Uncommon First Aid Items We Should All Have

Uncommon First Aid Items We Should All Have

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Today, it’s all about many of the uncommon first aid items we should consider having around and adding to our first aid stash. Building a first aid kit is a great way to ensure that you’ll have easy access to essential tools during a medical emergency.

It’s always a good idea to have one of these kits at home and one in your car, especially if you travel often because you never know what could happen.

While most people are aware of the essential items to include in these kits, such as aspirin, gauze/bandages, and antiseptic ointment, there are a few unusual items that are worth adding to your first aid kit. If you’re not sure what those uncommon items are, be sure to check out this detailed list! In case you missed this post, First Aid Kits-What You Need To Survive

In case you need a Printable First Aid Kit List

Uncommon First Aid Items

Uncommon First Aid Items We Should All Have

Super Glue or VetBond

If you have a small cut, it helps to have some super glue available. You’re probably wondering why you’d need to have superglue in your kit. When you have a minor cut that continues bleeding, you can clean it off by wiping away the blood and dirt and then quickly apply super glue to the area.

It’s a great way to stop the bleeding so that your injury can start to heal. You won’t need too much super glue to make this happen.

Also, don’t use superglue if you have a significant wound because it won’t work. Be aware, applying it may cause the wound to sting for a short period. Super Glue or VetBond

Note that I’ve heard the following items are also good to have around to stop the bleeding:

Blood Stop – Advanced Clotting Spray

New Skin – Liquid Bandage

Sam Soft Splint

Matt reminded me about having a few bendable soft splints available for broken, arms, etc. Sam Soft Splints

Hand Sanitizer

Well, it might not seem as uncommon in today’s world because of the very frequent use of this item right now, but hand sanitizer is an excellent item to add to your first-aid kit. While most people wouldn’t think to put it in the kit, it’s great to have access to it because it kills germs and bacteria on the spot.

Scissors

Always have a good pair of scissors in your first aid kit. You may want to consider scissors that are sharper than the safety scissors often found in kits. The safety scissors typically aren’t as sharp as you might need when dealing with an emergency. Trauma/Medical Shears

Read More of My Articles  How to Make A Children's First Aid Kit

There are a few good reasons to have scissors in your first aid kit. First, you may need to cut gauze and bandages to fit specific wounds.

Second, if you need to make a tourniquet for an emergency, there’s a possibility that you’d need scissors to cut the fabric of a t-shirt or something else to make it. Get yourself a good pair of sharp scissors to put to good use!

To tie in with the scissors theme, I’d also suggest you consider buying a suture kit. Mark and I took a first aid class some years ago and they actually taught us how to sew up a wound. I think the instructor brought some pigskin for us to practice with. It was weird, but actually useful information we may need to put to use someday.

Duct Tape

A lot of people don’t realize that duct tape can come in handy in an emergency. For example, if you don’t have bandages and need to protect an open wound, you can apply gauze and keep it in place using duct tape. Duct/Duck Tape

While you can use it on yourself if you sustain an injury, duct tape can also come in handy for fixing issues with your vehicle and belongings when you’re away from home.

It’s always good to have because of its durability and many uses. If you plan to add it to your first aid kit, make sure that you’re getting a good brand so that it’s as reliable as possible when you need it.

Some other items that can be useful in a pinch are dental floss, razor blades, braided fish line, and goggles. Be sure to check them out and how they could really make a difference during an emergency.

Solar Phone Charger

A solar phone charger is a must-have, especially if you like to travel in your vehicle to visit new places. If you don’t have an electrical source for charging your phone, it can die, and then you can’t stay connected with your loved ones. Solar Phone Charger

Bring a solar phone charger with you in your first aid kit if you want to make sure if your phone does die you can charge it up. And, if possible, you might even want to get a battery-operated one.

Of course, you can always bring spare batteries to have just in case the battery-operated charger ends up dying out on you when you need it the most.

Read More of My Articles  Top 10 Uses of Activated Charcoal for Prepping

Strong Antiseptic

It may not be one of the things you’d expect to see in a first aid kit, but it’s beneficial for several reasons. First, the antiseptic works as a disinfectant and an anesthetic, making it a great item to include in your first aid kit. You can use it to clean open wounds to avoid infection by killing germs.

It works on poison ivy, bug bites, and other skin irritations, too. Best of all, it doesn’t matter what kind you use. You don’t need to go out and buy an expensive brand to add to your first aid kit.

Instead, grab an affordable bottle and place it in the kit with the rest of your equipment to use when you need it. Isopropyl Alcohol and Hydrogen Peroxide

Safety Pins

Be sure to include a few safety pins in your first aid kit. These pins can help you keep bandages in place when wrapping an arm, leg, or other parts of the body. In addition, the pins can keep wraps and bandages secure and in place until you seek professional medical treatment at a hospital or urgent care facility.

Heavy-Duty Safety Pins

Old T-Shirt

Don’t forget to pack an old t-shirt in your first aid kit. You don’t know when you might need some material, whether you need to make a tourniquet or stop the bleeding of a wound by pressing down on it. Use a thick and durable t-shirt that you no longer wear. It doesn’t hurt to have this garment added to your first aid kit because unexpected emergencies can occur at the most inconvenient times.

Uncommon First Aid Items We Should All Have

Some other items I suggest could come in handy are listed below. Take a few minutes to check them out and see if you think they are worthy of inclusion in your first aid supply kit or cabinet:

Tampons – Sanitary Napkins

Wood Tongue Depressor

Activated Charcoal

Chewable Ginger

Natural Antibiotics – like honey

Hard Candies

Vaseline

Final Word 

Make sure you’re fully prepared for potential emergencies by packing unusual items into your first aid kit with the rest of your supplies. While things like a strong antiseptic, an old t-shirt, safety pins, and scissors might not sound like the essential items you could put to good use in an emergency, they’re more convenient and effective than you might think.

So if you’re the type of person who’d rather be safe than sorry, grab these items while they’re on sale and add them to your homemade first aid kit. I hope you enjoyed my post on the uncommon first aid items we should all have. If you have other items you think I should have included, please let me know so my readers can benefit from your experience. May God Bless this world, Linda 

Copyright Images: Green First Aid Kit Depositphotos_12355423_s-2019

Similar Posts

46 Comments

  1. I’d add a SAM splint
    https://www.sammedical.com/products/sam-soft-shell-splint?variant=18940309536857
    They are bendable can be shaped and can be trimmed with those ever important shears you mentioned if say you had a broken finger and only needed a portion of it. They are lightweight and come in a variety of colors for different applications.

    The colors you choose for your medical gear can be important too. Tactical is tactical but hard to see in emergencies.
    Red can disappear in copious amounts of blood so it’s a poor tourniquet choice.
    On the other hand if EVERYTHING is in bright colors your eyes won’t catch that piece of equipment your looking for under stress. You dump your kit and it looks like a unicorn threw up a neon rainbow then you might have defeated the purpose.
    Choose wisely

    1. I agree with Matt on the SAM Splint. I’m an ex-paramedic and wilderness first aid instructor. I’ve used SAM splints on real patients and they are great. Not only are they malleable, but they can be cut to size by good bandage scissors, if necessary.

      I also agree with avoiding red colored first aid items.

  2. I might have mentioned this before and I’m sorry if I repeat myself.
    I was at a meeting and there was a lady with a eye patch on, I got talking to her and she had reached in
    her purse for her eye drops and didn’t pay any attention to what she grabbed and put super glue in her eye.
    Of course she had to go to the doctor. She was thinking of suing Super Glue because the tube was like her eye
    drops. So instead of reading her label she is going to sue. Don’t know how it turned out but just a reminder to us all.

    1. Hi June, good grief, I hope she thought that one through before suing. That’s scary but, wow. Hopefully, her eye is okay. Thanks for sharing this story, I had not heard it before. Thank you, Linda

  3. As usual a great list Linda. You are so helpful to us all. Thank you so much. Now I need to reassess my first aid kits.

  4. Morning all, hope all is going well with you. One of the things I have along with the heavy duty safety pins is diaper pins. They are a little bigger than most safety pins I’ve found and can go through multiple layers of material. I also have ace bandage clips. Don’t know if you can get them anymore due to the (sticky) sports wraps they have but I have a collection(of sorts) of Ace bandages and the little metal clips.

  5. Linda,
    I have lost count of the number of times I have used superglue to seal a small cut. Works great, burns like the devil, but worth it to stop the bleeding.

      1. My husband and cut his hand at work. He was a train engineer, in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, he sealed it with superglue. Otherwise, he’d probable not be here. Another living proof it does work.

  6. Linda:

    You can also use white glue to stop a small bleed. I have done that with my kids when they were little. I think I will forgo hand sanitizer and put a bar of Dial in my emergency kit. You would not like to see my hands when I use hand sanitizer one them. Took me weeks to heal them up.

      1. Linda:
        White glue is also great for getting out slivers. Just squeeze some over the sliver and wait a couple minutes for it to dry and out it comes no pain. As the kids say easy peasy.

        Love
        Jackie

      2. I didn’t know that Dial soap was antibacterial until my surgeon told me to bathe with it before surgery. Now, I have extra bars. LOL And will stock up on more.

  7. Instead of a t-shirt I have a few xl cotton dishtowels. They can be used as a sling, to bind a splint or as you stated a pressure pad for bleeding. Also being trained as an RN, a clean towel, from a ziplock bag, can be used to set up a clean field to lay tools needed for a ‘procedure’. By laying out tools needed prior to beginning you will know if something significant is missing before you are up to your elbows in the problem.

  8. A while back I cut the tip of one of my toes. The skin was hanging off. It was awful. We treated it with peroxide and antibiotic ointment. I couldn’t keep a band aid on it as while I was sleeping it came off and began bleeding again. So, we wrapped some gauze around it and covered it with duct tape. We changed it and treated it every couple of days. After a couple of weeks or so, it was healing quite well and no infection visible. Later the ‘dead skin’ peeled off and the toe is completely healed. I showed it to my sister who is an EMT and she was very impressed LOL. Said she never would have thought about using duct tape.I will have to look into that SAM splint. Thanks for some great info. May God bless and keep you safe.

  9. I just put a suture kit in my wish list for hubby to order. I did get some SAM splints in there as well. I did see a stapler and staple remover that was awesome. Amazon is my place to order. Well, one of them.

  10. Instead of Superglue use Vetbond. Although it is intended for pets, it is very common and many people have used it for human cuts over the past many years. Although more expensive, it is available at Amazon and many other places and doesn’t sting like superglue. After all, it is made for your pet.

  11. Hi Linda,
    Hope all is well with you and yours. Question, Do you have a PRINTABLE list of these items for a first aid kit?
    I need a list to refer to when I update my kit.
    Thanks so much

  12. Deborah,

    Yes, popsicle sticks will work on fingers, more for children than adults. Tongue depressors are good too, more for adults. Also, buddy taping an adjacent finger to the injured finger also works, particularly if you don’t have an appropriate splint material. Always have tape in your kits, medical and duct.

  13. Hi Linda, great post – some good ideas, but I worry about your advice with cleaning out wounds with alcohol/hand sanitiser etc. Not only does it really hurt but those substances killing the germs are also going to be killing off your exposed flesh! Then you have dead flesh in a wound that takes longer to heal and is at more risk of infection. Generally the advice I have learnt from first aid courses and family in healthcare is to wash wounds with clean running water (E.g. squirted from a bottle) and save the strong cleaners for the unbroken skin around the wound. There are exceptions for really messy cuts/grazes and bad contaminants but generally it does more harm than good.

  14. You might want to add some dental emergency items to the list. I bought a kit on Amazon for loose crowns and lost fillings and then added a bottle of clove oil and some ambusol for dental pain. I also have some dental floss and these little brushes that are designed to clean between teeth.

    Another item would be a bottle of honey, it has some healing and antibiotic properties that are good for wounds.

    I also hit the clearnance sales for back to school supplies and added a couple strong 6″ and 12″ rulers to my emergency kit.

    Great idea from someone about the dish towels, I’m going to add a couple of flour sack towels in a ziplock bag to my emergency kit.f I need to check into the SAM spllints and will add a solar charger to my Christmas list (I never know what to tell my hubby to give me, so that will make him happy.)

    We are planning to do some off the grid camping starting next summer and I have put together an emergency kit with first aid items and other necessities. I saw a kit for treating heat exhaustion and heat stroke and thought the price was too high and put together something similar for us (and a kit for my daughter and her family) for a lower cost. I have a couple cans of emergency water, some powdered electroelyte, several of the instant cold packets, one of the cooling neck cloths that cools when wet and some old towels that can be wet and put over the person to help cool them. I had a friend who was experienced in desert hiking and knew the heat of hiking in California and yet he died from heat stroke. Which makes me paranoid and that causes me to make sure we are all well prepared.

    I have a 22″ duffle bag to store my emergency kit. The heat kit is in a zippered compartment at the end of the duffle; the other end has things for cold weather. I was looking for durable and easy to use bags to set up “kits” for certain things that we would be likely to deal with when camping or in the wilderness. Interestingly enough, zippered pencil bags with a clear front ended up being the perfect solution. I have one kit for treating blisters with moleskin, sissors, bandaids, antibiotic ointment, cleansing antibacterial wipes, gauze and adhesive tape. In a small zippered front pocket of the duffle, I have items for tick and bug bites. Other kits are a light kit with 3 light sources, one that you can crank, one solar rechargable and one regular batter flashlight. I think I have about a dozen different kits, some emergency and some first aid. We must have used this 4 or 5 times while we were camping in North Dakota earlier this month, the first one being the dental kit when hubby forgot his toothbrush.

    1. Hi Topaz, wow, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your comment. Isn’t it wonderful how all of us bring tips to this forum to help all of us? I like your idea of one end of the duffle bag is for cold and the other for heat. Heat exhaustion or heat stroke are so dangerous. I live in the desert right now, so the news reports several deaths from both each year because of the heat. I love honey for healing, a great reminder. I have a dental kit, I should add that as well. Thanks again, Linda

  15. It never ceases to amaze me what I learn on this site plus reading all the comments. I’m pretty well stocked with what was mentioned here but can definitely add a few items. I’m going to get my flour sack towels into zip lock bags and go shop the vet section at the feed store. Having grown up on a ranch, I’ve had some pretty interesting accidents/wounds. One definitely has to be creative!

    We always make it a point to go to the Emergency Preparedness Fairs put on by our Stake. My husband and I have several certifications (alas, expired but we still have the knowledge) and I ran across a field medic who had a booth on wound care. It’s amazing what one can find on Amazon. I now have Israeli Emergency Pressure Bandages in my kit, along with several other “professional” big-time supplies. Lord love a duck, I hope I never have to use them but if I do, I’ve got ’em!

    Dental issues are my biggest scare. I’m the biggest baby when it comes to any kind of dental work other than cleanings. That’s definitely an area to work on. I’m so thankful for what was listed here! That’s also next on my list!

    1. Hi Robbie, isn’t it wonderful how we can all help each other?? I love our group, I spend hours reading, researching and I still learn stuff from our forum here. Dental issues are a big issue for everyone, I believe. One thing my dentist taught me was to always have some sugar-free gum to pack on a sore tooth until you can see a dentist. We can do this, Linda

  16. Oh, one other thing…Coban for humans is expensive. The same stuff is available at feed and ranch stores for alot less money. Alot can be found there at much cheaper prices.

    My husband once shot 2 fingers together with a nail gun (ouch!) but luckily it was through the gloves and just the fleshy part of his fingers, no bones. After pulling the nail out and a very thorough cleaning, bandaging, the Coban worked well without splinting. He sure had sore fingers for awhile!

    1. HI Robbie, oh I need to look for the Coban at the feed and ranch stores! Great tip! Oh, the nail gun, yeah my husband had someone hit his finger, not good! Linda

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *