What Should You Include in Your Family’s First Aid Kit?

Accidents and injuries can occur at any time. Therefore, it is essential that you’re always prepared by having a high-quality first aid kit on hand. In fact, you should not only keep a first aid kit readily available in your home, but also in each one of your vehicles. Still, unless you’re a medical professional, you might not be fully aware of all of the items a high-quality first aid kit should contain, which is exactly what this article will seek to address.

Staying Prepared for Anything

Whether at home, on the road, or out in Mother Nature, there is always the potential for injury. Cuts, scrapes, burns, bites, stings, and broken bones are just a few of the possible scenarios you might encounter, and a good first aid kit should contain items to treat any eventuality.

Treating Minor Cuts, Scrapes, and Other Wounds

The most obvious items your first aid kit should contain are bandages, which will come in handy to help stop bleeding and cover up any minor wounds. Of course, you can never know exactly what type of wound you may have to deal with, which makes it essential that your first aid kit contains a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles of bandages. In addition, it is a good idea to visit your local drugstore for different sizes of sterile gauze pads or a roll of gauze and tape to help you doctor any larger wounds.

Eye injuries are also a common occurrence. As such, your kit also needs to contain at least a few sterile eye dressings and eyewash.

For broken bones or muscle injuries, a triangular bandage can also come in handy as you can use it as a sling. In addition, a rubber tourniquet is a must since it can aid in stemming the flow of blood from any larger cuts or wounds.

Disinfection is Key

Another vital part of any first aid kit is disinfectant, such as alcohol wipes, which allow you to clean any wounds before dressing them. Keeping a wound clean is of the utmost importance. Therefore, it is also recommended that your kit contain sterile gloves, distilled water, saline, or hydrogen peroxide for washing and flushing wounds. It is also a good idea to have antiseptic cream on hand as this also helps to keep wounds clean and aids in the healing process.

Important Medications to Keep on Hand

In addition to all of the above, your first aid kit needs to contain a variety of different medications. Pain relievers are an obvious item to keep in your kit—especially aspirin as it can be a lifesaver should someone start experiencing chest pain or a heart attack. Furthermore, items such as hydrocortisone cream, calamine lotion or another anti-itch cream, anti-diarrheal medication, antihistamine, and antacids can be a huge help in certain situations.

At the end of the day, having a well-stocked first aid kit could make all of the difference to the health and safety of you and your family. Therefore, it is vital that you know exactly what your first aid kit contains at all times. This means regularly checking your kit to make sure none of the items are expired and regularly restocking your first aid kit whenever you need to use any of the items. By doing so, you can help ensure that you and your family are prepared for whatever life may throw at you.

By Anica Oakes

Family First Aid Kit Checklist

Treating Minor Cuts, Scrapes, and Other Wounds

• Bandages – a variety of sizes, shapes, and styles of bandages. 
• Sterile gauze pads or a roll of gauze 
• Tape
• Sterile eye dressings 
• Eyewash
• Triangular bandages you can use as a sling
• Rubber tourniquet 

Disinfection

• Disinfectant
• Alcohol wipes
• Sterile gloves 
• Distilled water
• Saline
• Hydrogen peroxide 
• Antiseptic cream 

Medication

• Pain relievers – especially aspirin 
• Hydrocortisone cream
• Calamine lotion 
• Anti-itch cream
• Anti-diarrheal medication
• Antihistamine
• Antacids

Download our free Family First Aid Checklist MTM Family First Aid Kit