Health and Safety With First Aid

The importance of a travel first aid kit is often only realised when faced with a life threatening situation. This situation could be experienced during a normal day to day activity or through an adventure or travel journey you have just embarked on. Instead of realising this by experiencing such a situation first hand, it is much better to understand the importance of a travel first aid kit before you get to such an emergency situation.

A fully equipped travel first aid kit may be the one thing that stands between a potential disaster and safety or between life and death. To be able to respond to such an emergency may be the only chance you or a loved one has to buy you time to get further treatment from the emergency department in your closest hospital.

When life and health stands on the edge overlooking a disaster, a first aid kit can pull you back to safety. Imagine rescuing a loved one or resuscitating a stranger — the feeling of pulling back someone from the brink is immensely satisfying, and conversely, repenting the lack of a first aid kit can be a heavy burden to carry for the rest of one’s life.

However, a travel first aid kit is not a symbol of travelling being a dangerous activity; it is a process to make travelling more enjoyable and safe. It is a symbol of readiness, a determination to overcome challenges and have the means to do the right thing at the right time.

Essential contents every travel first aid kit should carry:

Information of administering first-aid Cotton gauzes Bandages Heavy crepe bandages Pressure bandage CPR kit Resuscitation face mask Wound dressing Saline Anti-septic spray Wound closure packs Hot and cold pack Blanket

While the list above features the essential content in a first aid kit, the complete list should contain many more things. The idea is basically to have a smart solution for every complication that might arise in an emergency.

The human body, or for that matter, any living body, is a very capable unit; in spite of grievous injuries it has the capability to make a full recovery, but for the full recovery to happen and for conditions not to become complicated, the situation needs intervention — intervention by first aid.Victims of road accidents have a far greater chance of survival and recovery when they receive first aid immediately; in fact the first hour after an accident is known as the golden hour — the period during which if a patient receives first aid, survival chances go up considerably.

However, even in the case of minor injuries, administering first aid as quickly as possible is the best way to stimulate the process of healing.

Even legally speaking, there are regulations regarding the provision of first aid kits in workplaces, and in vehicles. The legal requirement is in line with records that document the hugely positive role of first aid kits in medical emergencies.