After a one-year COVID hiatus, it looks like the Dopey Challenge is back on! Since that running event was the impetus that pushed my sister Meg and me to develop Nurse in a Bag’s prepackaged first aid kits, it seems like a good time to review how far we’ve come.
My sister Kate and I are, as the lingo goes, Perfectly Dopey. That means we’ve run each of the seven official Dopey Challenges (not counting 2021 when the in-person races were cancelled). I use the term “run” loosely—I tend to run a minute, walk a minute in the Galloway method.
A few years ago, considerably sore after the 5k, 10k, half-marathon, and full marathon on four consecutive days through all four Disney parks in Orlando, we wished we had a handy first aid kit for aching muscles. Though neither of us is 21 years old any more, we walked like we were 121 years old. Between us, though, we had all the makings of need for basic first aid kit for sore muscles: ibuprofen, Biofreeze, and ice. We turned to our sister Meg, an occupation RN, and asked what we were missing. At her recommendation, we added an instant cold pack, arnica cream, and Epsom salts to our sore muscle first aid kit.
Meg, who works out of several lumber mills in the Northwest, was simultaneously developing what she called her RISE bags (Rest, Ice, Support, and Elevate) for the sprains, strains, bumps, and bruises that employees would suffer from in the course of their work. Combined with employee education and prompt attention to injuries, the use of RISE bags had substantially decreased their OSHA reportable rate.
What if she could develop a runner’s bag for the next Dopey Challenge? One thing led to another, and we ended up with seven different bags for Nurse in a Bag.
The original RISE bag, which doubled as a runner’s bag when Band-aids and antibiotic cream were added, as well as first aid kits for splinters, first aid kits for burns, first aid kits for scrapes, eyes, dehydration, insect bites – you get the idea.
Our mission became: help people and companies keep themselves and their employees healthy and injury free on the job.
What I love most about it is that I can make the RISE bag the glove box first aid kit in my car and it’s there when I need it. And while I personally haven’t needed it yet, I’ve helped two other people who encountered trouble on the trails: a six-year-old who stumbled in the parking lot and bruised her arm, along with a runner who twisted his ankle on a tree root. And I’m sure I’ll need it in January 2022 after the next Dopey Challenge.