health centershealth & living center

What Are 27 Items in a First Aid Kit and Their Uses?

Disease and Condition: First Aid
What Are 27 Items in a First Aid Kit and Their Uses
Here is a list of 27 items to include in your first aid kit

Having a well-stocked first aid kit in your house will allow you to respond quickly to a wide variety of emergencies. 

Here are 27 essential items to include in your first aid kit.

27 items to include in your first aid kit

  1. Adhesive bandages (Band-Aid or similar brand) in assorted sizes for minor cuts, scrapes, and injuries
  2. Sterile gauze pads, nonstick (Adaptic-type, petrolatum) gauze, and adhesive tape
  3. Elastic (ACE) bandage for wrapping wrists, ankles, knees, and elbows
  4. Triangular bandage for wrapping injuries and making an arm sling
  5. Moleskin to apply on blisters or hotspots 
  6. Eyeshields and pads
  7. Aluminum finger splints
  8. Thermometer to measure body temperature
  9. Tweezers to remove small splinters and ticks
  10. Small pair of scissors to cut gauze or fabric
  11. Syringe, medicine cup, or medicine spoon for giving specific doses of medicine
  12. Blue baby bulb or a soft plastic suction device to clear congestion
  13. Disposable ice bags for treating injuries caused by slipping, tripping or falling
  14. Face mask to reduce wound contamination risk
  15. Sterile cotton balls cotton-tipped swabs to clean wounds
  16. Hand sanitizer to sanitize your hands and reduce contamination
  17. Latex or non-latex gloves to reduce contamination
  18. Antiseptic solution or wipes, such as hydrogen peroxide, povidone-iodine, or chlorhexidine
  19. Antibiotic ointments such as bacitracin, polysporin, or mupirocin
  20. Sterile eyewash such as contact lens saline solution
  21. Calamine lotion for stings or poison ivy
  22. Hydrocortisone cream, ointment, or lotion for itching
  23. Cough and cold medications
  24. Laxatives for constipation
  25. Antidiarrheals for diarrhea
  26. Antihistamines for allergies
  27. Pain-relieving pills, sprays, and creams to treat cramps, sprains, swelling due to muscle pain, and minor injuries

What are different recommendations for a first aid kit?

According to the American Red Cross, essential items that should be included in a first aid kit include the following:

Basic first aid kit for a family of four

  • 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 × 9 inches)
  • 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes)
  • 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards × 1 inch)
  • 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately one gram)
  • 5 antiseptic wipe packets
  • 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each)
  • 1 blanket (space blanket)
  • 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
  • 1 instant cold compress
  • 2 pairs of large, non-n-latex gloves
  • 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets 
  • Scissors
  • 1 roller bandage (3 inches wide)
  • 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide)
  • 5 sterile gauze pads (3 × 3 inches)
  • 5 sterile gauze pads (4 × 4 inches)
  • Oral thermometer (non-mercury/non-glass)
  • 2 triangular bandages
  • Tweezers
  • First aid instruction booklet
  • Flashlight or glow sticks
  • Blister kit for hiking and camping
  • Molefoam
  • Moleskin
  • 2nd skin
  • Medical tape

For major wounds and fractures

  • SAM-splint (moldable foam splint)
  • Emergency Trauma Dressing (“Israeli” bandage or Ace wrap)
  • CAT or SOFTT Tourniquet
  • Wound packing gauze (Combat Gauze or Z-Pak dressing)
  • “Stop the Bleed” booklet 

Over-the-counter medications to consider (especially for travel)

What are some life-saving first aid skills?

First aid skills can be critical in certain scenarios and may include:

  • Applying a tourniquet and controlling bleeding
  • Performing hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
  • Operating an automated external defibrillator
  • Administering seizure first aid

SLIDESHOW

8 First Aid Kit Essentials for Scrapes, Cuts, Bug Bites, and More See Slideshow
References
Image Source: iStock image

https://www.emedicinehealth.com/first_aid_kits/article_em.htm

https://www.webmd.com/first-aid/features/tip-sheet-what-to-keep-in-your-first-aid-kit

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001958.htm

https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/anatomy-of-a-first-aid-kit.html

https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2021/05/first-aid-kits/

Top 27 Items in a First Aid Kit and Their Uses Related Articles

  • aluminum chloride topical
    Aluminum chloride topical is a medication used as an antiperspirant to manage excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) and to control minor bleeding and/or growth of excessive new tissue (granulation...
  • anamu
    The leaves, stems, and roots of anamu have been traditionally taken as tea or tincture to treat infections, headaches, fever, and cold. It is topically applied for skin fungal infections and to heal...
  • bacitracin topical
    Bacitracin topical is an antibiotic ointment applied locally to prevent infection in minor skin injuries including cuts, scrapes, and burns. Bacitracin ointment is also used to treat superficial...
  • Burns
    Burn types are based on their severity: first-degree burns, second-degree burns, and third-degree burns. First-degree burns are similar to painful sunburns. The damage is more severe with...
  • cadexomer iodine
    Cadexomer iodine is a topical antiseptic medication used to treat and prevent infection in minor burns, cuts, and scrapes, and to clean wet ulcers and wounds and protect them from infection....
  • castor oil/trypsin
    Castor oil/trypsin is a combination topical product used to treat skin ulcers, burns, sunburn and wounds. Castor oil/trypsin helps relieve pain and promote wound healing. Castor oil relieves pain and...
  • echinacea
    Echinacea is a group of flowering wild plants belonging to the daisy family (Asteraceae/Compositae), commonly called coneflowers. Extracts from echinacea have been traditionally used to treat various...
  • First Aid: Why You Need a First Aid Kit and CPR
    First aid is providing medical assistance to someone a sick or injured person. The type of first aid depends on their condition. Preparedness is key to first aid, like having basic medical emergency...
  • First Aid for Seizures
    Some seizures are caused by brain diseases, tumors, genetic conditions, or other illnesses or disorders that can be diagnosed (symptomatic seizures). When the cause for the seizures is unknown, they...
  • First Aid: Bandaging Injuries and Wounds From Head to Toe
    Bandaging a wound like a burn, cut, or scrape requires different techniques depending on which part of the body was hurt. Ace bandages, liquid bandages, bandage wraps, waterproof bandages, elastic...
  • First Aid: Wound Care for Cuts and Scrapes
    Wound care treatment at home involves performing cuts and scrapes first aid including cleaning the injury and applying antibiotic ointment and a bandage. Use wound care products like adhesive...
  • 8 First Aid Kit Essentials for Scrapes, Cuts, Bug Bites, and More
    Are you always prepared for a first aid crisis? See which basic first aid items to pack to treat minor scrapes, cuts, and stings when you're on the go.
  • First Aid Quiz: Care for Wounds, Scrapes, Cuts, and Burns
    Wound care for cuts and scrapes includes treatment to clean and bandage the injury. Should you use alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, ointment, or butter on a wound? Should you pull a bandage off fast or...
  • Heat Exhaustion
    Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop after several days of exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement fluids. Heat exhaustion can...
  • menthol/zinc oxide topical
    Menthol/zinc oxide topical is a combination medication used for the temporary relief of pain and itching associated with diaper rash, fecal, and urinary incontinence, feeding tube, wound drainage,...
  • neomycin/polymyxin B/bacitracin/pramoxine
    Neomycin/polymyxin B/bacitracin/pramoxine is an antibiotic ointment topically applied on minor cuts, scrapes, burns and wounds to prevent infection and relieve pain. Common side effects of...
  • silver sulfadiazine
    Silver sulfadiazine is a broad spectrum antimicrobial medication topically applied on burn wounds to prevent infection. Common side effects of silver sulfadiazine include rash, itching, pain,...
  • Trauma/First Aid Quiz
    What should be in your first-aid kit? Take this quiz to understand trauma and learn the truth about how to administer first aid.
  • zinc oxide topical
    Zinc oxide topical is an OTC diaper rash ointment used to prevent and treat minor abrasions, burns, chafing, diaper rash, insect bites, and minor skin irritation. There are no significant side...