You're absolutely right - there's no substitute for getting the training; knowing how to use it is always best. My Scouting days are 20 years gone; they may have rules about where you can take kids without some sort of training now.
But, second best is having stuff other properly trained people can use - and being smart enough not to take the kids where there's absolutely no chance of those properly trained persons showing up.
Actually, that's third best. Second best is carrying stuff other people know how to use - and being smart enough to get those people to agree to go with you.
I still go back and forth with this one. Like I said before, the sutures are the only thing in there that I don't have training for. However, I don't think they apply. I can easily take them out of my kit (and I probably will) and still have that function covered with the steri-strips, and butterfly bandages. I can also use tape as well. But, there are other things that I don't have that I have considered taking. One is a Nasopharyngeal airway. I asked my doctor friend about it, and he said that I had to have training to use it, or lawsuits are inevitable. I thought about it because it would help with a severe allergic reaction that is blocking the airway. The best answer is that I get the training. But, it is light, and if someone else had the training.....I still don't carry it though.
For a FAK that you keep in your car, or home, I think that having it even without training is a good practice. But do we apply the same rules to backpacking? In the end, we are trying to save weight.
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