Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Street Experiences (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/)

-   -   Keep your First Aid Kits updated (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/23206-keep-your-first-aid-kits-updated-2.html)

There are variety of antiseptic lotions and spirits available which are not susceptible to heat. That can be chosen.
If you are stuck without a kit, best option is saline(Salt in clean water). So buy a bisleri or something, add salt and wash wound with it. Very painful, but it will help a lot till you can get proper help.
Another effective thing is medical alcohol.

So folks can we make a list of general items with commercial names of medicines to be kept in car.The supplied kit with car uses bare minimum & substandard brands, at least tata supplied kit with even packing of items were looking fake.

Doctors on forum can help us complie the list.

While in car one can get cuts,bruises,wounds,burns in the event of an accident(i pray it never happens to anybody).

We must have proper training & medicines to do first aid before profession medical care is recieved.

DOCTORS PLEASE THROW SOME LIGHT & SUGGEST A LIST OF BARE MINIMUM ITEMS IN KIT.

A good suggestion Arun and thanks. But my question pertains to all vehicles while your answer took care of sedans only that have a separate isolated boots. What if the vehicle is a Zen, Safari, Scorpio, Gypsy, Alto, M800, Santro and so on & so forth.

@gd1418: yes you are right, i have a hatch back too(indica) but boot is completely isolated from sunlight with a parcel tray.

but the vehicles you mentioned about can have an insualted box for carrying medicines(just an idea), or a parcel tray can be purchased, or else an Extensible sheath;like the ones used in estates to cover boot area can be used(just another idea)

DOCTORS PLEASE THROW SOME LIGHT ON FIRST AID & SUGGEST A LIST OF BARE MINIMUM ITEMS IN KIT & HOW TO USE THEM.

Very strange that since so many days there is no update on this thread, when we all keep discussing about how to keep our car fit in rains and other days as well, but no discussion about what if some mishap happens and how to tackle the situation at that point before you reach a doctor or hospital.

My 2 cents (I am not a doctor, but after going for many picnics the list has evolved)

1. Dysentery tablets :D silly but on many trip we eat outside & then start running
2. CROSINE
3. GELUSIL or pudin hara
   I do know it feels funny but with such stomach its difficult to concentrate and drive
4. Savalon
5. Antiseptic ointment
6. Regular bandages - 2 or 3
7. cotton bandages - 1 or 2
8. bandage tape
9. Cotton (Small pack)
10. small scissors
11. Sugar (2 -3 Smalls pack like from CCD) helps in many conditions
12. Small pack of hair oil (On some picnics when some plant leaves touch your skin it triggers etching, rubbing oil at that location helps a lot)

And this all fits in a similar size pack in which we keep tubeless tire repair kit.

In addition to this , I would suggest to keep a small pouch in the glove box containing
1. Avomin / Vomistop tablets -- for those family members with vomiting tendencies
2. Band Aid strip
3. Saridon / Disprin -- for headaches
4. Odomos cream -- Imagine you are having your dinner in a Dhaba on the highway, and all the family members are complaining about mosquitoes
5. Chlorine tablets -- when you are out of stock of bisleri and forced to consume dhaba/hotel/restaurant water

Hay that's something I never knew, can you explain how that works.please:

A few days ago, on the Haryana-UP Border, my car was stopped for "checking" en route Delhi - Bharatpur. Finding nothing wrong, the policeman asked me to show the First Aid kit, which was not present in the car. He then told me he was going to challan me.

What is the law on this, private car, private self-drive, please?

Since more than a decade (2002 or was it from 2003 ?) all automobile manufacturers have to mandatorily supply a first aid kit with the new two/three/four/ four plus wheeler they sell. These are basic first aid medicines.

Do we care to see the expiry dates of these medicines and replace them with new ones?

The answer is "NO" for a majority including me. Well, I have made a new year resolution to immediately replace these if they have outlived their expiry dates.

It is also suggested that we add the following to this list:

(1) Band Aid dressing : at least 6 to 10 strips dressing for minor bruises

(2) Aspirin tablet (any reputed brand) : pain reliever

(3) Sorbitrate 5 mg : for angina or chest pain due to heart related ailment.The usage may not be for accident victims. Any person suffering from angina in a public place can be given this life saver.He/she needs to keep it under his/ her tongue within his//her mouth and allow it to melt away.

(4) Neosporin antibiotic powder : to heal wet injuries. It stops bleeding if the injury is not very severe.

(5) Electral (oral rehydration salt ORS) : For dehydration due to summer heat or even due to amebiosis or stomach upsets especially for those who undertake long drives .

Good topic.

I have this mini-OCD of making sure that everything that has an expiry date, is stocked only until before that date.

In the 7 cars we've purchased between '96 and '13, I've seen the quality of the first-aid box, in terms of the no. and type of medicines/antiseptics/bandages, go down drastically. Now, manufacturers seem to provide something just for the sake of it.

I have purchased branded medicines separately and put in each car:
- Band-aid
- Cotton roll
- Burnol
- Guaze roll bandages: varying length
- Aspirin
- Hand sanitizer
- Wet wipes
- Kailas jeevan (more like a multi-purpose cream)-
- Swiss knife

I would say one can add safety pins and also a pair of scissors.

Sorry for bumping into an old thread. Most of the items in my present first aid kit (VW Polo) have crossed their respective expiry dates. Someone, please throw light on the procedure of refilling. Any recommended brands/channels/options?.
Rather than procuring items separately, I prefer to refill/replace the contents in the present box.

A request to Moderators:
Sorry for back to back posts.
Please merge it with my previous post as I hope this would be useful to those who want to replace the entire first aid box contents without going to the chore of procuring each item individually.

When I decided to replace the contents of my first aid box provided by Volkswagen, I never thought that procuring it would be a task.
Maybe because of the licensing issue, neither Amazon or Flipkart provides a direct refill. Instead, they have empty containers which can be used to keep medicines. To my surprise, all the new online portal portals like Nedmeds and PharmEasy are not providing this option too.

Finally, I found a first aid box on Apollo Pharmacy website and ordered it from there for Rs.324. Nothing notable to be said about their website and the purchase experience. I have received the package in a couple of days, and I am satisfied with the purchase.:)


It is a bit large to my likely, but thankfully Polo's glove box could accommodate it with other essentials.


The list of contents available. Please note that the expiry date is the minimum value arrived from all individual materials, and most of them extend that to late 2021.


An inside view. It comes with a scissor and a thermometer. clap:

That's awesome. Please share the link so that fellow interested BHPians can easily click and buy.

I am sorry. I forgot to attach the link in my previous post.

It is available on this link.

Thanks for your search. Just ordered one box.clap: