The Medical First Aid Kit Essentials

Medical First Aid Kit with the bare essentials

Since nobody knows when a minor or major medical emergency will happen, it’s important that a properly stocked medical first aid kit always be accessible to handle any type of unanticipated injury or illness.

An important item for anyone to keep in their personal first aid kit might be something that contains a list of their significant medical information. This could help rescuers know which drugs not to administer or any other condition that need to be addressed immediately.

Many medical situations involve aches, pain and possible swelling. Every medical first aid kit should contain some type of pain relief medication such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. In order to prevent swelling immediately after an injury, having instant cold packs in a first aid kit is useful.

To address a common incident such as splinters or other items that can get lodged into the skin, having a set of tweezers is essential. Any time the skin is broken it’s essential that the affected area be cleaned with some type of antiseptic. Alcohol wipes as well as antiseptic hand cleaner, hydrogen peroxide and triple-antibiotic ointment are important to have available.

One of the things everyone should be prepared to treat are insect bites. Should the person bitten not have an allergic reaction, insect bite swabs could handle the situation.

Every first aid kit should be equipped with a wide variety of bandages. Four inch squares of sterile gauze pads, triangular bandages and several different sizes of adhesive bandages as well as bandage scissors are important. Medical adhesive tape will keep the gauze and triangular bandages in place. Elastic bandages should be kept in a first aid kit in case there’s a situation where an ankle or other joint needs to be immobilized.

When treating other people with first aid it’s always best for a person to protect themselves. Every first aid kit should contain some type of protective gloves as well as a barrier device to use in case CPR needs to be administered.

Having the proper items in a first aid kit can make the difference in preventing a small injury from becoming a life threatening one. It is advised that anyone with a medical condition keep specific medical items relating to their condition in their personal first aid kit.