2020 has been a year of uncertainty. We’ve seen enough manmade and natural disasters for one year, but unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that we’ll catch a break anytime soon. Your go bag should contain everything you and your family need to survive on foot or on the road for a couple of days. If you had to leave your house in 30 seconds, your go bag would be the first thing you grabbed. Keep it by the door. If the ultimate goal of a go bag is to keep yourself and the ones you love alive, then one of the most important components is the first aid kit. While we provided a rough template, based on what others have included in their go bag first aid kits, as well as a few of our own suggestions, we wanted to know what you, the doctors, would have on hand. We’ve compiled all of your suggestions in hopes that we can all be a little bit better prepared. Our first aid kit First, here’s a recap of what we suggested for your first aid kit: Trauma shears Tourniquet Nasopharyngeal airway Rolled gauze Hemostatic gauze Compressed gauze (2x) Neosporin Duct tape (Unspool several feet and re-roll. You don’t want to lug around a full roll. It tends to stick better than medical tape in field conditions.) Ace bandages (2x) Israeli bandage (Rolled bandage with built-in pressure bar.) Space blanket Nitrile gloves Small flashlight Whistle A bag to put all of this in (This bag will hold all of the aforementioned items. Note: You’ll likely need a bigger bag if you include all of the items below.) Physician additions Here’s what you, the physicians, suggested that we add: OTC MEDS Ibuprofen Acetaminophen Aspirin Tums Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) Lubricating eye drops PRESCRIPTION MEDS Ancef Mupirocin (Bactroban) Albuterol Long-acting insulin Short-acting insulin Glucose tablets Nitroglycerin Labetalol Captopril Norco 10 Fentanyl patches Naloxone Lorazepam (Ativan) Zofran Thank you to all who sent in suggestions. Clearly, you’re thinking about how you might help others along the way. Hopefully, you’ll never have to use your go bag. But you may sleep a bit easier knowing that you have one and have supplies and a plan in the face of a disaster. Source
