First Aid Kit for Traveling Abroad

A friend of mine's daughter is traveling to Nicaragua soon and being a herbalist, she created a first aid kit appropriate for traveling to the warm, buggy climate. It's a great source for more first aid kit information, especially for those who will be traveling abroad.

First Aid Set for Traveling Out of the Country

Single Salve Packs Tutorial

I saw this idea on a prepper website but I cannot remember which one so I can't credit them. If I find them, I'll link back to their site as they had some great tips on there. They used neosporin type salve to create their packets but since I use all herbal salves I and my friends make, I decided to cater these to using my own salve.

To make them you will need:
-drinking straws (clear are best so you can see inside)
-tea light
-needle nosed pliers
-scissors (forgot to photograph but you know what those are!)
-your choice of salves

Begin by poking your straw into your salve. Imagine how much is usually needed for a typical wound and fill it to that point.

Pinch the end of the straw with your finger to push the salve further into the straw and create an empty space. Using the pliers, grip that space, leaving a tiny bit of straw sticking out of the side.

Hold the straw over the tea light to melt the end. Slide your pliers to the end and pinch it shut. 

Gently squeeze the salve towards the sealed edge to verify your seal.

Turn the straw around and pinch the other edge as close to the salve as you can without squeezing the salve out the other side. Use your scissors to cut off the edge and seal as you did the other side, being sure to squeeze and check for leaks.

All finished! The straws I used gave me 5 individual packs per straw. These are perfect for storing in the first aid kit and will also be great for building a mini first aid kit to put in the kids' back packs for when they go hiking in the woods. To open, simply use a knife.

Optionally, you can use a sharpie marker to write what type of salve is in the tube. Since I used 3 different types, I wrote down their names on each. Be sure to wash the tubes in soapy water first to remove any salve residue so the marker writing will be permanent.

Updated: Herbal First Aid Kit for the Car

ETA: I've added some links to my Master List PDF, Suture Cheat Sheet and some YouTube instructional videos on suturing below.

Next week I'm teaching a basic Herbal First Aid class at the library so it's causing me to clean out my kits and restock them which is a good thing! I'm not good at restocking supplies and replacing old ingredients so this was a great time to do so.

For my truck, I purchased a pouch at a thrift store that cost me 69 cents. It is vinyl lined on the inside making it a tad bit water proof and nylon on the outside. Lightweight and durable. I plan to purchase some iron on fabric in green and white to cut out a first aid kit emblem to iron on to the outside. Until then, this will be fine. (For my reason behind using green and white instead of red and white, read this article).

The bag itself measures 11 inches X 7 1/2 inches and 2 1/2 inches wide when full.

Everything is sectioned off into individual packages, mostly arranged by category. The band-aids are placed in an old altoid tin which I might switch out for the misc. things that include tweezers (they will poke a hole in the bag), fingernail clippers, safety pins and a razor blade.

While I am not a big fan of plastic, I like to be able to see what's in each packet, plus it gives the items a bit more waterproofing. I labelled each bag with contents and taped it across the seal for 2 reasons: 1). if it is opened, it most likely won't be resealed the same and I'll know I need to go into that section and re-stock and 2). to give a list of items so people won't go unnecessarily rummaging through each packet searching for what they need.

This first picture shows the tin of assorted size and shapes of band-aids, a bag containing 4 vinyl gloves and a bag containing peppermint and ginger candies. The candies are a great for helping with upset stomachs, nausea and motion sickness.

The next bag contains 1 tube of lip balm, 1 - 1/2 oz. plantain salve and 1 - 1/2 oz. goldenseal salve. Plantain is great for bug bites, to stop bleeding, bee stings and general wound care. Goldenseal is great for treating more nasty wounds. 

Next is the misc. bag. This is the bag I might switch out a bit with the band-aid tin.

It contains: 1 mini multi-tool, 1 pair nail clippers, 1 tweezers, 1 lighter, 1 razor blade, 8 assorted sizes safety pins, 10 alcohol swabs and 3 blister treatment pads.

This next bag is for more serious cuts that band-aids won't handle.

It contains: 4 butterfly closures, 5 steri strips (similar to butterfly but longer), 1 bottle super glue and as a last resort, 1 4-0 suture kit and 1 3-0 suture kit. I have never sutured but I have watched videos and have a copy of instructions to remind me. I have several of these and I might open one up to practice with on a bit of meat. While I don't foresee ever being in a situation to require using these, if something were to happen, I'd rather be prepared than not.

This next bag contains 3 types of tape: a bandage type adhesive, duck tape and the self sticking wrap that has no adhesive on it. 

This bag contains gauze pads: 4 x 4, 3 x 3 and non-stick.

This last bag is the medicine portion of the bag.

It contains the rest of my herbal medicines: 

~1 flannel to be used for compresses, etc. 

~10 papaya enzyme tablets, great for upset stomachs when the ginger or peppermint don't seem to be working (but not to be used if you suspect an ulcer)

~3 teaspoon portioned bags of cayenne to be used for a heart attack (1 bag/teaspoon in a cup of warm water drank will keep the heart attack victim alive. if they have passed out, trickle some in their mouth slowly, wait a bit and repeat until they come to then have them drink the rest). The cayenne can also be poured into a wound that is bleeding profusely (or you can have the victim drink the same water formula as the heart attack victim) to stop the bleeding. Yes, this seems insane and painful but it will save lives. You can read more about using cayenne for heart attacks and bleeding on Dr. John Christopher's website.

~lavender essential oil for burns, insect bites, to calm
~tea tree essential oil for mosquito bites, disinfectant
~rosemary essential oil for waking up a sleepy driver, calming irritated children, clearing sinuses
~peach elixir for bee stings, coughs
~cherry elixir for coughs, anxiety, stress
~plantain tincture for bee stings, bleeding, allergies, help draw splinters out
~willow tincture for headaches, inflammation, etc. (use like aspirin)
The flannel is wrapped around the tincture and essential oil bottles to keep them from breaking.

I still need to add a few items to my kit to make it complete: strike anywhere matches (they were left behind in the truck), a quick clot to stop severe bleeding (a maxi pad can be used as well) and a sewing kit that I am still assembling with thread, needles and buttons.

Here is a PDF of my Master List which I laminated and placed in my bag. On the back I placed a sketch of how to suture along with reminder notes. You can find my version here. If you wish to include sutures, I highly recommend watching these 4 videos for a complete instructional. My notes are based off this video and the sketch is embellished from his handout (a link is under his videos). He also has a lot of videos about building First Aid kits which is useful but he is strictly a conventional MD when it comes to medicine (no herbal info).

Do you have a first aid kit in your car? Did you purchase a ready made kit, create your own or customize a ready made kit with your own items?