A sensible piece (or pieces!) of gear to have anyway, we have one main First Aid Kit as well as a couple of smaller ones that generally came with other bags of gear – the Ring Car Bag has small first aid kit, and the GardX bag we got with the Discovery also has a small first aid kit in it. I also keep one of the small Ford & Field tins in the drivers door bin. I have recently migrated the storage of our First Aid kit away from the battered old green box it was in to a new ‘Really Useful Box’, which is now covered in First Aid stickers and stacks up nicely in the boot.
Our main kit has pretty much everything you need, and I constantly add to it when I find other bits that may be missing. Having recently read a survival book by a well known author, I cam across two more things that we do not currently have! I have also done a few first aid courses over the years, along with refreshers, so I am hopefully not doing the wrong thing and making a bad situation worse. Even basic First Aid courses teach you most of what you need to know before an ambulance arrives, even how to use a Defibrillator. We do not have one of those ourselves, but all knowledge is good when it comes to easing someones pain and/or preventing their death.
I have tried to break my kit into distinct sections, so its easy to find things when we need them:
- Bandages & Plasters
- Medicine
- Medical Equipment
Each one if fairly self-explanatory.
For bandages and plasters, I keep an array of sterile wound dressings as well as general bandages to hold things in place. With this I also have cotton wool, zinc tape, micro-pore tape, safety pins and antiseptic wipes. We also have steri-strips, butterfly strips and a tube of superglue. I even carry a Quick-Clot Sponge just to be on the safe side. Its also useful to have some powder-free Nitrile gloves handy, so you do not get drenched in bodily fluids.
With regard to medicine, we carry generic things that we use – paracetamol, ibuprofen, aspirin, cold remedies, eye wash, antacids, re-hydration salts, various sting and bite sprays, but nothing you cannot buy over the counter. I would suggest that if any family member has specific needs, and specific medication, your ensure these are catered for in your kit (EpiPen’s etc.). We also have antiseptic cream (Savlon, Germolene etc.) and some bottles of sterile water to wash wounds.
Finally we have the Medical Equipment. This is where the child in me comes out, as we have at least 3 devices that require batteries (Blood Pressure monitor, Blood Sugar monitor and a Finger Pulse Oximeter), as well as a CPR mask, stethoscope, mercury thermometer, tweezers, space blankets, scissors, normal sewing kit, syringe & needles, scalpel & blades – we even have a suture kit and an emergency dental filling repair kit. Yes, I did listen when I was told ‘Be Prepared’!
Whatever is in yours, just ensure it can do what you want it to.
I keep getting told off by family members as some of the medicine and other bits do go out of date from time to time, but I would rather waste a few pounds here and there than desperately need something in an emergency and not have it. I think peace of mind is worth a few extra pounds on occasion.