First Aid Kit Essentials

Obviously having a first aid kit while travelling is very important (to me anyway). It is always good to have medical supplies on hand, especially if you're in a foreign and can't speak to language or can't find a chemist anywhere. Below is what I have packed in my first aid kit!

Before I go through what I actually have in my first aid kit I think it's actually important to remember before you go on your trip to go through your first aid kit.

Check that everything is in date, I've had my first aid kit for 2 years and when I cleaned it out the other day I found a few things that were out of date.

My betadine, anti-diarrhoea tablets and soap wipes were all out of date. Some things might not matter if they go out of date, I'm keeping the betadine and soap wipes and will probably just replace the anti-diarrhoea tablets, however just to be safe it's probably recommend replacing everything that is out of date.

Now I will let you know what I actually keep in my kit and why!

From the picture above I'll start from the top left.

Bandages: Will be handy if I hurt myself badly, am bleeding from a bad cut, snake bites or any other serious injury.

Tiger Balm: I discovered tiger balm when I was in Cambodia and an American traveller told me about it. Great for head aches, pains or aches on the body (a bit like deep heat).

Diarrhoea relief tablets: Obviously when travelling around, eating different food especially in Asia it can sometimes be common to get food poisoning or/and diarrhoea so these will be helpful in those nasty situations.

Patches: Good for big cuts, grazes or something similar.

Betadine: I love betadine, it's just an antiseptic which you can put on cuts and grazes which I always make sure to have.

Bandaids: For obvious reasons for smaller cuts, I usually put betadine on a cut and then a band-aid over top.

Safety blanket: This is more extreme and hopefully you would need to use it but can be used in times of shock or if you're ever stuck in freezing weather (I think).

Tape: Generally for either keeping bandages, patches or band aids together or staying on your skin.

Wipes: For cleaning up a wound or cleaning up the blood that is running fro your cut.

Gloves: For hygienic use is you're ever cleaning yourself up. Or good if you are treating someone with a wound and don't want their blood all over your hands.

Hydrolyte: The sachets in the picture are ones we brought from a chemist in Vietnam but I usually make sure to have something similar to Hydrolyte which restore electrolytes if you are dehydrated. This is so important, especially in Asia because it is hot and it can sometimes be more tempting to have a cold beer than a bottle of water. If you have food poisoning/diarrhoea it's also great and if you're hungover it will hydrate you quicker. So great for many things and I often have them at home not just travelling.

So that's everything that I currently have in my first aid kit. It's a bit bigger than I'd like it to be considering I carry it in my day back pack everywhere but I'd prefer to be safe rather than sorry.

Another important note to add is that I think it's important to have a reasonable medical supply as in some countries you might be extremely dehydrated and need something (hydrolyte) or you've had diarrhoea for 3 days straight now and you're standing in front of the chemist in the street trying to act out whats wrong with you like an idiot. Even though we had an excellent experience with the chemist we went to in Vietnam I wouldn't expect it everywhere.

What are the ssentials in your first aid kit? Have I missed something?

#firstaidkit #pretrip #safety