First Aid Kit - What's in yours?

MrsTinks

Great freebee... it'll cost you a bit of time but that's it... JOIN ST JOHNS! You don't have to go to the weekly meetings etc but it would be nice if you did

LEARN FIRST AID! Ok this is easy for me to say as my ex was a paramedic and I know a fair old bit about first aid. Want to know what my emergency first aid kit is? My hand bag and a key ring thing. In there I have in total: 1 Tampon, 1 sanitary towel, 1 condom, 1 face shield for rescucitation (key ring), rubber gloves (kr), 1 haz bag for bloody items (kr). In my car and at home it's different but a tampon and sanitary towels are VERY absorbant and non-fluffy so you don't leave stuff in a wound to contaminate it. The condom can either be stretched to fasten OR if a head would stretch it over the head and use the tampon as a derring or the sanitary towel.

At home - goodness I won't bore you but I have more than most. However I would recommend:

Buy a first aid kit and restock as you go, extra plasters never hurt! To this I would add:
Savlon
an instant icepack or two (check boots for boots points or a free purchase with same or St john supplies - £1 each(google)) or keep plenty of ice in your freezer or even peas
Rescue remedy
Eye wash (it's saline solution and sterile - in emergency you can use it to clean a wound too evn if it does sting)


AND a booklet for what to do in an emergency!

cheekymole

forgot to mention the burn spray

KatrinaC_2

A Loo Roll,
sani towels,
TONS of melolin dressings (you seriously cannot have enough or buy them too big, likewise micropore type tape),
piles of non-sterile non-latex gloves (having seen someone go into anaphalaxis from a latex allergy I now buy the plastic ones paramedics use),
crepe bandages (old fashioned, but incredibly practical),
good sharp strong scissors in large and small,
a 5ml medicine syringe for measuring calpol,
a 3ml syringe last used for getting pus out of my son's infected ear when the eardrum burst (well, not that actual syringe, we replaced it after use obviously!)
a sharp needle for spelks
a cigarette lighter

oh, and a REALLY BIG box to keep it all in!

Kat

Smiley_Mum

tine wrote:

Eye wash (it's saline solution and sterile - in emergency you can use it to clean a wound too evn if it does sting)

AND a booklet for what to do in an emergency!

Best not to mention stuff like this or the thread may get locked. Thanks for posting though, a lot of good info. :-)

pavlovs_dog

a slightly odd one but something sweet. its great for placating the kiddiewinkles if they are traumatised by their accident, and also if someone has low blood sugar, it can help stabalise them (remember a very scary incident with my best friend once. we were on a canal barge in the middle of no where, she had a panic attack when i fell in the loch and nearly drowned, which lead to nearly two hours of somewhat hysterical crying, after which her blood sugar was shot to pieces. one mars bar later, and all was well in the world again :eek: )


note - to be dispensed with caution - perhaps not best for people with diabetes if you dont know how to test their blood sugar :eek:

MrsTinks

Smiley_Mum wrote:

Best not to mention stuff like this or the thread may get locked. Thanks for posting though, a lot of good info. :-)

Not sure why that would get it locked?
Nothing illegal in what I mentioned and the leaflets can be picked up cheap (probably even free) and saline solution is perfectly acceptable to wash wounds with Never yet heard of anyone with an allergic reaction to plain saline solution

Just don't confuse plain saline solution?eye wash for any with addatives especially for contact lenses... unless you want soft lenses in your wounds? :rotfl:

Smiley_Mum

See this thread re Medical Advice...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=114558

and also the extract from Martin's post re medical advice.

' What it is not for

It is very specifically and strictly not for the discussion of what to do in the event of certain medical problems. Please do not ask questions about this. If you're having problems use facilities such as NHS direct and your doctor to go and talk through what you should do.'


Tine,

I believe your original post mentioned about asprin and heart attacks etc and Squeaky has since altered your original posting. What you have posted now would not get the post locked, but the original posting was iffy.

Pooky

I have a fully stocked first aid kit that is kept seperate and only used for childminding, something I have to keep by law. Most of the dressings etc now are date stamped.....another expense when they all go out of date.

In our own personal box we have basic pain relief meds, plasters, some vapour rub and some antiseptic cream.

If I need to dress a wound and that's only happened once in 11 years of parenthood, then I'll use what's available. A clean hanky and a tea towel make great dressings and bandages, ok they're not sterile and sealed like all the modern dressings are but I'm willing to take that risk.

I keep plasters, a couple of sachets of pain relief and some antibacterial wipes in my handbag - they're in the inside pocket of all my bags so I don't need to worry. I've lost count of the number of times I've handed plasters out to parents whose little one's just fallen over and they've got nothing to use.

squeaky

Actually it was me that altered the posting to remove that small section which was rather clinical and so of concern with regard to the forum rules on posting medical advice. A better solution, I thought, than locking the whole thread because of a single sentence

The way I'm reading this thread is that anyone saying what is in their first aid kit is fine, but telling how to use it is not.

If I find myself in doubt then I'll refer the item to the Forum Team for them to advise on.

I hope that clarifies things for you.

Smiley_Mum

Pooky,

I have a mini First Aid kit (homemade set up/not a bought in one) in my handbag too, band aids, cream, Liquid Nurofen/Calpol, antihistamine, Swiss Army knife (very useful), wipes etc. Better to be prepared.