A First Aid Kit for Your Home
By Rochelle Caviness
Accidents happen. It is a fact of life. When one does occur, will you know what to do? More important, do you have the materials on hand to treat a medical emergency? If the answer to either of these questions is no, you should immediately take steps to correct these deficiencies.
Every home should have a well-stocked first aid kit, and just as everyone should know how to swim, everyone should know the fundamentals of basic first aid.
Need a first aid refresher, or do you need to learn the basics - contact your local Red Cross, community center, or local hospital to find out when, and where, the next first aid class will be held, and take it.
In the meantime, you can begin to build your home first aid kit.
Go to any department store or retail center and you can find ready-made first aid kits. For the most part, these are good 'starter' kits.
Be sure to look over the list of products included. You may find that it is cheaper to purchase these items separately.
As well, some of the kits barely provide the "basics" or do so in such small quantities that they are only good for one use.
Basic Components
There is not a 'correct list' of items to be included in a first aid kit. However, here are a few items that you 'should' have:
List of emergency numbers, 9-1-1, direct numbers to the fire station and police, poison control, and who to notify in case of an emergency
CPR instructions
First Aid manual
Band-Aids – a variety of sizes. Don't forget to add a few of the extra large "knee" sized bandages.
Safety pins
Antiseptic spray
Antiseptic towelettes
Burn relief gel
Triangle sling bandage
Butterfly wound closures
Disposable hot & cold packs
Sterile Gauze
First Aid Tape
Scissors
Tweezers
Magnifying glass
Finger splints
Elastic wrap bandage
Cotton tipped applicators
Disposable plastic gloves
Aspirin - for adults only, and acetaminophen or ibuprofen for children
Thermometer
How much of each item you will need to include in your kit will depend upon the given item and your family's circumstances. For example, one pair of scissors is all that is needed in any kit. However, a family with three small children will need to include a lot more Band-Aids than a bachelor would.
Additional components you may want to include
Poison kit, including syrup of ipecac and charcoal. Be sure to contact your local poison control center before using any of these products.
Eye wash/irrigation kit
Emergency dental repair kit – these include the materials to make temporary fillings.
Burn kit
Anti-Diarrhea medicines
Emergency OB kit
Ammonia capsules
Diabetic emergency supplies
Metallic foil or Space blanket
Emergency Preparedness Items
In addition to general first aid items, you might want to consider organizing an emergency preparedness kit.
No matter where you live, there is always the possibility that you will, at some point in your life, be faced with a natural disaster that will deprive you of electrical power, as well as your normal food and water resources.
To guard against such a possibility, in addition to a well-stocked first aid kit, be sure to keep on hand a
Flash light and batteries
Battery operated radio
Cellular phone
At least three gallons of water for each person in the house.
Nonperishable foods that do not require cooking - enough to last your family for at least a week.
Extra medications
All these items should be exchanged for fresh items on a regular basis. The food does you no good if it is spoiled, nor the batteries if they have lost their charge.
When you have assembled all the items for your first aid kit. . .
Store it in an easily acceptable location
Make sure that everyone knows where it is.
Be sure to keep it out of reach of small children.
. . .and remember, you can never have too many items in your first aid kit. It is always better to be over prepared than to come up short when it really matters.
