Whether you purchase a pre-packed home first aid kit or assemble one on your own, your first aid supplies are a vital part of your overall health preparedness. Whether you live by yourself, have a family with young children, or are caring for an elderly relative, it is important that you have some essential items in your home to help take care of yourself and your loved ones.
There are plenty of occasions when sickness and injury can occur in our lives, and being prepared for this is a essential health tip. Sometimes the condition may be minor enough that we don’t need to go to a doctor or to the hospital, but it is still important that we take action to help ourselves get better. While broken limbs are obviously not DIY, punctures and scratches can be just as debilitating if they are left untreated and infection sets in.
To help ourselves and our loved ones with our health concerns, we should always keep a stock of basic health essentials in our homes. This will include some basic medicines for treating general problems and some simple items for our home first aid kit.
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To know what must have’s to include, read on for our home first aid kit checklist:
Where Should You Keep Everything?
First up, you will need to find a suitable place to store all of your medicines and first aid essentials. It is particularly important to consider this carefully if you have young children, as you don’t want them to access anything that could cause them harm.
Use bottles that have childproof lids on them to stop your children from getting into them easily. The medicine cabinet and first aid kit should be easy to get to. Think about keeping it in a cupboard that is attached to the wall out of reach of young children.
First Aid Kit Checklist For Your Home
Having a shopping list of items is essential for creating your home healthcare kit. It should also include emergency telephone numbers for EMS/9-1-1, your local poison control centre, and your personal doctors. You should also have working flashlights with extra batteries on hand along with a battery powered radio and a portable battery for charging cell phones.
Here are medicines that you should think about buying:
- Painkillers such as paracetamol and aspirin. If you have children, get suitable versions for your child
- Ant-inflammatories such as ibuprofen
- A range of medicines for digestive discomfort including diarrhoea relief tablets and antacids
- Antihistamines
You should also include some first aid items and accessories including:
- Band-aids
- Triangle bandages
- Crepe bandages (various sizes)
- Eye pads
- Sticky tape
- Safety pins
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Rubber gloves
- Antiseptic cream
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Alcohol and/or Alcohol-free wipes
- Antiseptic hand cleaner
- Thermometer
- Heat and ice packs
The above is by no means a comprehensive list of first aid supplies. Also be sure that you don’t keep previously prescribed medication in your home healthcare kit. It is essential that you only ever take prescription medication that has been prescribed for a current condition.
If you have a baby or toddlers, there a few other things you may wish to add First Aid Supplies for Toddlers
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Maintaining Your First Aid Kit and Medicine Cabinet
It is important that you keep your home first aid kit well organized. Ideally, you will want to be able to go straight to the thing that you need quickly. For example, if you have a cut that needs treating, you will need to get to items to clean and dress the wound without having to spend a long time looking.
Keep everything in a logical order so that you find everything quickly. Sort your items neatly by product type.
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You will also need to pay attention to the best before date on medications. Using out of date medicine could be very bad for you.
Check all dates regularly. You should ideally do this every month or two. Then, when you spot anything that is no longer in date, dispose of it and replace it for a new one.
Home First Aid Kit Checklist During a Pandemic
You should look towards getting a good supply of over-the-counter medicine to handle the minor illnesses that will still happen. Have on hand pain relievers, cough drops, cough syrup for your first aid kit. This will help you minimize the need to go to spaces where you may be at a greater risk of infection.