How To Customize Your First-aid Kits

By Author: Medguard
Total Articles: 154
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Food storage and bug-out bags always steal the show while packing the travel bags, but one of the most important parts of doing preparation is having the right first aid supplies. You should always carry some sort of medical kit with you at all times. We all should have first aid kits in our homes, cars, at work, while travelling, etc. Let us see different types of first aid kits, their importance, and what they should contain in detail.
  
Basic First Aid Supplies
Here is a list of all the basic first aid supplies that you should have in every kit:

Adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
Absorbent compress dressing 
Adhesive cloth tape 
Silvasorb Gel
Antiseptic wipe packets
Bottle of aspirin/Advil
Blanket (space blanket)
Breathing barrier 
Instant cold compress
Box of nonlatex (Nitrile) gloves
Hydrocortisone ointment packets
Scissors & Tweezers
Roller bandage 
Sterile gauze ...
... pads 
Oral thermometer 
First aid instruction booklet
Triangular bandages

Once you get these, you will need to customize your first aid kits. Here, what you need to add in them will depend on where you are going to use it, who will be using them, and on their skill level. There is no benefit to spending money on chest seals and tourniquets if one does not know how to use them.

This does not mean one should forget about them, it means one should learn how to use them. Because along with having the supplies comes the responsibility to learn using them correctly.
 
First Aid Kit for Home
The first aid kit of your home should be able to cover a wide range of injuries that have more chances to occur. Because the size of your kit is not as much of a factor in the home. Thus, you should add all the extras that you might need.

Extra supplies to practice with
OTC medications
Less typical items like mastisol, steristrips, and xeroform
Tapes & Wraps such as ace wrap, vet wrap, hypafix tape, etc
Prescription medications
Specialty dressings such as medihoney and mepilex 

First Aid Kit for Office
Most of us spend most hours of a day at work, and depending on your job, some accidents are more likely to happen than others. Having a first aid kit at work should have supplies for minor injuries as well as for the major ones. Your first aid kit would be useful for events like fire burns. It should have supplies that can help until the medical professionals arrive. You can customize your own kit to keep it on your office desk for emergencies.
 
First Aid Kit for Your Vehicle
Injuries while driving a vehicle are likely to be more serious than injuries doing anything else. While  thinking about what you should add to your car first aid kit, think about all the likely injuries that can occur in a car accident.

Here, you might want more trauma supplies. Severe bleeding and broken bones are common in most car accidents. Having more than 100 band-aids in your car would be unnecessary, instead having an extra gauge, SAM splints, and dressings would be more useful.
 
Where to Store Your Kits?
There are specially designed first aid kits or boxes that you can use for placing your customized first- aid products. But if you don’t have them then you can use many items like:

Ziploc bags
Old toolbox
Small cardboard boxes for extra supplies (labeled)
Old plastic bins
Sterilize bins with drawers
Tupperware containers
Old cordless tool cases

However, you should make sure they are clearly labeled. You should have these supplies to be readily available without having to search through all the boxes to find what you need.
Here we have a few ideas that you can use to store your first aid kit


Conclusion
First aid kits are necessary for any minor to major emergencies. There are times when you can control the injuries or the bleeding till the ambulance arrives. So, it is advisable to carry a customized first aid kit with you wherever you go with different products as per needed. Also, do not forget to refill the first kit supplies regularly.

Paul Clifford is the Owner & CEO of Medguard. He aims to strengthen the healthcare infrastructure of the country by supplying medical devices and consumable products of top-notch quality.