General recommendations: what should be in a home first aid kit.
You must have and know what should be in the home first aid kit! In order for the first aid kit to always be at hand, it is necessary to properly organize the storage of medicines. For them, you need to select a plastic box, a container that closes tightly and does not allow sunlight to pass through. Most medicines are afraid of bright light and need room temperature. High humidity is dangerous for medicines, it is not recommended to store them in the bathroom. The medicine box should be stored in a place inaccessible to children and animals.
Candles, interferon preparations and some others (be sure to read the instructions for storage) are stored in the refrigerator. It is worth allocating a separate shelf.
In order not to confuse medicines, do not remove them from the branded packaging. Keep the manufacturer’s instructions for each drug. In an emergency situation, it will help to quickly determine in what dosage to take the medicine. The original packaging is also required to control the expiration date. If the expiration date has passed, the drug must be disposed of. Expired medicines are dangerous and should not be taken.
List of medicines in a home first aid kit
The composition of the first-aid kit is individual in each home, but there is a certain list of drugs that everyone should have. They will help provide first aid. But in the home first aid kit, you should not include drugs that are used very rarely.
The composition of the first-aid kit for use at home should include three main groups of medicines:
Means for processing and dressing;
Medicines are needed;
Auxiliary medicinal products.
The last group includes tweezers, scissors, thermometer, tonometer.
Means for treating wounds
Small domestic injuries, cuts, burns can be treated independently without consulting a doctor. For this, it is enough to have the necessary means. Several types of antiseptics and preparations for skin treatment should be included in the home first aid kit. It is best to have hydrogen peroxide, iodine solution at home. Chlorhexidine, Furatsilin, Miramistin are suitable for washing wounds in adults and children.
Necessary components of a home first-aid kit include varieties of fixing and dressing materials. Minimum set at home:
- Large (wide) and small sterile bandage;
- Cotton wool or sterile bandages;
- Elastic bandage;
- Several types of patch.
A necessary element in the list of the home first-aid kit is lidocaine pain reliever spray. It can be applied topically to bruises and sprains to reduce pain. Burn spray is also added to the list of preparations for treating wounds. Panthenol is usually included in the composition, which helps reduce pain, heartburn, and accelerates skin recovery.
Medicines
Only those that have universal properties and can be taken without a doctor’s prescription should be included in the list of basic drugs.
A simple home first aid kit consists of the following groups of drugs:
- Painkillers are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the most popular drugs include paracetamol, ibuprofen. They not only relieve pain, but also reduce the temperature. If there are children in the family, you should choose the drug in the form of syrup.
- Antispasmodics are drugs that remove the spasm of the smooth muscles of the intestines, blood vessels, and uterus, and also help with pain. They include drotaverine (no-shpa), papaverine, papazol.
- Remedies for diarrhea – they consist of sorbents that help remove toxins and harmful bacteria from the body: smecta, activated carbon, atoxil. For recovery after diarrhea – rehydron.
- Antiallergic – antihistamines are added to the first-aid kit, even if there were no allergy symptoms before.
- Medicines for colds – vasoconstrictor drops, saline solutions. You should have lozenges or a spray for a sore throat. There will also be no extra drops in the ear.
- Calming – to reduce anxiety, unpredictable experiences, you should have valerian, validol, corvalol tablets at home.
Additional means in the home first aid kit
An extended list of medicines in the home first aid kit is necessary if there are children or people with chronic diseases in the house. For children, you need to have antipyretic and antihistamine drugs in children’s dosage.
In the case of chronic diseases, the home first-aid kit is collected individually, based on the doctor’s recommendations.