What you should find in your First Aid Kit

A first aid kit is an essential piece of equipment to have in all public places to ensure that any minor injuries are treated effectively.

It is important to have a well-stocked first aid kit at your workplace and home to be able to deal with minor accidents and injuries straightaway.

It is also a good idea to keep a small first aid kit in your car for emergencies as a first aid kit can provide help for minor injuries but also major injuries whilst waiting for the emergency services to arrive.

Contents of the kit

A good first aid kit will include essential items to treat minor injuries that are in date and ready to work effectively. A basic first aid kit may contain:

• Plasters in different shapes and sizes
• Small, medium and large sterile gauze dressings
• At least two sterile eye dressings
• Triangular bandages
• Crêpe rolled bandages
• Safety pins
• Disposable sterile gloves
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Alcohol-free cleansing wipes
• Sticky tape
• Thermometer
• Skin rash cream
• Cream or spray to relieve insect bites and stings
• Antiseptic cream
• Painkillers such as paracetamol, aspirin or ibuprofen
• Cough medicine
• Antihistamine tablets
• Distilled water for cleaning wounds
• Eyewash and eye bath
• Accident report book

Medicines should be checked regularly to make sure they are within their use-by dates and keeping a basic first aid manual within the kit can help to ensure that people with no prior first aid knowledge could help in the case of an emergency.

Prepared for an emergency

Having a first aid kit on hand will provide you with the resources needed to assist with the well-being of yourself and others around you. In an emergency situation, it is important to act quickly so you should become familiar with your first aid kit and know what to use for different incidents. Get in touch by tweeting us @imptraining and let us know what your first aid kit contains.