Because things happen…
Unfortunately, things sometimes can go wrong and accidents happen, that’s why it’s so important to be prepared. Apart from the medical advice you need before traveling and buying a good travel insurance, we also recommend you to take a first aid kit with you.
There is no need to carry the whole pharmacy stock or to have any first aid qualification; you only need to take some basic things that you might need in an emergency. You can either prepare your own one, or buying an emergency first aid kit already prepared, they are normally fully stocked with anything you might need. Check out which one is better for you and for your kind of travels as there may be slightly different one from the other.
Travel first aid kit checklist.
Here are the things you need to have in your travel first aid kit to be ready for minor issues on the road.
- Blisters plasters ( these are amazing for long treks)
- Bandages
- Plasters
- Crepe bandages
- Surgical tape
- Small scissors (make sure they’re not sharp, otherwise they can be confiscated them at the airport if you take them as carry on)
- Tweezers ( we don’t know how many splinters we’ve had to remove so far…)
- Antiseptic wipes
- Pain relief and fever medication. (Paracetamol)
- Imodium tablets (they may have different names, they are used to stop diarrhea only in case you need to take the bus or train)
- Antihistamine cream ( to calm down insect bites, a very common annoying and itchy thing when traveling)
- Antihistamine tablets.
- Motion sickness tablets. These come in very handy when you are traveling in some countries where roads are in bad conditions.
- Oral rehydration solution packets
- Antibacterial creams ( to prevent possible infections in wounds)
- Antibacterial hand sanitizer gel.
Other medicines.
If you have been prescribed medication for traveling, such us malaria prevention tablets or antibiotics prescribed by your doctor to treat severe diarrhea, don’t forget to take them with you as well as the prescriptions.
If you suffer a severe alergy and have been prescribed epinephrine medication by the doctor, don’t forget to take with you your epinephrine auto-injector. (Epipen)
It’s important that you keep your prescribed medication in your hand luggage to avoid its losing it. Also, keep a copy of the prescriptions and the original ones, in case you need to buy them abroad.
When needed, bring insect repellent containing DEET 30%-50% and Sunscreen with UVA and UVB protection and SPF 30-50.
Hopefully you won’t need any of this, but if you do, is always better to be prepared. Have a safe trip!
