First Aid Kit Essentials

What belongs in a household first aid kit, and the medications not to forget.

Supplies

Adhesive bandages in various sizes, gauze pads, and medical tape.
Antibiotic ointment, antiseptic wipes, and burn gel.
Tweezers, scissors, gloves, and a digital thermometer.
An instant cold pack and an elastic wrap for sprains.

Medications

Pain/fever reducers, antihistamine, anti-diarrheal, and any prescriptions — keep at least a 3-day supply (a 7–30 day supply is better) and note expiration dates.

Know how to use it

A kit is only as good as the person using it. Consider a basic first aid and CPR class for the adults in your household.

This guidance is general and not a substitute for official instructions from local emergency officials.

Related guides

Water Storage BasicsKit

Build a 72-Hour KitKit

Food for EmergenciesKit

Put it into action

Build your family plan → Ready Kit

Dusk Harbor — helping families be ready after real disasters. Guidance aligns with public Ready.gov / FEMA recommendations and is not a substitute for official local emergency instructions. In a life-threatening emergency, call 911 and follow official local instructions.

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Jacob Flintbushcraft

Scout your water sources before you need them. Walk your area now and note every reliable spring, creek, and standing pond within a mile of home—mark them on a paper map. In a crisis you want to know where water is, not go searching thirsty. Moving water and rain-fed sources beat stagnant, but treat all of it.

Willa Harthomestead

Stockpiling canned food does no good if you can't open it—keep two manual can openers with your stores, one in the kit and one in the kitchen. Test them on a can now; the cheap ones often skip or dull fast, and you don't want to discover that hungry in the dark.

Nora Solready home

Keep at least a week's worth of any prescription medications ahead of your regular refill, and store a printed list of names, doses, and prescribers with your kit. Pharmacies can be closed or out of stock for days after a disaster, and that written list speeds care if you end up somewhere new.

Jacob Flintbushcraft

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Nora Solready home

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Willa Harthomestead

Start one skill this season: a small garden bed, a batch of canned tomatoes, a bag of beans cooked from scratch. Self-reliance compounds.