Building a first aid kit yourself is cheaper than buying a pre-made one and lets you tailor the contents to your household’s actual needs. The American Red Cross recommends a baseline of about 20 categories of supplies for a family of four, but the right kit for you depends on where you keep it, who might need it, and what activities you do. Here’s how to put one together from scratch.
Start With Wound Care Basics
Wound supplies will make up the bulk of your kit, and you need a wider variety than most people expect. Stock 25 adhesive bandages in assorted sizes, from small fingertip strips to larger ones that cover a knuckle or knee scrape. These handle the everyday cuts and blisters that account for most first aid situations.
For anything bigger than a standard bandage can cover, you need sterile gauze pads. Keep at least five 3×3-inch pads and five 4×4-inch pads. Pair these with two roller bandages (one 3-inch wide, one 4-inch wide) to wrap and secure the gauze in place. You’ll also want two absorbent compress dressings (5×9 inches) for larger wounds that need more coverage, and one roll of adhesive cloth tape (10 yards) to hold everything together.
Two triangular bandages round out the wound care section. These versatile cloths work as arm slings, head wraps, or tourniquets in a pinch. They’re one of the most underrated items in any kit.
Infection Prevention Supplies
Cleaning a wound properly matters more than what you put on it afterward. Include at least five antiseptic wipe packets for cleaning skin around a cut or scrape. Add five single-use antibiotic ointment packets (the small 1-gram size) to apply after cleaning. Two packets of hydrocortisone ointment help with insect bites, mild allergic skin reactions, and rashes.
Two pairs of nonlatex gloves (size large fits most adults well enough) protect both you and the person you’re helping. Nonlatex is important because latex allergies are common enough that you don’t want to discover one during an emergency.
Tools and Hardware
A good pair of tweezers with stainless steel tips is essential for removing splinters, ticks, and debris from wounds. Precision-tip tweezers grip small objects without slipping. If you want to go a step further, add a pair of bandage scissors or trauma shears. These have an angled blade with a blunt tip that lets you cut through clothing, tape, or gauze close to the skin without risking a second injury. Stainless steel blades with a serrated lower edge grip fabric well and stay sharp longer.
An oral thermometer (non-mercury, non-glass) belongs in every kit. Digital thermometers are inexpensive and read in under a minute. A breathing barrier with a one-way valve allows you to perform rescue breathing without direct mouth-to-mouth contact, and an instant cold compress activates with a squeeze for sprains, bumps, and swelling when you don’t have access to ice.
Keep an emergency blanket (the thin, reflective mylar type) in the kit. It weighs almost nothing and retains body heat effectively for someone in shock or exposed to cold.
Medications to Include
Your kit should contain a small supply of over-the-counter medications that cover the most common situations. At minimum, include:
- Pain relievers: acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil) cover fever, headaches, and general pain. Keep both because some people can’t take one or the other.
- Aspirin: two packets of 81 mg low-dose aspirin. Beyond pain relief, chewing aspirin during a suspected heart attack can be lifesaving.
- Antihistamine: diphenhydramine (Benadryl) handles allergic reactions, hives, and itching.
- Anti-diarrhea medicine and antacids for stomach issues that hit at inconvenient times.
- Cough and cold medicine if your kit also serves as a grab-and-go bag for travel.
If anyone in your household has a prescription epinephrine auto-injector or other personal medication that doesn’t need refrigeration, keep a backup in the kit.
Burns and Larger Injuries
Minor burns are common enough in kitchens and around campfires that your kit should be ready for them. Burn ointment and a few non-adherent dressings are the key additions. Non-adherent dressings (sometimes called hydrogel dressings) don’t stick to the wound bed, which makes removing them far less painful and reduces the chance of tearing new tissue during a dressing change. Standard gauze can fuse to a burn as it heals, so this distinction matters.
For more serious bleeding, some people choose to add a hemostatic dressing. These are gauze pads treated with a clotting agent (usually a chitosan-based material) that accelerates the body’s natural clotting process. They work by concentrating platelets and clotting factors at the wound site while physically sealing the area. Hemostatic dressings are stable without special storage, making them practical for a home kit. They’re not strictly necessary for a basic family kit, but worth considering if you spend time in remote areas where help is far away.
Don’t Forget the Instructions
A printed first aid guide belongs in every kit. In a stressful moment, even basic steps can slip your mind. The Red Cross includes emergency first aid instructions in its recommended kit list for good reason. A waterproof, pocket-sized reference card costs a few dollars and walks you through CPR, choking, wound care, and other common emergencies step by step. Knowing what to do matters as much as having the supplies.
Customizing for Your Car or Outdoors
A home kit and a vehicle kit overlap heavily, but a car kit benefits from a few extras. An emergency hand-crank radio that receives AM, FM, and weather bands is useful when your phone is dead or out of range. Look for one with a built-in LED flashlight and a USB port for charging devices. A seatbelt cutter and window breaker tool are cheap, compact additions specific to vehicle emergencies.
For hiking, camping, or boating, add extra emergency blankets, a larger supply of gauze and roller bandages, and insect sting treatment. Moleskin for blisters is a small addition that can save a trip. If you’re regularly far from medical care, this is where hemostatic dressings and a tourniquet become more justified.
Choosing a Container
Your container matters more than you might think. Use something waterproof or at least water-resistant, with a secure closure. A hard-sided plastic case with a latching lid protects supplies from being crushed in a car trunk or garage shelf. Clear or translucent containers let you see contents at a glance. Label the outside clearly, and if multiple people live in your house, make sure everyone knows where it’s stored.
Organize supplies into categories using small zip-lock bags or labeled pouches: wound care in one, medications in another, tools in a third. In an emergency, fumbling through a pile of loose packets wastes time.
Keeping Your Kit Current
A first aid kit is only useful if the supplies inside still work. Different items expire on different timelines, and checking once a year isn’t quite enough. Antibiotic ointment lasts about two years. Burn ointment lasts one to two years. Eyewash solutions are good for roughly three years. Sterile gauze and pads hold up the longest, with shelf lives up to five years. When sterile packaging loses its integrity past the expiration date, bacteria can enter, and the “sterile” label no longer means anything.
Set a reminder every six months to open your kit and check dates. Replace anything expired, restock items you’ve used, and swap out medications that have passed their printed date. This takes five minutes and is the difference between a kit that works and a kit that just takes up space.