An accident will not come with a bell on its neck. Thus, being pre-prepared for it is always advisable. And for accidents like injuries, the best pre-preparation you can do is keep a first aid kit with you. Be it home, work, car, or even while traveling, you should carry a first aid kit.
You can easily buy first-aid supplies from medical equipment suppliers. It helps you to manage minor to major injuries till you reach the healthcare center. But it can do this only when you stuff it with all the necessary stuff without missing out on any. And to help you out in that, we have a curated list of first aid supplies that you must have in your first-aid kit.
Medical Supplies You Must Have in Your First-Aid Kit
1. Bandages
The bandage is a common must-have addition to the first-aid kit. You can keep a pack of assorted bandages having different sizes and purposes in your kit. You can use the bandages to wrap strains and sprains and to provide support and compression to the wound.
2. Gauze Tapes
To stop bleeding on minor open wounds, you should use sterile gauze and apply pressure. You can even apply gauze to minor burns after cooling the burn with cool water. And with a larger sterile gauze bandage, you can apply pressure on deeper wounds to control moderate to major bleeding. Also, you can control deep or penetrating wounds causing severe bleeding with a trauma pad.
3. Scissors
You might already know that scissors have multiple uses. Scissors are a vital piece of first aid supplies. It helps one to cut the desired size of gauze or tapes. This way, you can put the tapes that fit your wounds and help stop the bleeding.
4. Wound Cleanser
Cleaning the fresh wound with soap and water is often the best way to clean cuts after stopping its bleeding. But that facility is not always available, and sometimes that is not even the right way of cleaning a wound. In such situations, you can use a wound cleanser, antiseptic sprays, or wound wipes to clean the wound before dressing.
5. Tape
Tapes are useful in keeping the dressing in place to promote better treatment. Surgical tape or medical tape is an ideal choice for first-aid boxes. There are also pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes used to hold a bandage or any other dressing on the wound. These two are mainly required and are helpful in most of the situations.
6. CPR Mask
You should always save yourself first before saving anyone else. And there can be times when you are saving someone, but there is a fear of getting infections by contacting the patient's body fluids or saliva while giving them rescue breaths. In such cases, you can use CPR face shields and masks to protect yourself. A CPR face shield is a basic and portable mask option, while a CPR mask is more prominent in size and provides a tight seal over the patient's nose and mouth.
7. Hand Sanitizer
Once you give someone or yourself first aid treatment, you need to wash your hand properly to clean any germs left on your skin. And for this, you will need to rub your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. But what if soap and water is not available?
Do not worry your first aid kit can have a replacement for you in the form of a hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer helps to remove maximum germs from the hand, hence keeping you safe from any infection. Additionally, you do not need water to wash your hands. You just need to rub the solution between your hands, and you are done.
8. Bug Spray
As we know, mosquitoes can transmit serious diseases like Zika, West Nile virus, Malaria, etc. And, to protect yourself from such diseases, you can keep bug spray of good quality in your first aid kit. Bug sprays are useful to repel mosquitoes, flies, ticks, and other dangerous biting insects.
9. Medications
You need to keep some common medications in your emergency kit, like aspirin. Such medications are a life-saver for an adult having different problems like headaches or chest pain. In cases of severe chest pain, you can give them an aspirin to chew till you call 911.
Also, you need to make sure that they are not allergic to blood thinners or are not restricted to taking any medications by a doctor. Also, you should never give a high-power medication to a child or infant as it can cause different reactions, which can lead to a severe condition.
Final Words
The first aid kit manual is a necessity that one should not skip attaching to their first-aid kits. This way, you can avoid misusing any first-aid kit item. You can even create your first aid kits by filling more necessary items with the must-have items above. However, I will suggest you purchase a pre-filled first aid kit from medical equipment suppliers. It will save you time, and you will have all the necessary first-aid items.
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