What Travel First Aid Should I Pack?

It’s not just those heading off on jungle treks or scientific expeditions that need to prepare a first aid kit before travel. Backpackers should also be prepared with first aid for the most common ailments. You’ll be able to safely treat injuries and illnesses without the hassle and expense of finding a medical centre. The pharmacists at Nomad have created a range of travel medical kits covering all types of travel that are packed with a comprehensive range of first aid kit. Everything listed below, plus much more, is included in the Ultimate Medical Kit. Read on to find out the most important bits of first aid to make sure you’ve got packed before travel.

Bandages, Plasters & Tape

Pack a good supply of plasters to cover minor scrapes once you’ve cleaned them. You are most likely to get a cut or scrape over other types of injuries, so make sure you’ve got a variety for different areas of the body. If you’re trekking on your trip, blister plasters will be a godsend if your feet take a battering.

For bigger injuries, you’ll need gauze and crepe bandages. Clean the wound, cover with gauze and use crepe bandages to keep it in place. A roll of surgical tape will secure dressings and act as strapping, another useful additional to the travel first aid kit. Nomad medical kits have a variety of plasters, and the Ultimate Medical Kit has a large selection of gauze, bandages and plasters.

Diarrhoea Treatment for Travel

It’s so common to get a bout of diarrhoea when travelling, and you can easily & safely treat symptoms if you pack the right first aid. Loperamide will halt diarrhoea for a period of time. It won’t treat the infection, but it can be useful when travelling so you can have control for a time. To treat the cause of the diarrhoea, you’ll need antibiotics.

Our Ultimate Medical Kit & Worldwide Diarrhoea Kit come with azithromycin that is known to be effective globally treating causes of travellers diarrhoea. You’ll need to rehydrate if you do get sick with diarrhoea, so pack rehydration sachets or an oral rehydration spoon if you’ll have access to salt & sugar to make your own solution.

Painkillers

Pack a supply of both paracetamol and ibuprofen in your travel first aid kit. Both painkillers will be useful if you have any headaches or other pains, Ibuprofen is also anti-inflammatory and will bring down swelling and fevers.

Wound Cleaning & Antiseptics

Having a supply of antiseptic wipes is really important when travelling. Even small scrapes or bites can get infected and cause much more trouble for you than expected if not kept clean. Wipe wounds before you dress them to stave off infection. Carry an antibacterial cream to apply to injuries as they heal, it will kill off bacteria that can cause an infection.

Bite Treatments

There are two types of bite treatments that will be really useful to keep in your travel first aid kit. Hydrocortisone cream can be applied to insect bites to help stop the itching and swelling and antihistamine tablets. These are especially useful if you’re known to have allergies, and even if not you might come into contact with a new pollen or allergen that sets off symptoms.

Sterile Kit

If you are one of the unfortunate ones who has an injury or illness requiring attention from medical professionals, a sterile equipment pack will be an important safety measure. You can give your sterile equipment pack to your doctor or nurse and know that any IVs or injections are given with safe, clean equipment. Both the Ultimate and Core Medical Kit come with a complete sterile equipment pack, plus we can supply sterile equipment packs on their own.

First Aid Tools

A pair of surgical scissors will cleanly and neatly trim gauze or bandages down to the required size. You shouldn’t have any issues carrying small scissors in a proper medical kit bag, just make sure it travels in your checked luggage and not in your carry on. A pair of tweezers can be really useful, too. Use them to get out splinters or remove debris from wounds before you clean & dress them.