What do you keep in your aid kit?

[Keno]

I'm trying to update my first aid kit for the faire this year.  Right now its bandages, sunscreen and salve cause last year was mostly scratches and small cuts but since one of us fell to sun stroke I want to know if there is anything I could add, also my group is planning on getting into fighting so I need to know the best materials for welts, and such.  I know there is a first aid tent at the faire but I also know they are busy once the place opens and they have to run around the faire to help people, so I want to keep my group out of the tent unless it really needed.

I don't think there is a product to help sun stroke so mosly guide lines to help when it happens would help. 

I also don't mind recipes just tell me what its for.

[Lady Kett]

Keno,

There's a thread on Avoiding heat stroke at Faire where you might find some useful info.

I carry bandaids, neosporin and safety pins. If you have people doing fighting, an ace bandage or two might be helpful too in case there's a hard hit or sprain.

[Bonny Pearl]

Let's see, combat aches and pains....

Dermoplast is a good thing to have for minor cuts, bites, etc.  I was given that in the hospital once and I keep it in stock in the house.  Great stuff!
Ziploc baggies for ice packs
Icy/Hot for aches in general
Gauze pads, bandages and tape
Aspirin, Advil or whatever
Alcohol wipes to clean cuts

I'm sure others can come up with stuff too

[Trillium]

maybe some powdered gatorade for the heat and some hard candy for diabetics

Also, if you're gonna have an area to set up your stuff, a 3-5 gallon drink cooler full of water would be good.  Also some sort of canopy if you can do it.  We used to be vendors at amtgard events and always had people coming by looking for relief from the heat.  Fighters have a tendency to forget to drink enough water, especially the younger ones. 

[Molden]

I kinda "over-prepared" when I camped at TRF in that area, and never regretted it. I have 2 first aid kits; one is a 3M jobsite first aid kit, the other is a home-made kit in a clear plastic tackle box - as well as a veritable pharmacy:

jobsite first aid kit has instant cold packs, a 2" ace bandage, assorted band-aids, including knuckle type, gauze, tape, antiseptic wipes, heating balm, triangular bandage, tweezers and scissors.

in the tackle box - ace bandages; 2 - 2", 1 - 4", 1 - 6", gauze pads and rolls, tape, bactine wipes, non-stick pads, BC powder, antacids, swabs, Swiss army knife, scissors, foreseps, tweezers, scissors, and Neo-sporin.

Miscellaneous: bottle alcohol, bottle peroxide, cold medicines, aspirin, ibuprofen, Benadryl, Sudafed, Claritin, Pepto-Bismol, NyQuil, Rum, Beer, Bacon, miscellaneous other pharmaceuticals...  

[Trillium]

Ummmm....doesn't the bacon get a little stinky in the first aid kit???   

[Hibernian]

The instant cold paks are a very good idea. Useful for the bumps, bruises, sprains and strains, but also helpful in heat situations when attempting to cool someone down. The instant pak is always there while someone has to run for ice.

the sterile guaze pads and roller guaze ("kling") in various sizes will cover anything more serious than a bandaid. A roll of atheletic tape will secure dressings and a whole lot more. A lot of people forget the round guaze pads for eyes. Yes, you can use the square pads but the round eye pads offer better protection and actually fit the eye orbit and stay in place.

Good bandage shears/scissors. Just in case, and I hate to say it, you need to cut through garb to expose an injury, look for the "paramedic scissors." Mine will cut through a penny as easily as leather.

Be careful handing outs meds, always ask about allergies first.

[Bonny Pearl]

protect yourself too.  get some disposable gloves.  you just never know.

[Bonny Pearl]

oh and.........................   Bacon?!   

that sounds about right lol! 

[Keno]

Thank you all.  I'm know most of my group allergies and trying to keep track of that.  I'm going to remake the whole kit cause it was mostly me and the mate but now we seem to have gained three girls and a guy.  I never heard of an instant pack before.

[dragongirl]

I would keep some single serve gatoraid packets in there because fighters do forget to hydrate and keep electrolytes up.  I would also keep some sanitary napkins for the girls and also to use with large compress bandages.  You might laugh but once on the list field our someone slipped on wet grass and gashed their leg pretty bad.  We didn't have anything in the first-aid kit that could absorb all the blood and cover the entire wound.  I happened to have a Kotex in my bag so I grabbed it and we used that and a 4 inch ace bandage to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding and get him to the hospital where he ended up with 22 stiches in his calf and the ER Dr complimented us on the quick thinking to the Kotex to help stop the bleeding.   

[Adriana Rose]

I keep a kit in my shop that has enough band aids for an army! The little gatoraide packs are great but Emergan-C kicks some major booty too. Also I have extra kotex and othe girly need things just in case some one needs it NOW.

I also keep some Arnica salve on hand for owies, I think it works better than Icy Hot and it helps kill brusies before they get gnarly. You can find it at Whole Foods/Wild Oats or what have you.

Bactine is a must for me. It feels awesome on owies

[irish]

I carry the usual...but also the cold packs you smash to make cold.
They help when someone is way too warm.
Just don't apply directly to the skin area.
Use cloth between skin and the cold pack.

[Keno]

Thank you all. 

[LadyJessica]

Thank you all.  I'm know most of my group allergies and trying to keep track of that.  I'm going to remake the whole kit cause it was mostly me and the mate but now we seem to have gained three girls and a guy.  I never heard of an instant pack before.

One thing I will say is that while you know most of your groups allergies others may not, so keep a list in the first aid kit listing the allgeries of anyone who's camping with you.  I did that for my original camping group years back and told them that if they are bringing a friend with any allergies then I would need to know.  It came in handy as we one year couldn't put onions into our food because they checked the list first before cooking as one of our friends brought a girlfriend that was highly allergic to onions and didn't tell anyone but me.

[lys1022]

Don't forget moleskin.  It's a lifesaver when ill-fitting boots/shoes cause blisters!  Otherwise, we keep pretty much what everyone else has listed.  I normally make sure that we have aspirin, Tylenol, Advil AND Aleve in there so people can take their preferred painkiller.  The Neosporin spray is good because then you don't risk cross-contamination.

Also, I put the single-use saline eyedrops in there for when folks get dust in their eyes or have dry eyes or whatever.  The single use again helps to avoid cross contamination.

Non medical items also include:

safety pins
needles and thread
scissors
black sharpies
extra grommets and a hand held grommet hole punch
extra laces
listerine strips
emery boards
nail clippers
hand sanitizer (again, I like the individual wipes, but even a small bottle will do)
a small notepad with a pen

Hope this helps.