So what you have here are the contents
of the bandage kits that we send home in our equine bandage kit. The first thing
you'll have is your non-stick dressing. You also will get a pack of gauze sponges,
a small roll of gauze, a sheet cotton, a brown gauze, a Vet Wrap, and an elasticon. So when you go to apply your bandage, you want to try to avoid touching the
bandage material as much as you can. So, opening it cleanly the first layers of the bandage that you'll need will be your nonstick bandage that will
go directly against the wound or the sutures, the four-by-fours to go behind
that, and the rolled gauze. So using just a corner, you can lift the
sterile gauze and place it on your gauze pad. But again, try not to touch the
middle where it's going to be against the horse's skin. This can then be taken
gently out of the tray by the corner, again, to avoid touching the center. So
for a distal limb bandage, for example, after a splint bone surgery or if your
horse has a wound on their cannon bone, we'll start with the non-stick gauze or
ADAPTIC, followed by a stack of sterile four-by-fours. And this will be held on
with your cling gauze. This should be wrapped over the leg snugly enough to
hold the gauze in place but not very tightly. And this can be taken a little
above and a little below the wound to just secure this gauze in place. When you reach the end of your roll you
can tuck the end in in order to hold it in place while you get ready for the
next layer of your bandage. So once your roll gauze is on, the next step will
be the sheet cotton. This will come in this blue outer casing to keep the sheet
cotton sterile. As you open it, again, you want to not touch it excessively
although it's okay to touch it to some extent as you're going. So the sheet
cotton will be held in place with the brown gauze. That comes in this paper
tube. You can pull that out and then you'll take your sheet cotton to apply
to the limb. The next layer of your bandage is going to be the sheet cotton.
This should be placed with your wound centered under it in the same area you
would put a standing wrap. And this should be wrapped with nice, even
pressure and fairly snugly around the horse's limb. The sheet cotton is held in place with
the brown gauze. The brown gauze should be placed with firm pressure and with
about 50 percent overlap between each layer. Make sure to leave a small portion
of the sheet cotton from the top and the bottom of the limb. Once you've reached
the bottom, you again want to have that little piece of sheet cotton sticking
out with no brown gauze contacting the skin. Once you've reached the bottom, just
work your way back up again with 50% overlap with each layer. And as always,
make sure you're wrapping in the same direction with each layer of your wrap. Again, with this you can tuck the tail in
to hold it in place while you get ready to apply your next layer. The next layer
for this bandage is the Vet Wrap and this should be applied directly over the
brown gauze with firm, even pressure. The Vet Wrap is inherently a little
wrinkly so you want to stretch it so that's a little more taut as you go. Again, with this, you want about 50%
overlap with each layer of the Vet Wrap. When you reach the bottom of the bandage
make sure to leave that little piece of sheet cotton out at the bottom as well. The last layer of your bandage is the
elasticon. This is an elastic and adhesive bandage that we apply to ensure
no dirt or shavings gets down into your bandage. About half of the elasticon
should be on the bandage and half on the horse's skin. You want to wrap this
loosely so that it's not overly tight on their skin. With the elasticon, go once
or twice around the bandage and then you can cut the elasticon. With the elasticon, it may help to
pre-stretch it in order to prevent getting it on too tightly. At the bottom
you'll repeat the same thing with part of the elasticon on the bandage and
part of it on the horse's skin. And again, you want to take this around once or
twice before cutting it off. Now your bandage is complete.