Outdoor Medical Emergencies Require Camping First Aid Kits

"Be Prepared" - That's the motto of the Boy Scouts. And as an Eagle Scout, former Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and camp staff employee, I can tell you: when you're outdoors, you MUST be prepared for every contingency! That's why the experienced outdoor types (like myself) will tell you: whenever you head outside for camping, hiking, or wilderness adventures, you had better take a camping first aid kit.

Most people think that when they go camping or hiking they can just grab the first aid kit or box of band-aids from the hall cupboard and that will suffice. Wrong! What if you are out-of-doors and someone falls and breaks their leg? What if you are bitten by a poisonous snake? What if someone gets a bad chill or frostbite? Your little home first aid kit will not have what you need during these medical emergencies. No, you need a CAMPING or OUTDOOR first aid kit.

Which reminds me: if you have a child enrolled in the Boy or Girl Scouts program, one of the coolest (and practical) gifts that you can give them is a good first aid kit. Ditto for someone who is in to wilderness excursions or survival camping. These kits have been known to save lives - and that's not marketing hype.

Of course, your primary concern here is to make sure that your camping first aid kit is well-stocked. It ought to contain more than just burn cream, towelettes and band-aids! Your kit should include such things as a variety of bandages, adhesive tape, finger and leg splints, ace bandages, tweezers, scissors, snake bite kit, gloves -- and especially a comprehensive first aid guide.

By the way, a good comprehensive first aid guide is critical. It will tell you what to do for wounds, burns, handling cases of poisoning, animal bites, broken bones - even drowning and what to do if someone is unconscious. If the guide included in your kit is too skimpy on content, buy a larger book and keep it with your kit at all times.

A good practice: Purchase a large, metal fishing tackle box, and stock it with the items that you will need. This makes a great camping first aid kit for a family or scout troop.

You can (and should) also include these other items in your first aid kit as well: Tylenol or aspirin, a pre-paid cellular phone, water purification tablets, emergency matches (in a waterproof case), a set of thermal blankets, and a handheld GPS device. Of course, you will not find some of these items in most pre-stocked kits, so you will have to buy them separately and then add them to yours.

One final note: once you have your kit assembled, make sure to inspect the contents at least once or twice a year. Remove any expired medicines, and replace any supplies that have gone beyond their shelf-life or that have been opened or damaged (opened or damaged items are no longer sterile). And as you use the supplies, make a note to buy replacements. You don't want to wait until you are in an the middle of nowhere, in the midst of a medical emergency, to find out that you are missing something!

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About the author: Gary Colvin chats about camping, the outdoors and Coleman Camping Stoves Learn more aboutFolding Camping Trailers by visiting his website.