Emergency First Aid Kit: What to Pack in it and Why

If an accident occurs, it is important to have the appropriate tools and supplies to minimize the resulting damage. A first-aid kit is an essential tool that is required for disasters and emergency situations alike. Your first-aid kit must have certain essential items, without which it will not be of much assistance. The following is a short list of some of the most important components of a first-aid kit.

Bandages

A bandage is an important item of a first-aid kit, as it can prove immensely useful for treating injuries of all kinds. It is always wise to get Band-Aids in a variety of sizes to meet varying needs.

Burn Ointment

Your first-aid kit is practically incomplete without a burn ointment and it’s often something that people forget. While not all burns should be treated with ointment (and you should be sure to seek first-aid advice or take a first-aid course in order to find out which ones do), it’s important to have this essential piece of equipment in your kit. Burn ointments are important to relieve the stinging pain and discomfort associated with all sorts of burns.

Anti-septic Lotion

Wounds, cuts and abrasions caused by disasters or accidents must be tended to immediately. Anti-septic lotions rid the affected area of bacteria and germs to prevent further infection. If the wound in question has any foreign bodies stuck to it, it must be washed with water. If there is no water supply, anti-septic lotions can do the job for you just as effectively. An anti-septic is available in the form of lotions, creams or sprays, so you can choose whichever meets your needs most aptly.

Scissors and Tweezers

Scissors are highly important to a first-aid kit because a pair of scissors allows you to cut clothes, gauze pads, and surgical tape. Dressing a wound would be rather difficult in the absence of a good pair of scissors. On the other hand, tweezers can come in handy if you ever need to extract a foreign object, such as a shard of glass, from inside a wound. Therefore, its importance must not be undermined.

Surgical Tape

If there is no surgical tape, it will be impossible for the dressing to stay at the affected region of the skin. As a result, wounds will take a longer time to heal.

Gloves

The importance of latex gloves to a first-aid kit cannot be stressed enough. If you ever have to tend to someone else’s wounds, you must wear protective gloves to prevent yourself from acquiring the infection. Infection can easily be spread through body fluids, so gloves should be worn at all times if you maintain contact with an individual with a contagious infection.

Analgesics

Analgesics basically function as pain killers and are sold under a variety of trade names, such as ibuprofen or aspirin. They are important to relieve pain concomitant with serious injuries and must, therefore, be included in the first-aid kit.

Anti-biotic Cream

An anti-biotic cream speeds the recovery of wounds, abrasions, cuts, scratches and broken skin. The chance of acquiring an infection is reduced significantly if an anti-biotic cream is applied to the affected area.

These are some of the most important components of a first-aid kit. Without these items, treating wounds can become significantly difficult and the spread of infections can be triggered.

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