Making a first aid kit

[RescueRanger]

In this post I will provide simple guidance on how to make a very cheap, easy to transport and modular first aid kit for everyday use in the home, car or office. First thing is first, don’t bother buying an expensive, pre-packed travel kit and make your own instead.

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There are many commercial pre-packed first aid kits available in Pakistan, most of these are bloated and over-priced:

Instead of spending 2500 to 3000 rupees on an overpriced commercial pre-packed first aid kit, consider making your own, get your children involved and make it a fun activity. Perhaps give them a list of items to buy and a budget, this will teach them about budgeting and also give them a sense of ownership on the subject of safety in and out of the house.

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Before you get started lets take a second to jot down the emergency numbers for where you live:

• 911 - This is now the NATIONAL emergency helpline for ALL Pakistan, although there are occasions where the service routing does break-out so just in-case remember these regional numbers too:
• 1122 – This is the number for Rescue 1122 and you can dial this number for fire and medical rescue in all of Punjab, KPK, Islamabad, Murree and Kashmir.
• 115 – Every Pakistani knows this number, this number will put you through to EDHI ambulance, not as well equipped or well trained as Rescue 1122 but still they will help you when you need them and for free.
• 16 – Fire Brigade number can be dialled in any part of Pakistan
• 15 – Police Rescue
• 021-111-11-2626 – Aman Ambulance service, Karachi only. They only have a few ambulances but provide a high level of service.

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Please consider taking the time to teach your children about not misusing these emergency numbers, every year between 300,000 and 450,000 emergency calls are answered by Rescue 1122, a very large percentage of these are FAKE calls. Furthermore, FAKE calls can result in diverting an ambulance or rescue team to a location and depriving someone who is actually in life threatening situation from help:

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To get started consider using a medium plastic zip lock bag, these can be purchased at any local market:

There are a few first aid necessities that belong in every kit. These should be included no matter where you plan to use the kit—be it in the home, in the car, for camping, or for another purpose.

These include:

• Adhesive bandages of various sizes
• One or two finger splints, you can use ice lolly sticks for this
• An elastic conforming bandage
• Sterile gauze pads
• Eye bandages x1 minimum
• Triangular bandage for wrapping injuries or creating a sling x 2 minimum
• Latex or non-latex gloves for handling bodily fluids x 3 pairs
• Antibiotic ointment ( this is a good to have item )
• Cotton swabs ( at least 5)
• Antiseptic towelettes for cleaning minor wounds ( You can also use prep swabs available from medical stores ).
• Imodium tablets to relieve diarrhoea
• Female Sanitary pad ( if you are a female of course ).

This is the minimum you should have on your person in a handbag, laptop bag or purse. If you want to make another kit to keep in the house, why not recycle an old lunch box:

And in addition to the items above just add a few extras such as:

• a baby bulb suction device ( Rs. 30 ) [ Very useful in winter for suctioning mucus from the blocked nose of little children]
• an hot/cold pack
• hand sanitizer gel
• sterile cotton swabs and balls
• tweezers
• a thermometer: digital & strip
• a spare zip lock bag
• Medicine syringe without needle or small plastic cup ( to wash eyes with )
• Rubbing alcohol or alcohol swabs
• First aid booklet or you can install an app on your phone

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I hope you enjoyed this post, in my next post I will be reviewing the most useful and not so useful first-aid apps in the market available in Pakistan.

 

[Imran Khan]

i have two one small one big .