A well prepared and thoroughly stocked first aid kit is a smart item to have at home as it will help you respond to common medical emergencies and injuries.  You should Keep at least one kit at home and one in your vehicle. Keep the kits in easy-to-grab spots that are still out of reach for younger children.  Any children old enough to understand the purpose of the kits should be shown where the kits are kept.

Also, should you need to get the hell out of Dodge in a hurry, or if there is some sort of major, devastating natural disaster that you manage to survive, a first aid kit may be the only source of reliable medical supplies available to you for quite a while.

There are all sorts of gear you can put into your first aid kit,  but there are some basics you should invest in:

• First aid treats the ABC’s (airway, breathing, and circulation) as the foundation of  treatment.  Most  commercially available first aid kits will contain an effective infection barrier (such as a pocket mask) for performing artificial respiration as part of the cardiopulmonary resuscitation process.  If you’re traveling on your lonesome and don’t need to worry about the needs of others, you might not want to include a pocket mask since if you ever go unconscious, you can’t give yourself CPR.  Luckily, a pocket mask won’t take up much space should you decide to include it.

• First aid kits are often prepared to treat trauma injuries, such as bleeding, burns, or bone fractures.  The are usually the primary focus of most first aid kits.  As such, many first aid kits will include the following; adhesive bandages, moleskin adhesive pads (for covering blisters), elastic bandages (for sprains), sterile dressing for direct application to a wound, sterile eye pads, a small bottle of saline solution (for cleaning out wounds/washing contaminants out of one’s eyes), antibacterial soap, an irrigation syringe (with catheter tip for cleaning wounds with sterile water, saline solution, or a weak iodine solution – the stream of liquid can flush out particles of dirt or debris from a wound), antiseptic wipes for reducing the threat of infection around wounds, and adhesive tape for keeping any wound dressing in place.  A few black tea bags might be worth including due to their many first aid uses.

• Personal protection items, such as gloves, goggles and a surgical mask to reduce your contact with possible pathogens.

• Some basic tools such as tweezers, pliers, scissors, a lighter (for sterilizing equipment when another option is not available or just for starting a fire), a thermometer, an emergency blanket (a.k.a. a “space blanket), a flashlight, and chemical cold packs that can be activated instantly (to reduce swelling).

• Medication – If you require any sort of prescription medication to stay individually healthy and functioning, make sure you pack at least enough for 72 hours, possibly more as it probably won’t take up much room in your first aid kit.  Also, aspirin is a good choice because it serves multiple functions as a reliever of minor aches and pains, can reduce fever, and is an anti-inflammatory medication.  Also, due to its anti-platelet effect, aspirin can help prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clot formation in folks at high risk of such complications, and can even be taken post-cardiac event to reduce the risk of another heart attack and/or of the death of cardiac tissue.  Other useful medications include codeine (for significant pain relief and its anti-diarrhea effects), various prescription stimulants (such as Adderall, Adderall XR, Vyvanse, or Ritalin due to their ability to keep you awake over a long period of time, which you might need when fighting zombies or fleeing for your life.  Very important: use with precaution as these are controlled substances and can can be very dangerous when taken in excessive amounts). Read more »