Starter First Aid Kit for Cruising

I say “starter” because #1. I think I may have forgotten 1 or 2 items on my first trip to the store (typical), #2. we’ve never done this before and I certainly don’t want to come across as “Miss-I-Think-I’m-the-Expert-on-First-Aid” (because I’m most certainly am not!), and most importantly #3. we haven’t technically finished our kit yet — there are still two shopping bags full of first aid loot just hanging out on our bedroom floor (like everything else these days). But at least we’ve started it, right?

^^I definitely got a few odd looks from fellow shoppers while snapping multiple photos of my shopping cart — with my “big” camera nonetheless.^^

When we first began researching “marine first aid kits” my mind was blown by the sheer cost of these crazy kits.  A decent (already prepared) kit can cost anywhere from $250 to upwards of $1,000. Yes, one thousand! Insane!

Don’t get me wrong, we thoroughly realize the importance of safety and being well-prepared.  Safety is our #1 priority folks.  However, spending $750+ on a complete kit seems ludicrous. We’ve pretty much decided that the makers of these kits love highlighting the “item count” and throw in a bunch of bogus crap just to hit a certain number. So, unless some generous donor wants to gift us one of these fancy kits, we’ll be going to DIY route and saving bookoo bucks in the process.  As you might recall, we didn’t have a problem diy-ing Oliver’s doggie first aid kit, and his medicine cabinet is way bigger than ours so this should be a breeze! 😉

To get the ball rolling on health and first aid, Jereme and I (mostly me) made appointments with all of our necessary doctors (GP, dentist, GYN, skin doc, eye doc, etc.) for routine check-ups long before we set sail (which will hopefully be soon) and before we lose our insurance (also happening soon).  We spoke with each of them regarding key items we should have on board while cruising for the next year or so.  They agreed that a DIY first aid kit was the way to go. From these very helpful (and reassuring) convos, we created the following list of items to include in our first aid kit:

• Neosporin
• Cortizone cream
• Benadryl
• Advil
• Aspirin
• Cold/flu medicine
• Cough syrup
• Cough drops
• Pepto
• Pepcid
• Tums
• Motion sickness meds (over the counter)
• Ear drops (like swimear)
• Nasal spray
• Glyoxide mouth numbing medication
• Laxative
• AZO UTI relief
• Eye wash
• Artificial tears
• Alcohol
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Vicks
• Icy hot
• Vasoline
• Bandaids (all sizes + waterproof)
• Wraps/gauze
• Sterile dressings
• Adhesive tape
• Steri-strips
• Butterfly closures
• Cottonballs
• Cotton swabs
• Q-tips
• Thermometer
• Tweezers
• Scissors
• Gloves
• Safety pins

After preparing what we think is a pretty broad list of items (many of which we’ve never even had to use in our regular lives before, so hopefully we won’t really even need them in the islands), I set out to purchase our extensive list as cost effectively as possible. And as much as I hate shopping at Walmart (I’m more of a Target girl myself), I headed over to our local Wal-mizzy because they seemed to be the cheapest. I picked up all of the items included on the list above for right around $100. Not bad, I suppose! Although, we still need to store these items in some sort of organized “kit-like” fashion, which has yet to be done.  I can’t imagine the storage portion of this project would cost more than a few dollars. We have plenty of old toiletry bags we can utilize.

Aside from the list above, we also made sure to secure scripts for any meds that would be helpful to have on hand while sailing, such as multiple courses of antibiotics, prescription anti-nausea medicine, etc.  Those have already been purchased too!

We are also looking into various marine first aid manuals.  I’ve found several first aid guides for my Kindle that I’m considering purchasing (they’re way cheaper than similar print books), like the Marine Medicine Comprehensive Guide, Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care, and even this The First-Aid Companion for Dogs & Cats.

Here’s to being prepared and hoping we never have to use our new first aid kit!

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