16 essential supplies you need in your emergency first aid kit

(Natural News) If the past year has taught you anything, it’s that you need to be more proactive than ever before when it comes to taking care of your health. The pandemic and the lockdowns have shown why it is necessary for you to learn important medical skills and to stockpile necessary medical supplies.
The best place to start when it comes to stockpiling necessary medical supplies is to look up what organizations like the American Red Cross recommend. This organization has a list of 16 essential supplies for an emergency first aid kit for a family of four:

The Red Cross advises that you inspect your newly-created first aid kit at least once every six months, if not more often. Some of these supplies have expiration dates, which means you may need to replace them from time to time.
Be reminded that this list is far from complete. It is simply a way for you and your family to start stockpiling the necessary medical supplies you need to ensure you and your family are in good health. (Related: Health is wealth: 4 Medical preps you need to get ready before SHTF.)
Any other additional medical items will be items that will cater to your family’s specific health needs. For example, you may need some natural medicines in your emergency health kit due to family members with health conditions. You may also want to add assorted vitamins to your medical stockpile, such as vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc.

Purchasing pre-built first aid kits can be convenient for busy preppers

The best way to make sure your prepper first aid kit can attend to every need your family may have is to build it yourself. But there are pre-built prepper first aid kits out there that you can purchase. This can be a lot more convenient, especially if you are busy devoting your time and resources to other preps.
But there are a lot of low-quality pre-assembled first aid kits out there. One sign of a terrible first aid kit is one that has too many supplies. You want to get a first aid kit that has a smaller batch of high-quality medical supplies rather than one with a wide variety of low-quality ones.
Once you’re assured of the quality of the first aid kit you want to buy, it is time to start customizing it. This is the best thing about pre-built first aid kits. Its customizability is very convenient for busy preppers and serves as a good starting point.
For example, the first aid kit you purchased may come with more of a certain medical supply than you think is necessary. You can swap some of the extra supplies out in favor of other items that you believe will be more important to your prepping.
Remember to be guided by your personal experiences when it comes to emergencies. The environment around your home and the emergencies you expect to experience in the near future will guide what kind of items you put in your first aid kit.
Learn more about emergency medicine, first aid kits and how to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy during disaster situations by reading the latest articles at EmergencyMedicine.news.
Sources include:
UrbanSurvivalSite.com
ThePreparednessExperience.com

By NC ScoutPublished On: July 2, 2021Categories: AP Staff, Medical14 Comments

About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

14 Comments

Anonymous July 2, 2021 at 09:07

5
Rooster July 2, 2021 at 11:33

I would add an ultrasound machine and learn to use it. Also a tuning fork for diagnosing fractures. You can never have too much medical stash!
R
- NC Scout July 2, 2021 at 11:37
  
  That’s a good idea.
- SOG July 2, 2021 at 15:16
  
  tuning fork? please explain! also any resources for scoring ultrasound for civ use?
  - Hipnecktacmedic July 2, 2021 at 17:21
    
    You place the tuning fork on the distal end of the suspected FX-the lower part of the bone. You strike it and listen at the end above the bone, preferably with a stethoscope. If you do not hear the tone, or it is abnormal when compared to the non injured extremity, then you have a pretty good diagnoses of a fracture. Not that it will really change how you treat it in the field, but it is a neat trick.
    As to the ultrasound, I recommend one! I have a good quality fetal dopler that does the same thing. Requires some education and use to get the hang of, but with it you can read a lot about blood flow, clots etc. Also good for finding veins in those who are tough sticks for IV placement.
    - SOG July 3, 2021 at 09:47
      
      thanks Medic,
      i see on amazon you can find tuning forks and veterinary ultrasound machines!
      - Hipnecktacmedic July 5, 2021 at 17:45
        
        True that! I use Valley Vet supply for a lot of my kit. They have Zithromycin for cheap, and I just got a load of ivermectin and other anti-biotics. You can get IV supplies off amazon as well as wound packing which I recommend for long term and advanced wound care absent access to first world medicine. Good luck to all of you and anyone can holler at me anytime if you need more info or whatnot.
anonymous July 2, 2021 at 13:11

Also study on what resources you have in your specific area and learn what materials can heal using it.
Older persons who have medical issues are often sent materials by doctors for home care. Gauze rolls, Dakin’s solution, tape and many materials are sent for use. Many times, there is extra at the end of the treatment. Be sure to ask to be given (or offer to buy) these for your use. If the patient asks for professional wound care, these materials are not provided.
Johnny Paratrooper July 2, 2021 at 15:03

They make Cold Compress Helmets for motorcycle crash victims and violent assault or falling victims.
If you get bashed by the smash the fast crowd, you will have at least a concussion.
Believe me. I was a bouncer in Baltimore for 4 years. You can’t win every street fight or bar fight.
These are a relatively new invention, and frankly I don’t have enough good things to say about them.
Hipnecktacmedic July 2, 2021 at 17:14

30 years in Emergency and remote medicine has taught me to carry additional stuff that you can use in several ways. I carry 2 14 G 3.5″ caths and a 20cc syringe. The caths can be used to decompress the chest-requires some training, to debride wounds, and the sharps can be used to remove splinters. When it comes to cleaning wounds, better to use LOTS of clean or boiled water than any kind additional stuff you carry that takes up space. I carry betadyne and dilute it with tap water for wound debridement, I use it only after cleaning the wound repeatedly with H2O. A clean scalpel and small hemostats have multiple uses. I also always put in a small roll of moleskin for various purposes, a roll of duct tape-they make smaller rolls and sell them at REI. Duct tape can be used to close chest wounds, cover dressings, tape ortho injuries, etc. Suture materials are also great to have and you can get them online, as well as all the info one needs to place sutures. They take up very little room and are superior to butterfly bandaids or steri strips, but also have steri strips in the large size, one can always cut them down to the size needed. I carry AsA and ibuprofin as OTC pain meds.
Hope it helps, anyone who wants additional info I have tons. My kits are always larger than most, but I have one that I travel with that is pretty darn small and very complete.
- NC Scout July 2, 2021 at 18:22
  
  Thanks for this brother!
  - Hipnecktacmedic July 5, 2021 at 17:48
    
    Thank you NC for all your work here. I feel a strong bond with my fellow patriots here who do what they can to be good citizens and stewards of our republic! Having spent most of my life in public safety and LE, I have found that nothing takes the place of good intel and knowledge.
- Rucksack Rob July 5, 2021 at 21:19
  
  Thanks for that info but especially thanks for the offer of additional resources and/information. Maybe you could post an article with links to that info.
  Another good source I feel is at Doc Alton and (NP)nurse Amy’s web site: Doom and Bloom.com There’s always short but excellent articles worth pasting to a word doc and printing it out to place in your medical reference binder.
- 71M July 12, 2021 at 22:01
  
  Excellent post my fellow patriot! Wife is a Pharmacist and we attempt to stay up on 1st aid care. Your postings are full of useful info. Will check out the Valley Vet…if I can find such online.
  Salute to you