4 Different Types of Medical Kits

April 29, 2020April 27, 2023 WETSU Survival Division 4910 Views 9 min read

The exemplary amounts of medical kits that you can find on the market is a testament to modern-day accessibility.

There is so much information that can be gathered from the internet that it would be useful but, nothing goes along with that more than training. Most of the kits you may find can last for several years no matter how much or how little you use them.

However, this article aims to inform you about the different types of medical kits you can find and one you can even build on your own. Many of these kits can be made instead of bought already put together. What types of medical kits would be best for you? Well, it depends on how you will be using it, and all these kits can be adaptable for several uses. A first aid kit is always useful.

Home First Aid Kits

Why do you need a home first aid kit? You would need something that is effective for everyday life and can be useful as a stockpile for use in other situations. What is in a Home First Aid Kit? Here is the list

¾” x3” Adhesive Bandages
⅜” x 1-½” Junior adhesive plastic Bandages
1-½” patch bandage
Antiseptic cleansing wipes
Care for splinters with tweezers and a lighter for sanitizing
Diphenhydramine- Benadryl oral antihistamine for allergic reactions
Exam Gloves- if possible, for infection protection.
Resealable Oven Bag-For disposal of contaminated items
Scissors
Triangular bandage- For use as a cushion, and as a sling
Tweezers
Contact information- that includes an insurance company, required medications, family member’s medical history and available contacts.

The quantity of each item can vary depending on the company but, you can always refill the kit if you need to. If you live in a rural area may want to add backups of medications and snakebite treatment.

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How to use it

Being sure to manage what needs to be replaced and go through this kit every few months to see what has expired and what needs to be refilled. Go through training with family members and look through instructions on how to use an ace bandage. The storage of a home kit should be in the kitchen or near the kitchen for the simple fact that it is where a lot of activities happen.

Vehicle Kit

What if you need something in between the options of being prepared in the middle of nowhere and having a home first aid kit. This something many companies make and can be good useful options that work in an urban environment. One company that makes well designed tactical medical kits is called Dark Angel Medical. Really, there are a lot of good companies. With these kinds of kits, you can get a kit that may be used as a personal use kit or you can make your own very cheaply. The contents can vary and be used or reused but, here is a specific idea of what it would look like.

1 x Hemostatic Gauze (QuikClot Bleeding Control Dressing, Combat Gauze LE or MIL, ChitoGauze)
1 x Nitrile Gloves
1 x Mini Compression Bandage
1 x Compressed Gauze
1 x Eye Shield, Polycarbonate
1 x NPA
1 x Mylar Blanket
1 x CAT or SOFTT-W TQ with room for 2 more tourniquets
1 x Mini-Trauma Shears

This was also taken from information on what is included in Dark Angel Medicals Vehicular Individual Safety Rig (VISR). With other ideal use tools and would be a great setup for a bug out bag which I mention below here.

How to Use it a Vehicle Kit

With the specific tools come specific skillsets. With the medical kit shown above it would mainly be used for car accident-related accidents and can be a way to care for yourself or others in a dire situation.

3 Day Bug-Out Med Kit

Most likely a kit like this would be used for traveling and for a short period of time. What would you need for a 3-day camping trip that could turn into an unexpected amount of time? A common reason to have this kind of setup kit is for a survival situation that you need to get out of, key phrase GET OUT. What you need is more gear that can help in situations of traumatic injury. What should be contained in a kit like this would be:

Tourniquet
Antibiotic ointment
Prescription drugs
1x pair Nitrile gloves, size L
1x pair HALO Seals,
1x Nasal Airway,
1x 4” Emergency Bandage,
1x QuikClot Bleeding Control Bandage (Civilian Level) or QuikClot Combat Gauze LE (LE/FR Level) or ChitoGauze XR Pro (ChitoGauze Level) or QuikClot Combat Gauze MIL (MIL-SPEC Level)
1x Compressed Gauze
1x Mylar Blanket
1x Polycarbonate Eyeshield

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How to Use 3 Day Bug-Out Med Kit

This would be in addition to a basic medical kit for travel in a backpack or for hiking. You can adjust the quantities as you would need them. With tools such as a nasal airway, which, you should have medical training to use them in a kit like this. This also demands that you have some type of experience with treating wounds and stabilizing a patient. Even if you do not it is still good to have some of these tools available.

What You need for long-term survival

Dental kit – for broken teeth, loss of crown or filling
Ibuprofen (Advil is one brand name); another good choice is naprosyn (Aleve is a brand name)
Insect repellant
Knife (small Swiss Army-type)
Moleskin – to apply to blisters or hot spots
Nasal spray decongestant – for nasal congestion from colds or allergies
Non adhesive wound pads (Telfa)
Polysporin antibiotic ointment
Oral decongestant
Personal medications (enough for the trip duration and perhaps a couple of extra in case of delays) and items (for example, a cane or knee braces if needed)
Pocket mask for CPR (although now, CPR does not have to be mouth to mouth)

The amounts of these items that are put into your supply could also vary due to how much you might need but, as it may be better to have a stock built up for any amount of gear this would be a good start for stockpiling and even using other gear. For example, having a dental kit in a bug out bag, as well as, for a home medical kit. This would even be a great way to have all the supplies you need and have it in your motorhome, for when the next time you would go boondocking across the country.

How to Build Your Own Kit

What is so cool about having this knowledge is using it and having organized ways of customizing your loadout, so to speak. You could also have each person in your family or show your friends how to set up their own medical kit that is meant for different uses and having multiple kits for multiple uses is good. Another advantage to building your own kit is to specialize it for multiple uses, for the combination of camping and storage in a vehicle. Even with multiple uses, you would still have to compromise somewhere. Here are the ways you could organize it for that kind of setup. You could put it into a glove box or create something like the Dark Angel personal VISR medical kit. What you should focus on are four different areas.

Medications or ointments– for reasons of pain relief and ointments used for getting rid of rash or poison ivy. You could also mix in some herbal remedies that you would use if it does not go bad in any conditions such as heat or cold.
Bandages– This for obvious uses of temporarily treating the wide array of wounds a person could accumulate and even more serious gashes and lacerations. You could even include athletic tape for minor muscle injuries.
Basic Tools– This would include tweezers, mirror, blunt tip scissors, and a small razor blade or knife. Most of these should be used for wound management and wound care only.
Other Items– This would include a bee sting kit, tick remover, antiseptic towelettes, and burn dressings. You could put splint making kits or SAM Splints and saran-wrap material.

Conclusion

All these kits can be useful to you or someone in your group that would have some kind of advanced life support training (ALS) or basic life support training (BLS). Although there is no substitute for some of these items such as gloves or masks, you may find yourself improvising when you did not plan to. To avoid that always keep a list of what you have in each kit, so it is kept updated.

Getting as much training as you can help with self-sufficiency in any situation. Just because you may have been shown how to do some of the techniques that are required to save a life, that should always be updated with more training if possible.

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