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A first aid kit is an essential that’s often overlooked until it’s needed. Minor cuts and injuries are commonplace within the home, and these kits have the adhesive bandages, pain relief, antibiotic ointment, and other basic medical care items needed to treat them. With all of the options on the market, the This Old House Reviews Team assessed the best first aid kits on Amazon to help you select the right one for your needs. Here are our top picks.
Best Comprehensive Kit: M2 Basics First Aid Kit
Whether you need emergency supplies for when you get lost in the woods or your son scrapes his knee, this first aid kit covers almost every situation with its 300 pieces. It contains bandages, gauze, tape, sterilization equipment, miscellaneous medical supplies, and survival tools.
Key Features
- Contains 300 pieces
- Helps with medical and non-medical emergencies
- Comes in a soft fabric case
What Customers Are Saying
Many reviewers complimented this first aid kit’s value and offerings. However, dissatisfied customers felt like it lacked a few essential items, including burn cream, allergy and pain medication, matches, and a flashlight.
Best For Cuts and Scrapes: First Aid Only All-Purpose Kit
This first aid kit comes with well over 100 fabric and plastic bandages for treating small open wounds. It also has gauze, butterfly wound closures, and other items that are particularly useful for cuts and scrapes.
Key Features
- Contains 298 pieces
- Helps with medical emergencies
- Comes in a soft fabric case
What Customers Are Saying
Customers who liked this first aid kit said that its large collection of items was contained within a portable, durable case. However, some customers were stuck in emergencies that the kit couldn’t help with because it didn’t contain gloves, antihistamine, and other basic items.
Best For Medium-Size Families: Coleman All-Purpose First Aid Kit
This first aid kit provides effective care for a family of four in a small package. The kit opens to reveal two plastic pouches on either side that contain treatments for minor injuries, including adhesive bandages, gauze, medical tape, antibiotic ointment, and alcohol wipes.
Key Features
- Contains 205 pieces
- Helps with medical emergencies
- Comes in a hard fabric case
What Customers Are Saying
Many customers commented on the convenient size of this kit. Though compact, the case offered enough room to add additional necessities. Some reviewers did struggle to get the bandages to stick to their skin, though.
Best For Non-Medical Emergencies: DeftGet First Aid Kit
Not all emergencies involve an injury. Though this kit contains over 150 items to aid with these situations, it also has a multitool, flashlight, whistle, and other supplies that can help when you’re camping, hiking, or stuck at home without power.
Key Features
- Contains 163 pieces
- Helps with medical and non-medical emergencies
- Comes in a hard fabric case
What Customers Are Saying
This first aid kit provided customers with care for a variety of situations. A common complaint among unsatisfied customers was that the instructions for using the supplies were worded in a difficult-to-understand way.
Best Basic Kit: Be Smart Get Prepared First Aid Kit
If you only need the basics, this affordable kit is equipped to handle the cleaning, treating, and protecting of most minor injuries. The 100 pieces are stored in a hard plastic case with a carrying handle that can withstand drops.
Key Features
- Contains 201005 pieces
- Helps with medical emergencies
- Comes in a hard plastic case
What Customers Are Saying
Amazon customers commented on this first aid kit’s ease of transport and ability to treat minor injuries. Reviewers also noted that the kit covered the essentials at an affordable price. Some reviewers did, however, note that it contained too many bandages. They had to buy additional supplies, such as tweezers and pain relievers, to complete the kit.
Buyer’s Guide
First aid kits differ in terms of the types of emergencies they can help with, the number of items they have, and more. Here are several factors to consider before buying a kit.
Components
Most first aid kits include a combination of wound dressings and medicines. For example, a first aid kit may feature bandages, gauze rolls, pain relievers, and trauma pads to treat different wounds.
In addition to the essentials, some first aid kits offer items that help in non-medical emergency situations. From navigation to makeshift shelter, these items typically include an emergency blanket, compass, whistle, and glowstick to help individuals who find themselves in more severe situations.
Size
While the size of a first aid kit impacts the number of items it can carry, it also influences where you can store it. For example, compact kits are designed to fit in a backpack or under a car seat, while large, comprehensive kits may need to be stored in a closet.
Organization
Most first aid kits store their contents in pockets or sections to organize them. Common systems include mesh or plastic pockets, elastic loops, and zippered compartments.
Quality
Not all first aid kits are created equal. Though a larger kit may seem like a better buy than a smaller kit with fewer items, the quality and longevity of the tools and supplies contained in the kit matter. If you’re in a true emergency situation, you’re relying on a first aid kit’s contents to work. Unreliable tools exponentially decrease the utility of a kit, especially if you’re in a time-sensitive, panicked situation.
Literature
A medical emergency is no time for leisure reading. However, you may find yourself panicked, overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do and how to utilize the contents of your emergency kit. That’s why many kits include easy-to-understand guides for those who are attending to an emergency. This information is designed to be clear and concise to calm down the user and help them focus on the task at hand.
Non-Medical Emergency Preparedness
From fires to tornadoes, not all emergencies are medical. Having the right gear on hand for a variety of emergencies will help protect your home and family as well as deal with unpleasant realities, such as power outages and broken windows. Here are the most critical supplies to have on hand when things go wrong:
- Fire extinguisher
- Smoke detector
- Carbon monoxide alarm
- Duct tape
- Emergency blanket
- Multitool
- Work gloves
- Emergency radio
- Nylon rope
- Lantern, flashlight, or headlamp with batteries
- Baby wipes
Frequently Asked Questions
What items should be in a first aid kit?
What goes into your first aid kit is based on what you plan to use it for. However, in general, this is what the Red Cross recommends a kit should contain for a family:
- Absorbent compress dressings
- Adhesive bandages
- Adhesive cloth tape
- Antibiotic ointment
- Antiseptic wipes
- Aspirin
- Emergency blanket
- Breathing barrier
- Instant cold compress
- Non-latex gloves
- Hydrocortisone ointment
- Gauze rolls
- Roller bandages
- Gauze pads
- Oral thermometer
- Triangular bandages
- Tweezers
- Emergency first aid guide
Where should I keep my first aid kit?
According to the Mayo Clinic, to effectively respond to injuries and emergencies, you should keep first aid kits in both your home and personal vehicle.
Why should I get a first aid kit?
First aid kits can help you treat minor injuries or respond to life-threatening emergencies before medical professionals arrive.
Can I build my own first aid kit?
While it’s possible to create your own first aid kit by purchasing a variety of bandages, wraps, ointments, and more, it’s typically most cost-effective to buy a pre-assembled kit. If that kit lacks a few items you like to have on hand, you can add them.
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This Old House has empowered homeowners for more than four decades with top-notch home improvement content in the form of television programs, print media, and digital content on its website and social media platforms. The This Old House Reviews Team focuses on creating in-depth product and service review content to help inform your purchasing decision for just about any item or resource that you might need for your home. The This Old House Reviews Team has written over 1,000 reviews on products in the home space, from cordless drills to kitchen trash cans, lawn mowers, and dining room decorations.
We recommend products in each review using an intensive research process, spending hours combing through the best available models on Amazon. For a product to make our list of top picks, it must hold a solid sales record on Amazon, have consistently positive customer reviews, and offer unique features, among other factors. After narrowing down our list of recommendations, we conduct additional research and sometimes in-person testing to ensure that the products meet our standards. Once we conclude the research phase, we craft a well-rounded, user-friendly article that includes our recommended products and additional information to help homeowners like you make the right purchase.
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