Week #11 First Aid

If you have made it to week #11 you deserve a huge high five!  You are almost done and that is worth celebrating!  You will be so grateful for the peace of mind you can feel from knowing that your kits are complete for at least 5 years.

This week we need to gather our First Aid supplies.  It's funny that we are doing first aid this week because last weekend we went on a little ride in the mountains and Dustin was carving us some willow branches to roast hot dogs on.  I was tending to the kids when I heard him say he cut himself and needed a band aid.  As he became a little more anxious and then a little impatient I felt such stress that I couldn't find where the stinking band aids or gauze was in this foreign first aid kit.

I realized how important it is that we not only have a first aid kit, but we know what is inside and where to find it quickly.  Thankfully it was a minor situation that taught me this lesson and thankfully we were prepared with what we needed to have.

Some of the supplies that are listed on our 72 hour kits checklists are:

small first aid kit including: band aids, butterfly bandages, gauze, first aid ointment, antiseptic, cold pack, alcohol pads, tweezers, small scissors, Benadryl, ibuprofen, medical adhesive tape, safety pins

moleskin
Vaseline
syringe
thermometer
latex gloves
snake bite kit
insect repellent
sunscreen

Whatever else you may feel you need would be wise to add to your kits.  Each of my kids carry a little $.99 Johnson & Johnson kit from the travel section at Target and other stores.  It includes 2 alcohol pads, 8 bandaids and 2 gauze pads.  Dustin has a larger kit that was purchased at Walmart in the hiking section for $16.   I have been pretty impressed with that little kit.  So far it's had all we have needed.  We have added a few things like the snake bite kit & sunscreen.