Even when travelling in countries with well-developed emergency and medical systems accidents and injuries occur these may require on the basic minor first aid treatment, at other times accidental injuries may require the attention of a health care professional.
Accessing health care in an unfamiliar country especially for a minor injury or cut may present problems, these problems may be doubly difficult in the developing world where good facilities may be many hundreds of miles away or indeed located in another country; it is wise then to assemble a basic travel first aid kit.
The further you travel from large population centres the more difficult it is to find any kind of good health care facilities. This is especially so in some countries in Asia and Africa.
Many pharmacies, chemists and drug stores sell expensive pre-packed first aid kits but it is unnecessary to buy these packs as it is easy to assemble an adequate kit much more cheaply and one that is tailored to the needs of the holiday or trip.
What to include in the first aid pack will depend on a number of factors:
- The destination
- The gender and age of the travellers
- Existence of pre-existing conditions
- The length of travel
- Is the holiday an ‘adventure’ type or just a beach vacation?
And the like.
Essential First Aid Materials
There are the obvious items like:
- Assorted sizes of waterproof medical plasters (Band-Aid or Elastoplast)
- Bandages from ½ to 6 inches (1.25 cm to 15.25 cm) wide both conforming and support and safety pins to fasten them
- Adhesive tape like ‘Steristrip
- Gauze pads’
- Triangular bandages to support injured arms or secure large dressings to cuts and lacerations
- Sterile eye wash for the removal of grit and dust from the eye
- Artificial tear eye drops – two bottles and mark one for the left and the for the forb the right eye to avoid cross contamination
- Eye patches
- Calamine lotion to sooth sunburn, skin irritations and minor insect bites
Then pack these:
- Antibiotics for the treatment of mild to moderate diarrohea (dysentery is very different and needs hospital treatment)
- Paracetamol (acetaminophen in USA) or Aspirin for aches and pains and to decease low grade fevers of 38.5o C (101o F) and below
- Gut calming tablets like Imodium
- Water sterilising tablets
- Mild laxatives
- Cough expectorant and also a suppressant
- Strepsils or some other lozenges for sore throats
- A nasal decongestant spray or tablets
- 1% hydrocortisone cream for stings and skin irritation
- Antifungal and antimicrobial creams.
- Pastes, ointments and gels are considered to be liquid so unless they are absolutely necessary pack them in check-in bags.
Other Items
Take with you:
- Digital or disposable thermometers
- Scissors
- Tweezers
- Sterile cotton buds to use as applicators
- Sterile cotton swabs or balls
- Waterless hand cleaners
- Oral rehydration tables/powders.
- Reading material
While not the absorbing bodice ripper or murder mystery many of us read in the departure lounge a good mini first aid book is essential. After all if your traveling companion has a motorbike accident the last thing you want is to make his injuries worse (or causes his demise) by inappropriate care and handling. You will also need to know how to use the equipment you have brought.
Emergency Telephone Numbers
A little forethought can prevent a great deal of trouble, pain and distress. So like the boy scout – always be prepared.
