Okay, I need to purchase or build a good first aid kit. Any ideas of what the contents should be?
I just googled up a list and ended up making one for each car and one for home using supplies we had on hand plus a few purchased items.
I have been a big fan of making my own versus trying to buy ones from the various camping stores etc.
I came across the following list and kind of built around/from there.
( http://ncpreppers.com/2011/08/16/emergency-medical-supplies/ )
No I did not use everything on thier list and I did add a few of my own, but it gave me a starting point. I also went and bought a 5.11 bag that allows this all to clip on to the outside of my camping/hunting backpack.
ignoring imike and his infected links (could we get an admin with a banhammer to take that out?)
Quebecker, when I had to do my first aid kit, I decided to tackle it myself. I found it was (very) slightly cheaper than buying the premade kit. I looked up a good kit online with a full list of it's contents, then duplicated the items I could find. This allowed me to stock more (or less) of specific items depending on how useful I felt and personal experience told me they were and to make substitutions in some cases for higher quality materials. Tweezers are tweezers are tweezers, but a dull or cheap pair of EMT shears are torture to use. A lot of the materials can be bought in small quantities at medical supply stores, as opposed to Shoppers or Rexall where you'd have to buy a box. (I only need 3 pair of gloves in a kit, not 50). Look for supply stores attached to or nearby hospitals, medical schools and sports clinics.
Mine is based on the Adventure Medical Backcountry First Aid kit ($91 at Moutain Equipment Coop website) and cost me about $60 to make myself, plus $30-$40 in additional supplies (over the counter drugs - Gravol, Immodium, Aspirin, Advil, Tylenol, Benadryl, Polysporin, Ammonia stick) that weren't included in the kit it's based on. As a result, I have a first aid kit that makes my EMT friend jealous and can deal with a larger variety of first aid situations.
A little bit of research and a little patience when assembling the diverse bits can help make a fantastic kit.
Hope this helps!
Aphrael
Oh sweetheart, I don't have to run faster than the bear...
I did the same ...basically went at creating my own. It started with an army first aid kit that we found at the thrift store and from there we loaded it up with items as we came across them. The thrift store is a great place for weird items like tensor bandages etc, we bought a massive bag of those for $2. They were in fantastic shape, got laundered and went into the kit. The dollar store was great for antiseptic wipes, gauze, bandage tape, tweezers and the like, the rest got rounded out as we came across it. Aphrael said it, check your hospital/medical supply store or Mountain Equipment Co-op, great resources for medical tools and suture kits.
"Santa" brought me a compact 79 pc camping first aid kit yesterday as well ... I will take a look at it and see what can be added!

