First Aid Kits

[WillBrink]

My understanding is most first Aid kits contain a lot of essentially worthless stuff that's cheap for the seller to "pad" the box with to improve profit and you're better off making your own.

If that's true, what's recommended for a first aid box? As one can fill any space with something, lets keep it to "typical" first aid sized box, say size of small fishing tackle box? What is your source for those items?

If not true, what company/brand of pre made first aide kit do you recommend?

[Scrubber3]

What you place in your first aid kit depends upon how much training you have... If you have no training, I'm sure a couple of band aids and a bottle of pepto would be sufficient. For me, I need damn near a whole jump bag. I'm also EMT-P certified and one semester shy of an ADN.

4x4 bandages,tape, tourniquet, aspirin, quick clot, a pressure bandage, Benadryl, epipen, burn cream, rolled splint, wrappings for splint, small bottle of alcohol and peroxide, visine, and some afrin. This would be a good first aid kit to have around for everyday use. And maybe some band-aides as well.

[WillBrink]

What you place in your first aid kit depends upon how much training you have... If you have no training, I'm sure a couple of band aids and a bottle of pepto would be sufficient. For me, I need damn near a whole jump bag. I'm also EMT-P certified and one semester shy of an ADN.

4x4 bandages,tape, tourniquet, aspirin, quick clot, a pressure bandage, Benadryl, epipen, burn cream, rolled splint, wrappings for splint, small bottle of alcohol and peroxide, visine, and some afrin. This would be a good first aid kit to have around for everyday use. And maybe some band-aides as well.

Hence why I intentionally put a size limit on it. Figure for people with minimal training. Obviously EMTs, etc, not the intended target of your basic First Aid kit you keep on hand per se.

[Scrubber3]

Then the list I laid out would fit perfectly and easily used by the masses. With an instruction booklet of course.

[thirteen/autumns]

first Aid kits

can I assume by this it wouldn't include a trauma kit for say something like a GSW? Just a basic household first aid box or bag?

[ST911]

What you place in your first aid kit depends upon how much training you have... If you have no training, I'm sure a couple of band aids and a bottle of pepto would be sufficient. For me, I need damn near a whole jump bag. I'm also EMT-P certified and one semester shy of an ADN.

4x4 bandages,tape, tourniquet, aspirin, quick clot, a pressure bandage, Benadryl, epipen, burn cream, rolled splint, wrappings for splint, small bottle of alcohol and peroxide, visine, and some afrin. This would be a good first aid kit to have around for everyday use. And maybe some band-aides as well.

The gear:knowledge journey has been a bell curve for me. Early on, the less I knew the less I had. Sometime later, I had a good bit of knowledge and got all the widgets to do a lot of things, and jump bags were everywhere. Later, I realized what I truly needed for the things I had to do in the places I had to do them. My kits got much smaller, more flexible, and more reliant upon principles.

[Scrubber3]

The gear:knowledge journey has been a bell curve for me. Early on, the less I knew the less I had. Sometime later, I had a good bit of knowledge and got all the widgets to do a lot of things, and jump bags were everywhere. Later, I realized what I truly needed for the things I had to do in the places I had to do them. My kits got much smaller, more flexible, and more reliant upon principles.

Which is why I listed what I did. Notice there is no stethoscope... Or blood pressure cuff? Or glucometer? Etc...

Just the mere basics that can fit in a small tackle box.

[thirteen/autumns]

4x4 bandages,tape, tourniquet, aspirin, quick clot, a pressure bandage, Benadryl, epipen, burn cream, rolled splint, wrappings for splint, small bottle of alcohol and peroxide, visine, and some afrin. This would be a good first aid kit to have around for everyday use. And maybe some band-aides as well.

scrubber3 laid out a good basic no frills first aid kit

bleeding/LACs
bandages/gauze... 4x4s, 2x2, abd pads, band aids
ace wrap
vacuum sealed kling wrap

or instead of abd pads or 4x4s and ace wrap you could buy pre-made pressure bandages like large or small israeli trauma dressings


wound cleaning/preparation/irrigation
Hibiclens or iodine
20cc syringe and sterile water for pressure irrigation
Neosporin or any topical ABx ointment


swelling/allergic reaction
Benadryl
cold packs
Epipen (if you have a Rx or child/adult that has known allergic reactions)
hydrocortisone

burns
Silvadene cream (it's a wonder "drug" just like Neosporin)
and again sterile water and STERILE gauze

pain
acetminophen or ibuprofen

foreign objects... Specifically eye and orbit
Visine
or again sterile water and syringe for irrigation

misc non medical items
flashlight or headlamp!!!!!!!!! cant tell how often I have needed one and it wasn't close by
tweezers
space blanket
gloves
cloth tape or Coban



I personally wouldn't have any splinting supplies due to my understanding of this kit being a simple "family" no frills first aid kit. TQ would fit easily in a fishing size tackle box so that would be your call whether it would be over kill or not... Even though I wouldn't put "over kill" and medical prep in the same sentence.

[SOW_0331]

Which is why I listed what I did. Notice there is no stethoscope... Or blood pressure cuff? Or glucometer? Etc...

Just the mere basics that can fit in a small tackle box.

Agreed on all the items you listed, and the ones you intentionally didn't. Only thing I would add is a flashlight. Anything else, folks need to remember to pack what you and yours need. Nobody else can guess every possibility that might be present with preexisting conditions.

[YO_Doc]

Keep it simple. The new Celox Rapid, CAT or SOFT/W, chest seal, Z packed gauze and an Izzy call it good. Maybe add a rescue hook or shears.

After than I want to be in my helo.

[Hmac]

scrubber3 laid out a good basic no frills first aid kit

bleeding/LACs
bandages/gauze... 4x4s, 2x2, abd pads, band aids
ace wrap
vacuum sealed kling wrap

or instead of abd pads or 4x4s and ace wrap you could buy pre-made pressure bandages like large or small israeli trauma dressings


wound cleaning/preparation/irrigation
Hibiclens or iodine
20cc syringe and sterile water for pressure irrigation
Neosporin or any topical ABx ointment


swelling/allergic reaction
Benadryl
cold packs
Epipen (if you have a Rx or child/adult that has known allergic reactions)
hydrocortisone

burns
Silvadene cream (it's a wonder "drug" just like Neosporin)
and again sterile water and STERILE gauze

pain
acetminophen or ibuprofen

foreign objects... Specifically eye and orbit
Visine
or again sterile water and syringe for irrigation

misc non medical items
flashlight or headlamp!!!!!!!!! cant tell how often I have needed one and it wasn't close by
tweezers
space blanket
gloves
cloth tape or Coban


This is a nice, basic first aid kit. I would go no farther unless you have training and ongoing training. I would recommend such training, with recurrent refreshers, if your "operational environment" includes the likelihood of penetrating trauma.




Keep it simple. The new Celox Rapid, CAT or SOFT/W, chest seal, Z packed gauze and an Izzy call it good. Maybe add a rescue hook or shears.

After than I want to be in my helo.

Mission and training drive the gear. This is stuff is unnecessary for the vast majority of civilian non-first responders.

[ROG Tactical]

Bumps, cuts, sprains, and eye irratants are what concern me in a basic first aid kit.

Bandaids, gauze pads, gauze wrap, ace wrap, antiseptic, saline, water, shears, tweezers, pocket knife.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

[thirteen/autumns]

Keep it simple. The new Celox Rapid, CAT or SOFT/W, chest seal, Z packed gauze and an Izzy call it good. Maybe add a rescue hook or shears.

After than I want to be in my helo.

My understanding of the OPs question was a no frills basic home first aid kit, not a penetrating/GSW/blow out kit.

[williejc]

For years I've used nasal saline spray for its intended purpose. Because it's nacl concentration is compatible with human blood, it neither burns nor stings when hitting the nose's mucus membranes. My question is this: Would this product serve as a rinse for the eye, ear, or small wounds? It's cheap, and the bottle sizes are handy also. For me, it relieves itching inside the outer ear. I apply the saline with a Q tip for this application.

Here is a good place to remind folks that distilled water can be dangerous when used to flush eyes. Having zero solute, its osmotic pressure causes rapid diffusion of water into cells. Plasmolysis or bursting of the affected cells can occur. I for one would not use it on any wound.

[tb-av]

Which is why I listed what I did. Notice there is no stethoscope... Or blood pressure cuff? Or glucometer? Etc...

Just the mere basics that can fit in a small tackle box.

Can the average person get an epi-pen? I thought that was rx only.


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I would add eyeglass repair kit and spare contacts if it's your personal kit. Sounds crazy but if you can't see that can become a real issue.

[zombiescometh]

I have had pretty good luck with getting different adventure medical kits for more then half off with store/site sales/coupons. They are a great starting point for me.

[quackhead]

There seems to always be confusion with the term " 1st aid kit " or even "IFAK" in some cases. In my opinion, 1st aid kits covers band aids and other non life threatning medical response supplies . A trauma kit/"IFAK" should cover immediate response for GSW/IED...immediate life threatning wounds.