Best first aid kit

[MotherOfCrocodiles]

I don’t have a first aid kit. At home we have stuff we’d actually use (micropore tape, calpol, all the adult drugs and a bottle of lab alcohol).

in the car just calpol, micropore and hand sanitiser. Foil blankets and water also.

do I need something else? What?

I seem to remember from Brownies fancy kits with slings, tourniquet etc (although you am an also make one from your neckerchief;-) ) but what do we realistically need.

https://amzn.eu/d/018KMBG2

take a look at this St John’s Ambulance first aid kit

When I devised my kit (which consists of a couple of drawers), I tried to anticipate being stuck in the house like we were during covid, and what could possibly happen that we could reasonably get some relief for on our own if we needed to. With that in mind I added a couple of temporary tooth filling kits in case one of us lost a filling, thrush treatment, hemorrhoid cream, clove oil, and a suture kit. The filling kit we’ve actually had to use (and replace which gave relief on a long weekend and got me through until the dentist opened a few days later. I also have books on herbal medicine, first aid books, and the When There is No Doctor manual.

As with all the prepping stuff, only get stuff you actually know how to use. For most people that’s a basic first aid kit.
Same with stocking up on 3 days of food. Just buy more of your usual stuff. There’s no point buying tins of sardines if you never eat sardines.
Same as the bloody wind up radio. Just buy a battery powered one and a box of batteries. It will you last weeks if not months.
As soon as the gov puts out this kind of advice people lose all ability for critical thinking.

If you have injury prone kids steri strips can be useful but only if you know how to apply them. Same with sterile superglue for wounds.

I devised my own - I think this is the best thing to do - for your circumstances. For me, I’m not a prepper at all but I did live in a relatively isolated village for a while and mine was built up over about 10 years with the help from medical friends. I’ve just read it to DH and he laughed and said that’s not a normal first aid kit and I suppose it isn’t I think I grew up quite self reliant and I’m not a doctor but I have a fairly good first aid grasp. I’m also autistic so when I did a first aid kit I did brain storm and then add to it.

I have the following in the house:

Big kit:
Tourniquet x2
Tooth first aid kit (emergency)
Pliers
Medical Scissors
Scalpel
surgical thread

Tweezers
Medical gloves x 200
Huge medical pads to stop bleeding different sizes
Syringes
Breathing tube
Foil sheets
compresses and flannels
Bowls
Urine sample bottles
urine strips

Other more normal first aid stuff boxes these are separated and labelled in different boxes eg pain relief :
Thermometers x2 (spare batteries) and nose cones for thermometers
Oxygen monitor
Blood pressure reader
Tweezers, Scissors
Bandages
Sling
Gauze
Pads
Plasters
cotton wool (proper stuff)
wipes
burn gel
medical Tape
Steri strips
Break up ice pads
Heating self adhesives pads (hot water bottle)
Ice cap (put ice inside)
Cold sore patches
sanitary towels
tampons (good to stop bleeding in cuts too)
Sterile cloths
Eye Bath and eye solution
Antibacterial gel & alcohol gel
Alcohol spray
Iodine
Salvon Spray
vaseline
metanium
sudocream
e45
piles cream
immodium
Althete foot cream
thrush cream
uti antibiotics
broad range antibiotics
safety pins
needles
thread
blister pads
antihistamines
epipens
steroids
Pain relief (paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen, morphine, naproxen, cocodemol, calpol )
vocal zones
vicks
matches
tablets and filter to make water safe

We also have a car first aid kit / which is a smaller version of the one above. And we have animal first aid kits (antihistamines, general bandages etc and suture kit, alcohol spray and a wound powder etc and these are in the car and in the house).

I do realise we are very first aid kit rich - really large cupboard in downstairs bathroom. I check it twice a year.

I don’t really think we have had to use it much. We have the occasional cut or bruise and occasional antihistamines, I haven’t had to use my EpiPens for 3 years (I know my allergy and although I carry them I haven’t had to use it). DH cut his finger badly a year or so ago and my son did use some of the bleeding things to stop it and cleaned the wound up and steri strips etc but I took him to minor injuries when I got home- as the cut was very, very deep and large. But I do think the first aid my 12 year old did was pretty exceptionally good and saved DH some problems - minor injuries were impressed and double checked it. (Lots of blood in the kitchen to clean up though!)

We are all first aid trained including my son, I think it is a good skill to have.

You don’t need the all above for me it comes from habit of living a bit isolated and being fairly self reliant for over a decade. I was also the person that other people could rely on to have x or y.

Batteries - I have every battery you can want (or fuse) or bulbs. This goes back as I say 20 years when I lived isolated and relied on myself.

How have you managed to get hold of morphine?, it's a Class A controlled drug

I have the large SJA grab bag first aid kit for sport coaching. It comes with pretty much every thing you need except tourniquets and haemostatic trauma bandages so I added those.

I had major bone surgery a year ago in hospital (planned not emergency) and was on morphine afterwards and prescribed additional morphine and have some left. I didn’t see the point of throwing it out after and so added it to the first aid kit.

You really don’t want to be giving oramorph to someone in a first aid situation. It causes respiratory depression which if someone is already in shock (especially hypovolemic shock) could finish them off.

I’m not planning to, but I wasn’t going to throw it out either. I’m not planning on stitching anyone up either, we have a local minor injuries less than 10 minutes down the road, this is just what we have in the first aid kit / cupboard. This thread is becoming slightly derailed sorry OP.

You should have taken it back to your nearest pharmacy for safe disposal. You must never ever give anything (and that includes the antiboitics that you say you have in your kit which i assume have been saved from a past prescription) which has been prescribed for you to anyone else even if they have similar symptons You could kill tnem. Morphine as I am sure you are aware is a Class A controlled drug and there are strict laws about its storage, (it should be kept in a locked container) and use.