There are 20 first aid materials (and their uses!) that need to be considered for every first aid kit. But where do you start?
I recently picked up a “Complete First Aid Kit“. This kit boasts 179 first aid “essentials”. Who could go wrong with 179 items to choose from, especially when the definition of essentials is “absolutely necessary”?
It turns out, 149 of those items are variously sized and shaped bandages, only big enough for fingers, maybe part of the hand. If you shop around, you’ll find that this is pretty typical of most pre-made basic first aid kits.
Of course, this rudimentary supply is with the understanding that the user of the kit seeks professional care for medical emergencies. Sounds good. Except, how will you manage those medical emergencies at home, the office, or on your trip, all those places your first aid kit is supposed to be available to you, while you await that emergency medical care?
As an almost 30-year Registered Nurse, dozens of those years spent working in emergency departments, I’m here to tell you too many people are unduly reliant on those premade, overly simplistic kits.
There are better supplies available, in our cheapest drugstores even, with multipurpose uses that can be insanely beneficial for more than treating paper cuts. Not sure where to begin? I’ve got a list of 20 first aid materials and their uses, that you’ll reference time and time again.
This post is all about first aid materials and their uses.
Basic First Aid Kit
Basic first aid kits need to be equipped with the appropriate supplies to care for open wounds, actively bleeding wounds, and common musculoskeletal injuries such as unstable bone fractures or painful muscle sprains, shock, burns, and allergic reactions.
This might sound like a lot to haul around, but consider that it takes an average of 7-10 minutes for a rescue crew to reach someone who called for emergency medical services (EMS). Are those 149 finger bandages (or whatever came with your kit) going to do the trick, especially knowing that a person could bleed to death within 3 minutes?
I live in a four-season, snow-in-the-winter area, with frequent dead zones for cell phone service. This leaves my entire family on our own, or at the mercy of passersby, if we encounter an emergency on our daily commutes to work and school.
How prepared are you for your individual circumstances?
20 Items In A First Aid Kit
We’re going to break this down by their uses as we go along, but 20 items in a First Aid Kit include:
- Adhesive Bandages
- Gauze Pads
- Tape
- Wound Wash
- Antihistamine
- Hemostatic Gauze
- Trauma Pads
- Emergency Trauma Dressing (ETD)
- Tourniquet
- Chest Seals
- Emergency Trauma Blanket (Mylar or “Space” blanket)
- Burn Gel
- Non-Adherent Gauze pads
- Rolled Gauze
- Self-Adhering bandage Wrap
- Splints
- Elastic Bandages
- Cold Pack
- Triangular bandage
- Trauma Shears
20 First Aid Materials And Their Uses
First Aid For Minor Wounds
- ADHESIVE BANDAGES, such as Band-Aid brand Band-Aids. If you already have a pre-made kit, bandages are in it, and a must. Why these are used: Open skin wounds need to be covered and protected, so they don’t get dirty, infected, or made worse from being left open. Make sure the wound is completely dry before covering it (germs love warm, moist conditions to grow in). The exception here would be if there’s active bleeding, and your bandage is needed for pressure to control the bleeding.
- GAUZE PADS. Why these are used: to cover those wounds bigger than what band-aids cover. Well-stocked kits have both individually wrapped sterile pads for already cleaned and ready-to-be-dressed wounds, as well as extras. I buy these in bulk, clean but not sterile, and keep them in a gallon-size Ziplock bag (if space is an issue, the air can be compressed out of the bag before sealing it). These are great for sopping up blood, & cleaning injuries with multiple wounds.
- TAPE. Why this is used: to secure the gauze pads in place. Paper tape is best for sensitive skin and plastic tape is waterproof… if you need to know more about tape selection, click here to see my post on all things Medical Tape.
- WOUND WASH to flush out all the debris, dirt, and blood you can before you seal it shut or cover it up. Why this is used: if you don’t rid the wound of germs, they’ll multiply, inviting an infection. Our family’s kits are stocked for desolate conditions because of where we live. So, instead of dedicated wound wash, we keep bottled water with the spout tops for both wound irrigation and so we can also drink it, thereby also preventing dehydration. Double duty. As if that wasn’t enough, bottled water also makes for a great eye wash, especially important for flushing out chemical exposures, toxic eye splashes, or damaging grit that can’t otherwise get cleared from the eye.
- ANTIHISTAMINE. This is most commonly known under the brand name, Benadryl, but any generic brand of Diphenhydramine will do. This is a must-have in a first aid kit, even if no one in your clan is known to have allergies. Why this is used: Sudden allergic reactions can spring up out of nowhere, and Benadryl, even the cheapest one, is the treatment (hospitals and paramedics will give you this first unless you’re ready to keel over). Medications or foods you’ve been consuming for years can all of a sudden trigger a severe reaction, and if they involve the airway (throat, tongue, lips, breathing) it can quickly become life-threatening.
(Images: First aid kit items with pictures)
Bleeding Control Kit Contents
Most of the following bleeding control kit contents require “Stop The Bleed” (STB) or similar training specific to bleeding control. All contents found in a standard Bleeding Control Kit are covered below, as these are now required in Texas schools.
Stop The Bleed training is meant for us bystanders, the first able-bodied people available to help in an emergency! Learn more about it in your area.
- HEMOSTATIC GAUZE, such as QuikClot Clotting Gauze.Why this is used: to speed up blood clotting for severely bleeding wounds.
- COMBINE (TRAUMA, or ABD) DRESSING. Why this is used: these are super absorbent pads, for extra bloody injuries, and are large enough to cover a bigger surface area, usually 5×9 inches.
- EMERGENCY TRAUMA DRESSING. Why this is used: this is an elastic pressure bandage, much like an ACE wrap bandage but with a sterile absorbent dressing sewn into it, used to securely hold a trauma dressing over a bleeding wound and to increase the pressure over the wound dressing.
- TOURNIQUET, such as the Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T). Why this is used: to control life-threatening bleeding. Any blood that is squirting or pulsating from the body is life-threatening.
- CHEST SEALS, such as HyFin Vented Chest Seals. Why these are used: These cover any holes or penetrating injuries in the chest and torso area, (such as gunshot wounds). Why not regular band-aids here? Chest seals are vented to allow air out of, but not inside, the chest cavity (pushing aside or deflating the lungs).
- EMERGENCY (Mylar, or “Space”) BLANKET. Why these are used: these foil-like blankets use your own body heat to stay warm. They don’t work like regular blankets though! Wrap them around you to trap body heat in – like an open-ended burrito.
(Images: My personal trauma kit, kept in my vehicle. See more about Car Kit Essentials Here)
First Aid For Burns Includes
- BURN GEL, such as Alocane. Why this is used: as a pain relief gel for sunburns or first-degree burns (as in skin not blistered and is still intact). Personally, I never put anything on burns in our household. You do you.
- NON-ADHERENT GAUZE PADS. Why these are used: these are the nonsticky version of regular gauze pads. Blistering or open burns need to be covered and protected and regular woven gauze will stick.
- ROLLED GAUZE is still commonplace in pre-made kits but still needs tape to keep it in place, and scissors to cut it. Old school. Why these are still used: these are absorbent and stretchy and help to secure dressings in bendy and hard-to-reach areas. For those with advanced first aid training, this can also be used as wound packing gauze if you don’t have hemostatic gauze, which is best for this purpose (see Bleeding Control Contents, above).
- SELF-ADHERING BANDAGE WRAP. This is a must in every first aid kit and has all but replaced tape. Why this is genius: it sticks to itself, not skin, making it perfect to secure dressings and splints in place. Since it does stick to itself, it’s made for wrapping (around limbs, head, fingers, etc…), making this indispensable to pet owners too. Since I stock multiple emergency kits at home (house, all vehicles, camper), I buy these in bulk and use them interchangeably with elastic bandages.
(Images: Example of self-adhering tape holding a gauze dressing in place)
First Aid For Fractures And Sprains
(Images: More contents of my vehicle first aid kit)
- SAM SPLINTS. Why these are used: to stabilize painful or unstable bone injuries. If your pre-made kit came with one, be sure you have more than one finger splint inside of it. I have a kit with a variety of sizes and can splint any size limb.
- ELASTIC BANDAGES, such as ACE brand bandages, but any generic wrap will do. Why these are used: to secure splints in place, or used alone, to provide compression to a muscle injury (sprain or strain), or to hold gauze or trauma dressings in place. The outdated clip-closure wraps are still available, so be sure to pick up the worry-free velcro closures instead.
- COLD PACK. At home, I use a big bag of peas or berries out of the freezer and throw them back in when we’re done. On the go, however, instant cold packs are nice to have. Why these are used: to help prevent the swelling & pain that usually accompanies muscle injuries, so it does need to be applied ASAP afterward. These are one-time use and activated by squeezing the bag when the ice pack is needed.
- TRIANGULAR BANDAGE. Why these are used: these can be fashioned into an arm sling or an elevation sling – see how here.
- TRAUMA SHEARS. Why these are used: to cut dressings or splints down to size. Get a sturdy pair, versus just bandage scissors, in case you need to cut clothes off to get to wounds that need treating.
(Images: First aid kit items with pictures)
As you can see, there is more to a complete first aid kit than what comes in pre-made commercial kits.
Do you have what you need in your kits to manage emergencies while you wait for help to arrive?
This post was all about 20 first-aid material and their uses.
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