First Aid Away From Home

(c) 2005 by Cheryl Williams Levey, http://www.cherylsweb.com

Recently, a question was posed on a discussion group I belong to asking what the members of that group take when going on a family trip. To be expected, there was a wide variety of responses, based on the travel length, type and locations. Flying to a city where there is 24-hour access to pharmacies and hospitals is very different than a safari trek through a remote part of the African wilderness!

I decided to compile the responses (including my own) to help you as you plan your next trip. We use a little toiletries bag as our "Medicine Kit" and generally keep just the barest essentials in it. But then, we are usually traveling in cities. If we were in the wilderness a lot, our kit would be much more complete.

So, pack what applies to you or what you think would be helpful based on where you are going and your individual (or family) level of comfort.

• Pain Reliever / Fever Reducer (Tylenol)
• Immodium, Pepto, Tums
• Bandaids
• Cold medicine, Nyquil
• Cough syrup, lozenges
• Orajel or toothache swabs
• Neosporin
• Sunscreen
• Sunburn relief like Solarcaine, Dermoplast
• Bug spray or lotion, like Off or Avon's Skin So Soft
• Bug bite relief spray or lotion, or tea tree oil
• Dramamine (for motion sickness)
• Eye drops (Visine)
• If you or a family member has allergies, be sure to have an Epi-Pen.

• If you are going to the beach, take meat tenderizer and a bottle of fresh water. This helps to relieve jellyfish stings.

If you have babies or kids:

• Tylenol or Motrin (Infant, Children's)
• Gas Pain medicine for infants
• Diaper rash creme (this is also good for other rashes)
• Plenty of baby wipes

Chewable versions of anything are useful in case you need to take something and water is not handy.

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