What to actually keep in a home first aid kit
Most bought kits are padded out with things you will never use. This is the list that earns its space.
A home kit should be built around what actually happens at home: cuts, grazes, burns, splinters and the occasional sprain. Everything else is optional.
The core
- Adhesive dressings in two sizes — small for fingers, mid for knees and elbows.
- Sterile gauze swabs for cleaning, drying and pressure.
- A roll of tape to secure dressings and for finger support.
- Wound closure strips for clean, shallow cuts.
- A crepe or conforming bandage.
- Disposable gloves.
- Blunt-ended scissors and tweezers.
Worth adding
Sterile saline pods for eye and wound irrigation, a cold pack, and a foil blanket if you are ever outdoors.
What you can skip
Antiseptic creams for routine cuts, and the tiny novelty plasters that come in bargain kits and will not stay on anything.
Where to keep it
Somewhere cool, dry and reachable without a chair. Bathrooms are the worst place — heat and steam degrade adhesive and packaging.
See a pharmacist, GP or urgent care if a wound will not stop bleeding after ten minutes of firm pressure, is deep or gaping, was caused by something dirty or rusty, contains anything you cannot flush out, or shows spreading redness, heat, swelling, pus or a fever. Get help urgently for animal or human bites, wounds over a joint, and any wound in someone with diabetes or poor circulation.
Shop the range
FitMedix products are CE-marked medical devices intended for the care of minor wounds. This site does not provide medical advice — seek professional help for deep, dirty or non-healing wounds, or if signs of infection appear. Always read the instructions on the pack.