One essential item for emergency preparedness is a good first aid kit. Your first aid kit should contain supplies to deal with nearly every injury that could occur. A first aid kit will help you to take care of a serious wound until you can receive medical advice from your doctor.
You can buy a complete first aid kit or you can assemble one yourself. No matter what you decide to do there are some items which should be included in your first aid kit. One basic item is a good first aid manual. If you are a doctor or nurse you may not need one, other than that you really should include a manual. You don’t want to make a serious mistake because you were unsure of what you were doing.
Some other basic first aid supplies include an antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin, pain reliever, antiseptic wipes, small splints, an ace bandage, eye wash, gauze (roll and pads), at least one triangle bandage, insect repellent, adhesive tape, sharp scissors, tweezers, band aids, and hot and cold packs.
You will want to include other medications that your family may use. These include anti-diarrheal medicine, antacid, allergy medicines and cold medicine. If anyone in your family needs to carry an EpiPen you will need to make sure that you pack at least one if not more in your kit. You will want to include an inhaler if anyone in your family suffers from asthma. You will also want to include any prescription medicines your family relies on.
Other important things in a first aid kit include rubber gloves and the CPR facemasks. These can be important if you are rendering aid to someone you do not know. You may want to include a thermometer and petroleum jelly.
You may purchase a basic kit and then add the items that you need to in order to personalize it for your family. If you are building it yourself make sure that you store it in a nice sturdy box that is not too heavy to carry. Fishing tackle boxes work quite well.