What do I need in a car first-aid kit?

Useful basics

• Adhesive bandages in several sizes
• Sterile gauze and medical tape
• Nonlatex disposable gloves
• Antiseptic wipes
• Instant cold compress
• Scissors and tweezers
• Emergency blanket
• Basic first-aid instructions

Do not turn the car into a medicine cabinet

Heat and cold inside vehicles can be extreme. If you carry medications, follow the storage directions on their labels and do not assume the glove box is an appropriate long-term storage place.

Make it usable by the people in the car

Do not bury the kit beneath luggage. Open it before you need it, learn where the gloves, gauze, and bandages are, and replace used items. A compact, organized kit is more useful than a giant package that no one has ever opened.

Consider your household without overpacking medication

If someone has a known medical need, follow that person’s clinician and medication-storage guidance. The car can experience temperature extremes, so the vehicle is not automatically an appropriate permanent storage place for prescriptions or temperature-sensitive supplies.

First aid is not emergency medicine

Call emergency services for serious bleeding, breathing problems, loss of consciousness, major trauma, or other urgent conditions. The kit is for basic first aid while appropriate help is obtained.