DIY Emergency First Aid Kit

Messy Messy Fail - I can no longer stretch out the 12 month clothes so they fit the baby - time to break out the 18 month clothes.

Tidy Victory - My dishwasher woes have been solved - try Cascade Platinum if you have mega hard water like we do here and just cannot seem to get your dishes clean.  It's like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders......

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As I waited in the Urgent Care office for the third time this summer to have my strawberry huller incident stitches removed, putting together an emergency first aid kit for the car has moved up the chain on my priority list.  The strawberry huller kneel was my second somewhat emergency where I needed some simple medical supplies and I had NOTHING.  Zip.  Zilch.  And that's no good.

Fast forward a few weeks later, camp is over and I have a few extra minutes to gather up some items and organize them.

I did some quick research online and found this list provided by the American Red Cross as to what one should have in their emergency first aid kit.

A few rounds through the house and here is what I came up with for my DIY emergency first aid kit:

<One> Q-tips - out of my toiletries drawer in the bathroom

<Two> Cotton Balls - ditto

<Three> Tissues - bottom of my fun purses I don't use as often

<Four> Non-Adherent Sterile Pads - gift from Urgent Care

<Five> Waterproof Bandages - third shelf of medicine cabinet

<Six> Scissors - old sewing box

<Seven> Bacitracin (Antibiotic Ointment) - another parting gift
   from Urgent Care

<Eight> Medical Tape - husbands toiletries drawer

<Nine> Alcohol Wipes - my viola case (we use these to clean rosin
   off of our strings, will explain in a later post)

<Ten> Moist Towelettes - from my mother-in-law for the diaper
   bag, tons of these laying around

Clearly I did not have every different size sterile pad or bandaid as recommended, but I made do with what I had handy around the house.

Two items not pictured but will be included in the kit once I put it in the car include a pair of tweezers (forgot to pick up a pair at Walmart) and a blanket (I'll just fold it up and keep it in the trunk).  I also already have a flashlight in the center console of the car.

To help organize, I put like items inside snack-size sealable bags.

Tissues was not on the Red Cross' list, but it's always handy to have something dry for clean-ups.

Urgent Care gave me a pile of these handy dandy bacitracin ointment pouches for both mine and the toddler's injures.  Great little size to have around when needed.

I put all of my items in a quart size freezer bag - I figured I could always dump out the contents and use that bag as an icepack if necessary - and clearly labeled it.  

I also wrote a few emergency contact names and numbers on the bag should my cell phone ever not be working and I need to call someone without my contacts.  GENIUS!

By the way - as I mentioned above, ALL of these items I already had around my house minus the tweezers.  You can buy a first aid kit at the store, but why not take a few minutes and use what you already have?  Money saved!

If I had already put this DIY emergency first aid kit in my car, perhaps I would have remained calmer and been able to manage the situation a little better on my own with the right supplies.  

As I stated before, thank goodness for Urgent Care :)

Be safe and put one of these quick and easy DIY emergency first aid kits in your vehicle!

Is there anything else you would add to your emergency first aid kit?  

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