Stock Your First Aid Kit With These 17 Personal Care Essentials

You never know when you’ll have a mishap in the kitchen or take a spill, and the best way to prepare for these types of at-home injuries is by preparing a well-stocked first aid kit. To be truly prepared, you should store one of these personal injury kits in your car, as well. Here are a few essentials that every good first aid kit should contain:

1. A first aid instruction booklet in case of complex injury or illness
2. Adhesive bandages in a variety of different sizes
3. Adhesive cloth tape
4. Sterile gauze pads for administering medications or creams
5. Antiseptic wipe packets for treating small cuts or burns
6. Roller bandages in a few different sizes for wrapping sprains or pulled muscles
7. Sharp scissors
8. Tweezers for removing splinters or other shrapnel
9. An oral thermometer (non-mercury, non-glass)
10. Non-latex gloves
11. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen, for headache or other muscle aches
12. Instant cold packs
13. Safety pins
14. Hydrocortisone cream (1%)
15. Calamine lotion for poison ivy, sunburn, and insect bites
16. A flashlight (plus extra batteries)
17. A list of emergency phone numbers (include your physician, children’s physician, emergency contacts, etc.)

Anatomy of a First Aid Kit [Red Cross]
First Aid Kit [Kids Health]
First-Aid Kits: Stock supplies that can save lives [Mayo Clinic]

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