What Should be in Your Travel First Aid Kit?

Article from World Nomads
What do you really need in a travel medical kit? Our roving medical expert, Dr Erik McLaughlin MD, shares the essential first aid items you must carry wherever you go in the world.
Before your trip beings, start planning what you would need in your medical kit. A good travel first-aid kit contains just enough to deal with potential problems, but still light enough to be carried.

Before you begin to think about building a travel medical kit, you need to find out a few things:

How many people are you traveling with? What are their ages?
Where are you going?
How many days are you traveling?
What activities will you be doing?
How far away from advanced medical care will you be?
Does anybody you're traveling with have prior medical problems?
What I use
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How many people are you traveling with? What are their ages?
Knowing the number of travelers will allow you to form an idea of numbers of items to carry. 
This generally goes for basic and commonly used items such as simple pain control medication, blister treatment, band-aids and anti-diarrhea medicine. No one can ever be fully prepared for all potential problems, and you should have adequate supplies of all required items.
The age of the travelers is important to know, and it's important to pack appropriate ‘age-related' medications, especially if children are involved. Kids are not simply little adults, they require different types and doses of medications. Anybody traveling with kids should have a special kit just for little ones.
Here are a few essential items to pack:

• Band-aids
• A pair of gloves
• Compression bandages
• Antibacterial wipes and creams
• Antihistamine creams for itches
• Antihistamine tablets for allergic reations
• A small roll of surgical tape
• Gauze dressings (you can buy individually wrapped squares).

Santiary items can come in handy if you run out of band-aids, so if you're traveling with women and need to mop up blood on a wound, ask if they've got any sanitary pads or tampons spare to help control blood loss if your medical kit is back at the hostel.
Which is another important tip: Women should always pack sanitary items no matter where they are going.
Where are you going? Location is everything in travel medicine. Knowing the risks of the area you are visiting will help you not only build a viable medical kit, but also prevent illness overall.
How many days are you traveling? A trip over a long weekend is vastly different to a seven-week adventure. As with the number of people traveling, the duration of travel means you will need to be carrying more of the common items that will be used on a more frequent basis. 
What activities will you be doing? Take a closer look at your activities and potential risks associated with these events; This applies to all activities, not just athletic or sporty pursuits.
For example, carrying medicine for high-altitude and mountain sickness is worthless if you're going on a scuba trip – while carrying a lot of blister treatments and ibuprofen is very wise for a group planning on a lot of hiking or walking.
How far away from advanced medical care will you be? The more remote your location, the longer you'll need to be prepared to provide care.
The other question that needs to be asked is, "What level is the nearest, advanced medical care?" A run-down, poorly-stocked clinic in a developing nation has a good chance of reusing medical supplies. This means a high risk of infection! If you know you're traveling to a remote location where pharmacies are rare and their supplies are minimal, pack other items such as antibiotics that might not be available.
Does anybody you're traveling with have prior medical problems? Knowing the medical history of your travel companions is very important, especially if you're going to be preparing a medical kit. A traveler with a history of heart disease will require a few different medications than a pregnant woman.
Travelers that take medications on a daily basis should be carrying their home medications with them on their travels. They should also be carrying an extra supply for a few more days, in the event of delays or extended travel.
What I use in my first-aid kit A medical kit should be customized by the users to carry more, or less, of certain items and personalizing the kit. 
Building on the great foundation from the Mountain Medic, I then set to work adding my own personal touches based on our group, locations visited, activities and time away from home. An important side note, however, is that in some countries certain kinds of medicines could breach entry requirements - so make sure you check that the contents of your pack will pass through airport security.
If you're carrying a small pair of scissors or nail clippers, remember to put these items in your check-in luggage, not carry them onto the plane – they'll be confiscated.

By Phil Sylvester, World Nomads Contributor
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