Be prepared for an emergency with a first aid kit for the home, car, lake cabin and beyond.
Having your own fully stocked first aid kit will make you feel like a rock star next time one of the kids scrapes a knee or an aspiring chef nicks himself in the kitchen. With everything in one place, you’ll also be ready to act fast in the unfortunate event of a more serious injury. Learn more about which items to include and more with these tips from the Red Cross.
Think of your home-base first aid kit as a portable medicine cabinet. A stocked medicine cabinet is great, but bathrooms can get cramped, and bringing an injured person into one isn’t always feasible.
The first step in creating your own kit is to find a portable container with compartments like a small fishing tackle box, a small toolbox or a large makeup organizer.
Think about all the places you and your family spend a lot of time. The house is a no-brainer. But maybe you have a lake cabin as well.
Find smaller organizers for your family’s vehicles or the boat, and consider an even smaller soft case that can be tucked into a backpack for times when you go on adventures away from the car like hiking, canoeing or cycling.
If your adventures take you to remote places, you should add additional survival gear like electrolyte tablets, water purification tablets, splint-making materials, waterproof matches and more.
The home-base or cabin first-aid kits can contain full-size packages of assorted bandages and full-size bottles of pain reliever medication, but for your car and backpack, consider including either travel-size items or individual pill packets. You can also take a few items from your larger kit (like bandages, gauze packets and antiseptic wipes) to help cobble together these smaller kits.
You don’t have to restock your first aid kit each time you bandage a boo-boo, but take inventory every few months to make sure you aren’t running low on a valuable item.
Even if you never have to open the kit except to stock it, you’ll feel more confident just knowing you have one ready.
If your family needs a walk-in clinic, see a list here of locations staffed by Vanderbilt physicians.
Stay safe this winter with these five tips.
