Accidents happen at random, and no one can accurately predict where and when such kinds of unfortunate events would occur. If you meet such circumstances, wouldn’t it be brilliant of you to have the best survival medical kit ready at hand?

When we speak about a survival medical kit, what pops in most people’s minds is the little plastic box you’d typically find in the pharmacy isles at various superstores. But these first aid kits only come with a few bandages, antibiotic ointment, and some pain relievers.

Don’t get me wrong. There are benefits of buying a ready-made first aid kit because it’s cheaper, and you’ll have what you’ll likely need in a minor emergency. But building your own best survival medical kit allows you to tailor it according to your needs and the type of activity you’re embarking on.

This how-to guide reveals the general considerations for a survival medical kit, the essential first aid items to include, the modifications you can make to suit your unique needs, how to choose the right bag to house the supplies, and the importance of training.

General Considerations for an Emergency First Aid Kit

There are ready-made emergency survival kits and systems on the market. However, you have to consider your unique situations to complete a survival medical kit that is tailored for you.

A prepper’s emergency survival medical kit is easy to build when you are conversant with the general rules of building one. You simply have to do your own risk analysis and discover the 4Ws of your kit.

Risk Analysis

A proper risk analysis of your life can guide you on what you need in prepping for survival and what can be considered unnecessary. You could do a mental evaluation or write your own scored system to identify and rate the risks. After listing the risks for you and each of your family members, consider giving it a score of 1 to 5 – 5 being very likely to occur and 1 being less likely.

The best survival first aid kit needs to be built based on the highest scoring emergencies. A risk analysis is critical in identifying the essential elements that shouldn’t miss on the package. For example, a diabetic family member makes oral glucose a necessity – to help in a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) episode.

The 4Ws for Your Kit

Another excellent guide to building a practical survival medical kit is to ask yourself several important questions.

1. Who Are Your Building it For?

The contents and size of the kit depend on whether you are married or single; have kids or not; live alone, or care for an elderly family member.

2. What Kind of Emergencies Face You?

The contents and size of the kit depend on whether you are married or single; have kids or not; live alone, or care for an elderly family member.

3. Where Do You Live?

Another excellent guide to building a practical survival emergency kit is to ask yourself several important questions.

4. Why Do You Need the First Aid Kit?

Understanding your own motivations for building the kit gives you a sense of direction. It could be that you want to avoid hospital trips for treatable-at-home injuries or prepare for emergencies related to a pre-existing condition.

Basic First Aid Items

After understanding the general considerations, it is time to learn about the basic items to include in the kit.

Items to Close Wounds and Stop Bleeding

Unlike your beautiful home, where you have taken the time to trim the bushes and keep the grass short, it is wild out there. You can easily find sharp objects that can cause mild or severe injuries to you and your loved ones. Besides, you’ll probably be adrenaline-charged when responding to an emergency, and you may not pay attention to small, dangerous things.

Your medical kit should never miss items that can stop bleeding and cover cuts. Here is what can come in handy:

  • Duct Tape. A duct tape is excellent for open wounds and can pull it together before medical help arrives.
  • Butterfly Sutures. Butterfly sutures are ideal for small cuts. It is adhesive and pulls together the edges of the cut, similar to a hospital stitch.

Before using a butterfly suture or duct tape, ensure that the wound is clean and free from foreign materials or debris. And if you have any kind of antiseptic to apply, it is critical to let the wound dry before closing it.

When using the adhesive strips, it is advisable to begin in the middle of the wound and work your way towards the edges. Remember to be gentle with yourself and attempt to pull the cut as tightly together as possible.

Items to Prevent an Infection

Pain can be draining, especially when you are trying to survive in an unfamiliar environment. You need to pack something that can reduce inflammations and manage or treat pain in an emergency situation. A good first aid kit should not miss:

  • Lidocaine
  • Chemical ice bags
  • Ibuprofen, Tylenol, or Aspirin

Pain Management Items

Preppers may feel like allergy medications are unnecessary if they don’t have allergies. However, allergic reactions can develop from various things. Allergens can cause life-threatening anaphylaxis reactions, which need to be treated as soon as possible. So make sure that your survival kit has:

  • Antihistamine creams
  • Antihistamine – Consider getting Benadryl, also known as Diphenhydramine HCI. It is among the best antihistamines on the market and shouldn’t be missed in any prepper’s kit.
  • Epinephrine or EpiPen – This can stop anaphylaxis for people with life-threatening allergies. Epinephrine pens are only available with a prescription in many countries, including the U.S.  If you or a family member have life threatening allergies, this is a must have.  While an EpiPen can be very pricy, there are generic alternative versions available at big savings.

Allergy Items

Sanitation issues are usually a problem during survival situations, and the last thing you want is to have issues with wounds. Open cuts and wounds can allow infections to set in very quickly. You can keep your wounds pathogen-free and accelerate healing by packing these items:

  • Antibiotic ointments and creams
  • Adhesive wound dressings
  • Gauze
  • Antiseptic disinfectants – antiseptic wipes, PVP Iodine Ampules, Isopropyl Alcohol, and peroxide

Additional Items

Other medical items that can help preppers survive a medical emergency include:

  • Basic first aid instructions and medical manuals
  • Burn creams and dressings
  • Emergency dental kits
  • Vaseline
  • Sunblock
  • Sterile eyewash and eye dressing
  • Disposable gloves
  • Disposable thermometers
  • Scissors
  • Tweezers
  • Grooming and cleaning tools like soap and fingernail clippers
  • Quick clot gauze
  • Splints – air and SAM splints
  • Tourniquet – one handed
  • Surgical blades and sterile needles

Basic Modifications for Your Unique Needs

Every family is different, so are individuals. Survival Medical Kit has to be tailored to the special needs and conditions of the family it serves. For instance, you might need medications that are not required by the next household. This makes it necessary to modify your emergency preparedness plan to suit your unique needs or that of your loved ones.

It is advisable to avoid pre-packaged kits unless you use them as a foundation for building your own. Their problem is that they might have unnecessary items, low-quality products, and poor organization that can make it hard to spot what you need in an emergency.

Depending on the conditions you or a family member has, you can add or remove the medical items from the survival medical kit accordingly. You can include:

  • Prescription medications. A survival medical kit cannot be complete without a supply of your current prescription medicines. It could be what doctors recommended for conditions like blood pressure or diabetes.
  • Over-the-counter medicines. If specific medications help you counter random symptoms like nausea or diarrhea, make sure to include them in the emergency medical kit.

Choosing the Right Bag for an Emergency Survival Medical Kit

Now that you have an idea of the medical supplies to help you survive an emergency, it is time to consider the kind of box, bag, or pouch you’ll need to contain them. A well constructed carrying bag for your medical items is essential in completing the survival medical kit. A simple web search can give you a never-ending list of options to choose from. Magpul DAKA Pouch, Condor Medical Bag, Orca Tactical Molle Pouchand 5.11 Tactical Med Kit are potential pouches made of durable fabrics and a variety of Velcro fasteners, loops, and zippered pockets.

Be wary of inferior products when shopping on a budget. While there are amazing deals in the market, be aware of people seeking to take advantage of preparedness folks/ survivalists. It pays to do proper research and shop around.

Remember that organization ought to be a major consideration for medical equipment. Related items are better placed together. If the bag has several pockets that make the items obscured, labeling would really help. Labeling makes it easy for someone else to open the kit and find something needed to help you. You can also use several zip-locked bags or rubber bands to help with the organization. More time should be spent attending to the emergency and not on digging stuff up.

How Important is First Aid Training?

Your ultimate emergency survival medical kit may not serve its purpose if you do not know how to use the items on yourself or a loved one. While you need no training to rinse off a wound, a basic understanding of injuries and the anatomy can enhance your abilities in an emergency. And there are many training options for a layperson without the need to spend thousands of dollars on an EMS certificate.

The Red Cross and American Heart Association offer courses for first aid, CPR, and AED. But if you can’t find a course that meets your needs, you can reach out to your local police, fire, or hospital departments to find out if they have community outreach programs on the same. And you can involve your entire household in the preparedness because you never know who will need help in an emergency situation.

Final Thoughts

You cannot afford to make mistakes with your survival medical kit because someone’s life might depend on it. And getting it right can be a source of great satisfaction, knowing that you have done your best to safeguard your well-being and that of your loved ones.

This guide covers everything you need to begin building your kit from scratch and custom-make it to your needs. And the exciting part about building the kit is that you can get the supplies in bulk and practice to enhance survival skills for kids and everyone in your household.

So, get started today and begin ticking the boxes in your prepper’s emergency supplies list.

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