. For clarification, the first production hermetically sealed kits did not contain an instruction sheet just the morphine, bandage and tourniquet. The bandage would be he boxed Carlisle with cellophane wrapper. At undetermined date these kits were revised to include the instruction sheet, sulfanilamide and sulfadiazine, circa spring 1944. Due to inherent reported crushing of syrettes, these were revised to include a crush proof tube packaged in the box. As for the aeronautic kit, there was no directive issued to order the removal of the kits after each flight. Aero kits were intitlaly installed by the aircraft manufacturer supplied by the government prior to delivery. After reports of missing items including morphine, installation by the aircraft Mfg. was discontinued. They were installed after they arrived at government installations. The next step was to install tamper seals on the kits. The directive was that each kit was to be inspected after each flight to assure the seal was unbroken, not to be removed from the aircraft.

[Quartermaster]

Here is a picture of the styrette with the crush proof tube shown.

 

 

[dmar836]

As far as I know, the pharmacological effects of morphine tartrate and sulfate(most common) are the same. From what I understand it was simply injected once the tube was perforated. Front of the thigh, buttocks, or the deltoid muscle is typically used for IM shots but you get what you can. You wouldn't want to intentionally hit a vein with it or all 30mg would be given at once. That's sure a lot for an IV bolus in a non-monitored situation! The morphine blocks the pain receptor sites much more rapidly IV but IM wouldn't take too long and wouldn't be as likely to cause respiratory depression. Interestingly, morphine is a great drug to give if one is having trouble breathing but that's complicated. We can talk IO(intraosseous) if you really wanna cringe(patient AND care giver!) but that's later than WWII!

I too heard that it was a big deal to possess the original morphine syrettes to the point of confiscation and charges. Likely still "technically" true but many of us have old narcotics from procedures that are never used in drawers and cabinets(to the point that some do-gooders claim THAT is the reason for today's abuse problem) so.....

Like so many things I wouldn't pay big money for an "original" kit without lots of documentation(Xray, etc). One of mine was traded from an uninterested source and the other was a gift from a friend who had it for years.

Dave

[Keystone]

I instantly regretted googling "intraosseous".

[dmar836]

LOL. Some of the ICU nurses, at least those of us on the rapid response/Code team had know how to drill them in. You just do what you have to do but it's unnerving even when they can't feel it and it's life or death. In an inservice one of the nurses drilled one into the humerus head(front shoulder) of another nurse. She said it wasn't that bad. No thanks!

[oldabewla]

To clarify, these first aid kit shown above are a WWII AAF crew item and used or adopted for uses by the US Airborne troops

[Ronny67]

Wow. Really great thread.

 

For the medical experts, thank you for chiming in.

[Quartermaster]

It is correct that both First Aid Kits were AAF supply items that the US Airborne troops embraced

 

Shown are two AAF reference documents - some even instruct where the Parachute First Aid Kit should be attached.

 

The Pilots' Information File dated 1943.

 

 

The Reference Manual For Personal Equipment Officers dated 1945 then revised 1946 with a 1977 reprint date.

 

 

 

Secondary reference

 

Sweeting's Combat Flying Equiment