# What should I have in my first-aid kit? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 1, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920 "2007-11-01T20:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/1 "2007-11-01T20:31:33Z")
My household: a 40 year old couple with an (almost) two year old child. We have limited medical experience. My wife is allergic to nuts. What sorts of things do Dopers recommend we keep on hand in the first-aid kit, for the house, for going up to the cottage, for going on vacation out of the country? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/2 "2007-11-01T21:47:19Z")
[QUOTE=Malthus] My household: a 40 year old couple with an (almost) two year old child. We have limited medical experience. My wife is allergic to nuts. What sorts of things do Dopers recommend we keep on hand in the first-aid kit, for the house, for going up to the cottage, for going on vacation out of the country? [/QUOTE] Well, just rummaging around, Bacitracin [or any neosporin topical antibiotic] cortisone cream benadryl spray on itch spray silvadene cream [this is a prescription item for serious burns. Amazing stuff. You probably wont ever need this, I hope.] 1 liter saline [for emergency eye or would washing] peroxide single use saline eye drops alcohol both in the bottle and swab single use wet naps benedryl pills mucinex kaopectate tums ibuprofin tylenol immodium pills burrows solution tablets glucose tabs and we have scrips for tylenol 3 indomethican [for my psuedogout] colchicine[for the pseudogout] and if traveling, we get scrips for various regular meds like metformin, byetta, mycardis and the usual suspects we take daily. We can stop in at any american military base worldwide and use the med facilities there if we really need to. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/3 "2007-11-01T21:56:55Z")
Does your wife have a prescription for an Epi-Pen? If not, she should get one and carry it on her person if the nut allergy is life-threatening. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/4 "2007-11-01T21:57:02Z")
What’s in our first aid kit (which is different from our medicine cabinet): A selection of Band-Aids in different sizes. A few of those big gauze pads, in different sizes. First-aid tape, to hold the pads on. Scissors, to cut the tape. Triple antibiotic ointment. Tweezers. And that’s it. I already have needles for splinters elsewhere in the house, and rubbing alcohol, too, if I need to disinfect the tweezers and needle. You wash out a wound with plain soap (mild dish soap or antibacterial liquid hand soap works well) and warm water. If somebody’s got an owie that a gauze pad and plenty of tape can’t deal with, then you’re talking the hospital ER and stitches anyway. And actually, the antibiotic ointment isn’t mandatory. If you feel you must use it, let the owie dry out and form a scab before you use the ointment; in my experience, if you put the ointment on while the wound is still raw, it never does form a good scab, but stays moist and oozing. Let it dry out a bit first. Clean it good with soap and water, dry off around it with something reasonably clean and mostly sterile like a paper towel (i.e. not a washcloth which even though “clean” can be full of staph bacteria), put a loose bandage over it, give it an hour to scab over, and then apply a brand-new bandage with the ointment. Squeeze the ointment onto the sterile bandage, not onto the germ-laden wound, so as to avoid contaminating the tube’s opening with bacteria. When my kids were of an age to ingest possibly poisonous substances for which the remedy was “Induce vomiting”, I kept a vial of syrup of ipecac in there, too. However, I see that this is now no longer the Done Thing, per the American Academy of Pediatrics. We progress, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/5 "2007-11-02T02:56:27Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] And actually, the antibiotic ointment isn’t mandatory. If you feel you must use it, let the owie dry out and form a scab before you use the ointment; in my experience, if you put the ointment on while the wound is still raw, it never does form a good scab, but stays moist and oozing. [/QUOTE] I must disagree. This is actually why ointment is totally recommended for treating road rash and similar scrapes (although plain old vaseline is recommended more because some people have allergic reactions to the anitbiotic). You clean the road rash _thoroughly_ with some kind of wound wash and apply the ointment before the dressing, while the wound is still raw, so it stays moist. It helps prevent scarring that would occur if you let it scab over and heal quickly. You can barely tell where I wiped out last year and scraped a whack of skin off my hip. If you google road rash treatment you’ll see the above. Our first aid is the [Weekender First Aid Kit](http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302695945&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442506463&bmUID=1193971965298) which is mostly used for camping. To that we have added a [Sam Splint](http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302695977&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524441931749&bmUID=1193972037732) which is an awesome flexible splint that accommodates itself to various body parts. The first aid kit has a pouch for additional medications, and a spot where we can slide in an epi-pen when we need it (couple friends have allergies, one is kept on their person, the other is in the first aid kit as a back-up). ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/6 "2007-11-02T04:06:19Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] A few of those big gauze pads, in different sizes. [/QUOTE] A box each of 2x2’s and 4x4’s should be good. I’d recommend a couple of instant-cold packs as well, the ones that you whack on the counter to activate. Definitely agree on the anitbiotic ointment, something like Neosporin. Hydrogen peroxide is good. It’s better for cleaning small scraps and cuts than rubbing alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Cyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@Cyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyn)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/7 "2007-11-02T04:28:34Z")
I also keep a CPR mask, latex tourniquet, latex gloves, nitrazine paper and a cord clamp and clamp cutter in my car first aid kit in addition to most of what has been listed above. In my work centers, we keep (which is an excellent idea for anyone to have) heavy canvas gloves and pry bars. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/8 "2007-11-02T05:49:17Z")
[QUOTE=Swallowed My Cellphone] I must disagree. This is actually why ointment is totally recommended for treating road rash and similar scrapes (although plain old vaseline is recommended more because some people have allergic reactions to the anitbiotic). You clean the road rash _thoroughly_ with some kind of wound wash and apply the ointment before the dressing, while the wound is still raw, so it stays moist. It helps prevent scarring that would occur if you let it scab over and heal quickly. [/QUOTE] Correctamundo. Wounds heal faster, with less scarring and infection if they are kept covered and moist. Polysporin is a good antibiotic ointment- a lot of people are or will become allergic to Neosporin and get a rash at the site. Vaseline or Aquaphor works, too. Bandaids and ointment EpiPen if anaphylaxis is a possibility Oral Antihistamines Tylenol, Advil, and aspirin Alcohol Hydrocortisone cream Anti-itch cream Anti-fungal cream Lotion Liquid soap Washcloth Ace bandage Coban or Coflex (stretchy sticky wrap) Immodium Splint ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/9 "2007-11-02T13:53:21Z")
Thanks everyone - I’m going to print this thread out as a bit of a guide. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/10 "2007-11-02T14:30:55Z")
I feel sorely unprepared now. I have bandaids and hydrogen peroxide, and some anti-bacterial ointment. That’s pretty much it. ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2007, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-should-i-have-in-my-first-aid-kit/424920/11 "2007-11-02T15:17:16Z")
Don’t forget butterfly sutures. I have used them many, many times instead of going to the hospital for sutures.