Basic First Aid Kit Items
From Stephanie Brown, ABOUT.COM
When traveling, it’s always a good idea to have a first aid kit around. Here are some items you’ll want to have on hand for car travel, picnics and other outings.
With summer here and lots of time being spent outdoors as a family, bumps, bruises, scrapes and sprains are bound to happen. The following ten items should be in your traveling first aid kit:
- Bactine (or other antiseptic). Soap and water are your best bet for cleaning, but when you’re on the go, it’s good to have Bactine or the new Neosporin to Go products, since you may not be near a water source.
- Gauze Pads. Gauze pads should always be part of your first aid arsenal. A few large and a few small should do the trick.
- Scissors. Useful for cutting gauze pads (as mentioned above), for cutting adhesive tape, shoelaces, clothing and just about anything you can think of in an emergency. Invest in a good pair of curved (no point to prevent further injuries) medical scissors.
- Adhesive Tape. Adhesive tape comes in handy for many first aid needs, including forming splints and securing gauze pads.
- Ace Bandage. Ace bandages used to come with the spiky fasteners, but now wrapping is easier thanks to the convenience of velcro.
- Instant Cold Pack. An instant cold pack is essential to ease swelling of bumps and bruises when you lack access to ice. It’s a good idea to purchase several since these are for one use only.
- Latex (or Nitrile) Gloves. Latex gloves help keep both parties – the injured and anyone giving first aid – safe from bacteria, disease and other harmful conditions. They’re also great to have around for situations requiring clean up of bodily fluids or changing particularly messy diapers. When finished, the diaper can be sealed inside the gloves and thrown away.
- Band-Aids. Band-aids take care off all sorts of small injuries. Your best bet is to buy a box with a variety of sizes and shapes to cover all your bases. Today’s band-aids also come with added antibacterial protection.
- Tweezers. Tweezers are great for splinters, removing ingrown hairs or nabbing hang nails. A medical pair is good to have.
- Sting and Bite Treatment. On the playground or picnic – ant bites, stings and other insect issues arise. Keeping a bite and sting kit around will help ease the pain. If you know your child has allergies, it’s a good idea to couple this with benadryl or have an Epi-pen with you at all times.
Information published on The Rainbow Babies website is not a substitute for proper medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or care. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Disclaimer: The Rainbow Babies provides sample contracts and legal/social health articles for informational purposes only—please do not consider it as legally-binding advice of any kind.
