Body · First aid basics
Stocking a first-aid kit
Keep one kit at home and one in the car, somewhere easy to grab. The Red Cross list covers the core: 25 assorted bandages, gauze pads and rolls, tape, antibiotic and hydrocortisone ointment, antiseptic wipes, nonlatex gloves, a cold pack, tweezers, a thermometer and an emergency blanket. Add pain relievers, your own medicines, a flashlight, and a card with emergency numbers and insurance info. Check expiration dates a couple of times a year and mark the date you last used it.
What to know
- Buy a kit or build one. Drugstores sell them, and some are made for hiking, camping or boating. Source: Red Cross
- Keep one at home and one in your car, and find out where the kits are at work. Source: Red Cross Store them somewhere easy to reach but away from young children. Source: Mayo Clinic
- Stock the Red Cross basics, listed below. Its list is sized for a family of four, so a smaller amount is fine for one person. Source: Red Cross
- Add medicines: pain relievers like acetaminophen or ibuprofen, an antihistamine, antacids, anti-diarrhea medicine, and any personal medicines that don't need refrigeration. If a doctor prescribed an epinephrine auto-injector, keep one in the kit. Source: Mayo Clinic
- Add emergency items: a small waterproof flashlight with extra batteries, a notepad and pen, and your health insurance member and phone numbers. Source: Mayo Clinic
- Write an emergency numbers card: your doctor, local emergency services, roadside assistance, and Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Source: Mayo Clinic
- Check it regularly. Test the flashlight, replace anything expired or used up, and mark the kit with the date you last used it. Kits can go years between uses. Source: Mayo Clinic
Red Cross first-aid kit list
- 2 absorbent compress dressings, 5 x 9 inches Source: Red Cross
- 25 adhesive bandages, assorted sizes
- 1 roll of adhesive cloth tape, 10 yards x 1 inch
- 5 antibiotic ointment packets
- 5 antiseptic wipe packets
- 2 packets of aspirin, 81 mg each
- 1 emergency blanket
- 1 breathing barrier with one-way valve
- 1 instant cold compress
- 2 pairs of nonlatex gloves
- 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets
- 1 roller bandage, 3 inches wide, and 1 roller bandage, 4 inches wide
- 5 sterile gauze pads, 3 x 3 inches, and 5 sterile gauze pads, 4 x 4 inches
- Oral thermometer, non-mercury and nonglass
- 2 triangular bandages
- Tweezers
- Emergency first-aid instructions
Worth adding for a car kit
- Elastic wrap bandage and a finger splint Source: Mayo Clinic
- Scissors, safety pins and hand sanitizer Source: Mayo Clinic
- Eyewash solution and sterile saline Source: Mayo Clinic
- Sunscreen and insect repellent Source: Mayo Clinic
- A phone charger Source: Mayo Clinic
If it doesn't work
- Someone swallowed something they shouldn't have? Contact Poison Control online at poison.org or at 1-800-222-1222. Both are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day. Source: Mayo ClinicPoison Control
- An adult with new or unexplained chest pain? Call 911 first. Mayo Clinic says chewing a regular-strength aspirin may be lifesaving, but not for someone allergic to aspirin, with bleeding problems, on another blood thinner, or told by a doctor not to. Never give aspirin to children. Source: Mayo Clinic
- Not sure how to use what's in it? Take a first-aid course through the American Red Cross. Source: Mayo Clinic
Good to know
Personal items
Include your medications, emergency phone numbers, and anything your health care provider suggests. Source: Red Cross
Bigger emergencies
A disaster kit adds water (one gallon per person per day for several days), a flashlight and a whistle. Source: Ready.gov
Sources
- American Red Cross Anatomy of a first aid kit
- Mayo Clinic First-aid kits
- Ready.gov (FEMA) Build a kit
- 911.gov Calling 911
- Poison Control (National Capital Poison Center) Poison Control
Lesson B6.1 · Last checked October 2, 2026 against the sources listed.
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