Emergency

What to Put in Your Household Kit

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)
Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) - Oral antihistamine 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

What to Put in Your Travel Kit

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) - 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

References

American Red Cross. Learn About CPR and AEDs. Learn About CPR and AEDs.
American Red Cross. Workplace Training: Standard First Aid. Workplace Training: Standard First Aid.
Auerbach PS, ed. Wilderness Medicine: Management of Wilderness & Environmental Emergencies. Mosby-Year Book; 2000.
Donner H. Wilderness Medical Society: What's in a good medical kit? 1996. Wilderness Medical Society: What's in a good medical kit? 1996.
Forgey WW, ed. Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for Wilderness Emergency Care. Globe Pequot Press; 1995.
International Society of Travel Medicine. The Newsletter of the International Society of Travel Medicine. 2001. The Newsletter of the International Society of Travel Medicine. 2001.
Slapper D. Wilderness and Travel Medicine. eMedicine Journal [serial online]. 2001. Wilderness and Travel Medicine. eMedicine Journal [serial online]. 2001.
Weiss EA, ed. A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine. 2nd ed. Adventure Medical Kits; 1998.
Wilderness Medicine Institute. Buck's Article Archive. Buck's Article Archive.

Authors and Editors

Author: Ron Fuerst, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of South Carolina College of Medicine; Director, Children's Emergency Center, Children's Hospital of Richland Memorial Hospital.

Editors: James E Keany, MD, FACEP, Director of Emergency Medical Education, Department of Emergency Medicine, Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center and Children's Hospital at Miss; Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD, Senior Pharmacy Editor, eMedicine; James S Cohen, MD, Consulting Staff, James Cohen, PC.

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