A car first aid kit is an essential item to have in your vehicle in case of emergencies. It can come in handy in the event of an accident or medical emergency. This blog will discuss why you need a car first aid kit, how to build your own, where to store it, and more. So buckle up and get ready to build!

Why You Need a Car First Aid Kit

Having a first aid kit in your car provides you with the resources to treat injuries no matter where you are. It's especially vital to have since you're driving a giant metal death trap and everyone around you is too! Not only that, emergencies can happen anywhere at any time, but you're usually never too far from your car to sprint and grab your kit. And lastly, if you play it right, you just might get some significant bragging rights! You can make a name for yourself in your social circles as the guy who's always prepared and keeps others safe. Who wouldn't want to be friends with someone so reliable?

What Should be in Your Car First Aid Kit

If life was easy, you could chuck a pack of band aids into your car and call it good. Unfortunately, life isn't easy! So, depending on how prepared you want to be and your personal circumstances, you'll need various supplies to be adequately equipped for emergencies. 

Bare Bone Basics

These are the essentials you should always keep in your car in case you encounter an accident or are in one yourself. 

• Antibiotic Ointment
• Bandages
• Burn Gel
• CPR Shield
• Chest Seals
• Emergency Blanket
• Emergency Pressure Bandage
• Gauze
• Gloves
• Hemostatic Gauze
• Ibuprofen
• Saline Wash
• Tourniquet
• Trauma Shears
• ZZIPS

Mindful Modifications

In addition to the basics, you need to include any specific medical supplies you personally will need. Do you suffer from low blood sugar and asthma? Be sure to include glucose gel or honey sticks and an inhaler. Do you often drive through rural areas? Throw some extra snacks, water bottles, and bug spray in the back, and consider including a tick-removal kit in your vehicle before your next road trip.

Advanced Additions

For those of you who want to turn your roadside emergency kit into a car survival kit, here are some things you can add to your setup.

• Fire Extinguisher
• First Aid & Survival Guide
• Nasopharyngeal Airway Tubes (NPA)
• Splints
• Water Purification Tablets
• Window Breaker/Seatbelt Cutter

How to Organize Your Kit

When it comes to organization, you just need to remember one simple thing: Trauma gear goes at the top. If someone is bleeding out, you don't want to frantically dig through your kit and waste those precious seconds. Instead, I recommend keeping things like tourniquets, hemostatic gauze, and EpiPens at the top of the bag, attached to the outside, or in another readily accessible location.

How to Update Your Kit

Updating your kit is relatively simple. If you discover you're missing something essential to your survival, such as a new prescription, be sure to include it in your kit. When you've used something, replace it as soon as possible. Simple as that!

Where to Store Your Car First Aid Kit

Accessibility is the most important factor when it comes to storing your kit. If it's duct taped to the roof, you won't be able to reach it quickly. If you have a My Medic first aid kit, most kits will attach to the back of your seat using the integrated MOLLE system. Otherwise, beneath a seat or in the trunk will work just as well!

Why We're Invested

According to the CDC, 1.35 million people are killed each year due to traffic crashes. You may think ‘that’ll never happen to me,’ but what if it does?

Imagine it’s an ordinary day. You wake up refreshed and start your morning with a nice, hot cup of coffee before hopping in your car and heading to work. Your favorite song is playing in the background, and it’s shaping up to be a great day. That’s when a distracted driver runs the light and T-bones you. The screech of metal on metal, glass shattering, and tires spinning echoes across the intersection. The car’s out of control, and you desperately try to stabilize it, but both you and the other vehicle smash into a streetlight. 

Disoriented and jittery from nerves, you stumble out of the car and notice through the smoke that the other driver hasn’t gotten out. In fact, they aren’t moving. You wrench open the door and immediately notice the blood spilling out of a gash in their arm. There’s so much blood. You frantically grab an old jacket from your car and wrap it around the guy’s arm, but the bleeding isn’t stopping. A bystander says the ambulance is caught in traffic. You don’t have a first aid kit, and you don’t know what to do. This person’s life is in your hands, and you’re helpless.

This is the reality for thousands of people every day, and lives that could’ve been saved are lost. Here at My Medic, we strive to prevent these unnecessary deaths by providing life-saving training and first aid kits. If you don’t have the training or supplies to save a life, whether that be your own or another’s, take the initiative today and prepare yourself for the possibility.

With a first aid kit in your car, you'll be prepared no matter where you go! If you need a first aid kit, My Medic has a car first aid kit at 30% OFF ready to go! And if you need to learn how to treat traumatic injuries, you can register for Green Beret Medic Billy Haley's M.A.R.C.H. online training course!