First Aid stories?

I've never had an injury in the field that required more than Ibuprofen, or some tape. Unless you count my being choppered out of the Canyon last April, when no amount of FAK would've helped. That was an eye issue, but was treated as a possible stroke until it was definitively ruled out at the ER. I tend to carry only tape and some pain killers in my FAK.

Aw heck, tigger can't hardly get out of his own garage without a 911 call to the fire department and EMTs.

I or my my wife have never needed more than some blister care in all of our years BP'g

I will NOT discuss all of the "last aid" situations I've had to perform in 50 yrs of rock-climbing

I, too, have been fortunate. Just scrapes and blisters for the most part. My most serious and lasting injury was a partial tear of my rotator cuff. That happened when I was moving forward at a decent clip when my hiking pole got stuck between two rocks behind me and jerked my right shoulder backwards something terrible before I realized what was happening and could let go. The pain wasn't so bad that I couldn't finish my hike but after I got home I went to see my doc. Six months of PT helped but there is still pain in some positions and I don't have the strength in my right arm that I used to.

There is another story I won't tell you. Suffice it to say I now carry a stool softener in my FAK.

I’ve never personally needed more than the odd band-aid and of course my ibuprofen. Tape for blisters, which I almost never have (but my husband has recently started getting them again, in a somewhat random fashion). Oh, and I’ve used my migraine pills once or twice though they weren’t really migraines—just stubborn headaches that were messing with my ability to enjoy myself, or maybe function.

But: way back in the day, I part of a group of 4 on our second morning out when one of us got what he thought was a badly sprained ankle. He taped it thoroughly, so I’d say tape is definitely on the list. Then he hiked out, went to ER, and came home (we were housemates) with his leg in a cast. Broken fibula. I don’t think there was anything we could have had with us that would have made matters any better for us, except that if we’d had trekking poles instead of ice axes he’d have been able to lean on them better (the longest axe among us was pretty darned short for a guy of his height to use as a crutch).

I keep my FAK pretty simple; after all these years I recognize the limits of it, but also of what I can do with one. Sometime soon we’ll probably add a SPOT or something as age increases the chances of an illness or injury we can’t just “walk off”.

I've helped out a few people with broken legs to get out to civilization and have doled out bandages and pain relievers uncounted, but the most frightening to me was when my wife started suffering from heat exhaustion at the bottom of the Hermit Trail in the GC. We go in April, but it was unusually hot and was over 90 on the long shadeless grades dropping onto the Tonto. She was weak, nauseous and feeling very faint. I immediately soaked a buff and placed it over her head and erected a shade shelter with an e-blanket and our poles. After 3-4 changes of the buff, some re-hydration w/electrolytes and some rest, she was able to continue at a slower pace and we made it to Monument CG. I set her up in the shade and let her get some rest for the remainder of the day. I know an e-blanket is not considered UL gear, but considering it's usefulness in winter and in general as a tarp, ground cloth, and shade shelter, it becomes an essential in my book. I also throw it over our tent when we leave it set up to protect it from UV degradation.
April of '18 I was choppered out from 3 mile rest house on the Bright Angel Trail. I felt very strong, but I had severe vertigo. Luckily I guessed right in the middle of feeling like a 78 record and dove into the rocks, not over the edge of the switchback I was on. I had spent part of the previous evening hanging out with the ranger that ended up assisting me. We had a good laugh at the irony of swapping rescue stories the previous night, as I had worked for the USFS and had participated in rescues. I was helpless, not being able to walk more than 10' without falling and I couldn't even keep a sip of water down. I was embarrassed but, it wasn't my preparedness, in gear or physical training, that was lacking. I'm so grateful to the people that helped me. We're darn lucky to have highly skilled and dedicated people like them to watch our backs.
My wife fell on a treacherous stretch of the Upper LaBarge Box in the Superstitions last April and bruised her ribs, it was the first time I brought some CBD oil. Aleve and a 1/4 teaspoon rubbed in gave her enough relief to keep going the next few days on the trail til we were out. Knock on wood, I seem to get scraped and bruised a little, but nothing worse than what I get in work, daily, with the exception of that darn bout of vertigo.

I learned the hard way that the tweezers that come with your basic SAK suck. Got a rock shard stuck in the bottom of my foot while taking a swim break in a creek. The little Swiss Army tweezers couldn't pull it out, I had to cut and dig my skin with a blade around the shard to loosen it out. Luckily it was the 2nd to last day on the trail so only had to hike about 8 miles and about 1,000 ft elevation gain and 3,000 elevation loss on it. Now I carry Uncle Bill's tweezers.