Be Prepared

Home first aid kits are usually used for treating these types of minor traumatic injuries:

• Burns
• Cuts
• Abrasions (scrapes)
• Stings
• Splinters
• Sprains
• Strains

First aid kits for travel need to be more comprehensive because a drug store may or may not be accessible. In addition to personal medical items, the kit should contain items to help alleviate the common symptoms of viral respiratory infections such as these:

• Fever
• Nasal congestion
• Cough
• Sore throat

It should also contain items to treat these ailments:

• Cuts
• Mild pain
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Skin problems
• Allergies

Try to keep your first aid kit small and simple. Stock it with multi-use items. Almost anything that provides good visibility of contents can be used for a household first aid kit.

• If your kit will be on the move, a water-resistant, drop-proof container is best.
• Inexpensive nylon bags, personal kits, fanny packs, or makeup cases serve very well.
• You do not need to spend a lot of money on a fancy "medical bag." Use resealable sandwich or oven bags to group and compartmentalize items.
• Put wound supplies in one bag and medications in another.

Make sure you know how to properly use all of the items in your kit, especially the medications. Train others in your family to use the kit. You may be the one who needs first aid! Pack and use barrier items such as latex gloves to protect you from bodily fluids of others. Check the kit twice a year and replace expired medications. Find out the phone number of your regional poison control center at the American Association of Poison Control Centers Web site and keep the number with your kit.

• The best place to keep your first aid kit is in the kitchen. Most family activities take place here. The bathroom has too much humidity, which shortens the shelf life of items.
• The travel kit is for true trips away from home. Keep it in a suitcase or backpack or drybag, depending on the activity.
• A first aid kit for everyday use in the car should be just like the home first aid kit. For that matter, you could keep similar kits in your boat (inside a waterproof bag), travel trailer, mobile home, camper, cabin, vacation home, and wherever you spend time.

You can buy all items for your first aid kits at a well-stocked drug store. Ask the pharmacist for help in selecting items.

Home kit: A household first aid kit should include these items:

• Adhesive tape
• Anesthetic spray (Bactine) or lotion (Calamine, Campho-Phenique) - For itching rashes and insect bites
• 4" x 4" sterile gauze pads - For covering and cleaning wounds, as a soft eye patch
• 2", 3", and 4" Ace bandages - For wrapping sprained or strained joints, for wrapping gauze on to wounds, for wrapping on splints
• Adhesive bandages (all sizes)
• Oral antihistamines - diphenhydramine (Benadryl causes drowsiness) or loratadine (Claritin doesn’t cause drowsiness) - for allergic reactions, itching rashes. Avoid topical antihistamine creams because they may worsen the rash in some people.
• Exam gloves - For infection protection, and can be made into ice packs if filled with water and frozen
• Polysporin antibiotic cream - To apply to simple wounds
• Nonadhesive pads (Telfa) - For covering wounds and burns
• Pocket mask for CPR
• Resealable oven bag - As a container for contaminated articles, can become an ice pack
• Safety pins (large and small) - For splinter removal and for securing triangular bandage sling
• Scissors
• Triangular bandage - As a sling, towel, tourniquet
• Tweezers - For splinter or stinger or tick removal

Travel kit: A travel first aid kit may contain these items:

• Adhesive tape

• 4" x 4" sterile gauze pads

• Antacid - For indigestion

• Antidiarrheal (Imodium, Pepto-Bismol, for example)

• Antihistamine cream

• Antiseptic agent (small bottle liquid soap) - For cleaning wounds and hands

• Aspirin - For mild pain, heart attack

• Adhesive bandages (all sizes)

• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) or loratadine (Claritin)- Oral antihistamine

• Book on first aid

• Cigarette lighter - To sterilize instruments and to be able to start a fire in the wilderness (to keep warm and to make smoke to signal for help, for examples)

• Cough medication

• Dental kit - For broken teeth, loss of crown or filling

• Exam gloves

• Small flashlight

• Ibuprofen (Advil is one brand name)

• Insect repellant

• Knife (small Swiss Army–type)

• Moleskin - To apply to blisters or hot spots

• Nasal spray decongestant - For nasal congestion from colds or allergies

• Nonadhesive wound pads (Telfa)

• Polysporin antibiotic ointment

• Oral decongestant

• Personal medications and items

• Phone card with at least 60 minutes of time (and not a close expiration date) plus at least 10 quarters for pay phones and a list of important people to reach in an emergency

• Plastic resealable bags (oven and sandwich)

• Pocket mask for CPR

• Safety pins (large and small)

• Scissors

• Sunscreen

• Thermometer

• Tweezers

A well-stocked first aid kit is a handy thing to have. To be prepared for emergencies, keep a first aid kit in your home and in your automobile. Carry a first aid kit with you or know where you can find one when you are hiking, biking, camping or boating. Find out the location of first aid kits where you work.

First aid kits come in many shapes and sizes. You can buy one from a drug store, the RedCross.org store, your local American Red Cross chapter may sell them, or you can make your own kit. Some kits are designed for special activities such as hiking, camping or boating. Whether you buy a first aid kit or put one together, make sure it has all the items you may need. Include any personal items, such as medications and emergency phone numbers, or other items your physician may suggest. Check the kit regularly. Make sure the flashlight batteries work. Check expiration dates and replace any used or out-of-date contents. The contents of a first aid kit can be dangerous in the hands of young children. Store your first aid kit in a secure place out of the reach of young children.

Here are suggestions for the contents of a first aid kit:

·         Activated Charcoal (use only if instructed by Poison Control Center)

·         Adhesive Tape

·         Antiseptic Ointment

·         Band-Aids (assorted sizes)

·         Blanket

·         Cold Pack

·         Disposable Gloves

·         Gauze Pads and Roller Gauze (assorted sizes)

·         Hand Cleaner

·         Plastic Bags

·         Scissors and Tweezers

·         Small Flashlight and Extra Batteries

·         Syrup of Ipecac (use only if instructed by Poison Control Center)

·         Triangular Bandage

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men  have when experiencing heart attack...you know, the sudden  stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that  we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman's experience with a heart attack.

"I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 pm with NO   prior exertion; NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might've brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring  cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and  actually thinking,” A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up." A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite  of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation---the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little  squeezing motions that seemed to be  racing up my SPINE (in hind-sight, it was  probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when  administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.

"AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening--we all have read  and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI  happening, haven't we?  I said aloud to myself and the cat, "Dear God, I think I'm having a heart attack!" I lowered the foot rest, dumping the   cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I   thought to myself "If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else........but, on the other hand, if   I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may   not be able to get up in moment."

"I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics... I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said  she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

"I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t