A well-stocked first aid kit is essential in any home or vehicle. It will cover most minor scrapes and a few more serious injuries, if you cannot get to a hospital in time. But what should you have in a kit?
General purpose first aid kits should basically have scissors, bandages, medical tape and tools to close deep wounds. There should also be antiseptic to clean wounds and a tourniquet to stop heavy bleeding.
Anything beyond that is a nice to have. Now let's get into more detail on what you should put into your everyday first aid kit.
Small Bandages
Let's start with something that can treat small cuts and scrapes. Self-adhesive bandages are cheap and easy to store.
Buy several different sizes and shapes So start your first aid kit with a handful of small bandages and take it from there.
Antiseptic Wipes and Creams
When you treat cuts and scrapes, it's important to clean out the area before wrapping it up. If you don't, it could lead to infection.
So be sure to add some antiseptic wipes or creams to your kit. You can also keep a small bottle of rubbing alcohol in your kit and use the bandage wraps to apply the alcohol.
Splits
Another essential thing to have in a kit is several small splints that you can use to brace broken or sprained fingers or toes.
They are simply short pieces of metal, wood or hard plastic that can be wrapped with medical tape to keep fingers and toes from moving. You can also buy rolled splints that can be used to support larger areas like arms and legs.
Bandage Wraps
These bandages are very flexible and can be cut to any size. You can wrap these bandages around limbs to cover cuts or abrasions.
They are also good for stopping bleeding from small cuts and cleaning up dirt from affected areas. Buy a few of these for your kit and you'll be able to solve a lot of issues that could come up.
Medical Tape
This is an important piece of your kit because it has multiple uses. You can use it with small pieces of bandage to create a self-adhesive bandage of any size.
Medical tape can also be used to stabilize sprained ankles or fingers. Deep cuts can even be temporarily closed with tape, until the cut can be sewn up.
You can even use tape to protect your skin from sunburn or abrasion.
Keep a few rolls in your kit and you'll probably find even more uses for it.
Scissors and Tweezers
These are essential tools to have you in your kit.
Tweezers are useful for pulling out thorns or removing debris from wounds. They can also be used to guide a needle when stitching up deep cuts or to manipulate anything that would be hard to grasp with your fingers.
The benefits of scissors are probably obvious, but they can be used to cut tape, thread or bandages. They can also be used to cut away clothing if you need to get to an affected area.
Emergency Blanket
An emergency blanket is very compact so you can keep several in your first aid kit. A blanket will keep you warm in cold weather, or if you've sustained an injury.
They are made of mylar or plastic and are very warm, in spite of being very thin. Since they are so small, you can also keep a few extras in the glove compartment of your car or your gym bag.
Emergency blankets don't cost much, so buy a few. You can also use them as a poncho or for emergency shelter.
Storage Bag or Container
Next, you'll need a bag to hold all of your stuff. The first thing to consider when buying a bag is where it will be stored and how much you'll want to store.
There are many pre-made kits out there that include a bag. So if you don't know where to start, just go with a pre-made kit and you'll get everything in a nice package.
However, if you want to build your own kit, start with where you'll be storing your first aid kit.
If you're creating a kit for your home, you'll be able to store a lot more than if you're creating a kit for your car.
Once you know where you'll store your kit, then buy everything that you want to put into your kit, before you purchase a bag. I recommend doing this because it's easy to purchase a bag that's too small, if you don't know what will go into it.
After you've purchased everything you want to have in your kit, then measure out how big of a bag you'll want to store all of that stuff.
Also take into account the space that you'll be storing the kit in.
Then go look for a bag that will fit your requirements. You can get very inexpensive bags from Amazon or eBay.
Keep in mind that it doesn't have to say “First Aid Kit” all over it. Any bag will do, as long as it fits all of your supplies.
Gloves (Non-Latex)
Using gloves when working on wounds will prevent them from becoming infected, especially if you cannot wash your hands properly.
Gloves can also be used to transport small amounts of liquid. They don't take up much space, so you should have at least a couple of sets in your kit.
Tourniquet or Israeli Bandage
These are essential for preventing excessive bleeding from a major wound.
Belts, elastic bands, pieces of clothing or a purpose-built tourniquet can be used as a tourniquet.
An Israeli Bandage is similar to a tourniquet in that it can be wound up so it puts pressure on a wound. The only disadvantage is that they take up quite a bit of space in a first aid kit.
Learn how they work and pick the one that you like the best.
First Aid Guide
Finally, it's a great idea to keep a good first aid guide in your kit because it's really hard to learn (and remember) everything you need to do in every situation.
There are a ton of great books out there, so do your research on which book will be most useful.
You might already have some first aid skills, so information that's helpful to a total beginner, might not be useful to you.
That said, one book that you might want to take a look at is Herbal Medic by Sam Coffman.
Sam is a former Green Beret and clinical herbalist who shows you how to diagnose and treat different conditions, when professional medical care is not available.
Conclusion
You can either buy a pre-made kit, or make your own. In my experience, it's better to make your own because off the shelf kits tend to have unnecessary things in it that can just take up space and are a waste of money.
Making your own kit will usually cost a little more, but you'll get exactly what you need and you can choose the quality of the items in your kit.
Regardless of what you choose to do, get started right now because you never know when you'll need a first aid kit.
