Parish first aid kit

RetiredMSN · Dec 26, 2004

ivy's mom, could I ask what the purpose of the kit is for? You are calling it a "parish first-aid kit." Is it for use just in your church? Or for several churches? Or for certain functions? That would determine what to include in the kit.

We have just a basic first aid kit bought from a discount store for our church, and keep it filled as supplies run out. Because of liability issues, the decision was made not to get into areas outside of basic first aid at this time. We may look at that again later on. ReitredMSN:coollook:

ivy's mom · Jan 20, 2005

Thanks for your thoughts. We are just a small church, and need a basic kit for knife cuts in the kitchen, skinned knees, etc. The church is used for lots of functions from the usual Bible study, to support groups after gastric bypass and our local food bank. I think I was thinking too much about it. After putting together a Girl Scout First Aid kit that we toted around for years, I was wondering what other thoughts were on the subject. Thanks again for your input.

ivy's mom, could I ask what the purpose of the kit is for? You are calling it a "parish first-aid kit." Is it for use just in your church? Or for several churches? Or for certain functions? That would determine what to include in the kit.
We have just a basic first aid kit bought from a discount store for our church, and keep it filled as supplies run out. Because of liability issues, the decision was made not to get into areas outside of basic first aid at this time. We may look at that again later on. ReitredMSN:coollook:

disabldfirefiter · Aug 27, 2010

Hi. I am a retired fire lieutenant-medic and LPN, and also a first aid and CPR instructor.

The size of the first aid kit you need depends on the number of people you normally have assembling together at one time. Professionally-created first aid kits are designed for specific numbers of people. If you are a small, family-oriented type of church, a small, simple first aid kit is all you would need. I can recommend a certain one from a certain store, but I'm not sure if that's allowed. However, I will tell you that you can buy this kit from the nations's #1 department store, in their health and beauty section, usually for under $10. The kit's maker has the initials J & J. I keep one in our house, though I still carry a trauma bag with me. The price you would pay for all of the parts, pieces, bandanges, etc inside, if bought separately, would cost at least twice as much. It is a very good buy.

Or, I also recommend buying a good tool box, and buying the items you would need to fill it, as buying a ready-made kit will cost a lot more than you might spend in buying the items yourself. I recently bought a professionally-created kit, meant for no more than 50 people, and it cost me $50. And you don't get as much as you might buy for the same amount if bought in a discount store. Look around for the best bargains on bandages, gauze pads, roller gauze, instant cold packs, etc, etc. Let me know what you think. I can get you a list of what you should have in your kit. Let me know the umber of people who congregate together at one time.

If you have quite a number of people, another great, but expensive item is an AED, (automatic external defibrillator) for dealing with heart attacks, cardiac arrests. All places of assembly should have one.

God Bless!

disabldfirefiter

Columnist · Aug 27, 2010

disabldfirefiter.........welcome to allnurses and the Parish Nurse forum.

As the moderator of this forum, I really appreciate your input. I agree that a self-created kit is better, especially if you have a larger church. I have several small ready made kits which I purchased from the Red Cross. You can get different sizes. Mine are similar in size to the J&J ones you mentioned. I just resupply these as needed with items purchased at WalMart.

I also bought three toolboxes which I bought supplies for. I have one of these on each of the 2 church buses and keep one in my office.

We also have 3 AED's, which, fortunately, we have not had to use.

I would be interested to see a list of items you would suggest for our bus kits as well as the one in my office. The buses are used to transport youth as well as adults, including seniors. One of the AED's goes on senior adult trips.

Thanks for your input!

pomarzu · Nov 8, 2011

I'm at a medium sized church (4500 members, multi-campus, urban area with paramedic response times around 5-7 minutes) and we have 'trauma' bags available. We also have oxygen tanks and AED's. Our 'trauma' bags do NOT contain any drugs. We bought small medic bags (online for around $30) and filled them with: bandaging materials (from bandaids to abd dressings), splints (SAM splints), airway stuff for all ages (OPAs, NPAs, & BVMs), ice packs, conforming bandages (kerlix or kling), BP cuff, stethoscope, penlights, scissors, etc. We recently added an OB Kit (delivery kit) and Celox to the bags. We're discussing adding advanced airway supplies.

I would be interested in what other folks include in their kits.

God bless all nations.

Trauma Columnist · Nov 8, 2011

Oxygen tanks?? Just curious who pays for them and services them?

Columnist · Nov 14, 2011

pomarzu, do you have a First Responder team? Some of your items.......O2 tanks, OB delivery kit, etc.......are much more sophisticated than laypeople would need.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Nov 23, 2011

For your limited intents and purposes just Google it. There are hosts of sites that sell first aid kits ranging from something you could pack into a key chain to something you'd put in a 55 gallon drum. The spectrum ranges from bandaids to Celox. There are also companies who essentially provide an online catalog and you select what you want, and a custom kit is packed for you at probably a much higher cost. There are also commercial kits that you see in business, particularly industrial settings, that consist of a large metal cabinet on the wall packed with first aid junk. I once had a job at which, among my many roles under my "safety manager" hat, was to inspect and re-stock our dozen or so first aid kits each month. Each fleet vehicle had to have a kit, and certain buildings had to have them.

You'd probably be fine with a simple kit off the shelf at Walmart, a box of bandaids, and a bottle of Germ-X. By far, the biggest go to item for people is a bandaid. Most people stick a bandaid on it and never wash it. Heck, even with paramedic training and nursing school if I cut my finger I generally just suck on it and wipe it off. If the bleeding won't stop I'll find a bandaid or some tape someplace. Then you have a class of people that want hydrogen peroxide or alcohol and antibiotic ointment which you can buy in individual packets.

http://www.firstaidsuppliesonline.com/

Above is a website of cheap items and a lot of promo codes that I used to order from with our budget.

http://www.1staidsupplies.com/store.php is another.

If you want trauma bags, oxygen, AEDs, and a variety of diagnostic equipment try www.Galls.com It's not a cheap site, but you can look at stuff and Google for cheaper versions.