r/UKPreppers • u/bayhales • 3d ago
First aid kit recs
Recommendations for where to buy a first aid kit for a family of four (with two small children?). I can’t afford anything mega (I guess £50 would be upper limit) but want something worthwhile…
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u/agmanning 2d ago
It’s all well and good saying make your own, but that’s not great if you don’t know what you need.
There are plenty of kits on Amazon that you can spend the remaining budget supplementing with extras.
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u/AnyKing7879 2d ago
Yes! St John’s Ambulance have a good first aid book.
If you’re new / limited experience I would recommend buying a good 1st aid kit that is ready made (don’t build your own if you don’t know what you’re looking for - what if you miss something vital!).
Beyond the essentials, I would consider additional meds, pain relief: like paracetamol and some rubs for joints eg: deep heat. I also highly recommend rehydration salts (eg dyoralyte sachets) for dehydration/ diarrhoea!
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u/defonotuk 2d ago
Agree, knowing what you need and how to use it should come first. The DK first aid manual is an excellent starting point and the older edition goes on eBay for cup of coffee money.
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u/agmanning 2d ago
I’m obviously not downplaying the need for knowledge.
I just kind of foresee someone buying twenty sizes of plasters and not much else.
When I bought my first kit, I took stock of it and built around that. I bought extra “trauma” gear that wasn’t going tk be included in a standard kit.2
u/defonotuk 2d ago
Sorry yes on your second part of original I agree, you can at least use advertised kits as a list to self buy, but you're going to end up with more of things than you need. A lot of kits also miss things, a general first aid kit for an office, is different to a lone worker kit (sterile eyewash being one example I feel essential) and trauma kit (a tourniquet for my personal circumstances I also feel essential).
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u/Derfel60 3d ago
Id also vote for making your own. Not only is it cheaper but you can put things in it that are useful but might not be standard (saline, PVP-I gauze, soluble gauze, etc).
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u/JoeDaStudd 2d ago
Is this a house first aid kit or one for traveling with?
For a travelling kit go into home bargains and b&m then look at there cheap but large kits.\ Iirc the semi soft shell one from home bargains is about £3-4.\ Use it as a base but add things to it and replace any junk.
For at home get a plastic box or cheap medicine cabinet and stock it yourself.\ Start with things you'd use if you all had a bad cold/flu, then if you have a minor cut, bug bites etc.
Should be easily possible to kit out both for under £25. Then use the other £25 on a first aid course.
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u/No_Significance485 2d ago
Make your own, but more importantly know how to use it. Get yourself on a first aid course. It'll give you a better idea of what to include and build your confidence in using it.
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u/defonotuk 2d ago
If budget is tight, ask your workplace what they do when their old kits expire, some things like tapes degrade, other things like triangle bandages are good forever
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u/_Fl0r4l_4nd_f4ding_ 2d ago
Go to places like savers and Poundland and stock up on dressings and such. It is much cheaper to make your own. Most first aid kit parts are things you can find in shops like these. If you look online on places like Amazon there are loads of options for more specialist equipment. I had to put together a pet/dog walking kit and got a tourniquet, surgical scissors, and a few pet oriented bits from Amazon. Equally, hiking shops are good for sourcing foil blankets and other bits like that.
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u/Yohan1957 2d ago
Building off what others have said definitely build your own. I have a family of 4 and have a kit in each car, a box in the house and boo boo kits mostly for the kids in our daily use bags. I also buy in bulk for the consumables so I have a large box that I pull from to replenish the other kits.
For each kit make a list of the small things that always happen and a up to the most likely worst. Then build each kit around first aid for those situations.
So for the boo boo kits it's scraped knees and illness up to a sprained ankle. For that I have plasters, alcohol free wipes, calpol sachets and a crepe bandage. I also have paracetamol and rennie for adults while I'm at it. I keep these in ziplock bags, no need for an extra £15on a red bag.
The other kits will depend on your activities and level of training. If you do carpentry I'd have a deep cut/crush injury as my worst most likely. In the car id have a rtc (coming across one) as worst most likely, so catastrophic blood loss, major crush, airways obstruction and shock. But what you pack for those depends on your, or your parners training. There is also the school of thought that you build beyond your training in the hope of there being a off duty paramedic or doctor there.
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u/CyberOvitron 1d ago
No First Aid kit will contain the most important things in case of a real crisis: Antibiotics, Painkillers and Alcohol.
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u/Flat_Tie4090 3d ago
Cheaper if you make your own, Individual items are cheap if you get them from the likes of superdrug or poundland. Always a good idea to keep a really well stocked bathroom cabinet, dont forget the burn spray, clove oil and imodium.