TIPical Mary Ellen Mary Ellen Pinkham shows how to put together a first-aid kit for the home.
- Keep all of your items in one place--a small plastic tackle box works great. Your first-aid kit should be stored in a cool, relatively dark place to preserve contents and be accessible to adults, but out of reach from children.
- Each time you change the batteries in your fire alarm, check for older items that have expired.
- Each first-aid kit should include the following:
- first-aid procedure chart to avoid panicking in an emergency situation
- dressings such as sterile pads, sterile dressings with bandages, sterile eye pads with bandages and gauze swabs
- variety of different sizes and shapes of bandages--some designed for elbows, knuckles and knees; keep the different sizes in separate plastic bags for quick and easy identification. (To remove bandages painlessly, saturate the bandage in baby oil. They will remove with ease.)
- blunt scissors for cutting bandages and tweezers for splinters
- hypoallergenic tape and safety pins in variety of sizes to secure dressings
- creams and ointments for minor injuries include antihistamine cream and calamine lotion for bites; hydrocortisone for rashes; burn ointment; zinc oxide or burn ointment for minor scrapes; antiseptic ointment to keep bacteria out of cuts
- red washcloths to avoid the patient from panicking when he or she sees blood on the cloth
- bee-sting kits in case someone is allergic; can be purchased at pharmacies or camping stores
(You may not always know, so it's a good idea to have one just in case).
- individual sanitized packets to clean hands, disposable gloves, cold packs (keep in a refrigerator), small flashlights, extra batteries and plastic bags
- silica packets (from other products) to prevent moisture buildup
- For splinters, try using a piece of adhesive tape placed gently over the sliver, and lift up. If this doesn't work, try numbing the area with an ice cube and removing with a tweezers and a sterilized needle. You want a bit of blood flow from the wound to cleanse out any remnants of the splinter.
- Automatic pencil-lead cartridges work great for storing needles used to assist the extraction of splinters. Make sure you sterilize the container first.
- Iodine is handy to locate small splinters. Apply iodine to the area, then wipe off. The splinter will darken in color, and you'll be able to remove it with minimal "poking." A magnifying glass is also handy for this purpose.
- Never put your mouth over a cut. Your mouth has bacteria in it that will infect the wound.
