First-Aid kits can be overlooked in family life. While you may keep yourself stocked up with cartoon-character band-aids and antibacterial ointment–having a first-aid kit handy may have been overlooked. Here are some suggestions for how to put together your own kit (if you don’t want to buy them ready-made) and where you should keep one available in a busy family…
Personally, I never want to spend the money for a fancy first-aid kit and the little ones seldom seem extensive enough for what I expect out of a first-aid kit–so I’ve tended to put together my own. With the availability of watertight plastic storage containers, it’s not hard to find one just the right size for the size of first-aid kit you need to put together.
A standard first-aid kit should include: an assortment of bandages, including gauze and tape; cotton balls; first-aid cream or antibacterial ointment; rubbing alcohol; a hot/cold pack; an instant ice pack; a few pairs of latex gloves; aspirin; other pain killers; a pair of scissors; tweezers; a small plastic cup; splint(s); burn gel or aloe vera; anti-itch cream; syrup of ipecac or activated charcoal; flashlight and barrier for rescue breathing. This may seem like a lot, but many of the items are small and you can get all this into a fairly compact container.
Now, my suggestion is that you keep a well-stocked first-aid kit in your home, but also one in each of your vehicles (if you have one). In addition to the first-aid kit–it is a good idea to keep a thermal blanket and a jug of distilled water in each of your cars as well. When I was a volunteer coach for my children’s soccer, baseball and basketball teams–I kept a first-aid kit in my coaching bag and while I seldom used anything but bandages out of it, I always had it handy just in case.
If you need help putting together a first-aid kit, or would like to purchase them ready-made–you have many options. You might want to check with your local Red Cross for more advice, and to receive written information on first-aid procedures which might be helpful as part of your kit.