Essentials: How to pack a first aid kit when traveling?

The essentials: how to pack a first aid kit when traveling?

When traveling, you need to be prepared for any situation. So that you are not taken by surprise, take time and prepare well.

A travel first aid kit is like a fire truck with a full tank of water. It would be strange to go to put out a fire without taking care of the most important thing. Any trip, even to a neighboring city, is a change in the usual way of life, where everyone knows everything: how to call an ambulance, where to go for help or where to find a 24-hour pharmacy. In this case, the traveler’s first aid kit should be compact and take up a minimum of space. We tell you what to take on the road, together with Andrey Prokudin, head of medical support of the Moscow – Vladivostok Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme cycling race.

What should you keep in mind when packing a first aid kit?

Of course, it is better to pack a first aid kit for a specific trip. Go to the mountains or go to a neighboring region with an excursion – different cases. It is also important to take into account the presence of diseases in everyone who is going to travel. And if you are traveling with you and children?

In general, the principles of collecting a first aid kit are quite simple. First of all, you need to take what you take at the moment and the necessary minimum:

• vitamins, which should be taken on schedule;
• painkillers and antipyretics – as the most commonly used medicines;
• Band-aids, just in case.

Next, based on the nature of the trip, choose what might come in handy in an emergency:

• bandages and cotton balls;
• hydrogen peroxide;
• iodine or green tea.

It is desirable to collect the minimum necessary for any place in the world, having previously studied the customs rules for importing medicines. Because the drug authorized in Russia can be prohibited in another country. Of course, plasters and antiseptics can be kept in your personal medicine cabinet and without authorization documents, but for prescription drugs it is better to take an English-language authorization.

Just in case, it’s worth researching whether the place you’re traveling to has a pharmacy on duty and an ambulance station.

What else should I take with me on my trip?

You can add some snacks and water in small containers to your duty kit. Sometimes even on a small trip, an extreme situation can arise. And an extra cookie or chocolate bar in your pocket can be nothing less than a life saver.

What not to take on a trip?

Definitely do not take syringes, glass jars with drugs, strong painkillers – all this can cause unnecessary interest of inspection services. If necessary, you should have with you authorization documents for storage and personal use of specific means.

What to carry medication in?

There are many medication carriers on the market. You should choose waterproof options and those that fit into a suitcase. It is better to carry your medications in your luggage, and take the bare minimum in your hand luggage: something for headaches and a couple of band-aids.

But it is better not to throw away medicine boxes, especially in Europe. Vigilant citizens of the European Union can call the police, suspecting something wrong. Even if they are harmless vitamins, why do you need unnecessary nerves and lost time? It is all the more important to keep the instructions with the Latin name of the medicine – this way you have a better chance of proving the free use of a medicine that is unusual for foreign countries.