First Aid Supplies

First Aid Supplies

First aid equipment is a basic requirement for any home-, school- or office environment. Life is unpredictable and you never know when you will be in a situation in which you will need basic medical supplies. Your first aid kit contents will be determined by the location where it will be kept (i.e. office, car, briefcase, garage, kitchen or boat) and by who will be using it (i.e. novice or professional).
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Here are a few handy pointers that will help you to select the first aid supplies that will best suit your specific needs:

• Determine your needs.
A home first aid kit will necessarily differ from a first aid bag that will be used on the sport field.
• Look for a kit that consists of a broad variety of components.
When buying first aid medical suppliespurchase price should not be your first consideration. Be prepared to spend a fair amount of money in order to get a comprehensive kit that will be valuable in a wide variety of emergencies. Having a kit that consists of a few bandaids and headache tablets will not get you very far in many real life emergencies.
• Cover the four basics first.
This includes antiseptics (something to clean wounds with and prevent infection), injury treatment (slings, gauze and a range of bandages to cover wounds of different shapes and locations), instruments (tweezers, gloves, etc.) and medicines (here you are looking at analgesics at a bare minimum).
• The way the kit has been organised.
During an emergency time may very well be of the essence, which means you won’t have time to rustle around in your kit to find what you are looking for. Look for a kit that is well-organised with a variety of compartments.
• High quality components.
Again, price should not be your first consideration. In a time of need you do not want to be dealing with bandages that don’t stick, instruments that fall apart or medicine packages that broke in transit.

Once you have purchased your emergency kit you might want to include a list of emergency numbers such as  a nearby doctor, dentist, hospital, fire department and poison control centre. This way, at the time of an emergency, you will have all the relevant information you require in one place. Also bear in mind that certain components of a first aid kit may well have an expiration date (normally three to five years after manufacture) which should be checked and replaced regularly.