First Aid Kit Drugs - Grey Goose

12/25/2009 First Aid Kit Drugs - Picking First Aid Kit…
First Aid
First Aid Kit & Medicine
Cabinet Drugs
Stocking the First Aid Kit
By Rod Brouhard, About.com Guide
Updated July 28, 2008
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When building a first aid kit, build it for the medical emergencies you expect to see. It's a given that you'll
include items for burns, cuts, and scrapes. Depending on the level of injuries you expect, you may even
include splints and wraps for sprains or broken bones. It is a much tougher decision whether or not to include
medications.
Drugs or Not?
We often forget all about drugs when building first aid kits, even though we have tons of different drugs in
the medicine cabinet at home. Whether or not you want drugs in your first aid kit depends on how you plan
to use it.
Drugs are so common that we sometimes don't even realize when we're using them. Antibiotic ointment,
found in almost every first aid kit, is a drug. Bee sting swabs, used to relieve pain from bug bites, are also
drugs. These topical treatments do not usually come with the same ethical dilemma as oral drugs (pills and
elixirs).
First aid kits intended for organized sports probably should not include drugs. It's better to suggest that
participants or parents bring their own. However, it's not as big of a deal for adult sports as it is for kids ­
adults are generally responsible for their own decisions.
First aid kits designed for use primarily by family members will probably be fine with drugs included. There
are fewer liability issues and it's easier to keep track of everyone's medication allergies.
Travel first aid kits will need some drugs. Travel first aid kits are intended to prepare travelers for potential
medical needs and getting drugs may be a problem depending on w here you're traveling.
First aid kits for the home may or may not have drugs; it depends on whether the first aid kit is part of the
medicine cabinet or not.
First Aid Kit Maintainance
Putting drugs into a first aid kit means maintaining the kit more than if the drugs weren't there. Drugs expire.
If drugs are not regularly checked and expired drugs replaced, you run the risk of a drug not working properly
when it's needed. Get into the habit of checking the first aid kit when you replace the batteries in your smoke
alarm. A good rule of thumb is to do both when changing the clocks twice a year.
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12/25/2009 First Aid Kit Drugs - Picking First Aid Kit…
Avoid Combination Drugs
When stocking a first aid kit or medicine cabinet, avoid combination drugs. Almost anytime a drug claims to
treat more than one symptom, it usually has more than one active ingredient. Read the labels and look for
drugs with only a single active ingredient. There are several reasons for this:
Combination drugs only last as long as the drug that expires first. If two drugs with different shelf lives are
combined, they'll expire together when the shorter one is past its prime. If you purchase the two drugs
separately, you'll only have to replace one when the expiration date comes.
Single drugs are cheaper. Milligram for milligram, combination drugs are almost always more expensive
than singles. Combination drugs are also less likely to be sold as generics, a proven way to get cheaper
medications.
You don't always want all the effects of a combination drug. If you need a drug for fever, and all you have
is a drug that combines a fever­reducer with an antihistamine, you may end up feeling drowsy when you
didn't need to. Stocking singles means you can combine them when necessary or take them separately.
Assuming you still want to stock your first aid kit with drugs, the following pages examine each type of drug
you may or may not want to include. The beauty of building your own first aid kit is that you can customize it
any way you like.
Page 1 ­ Stocking the First Aid Kit
Page 2 ­ Pain Relievers and Fever Reducers
Page 3 ­ Allergy Medications
Page 4 ­ Nausea Medications
Page 5 ­ Diarrhea Medications
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