Here’s a list of items that should be included in all of our medical kits (do you even have a kit ready?). Read it and make sure your own kit is correctly stocked…

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Sanitation and Personal Protection

Regardless of the emergency, sanitation is not something that should never be overlooked. For your own protection and the protection of your patient, always WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!

I cannot stress the importance of hand washing.

For this reason and so you never forget.. choose the most easy to access part of your bag to store your sanitation supplies. Most of these items can be found at your local dollar store so there are no excuses not to be hygienic when providing first aid. These very simple step could mean the difference between life or death.

**Tip: Keep a small zip-lock bag with a maxi pad and bandanna in with your sanitation supplies. In the event someone is bleeding you can buy yourself a minute to wash up by having the injured use the maxi pad to apply direct pressure, if they are unable, you can hold it in place with the bandanna.

Items to include:

• Bar of hand soap and a case to put it in (dollar store)
• 4 oz hibiclens hand cleanser (if your budget allows)
• Nail clippers, nail file, scrub brush (keep nails short and clean – dollar store)
• Large bottle of hand sanitizer (you will need a lot of this – dollar store)
• Hand disinfecting wipes (for when washing isn’t possible $2 at pharmacy)
• 2 oz hand cream (sanitizer and gloves dry out your hands – dollar store)
• 3 mini soaps/3 mini hand santizers (these are for giving away. It is important to keep the patient clean, too – dollar store)
• 50 pairs of latex free gloves (latex is a common allergy)
• 3 pairs nitrile gloves
• 10 surgical masks
• 3 N-95 masks
• 10-20 surface disinfecting wipes (dollar store)
• 10 puppy training pads (will work well as underpads – dollar store)
• 10 garbage bags (for plastic backing – dollar store)
• 5 bio hazard bags (if budget allows)

Wound Care

From superficial scrapes to life threatening bleeding it is no surprise that there are millions of wound care products out there. Try not to get too overwhelmed with this.

The first thing we need to do is to make sure that whatever caused the injury is no longer a threat. We then need to make sure the person wants our help!!

Before we rush in to play doctor, we should always let the injured person know who we are and what training we may have. In the event this person is or at any time becomes unconscious implied consent is given.

Once we have established that there is no current threat to ourselves and that we have consent to help then the main objectives are to stop the bleeding, monitor for shock and prevent infection. It may be wise to divide this into 3 sections so if you are ever in a panic, you’ll be less likely to miss a step.

**Tip: Pack what items you can afford then add to it as you are able to.

Items to include:

Bleeding Control

• 3 Maxi pads and a bandanna (extras!! – dollar store)
• 2 hyfin chest seals (for both entrance and exit wounds)
• 3 different size quikclot sponges (these are cheaper then celox)
• Celox Products (These are expensive, I would start with the powder)
• 20 gauze 4x4s
• 10 ABD pads 8×10
• 1 Israeli bandage
• 1 SWAT tourniquet

Wound Closure

It is almost never a good idea to close a wound in a non-sterile setting, you can pack a suture kit for just in case but this should be a last resort. I did not pack a stapler because I personally am not comfortable with using for a number of reasons.

• 100s of different size band-aids (dollar store)
• Mole skin
• 50 butterfly closures
• liquid band-aid
• super glue (dollar store)
• Suture kit
• 10 triple antibiotic ointment packets (you can buy a tube but this would be cleaner)
• Burn gel (for pain relief)
• Vaseline (for making non-stick dressing)

You may also want to pack for other situations you foresee or for known medical problems that exist in your family, but the items listed above are the essentials! For more great survival tips, please visit The Prepper Journal.

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