Adventurous Spirit? Here’s Your First Aid Kit Checklist

We’re going on an adventure! But before you dash off the Shire like Bilbo Baggins, you should take a step back and figure out all the necessities you should take with you in your inventory. While you might not be facing ogres, trolls and orcs, there are still some pretty scary and venomous creatures out here in Australia. And while you might not be venturing into Mordor, a forest can still be quite challenging to venture into, and staying in a forest requires some preparation. Keep in mind that while out camping or hiking, you’ll be experiencing mother nature in her rawest form. And mother nature can be quite metal.

But even though it can be quite dangerous, the experience can also be very rewarding. Resting under a large tree crown, looking at the exposed sky at night, breathing the fresh forest air makes the experience worth every penny. However, besides food and beverage, the most essential piece of camping equipment is the first aid kit.

Once you leave civilization, the rules of the game change. You can easily get scratched from tree branches, slip and fall, or even faint. All of these inconveniences can be easily prevented and treated if you have a first aid kit at your disposal. Some of the properties that everyone should include in their first aid kit are duct tape, bandages, pain killers, sanitizers, anti-allergy medications, items for their specific medical needs, etc.

For stopping bleeding, closing and protecting cuts, bandages and duct tapes can prove to be life savers. You’ll be kilometers away from medical help and pulling together an open wound can buy you time to reach the hospital. But before you close up a wound, make sure to clean it thoroughly and wash out debris to prevent infection. This is where sanitizers and antiseptics come in handy.

Getting cut or falling is very painful and you can lose consciousness from excessive pain. For this reason, you should carry pain killers with you. Chemical ice bags, aspirin, Ibuprofen and codeine can all help reduce pain and decrease inflammation.

Even if you aren’t prone to allergies, there are certain things out there that can still trigger allergic reactions. In some cases, people who have food allergies can experience allergens that cause anaphylaxis reactions that may be life threatening and require immediate treatment. This is why you should carry antihistamine, antihistamine creams and epinephrine in your first aid kit to deal with allergies on the spot.

Besides the aforementioned essentials, there are other things that should be included in a first aid kit, but many of them are specific for every person. If you have a medical condition, include the prescribed medicine as well as OTC meds that are used to treat conditions like nausea, arthritis, etc.