Top 10 First Aid Kit Items

When ordering a first aid kit, have you ever wondered what the medical items were used for and how they help you maintain the health and well-being of your workforce? 

Having the necessary medical supplies helps providers succeed in providing emergency medical care or doing routine checks upon workers on-site. At Remote Medical International, we talked with our Senior Medical Director Richard Misiaszek to breakdown the basic items in a first aid kit in detail, giving you some more insight into what you are ordering. 

1. Personal Protective Equipment 

When treating an injury, it’s important for a provider to protect themselves from bodily fluids that could carry diseases. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like gloves and eye protection help protect providers from diseases like HIV, hepatitis, the flu, etc. The PPE allows them to provide the necessary care without compromising their own health.  

2. CPR Pocket Mask

Providers also use the CPR Pocket Mask to protect themselves from unknown pathogens when giving CPR. Instead of giving direct mouth-to-mouth, the pocket mask allows providers to give direct breaths without making physical contact with the patient.  

3. Tourniquet

In the case of extremity bleeding, providers use a tourniquet to temporarily stop the hemorrhage until they are able to get the patient to a definitive care facility. 

4. Roller Gauze

Used in many different situations and injuries, roller gauze can help providers perform the following: 

• Covering a mildly-bleeding wound
• Putting pressure on a wound to assist in bleeding control
• Making a finger guard for finger injuries
• Making a sling for minor shoulder or clavicle injuries
• Clearing pus from a wound after it’s drained
• Blotting away blood while doing a laceration repair

5. 4×4 Gauze Pads

Providers use gauze pads alongside roller gauze, typically covering a wound, first with the gauze pad and then wrapping the entire wound with the roller gauze. 

6. Medical Tape

Similar to the roller gauze, medical tape has many uses. Providers typically use the tape to secure gauze, roller gauze, the skin or the tape itself. 

7. Two Triangular Bandages

Providers can create slings to support shoulder or upper extremities, keeping lower body injuries stable and creating support pads with these bandages.   

8. Sam Splint

Providers use a sam splint to immobilize extremity fractures, possible fractures or bad sprains. 

9. Elastic Bandage

Elastic bandages have many uses, and providers can put pressure on an injury and support an area of injury with elastic bandages. Below are a couple of examples:

• Wrapping a wrist or ankle after a sprain injury
• Providing additional pressure to a bleeding wound

10. Trauma Shears

Mainly used as basic scissors, providers can cut away clothing to expose an injury on a patient. If someone is unable to communicate while injured, the provider is able to see the entire body and make sure an injury doesn’t go unnoticed. Removing the clothing also allows providers to perform necessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, like the ones listed below: 

• EKG
• CPR
• Cardioversion
• Applying tourniquets
• Splint a fracture

For more remote environments and projects, consider adding the following items necessary for managing wounds:

• 20 mL Syringe & Irrigation Cap
• Steri strips
• Benzoin Tincture
• Biodegradable Soap
• Opposite Flexi-grip film

First aid kits are only the beginning. At Remote Medical International, we have equipment that is effective in remote environments, designed by our team of active health care professionals. From first aid to advanced life support, our kits are created to work together, forming a tiered response system for a complete range of medical scenarios. Interested in Remote Medical International medical kits, or want to learn more about our equipment and supply?