Home First Aid Kit

With the saying “home sweet home”, sometimes we think that our home is the safest place on earth, where no danger or harm lurks around the corner. On the contrary, some major accidents do occur in the same sweet place due to certain unexpected turn of events.

During an emergency, your family member, friend or even you may get in a situation where in you can get an injury which would require first aid. Numerous home injuries and accidents are not really life threatening in nature. Given this thought, we should always be prepared when it comes to the safety of our loved ones. This can be achieved by keeping a Home First Aid Kit.

Home First Aid kits can be comprehensive or it can even be basic. This will all depend on the medical training and experience you have. Commercially prepared first aid kits are already available in stores, outlets as well as outdoor retailers. Yet, you yourself can create a simple and cost efficient first aid kit.

Home first aid kits are normally used in treating these kinds of minor and traumatic injuries:

In making your own home first aid kit, you should keep it plain and small. Use a container that is durable and water resistant. This should be resistant to damage as well. Some of these types of containers are nylon bags, tackle boxes, or make up kits. In addition, you can use re-sealable sandwich bags so as to compartmentalize and organize the items.

A home first aid kit must contain all these items:

It is important to also include a first aid manual in your “home made” first aid kit. The reason for this is that your manual will serve as your guideline on how to use your Home First Aid Kit properly. Furthermore, each should contain the basic first aid procedures such as Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for emergency cases like people not being able to breathe or are unconscious, as well as on how to treat burns, epistaxis, minor lacerations, bleeding and the like. If you have a pool at home, you need to know what to do just in case a loved one drowns or almost drowned.

Furthermore, it is a must to study your first aid manual even prior to any event so that upon emergency use, proper execution and usage of items can already be done. You don’t need to memorize each procedure, just familiarize yourself with the basics. It is a fact that during accidents, most people get “panic attacks” which hinders them from thinking straight. It may be best to list down the pages of specific accident types so that when you get this “panic attack” you won’t have a hard time turning all the pages of the first aid manual.

Generally, as mentioned above, home accidents are not that life threatening. However, if you panic and you were not able to do anything immediately because of this, the phrase “not that life threatening” may become “lethal” to the person concerned. If such accidents occur and you feel that you are starting to get panicky, just focus on your breath, inhale and exhale slowly. Repeat this procedure until you feel the fast pounding in your heart slowing down as well. Once you have calmed down, assess if you need to call additional help.

Thus, in placing your Home First Aid Kit, keep in mind that it should be in an accessible location at your home and out from the children’s reach. Adults are responsible for the care and safety of everyone living in their home. Kids should be told where they can get access of the kit but they should be reminded that it needs to be used on emergency situations only. This way, they can study the kit’s contents and manual, under your supervision.

Vital information to note is that home first aid solutions only serve as a primary treatment or intervention. For more severe cases, it is best to call your emergency hotlines or a physician. First-aid treatments are not used in treating severe cases. They are just preventive measures to avoid further aggravation. Never commit the mistake of putting the life of your child in jeopardy due to carelessness. Seek professional help if necessary.

Furthermore, it also important to place emergency hotlines such as fire, medical, and police concerns in your telephone directory and mobile phones. Staying calm and not panicking is the key to assess emergency matters efficiently.