First Aide Kits

Take a first aide class and more training if you can. For supplies, the place to start is with a pre-made small portable first aide kit and a larger home or car first aide kit. These are usually $10 to $20 on sale (but can be $100’s if you want). You can add items from your medicine cabinet and replace things like the cheap scissors that usually come with them. However, these usually are not good for much more than minor cuts and scrapes (going to a hospital/doctor may not be an option or may take a while—so do your best until you can get to one). For more serious injuries you probably have to make your own kit. The best book is Wilderness Medicine, by William W. Forgey. His suggested kit in the back of the book is great (I learned the hard way I needed some of the items that he recommends and figure the other items are ones I may need in the future). Amazon and Moore Medical have most of the items if you can’t find them locally. For the house or car first aide kit, I suggest a hard sided box like a tool box. Dental care is also important. A toothache is really distracting. A little dental kit like this could make you a lot more comfortable until you can see a dentist.

Other kits
Make other kits as you see fit. I have a kit that is mainly in case of terrorist attack (I live and work too close to a likely target). I have Jane’s Chem-Bio Handbook and what to do if a nuclear attack in imminent as well as Potassium Iodide (seven days), plastic sheeting, duct tape, tyvek clothes coverings, and a face mask (this is not as good as a gas mask but its what I have). You can spread this to your other kits if you want.