Debbie Parents spend hours and hours worrying about their children. When your child gets hurt, it can be stressful when you’re not sure if you have the right tools to help them. This situation gets even worse if you’re not at home where you keep all of your trusty medical supplies.
As a parent, you need to keep your children safe by having a portable first aid kit that’ll help you when you need it most. Sometimes, you’ll need more than just a Band-Aid to fix the problem.
If you want to make your own kit, it’s important to put the right things that will actually help inside!
Keep reading to get some ideas on what you should include for the best first aid kit setup.
Start With the Essentials
For a portable first aid kit to be useful in most situations, you need to have the basic items in there first. These include:
- Alcohol wipes
- Regular-sized bandages
- A few pre-cut gauze pads
- Medical cling wrap
- Two clean cloths
- Latex-free gloves
- Emergency numbers list
- A little bottle of hand sanitizer
These items are the absolute bare minimum, but they need to be the first things checked off on your first aid kit checklist. Small portable first aid kits should be able to hold these items.
Add a Full Water Bottle
Not only is bottled water great for cleaning off any wounds while you’re out and about, but it also can be useful in an emergency if you need drinkable water.
If you’re not sure that you’ll be able to include a full water bottle in your kit, another option is to create your kit in an old plastic water bottle. You can simply add all of your items to the inside of an empty water bottle that will serve as the container, and you can use it to collect water if you need it.
Include a Thin Scarf
For young children, you can use a small, thin scarf as a temporary sling or tourniquet in a necessary situation.
Since these can fold up to become quite small, they shouldn’t take up a lot of space. Try to find one that is big enough to wrap around an arm or a leg and tie to stay in place.
If you want something that is more durable, you can buy portable kits that contain all of the items you need. This is something you can refill as you use items so that it never runs low.
Consider Additional Treatments
A lot of pre-made kits that you can buy will include a topical antibiotic ointment. These can be helpful if you cannot wash a wound right away as thoroughly as you’d like, like if you’re camping or on a road trip.
You can also add topical Benadryl in case of bug bites, as well as regular Benadryl in the case of an allergic reaction. Children’s ibuprofen or acetaminophen is also a great thing to include. The best portable first aid kit setups will have travel versions of these items included.
Although not a “treatment” per se, you might also want to try and add some little toys or a small book to the kit for distraction if your child is very young. This will help them stay calm and preoccupied when needed.
Creating an Effective and Portable First Aid Kit
To create a portable first aid kit, you really don’t need that many items. Remember that this is your portable travel kit, so it shouldn’t have as many tools in it as your regular kit that you keep at home.
The basics, and some small extras, are really all you need.
Do you want to learn more about keeping your children safe when you’re out and about? Check out some of the parenting blogs on our website next.
