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Yeah, well...I was diving into this idea myself. Recently, I've been lugging around a first aid kit in my rucksack everywhere I go. After trying to help out a bloody wreck (don't ask) on the street, someone fainting in front of me, and other stuff, I decided to make this topic on how to make your own first aid kit.

Sure, you can buy them at the nearest hardware or drug store, but that would be the in-video-game equivalent of a medicinal canteen, a small medpak, potion, or pain pills (or whatever the small health restorer is called in your game). Here, I'll tell you how to make that first aid kit into something better.

Your standard first aid kit consists of the following:

1. Providone Iodine 10% solution - This is your antiseptic. It'll kill all the lil nasties that can enter your wounds. Just dab some onto a cotton ball/swab or q-tip and then rub it gently on the wound. While you do so, start from the center of the wound and make your way out in a spiral; that way the lil buggers will be out of the wound when you push em out, instead of just dangle in.
2. Paracetamol - These are your "pills". Your standard pain pills, readily available from the drugstore. They're also your pills for fevers. I suggest stuffing your kit with a large packet if you can. (make sure to take em once every 4 hours. Max to take per day is 4. Take em like in L4D and you'll be dead in no time. bad idea)
3. Aromatic Spirit of Ammonia - This can also be known as "smelling salts". In case someone passes out, dilute a couple of drops into water, soak into a cloth and then place the cloth close to the nostrils. That'll wake em up good. (note: does not help if someone passes out due to loss of blood, magic spells, or damage induced by enemies or monsters)
4. Loperamide - okay, this small little pill is something you could really need if your name is "Johnny Sazaki" (points to whoever gets the reference). This'll pacify that little pain the the rear or stomach. Just take one pill; take more than one and...let's just say you're gonna give yourself a REALLY hard time if you want to...let it out the basement....
5. Phenylephrine HCl Chlorphenamine maleate Paracetamol (I know, it's a pain to read. Imagine being me, who HAS to remember what this is by that name) - Cold medicine. Good for the sniffles. Take note that there are other drugs with very long names in boxes that are also good for cold medicine. I just outlined this one because it's the generic where I'm at (check your drug store for the cold med in your country)
4. Gauze pads/Bandages - you'd have a few. Would be 2 x 2 inches. Just put them on your boo-boos. Make sure you wash your boo-boos first, like what I stated for number 1. Course you need something else to fasten the gauze to your skin, which brings me to...
5. Hospital tape - This works better than magic tape and duct tape because it's designed to stick to your skin and let your skin still breathe through it. If you're in a bind, you can also use this to directly bandage wounds.
6. Cold Rub - do I have to explain this?
7. Burn ointment - also known as Chlorobutanol + Benzalkonium Chloride Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate. Place on burns to help burns heal up.
8. Cotton balls/swabs - use this to apply most of the stuff on your skin. That way, any nasties on your hand won't get inside the wound, which would make you WORSE.


That little kit's good and all for those little day-to-day boo-boos. It's not so good when something major happens, like a sudden accident, getting hit by a bullet, natural calamity, man made calamity, or a zombie apocalypse for that matter. To upsize your little first aid kit into a medium (or large) first aid kit, you need this stuff:

1. Meclizine HCl - perfect for those long, queazy family road trips. It'll break you out of your dizzy spell. Buy one that's chewable so you don't need water to down the dizziness out.
2. Surgical masks - it's not because of paranoia of a bio-warfare attack that I want you to have one in there, it's because it'll help you out if there's smoke and such. It's nifty to have around and it's not as scary-looking as a gas mask (I actually have a cloth one with a "Blue's Clues" design. ...don't look at me like that! It was the only one where I bought it which had paw prints on! That's the only reason I bought it >.>; )
3. A long roll of gauze bandage - Sure, you already have a gauze pad and bandages in it. Those aren't enough (I also recommend you to add more bandages and gauze pads in it). The pads and bandages are good for small area wounds, but what if the wounds on your entire arm, like in a burn situation. That's where this comes in. Instant mummy wrap.
4. Scissors - You wonder why I told you to add those scissors in? Well, you need something to cut the hospital tape and gauze. Sure you could use scissors that are lying around, but it's better to have one inside when you need it. Make sure the scissors are not rusty. Your best bet would be to use the scissors used in surgery: the "Mayo Scissors". They're actually cheap and they'll last for a long time (imagine having to super-heat and pressurize your scissors after every time you use it. That's what the Mayo Scissors is designed for, so it'll last for a long time)
5. Mosquito Forceps (curved and straight) - okay, so...why forceps? Well...they're good for prying stuff out. Big deal, right? These little (blood) suckers though are capable of reaching into narrow wounds to remove whatever made them, whether be some sharp thingy or a bullet or something. Also, if you don't have gloves handy, you can use them to pick up those cotton balls/swabs you need to use to clean up your wounds with. It helps because you wouldn't give yourself another infection (your skin is full of microbes. Don't try to grab the anti-bacterial soap just yet; those microbes prevent OTHER microbes from getting on your skin These microbes on your skin should STAY on your skin, and not inside your body, so....). Reason also to pry those stuff out of you is because if your wound heals up with them in, it'll be hard getting them out...and they might be carrying their own nasties (FYI; IRL ninja stars used by IRL ninjas were made from rusty coins. Rust = tetanus = dead)
6. Medical gloves - no, those are not the gloves used by Mr. Surgeon. Those are surgical gloves, and it would be impractical to put into your portable first aid kit (besides, if you bend the packaging, you ruined the gloves. You could always take them out, but the powder in the gloves does not mix well with all the other stuff). This is the ordinary latex gloves used for many different purposed (including the dreaded prostate exam). They're always good to have around. Keep three pairs inside if you can.
7. Antihistamines - I've recently consulted my drug manuals and online references (I am still hu...a being, you know) and sorry, but I was a tad mistaken (I saw some used as cold and flu meds so yeah....). Generally antihistamine is for allergies. Now this is a really handy drug because if you know or are not sure if you're allergic to something, this little pill helps lessen the effect. Antihistamine works on histamine, which causes the area stung and such to swell.

Now that about wraps it up. I also suggest adding more bandages and gauze pads. Make sure also that you replace the meds inside the first aid kit yearly. Would be a waste if the pills are inert (and theoretically they could easily kill you if past expiry). There's more stuff I'd like for you to add, but that would be overkill and you'd need a doc's prescription (and the skills) for it.
And there you go! Your very own, homemade large medpak or hi-potion (or whatever medium healing item your game calls it). Now at least you can take comfort that you've got something that'll make sure you and your loved one/buddies will survive at least better than anyone else. Take solace also that if you die in a zombie horde, when a group of survivors stumble upon your corpse, they'd be really thankful to you as they desecrate this from your body. Least you help them survive a bit more, maybe.

(Although I added video game references, I am serious on this. This would really help you in a bind. Have a least one first aid kit in your house. Remember though that this is only first aid, which is immediate care. If it was something really bad, head to the hospital immediately after patching yourself up.)

If you guys want, I COULD also teach you a bit on some basic first aid. I was trained by the Red Cross/Red Crescent so I could give you some more useful first aid tips.

Duct tape is an alternative. Used with cloth behind it, it can work as a makeshift gauze, but you need to bandage it up with gauze after, because the fabric would just stick to the wound (gauze is designed not to). It becomes a pain when you try to remove it because whatever scab formed to help heal and cover it will be taken away when you take the duct tape/cloth off. It's worse when you use duct tape alone because not only will it hurt like heck when you take it off and remove that helpful scab, it'll leave deeper wounds on your skin and would make the area dry enough to easily be injured, making more wounds.
Although gauze may be more expensive than a roll of duct tape, and it covers less of the body per roll, it is designed for wounds and will be the one placed on the wound anyways in the hospital. You'd also have to foot the bill for the gauze used at the hospital, so you might as well cover it up with your own so you don't have to pay later.

So yeah...if you want to put in duct tape, go ahead. I'm just saying it's not really that useful in first aid (unless you plan on getting blisters...). Best throw it away and put in more gauze/ hospital tape.

...understand that this is a first aid kit. Morphine is used for mild to severe chronic pain that pain killers can't fix, and it requires the prescription of a doctor with a license to issue such a drug. Meaning it's overkill and illegal to possess it, moreso to put it in a first aid kit (and expensive. And don't you start talking about recreational drugs with me now. Don't need to know, don't want to know, don't care.)
Also, hard liquor like vodka helps as both a disinfectant (due to the alcohol) and as a pain killer (because it can hamper your nerves). Also works against jellyfish stings. The problem is that it's way too impractical. It would be a waste of money because the things hard liquor can help with is already taken care of by the pain killer paracetamol and the antiseptic providone iodine (also known as Betadine). Also, hard liquor dulls the senses and it would be way better if you were alert after being given first aid (think survival situations). Not to mention also you have to be legal in the first place to acquire it.

Understand also that what I outlined utilizes the stuff that is best suited for the job that is easy to obtain. Besides...you're gonna waste that hard liquor if you put it in there, though it is a last resort option. You could always use that instead for a molotov. But I won't stop you if you want to put in in there. Just saying that it's a waste and not needed.