First Aid Supplies

I only just realised that the school holidays are nearly upon us! Honestly, if it hadn't been for a tv ad about the Perth Royal Show next week (and me thinking 'weird, the show is normally on during school holidays' - LIGHTBULB!) I'd probably be dropping Bella off to an empty school.

As it happens, she is home sick today which will be a perfect opportunity for us to create our school holiday activity list which is a bit of a tradition for us. It's also a good chance for me to check and update our first aid supplies as we take them with us for quite a few school holiday outings and I thought I'd share what we keep in stock and how we organise it.

This here is our main first aid kit. It’s only little but holds a little of nearly everything we need for first aid. It’s also what I grab if we’re going out somewhere. I have a few bandaids in my handbag so I don’t take it grocery shopping, but use it for trips to parks, beaches etc. It’s stored in the laundry cupboard near the centre of the house so it's easily accessible and even the girls know where it is.

In addition to this first aid kit we have ‘bump buddies’ (cute cold packs) in the fridge, heatpacks and medicines on the top shelf of the pantry and a large first aid kit in a toolbox in our WIR (see below) which mainly holds multiples and bulk packs of the bandaids, bandages, gauze pads etc as well as Deepheat and physio dough for my husband.

This is the contents of my kit all laid out on the table. It fits in a surprising amount, doesn't it? I keep the bandaids, tweezers and Stingose towards the top so I don’t have to tip all of *this* out to get to our most often used supplies. 

Okay, looking at the contents a little more closely, starting with the top section. This is mainly bandaids in a variety of different sizes and shapes (my favourite are the little tiny toddler bandaids! So cute!). The Aqua-protect bandaids are not only useful for use in water- I find them really useful on blisters as the dressing is so large and thin so it doesnt tend to 'catch' and come off. And the 'knuckle' bandaids are genius. There's also crepe bandages (large and small) and some non-stick gauze pads. Obviously the bandage can be used for sprains and splints but it's also useful for holding the gauze pad in place on injuries too large for a bandaid to cover. 

Moving on to bottom left

Hand sanitizer gel and also wipes. These are handy if we're out and about somewhere. Hypoallergenic tape (holding dressings in place, splinting fingers) an eye wash cup (foreign object in eye), a selection of cotton buds for cleaning wounds and applying creams. They're not sterile, obviously. Thermo blanket- in case of extreme cold or shock.

Thermometer. It's a baby thermometer but works the same on adults ;o) Antiseptic cream. Stingose gel for insect bites. Pins (for holding bandages in place), tweezers (splinters and bee stings), a triangular bandage (slings) and a CPR shield that I carry on my keys at all times. 

Here it is all packed up again. Although this box is pretty full, it's not so full that things have to be packed in a certain way or they don't fit. You can probably see I've packed this in completely differently to how it was earlier.

Its important to remember that whatever items you keep on hand, the most useful and valuable thing is the knowledge to use them correctly. Now is a good time to brush up on your CPR and general first aid skills, especially as summer approaches and everyone starts to spend more time at the pool and beach. 

Laura xx