First Aid Kits

First aid kits are like survival kits; you can't carry everything, but you need to be able to carry enough. What's enough? That depends on you and your family's medical needs and how many people are in your family or group. Is there anyone who has special needs or medications that need to be packed along with the other normal medical supplies? Does somebody have diabetes, allergies, or are they just plain clumsy and might need extra bandages or splints?

The best advice I can give you on this, is to buy a large commercial first aid kit from a store like REI or an outdoor sports type, get home and empty the contents onto the floor or table. Sort through the band-aids, ointments, and other supplies, figure out what you need or don't need, then add your own supplies. (Specialty items for people who need them.) If you determine that the commercial kit just needs more bandages, then go to your local pharmacy and pick up more bandages or whatever else you deem necessary to add to your first aid kit.

Here is a small list of some items that I've added to my kit:

SAM Splint (good for almost any broken or dislocated extremity)

Tylenol (childrens and adults)

Benadryl (for poison oak, sumac, ivy and other allergies)

Medical scissors

Tweezers

Extra Band-Aids (a great remedy for the kids' scrapes and scratches)

Cough drops

Super Glue (works great for deep lacerations that require stitches)

Small hand sanitation gel tubes

Snake bite kit (we have poisonous snakes in my area)

Sting Away (for bee stings, nettles, bug bites, etc)

Glow stick (for night injuries)

This isn't my whole kit, just things that I've added in order to satisfy my families needs. This is in our large first aid kit that stays in the vehicle at all times.

You will also want to make a small first aid kit for everyone's backpack or EDC (everyday carry) bag. This should be a smaller and simpler kit. The EDC first aid kit should contain items that you might need right away, like aspirin, large bandages, band-aids, Super Glue, snake bite kit, Sting Away, and anything else you might think would help the injured until medical care arrives or you can get them to the larger kit.

Every family or group is different, so make sure you can atleast take care of you and your immediate family. If you take the family out for a day hike and someone uses part of the first aid kit, make sure you replace what was used immediately upon returning home. Disasters and emergencies happen in an instant, and you don't want to be caught short a cravat because someone thought it would make a good headband while out hiking and you forgot to replace it.

Everytime you go to the supermarket or sporting goods store, look around their medical/first aid sections. You might see something that you never thought about before and realize that it would make a great addition to your arleady exsisting first aid kit. The more prepared and thought out your first aid kit is, the better chance of living to see tomorrow you'll have.