Homestead First Aid Tips and Kits

Homestead first aid tips: If you’re a homesteader, you enjoy taking care of yourself and your family. You may enjoy gardening and canning to grow and preserve fruits, vegetables, and other foods your family can eat.

As such a self-sufficient person, it’s good to know some helpful first aid tips that might come in handy. If you have the right information and purchase the right supplies, you can keep yourself and your loved ones comfortable, even if an injury occurs.

Why You Need a Homestead First Aid

Some crazy things can happen when you’re homesteading or backyard farming. You want to be prepared and able to administer care for:

Burns
Cuts
Blisters
Allergic Reactions
Wounds that will require stitches (so you have time to get to a doctor)
Accidental Poisoning

What to Include in a First Aid Kit

Before creating a first aid kit to use at home, you’ll need to know which products are most important. Check out this simple list of some of the must-haves to include in your kit. You should have no problem finding these supplies online or at department stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target. Stock up on them while they’re on sale to avoid running out of items you’ll need at some point or another.

Antiseptic Ointment

Be sure to add antiseptic ointment to your first aid kit. It’s the perfect product to have when you sustain an open wound because it helps to kill germs and fight off bad bacteria. It can prevent you from dealing with an infection. If you get a scrape or cut, rinse it out with warm water and then apply the antiseptic ointment on top before covering it with a bandage.

Bandages

You never know when you’ll need bandages, so gather options in different sizes to use when you need them the most. When sustaining an open wound, such as a cut from a twig in the garden, you’ll need to clean that wound out and then cover it to keep dirt and germs from getting into it. Be sure to get bandages that you can put on different areas of the body, including your fingers, hands, and legs.

Aspirin

Aspirin is good to use for different purposes, so it’s best to have a bottle of it in your first aid kit. You can use aspirin to help with body aches and pain, migraines, and even toothaches. It works as an effective anti-inflammatory that can do wonders for you when dealing with discomfort.

Tweezers

If you end up with a splinter, which is a definite possibility, you’ll need to have a good way to remove it. Instead of trying to squeeze it out and causing yourself unnecessary pain, have a pair of reliable, trusty tweezers to use. The right tweezers are sharp enough to help you grab onto the splinter and remove it from the skin with ease.

Antibiotic Ointment

Much like the antiseptic ointment, antibiotic ointment is great to have in a first aid kit. It can help fight infection and protect you against germs and harmful bacteria. It’s great to use when dealing with minor open wounds that you might experience.

While these products are first aid kit must-haves, make sure to add other important items into your kit. It’s a good idea to have a large kit full of products that will come in handy for you in emergencies.

Additional Items to Consider Adding

A few additional products worth adding to your first aid kit:

Scissors
Butterfly Bandages for closing small cuts and wounds
Gauze Pads
Rubbing Alcohol
Rubber Tourniquet
Liquid Bandage
Prescriptions
Antihistamines & Epi Pen
Latex Gloves

First Aid Tips You Need to Know When Homesteading

Knowing the right steps to take when dealing with different types of injuries is important. I think keeping a First Aid Book with your kit is your best bet.

If you’re unable to receive immediate medical assistance for some of these injuries, you’ll need to know what you can do to keep yourself or loved ones protected.

These are some of the tips that are useful to know for safety purposes:

Apply pressure to open wounds. If you’ve got an open wound that is bleeding profusely, attempt to stop the bleeding by taking a large clean cloth and pressing down firmly on the open wound. Hold the cloth in place for several minutes at a time in an attempt to get the bleeding to stop.
Always wash wounds with mild soap and warm water. You might think it’s not a big deal if you’re unable to see dirt on an open wound. However, germs exist, even if they’re not visible. If you or a loved one have an open wound, hold it under the faucet while running warm water over it and cleaning it out with a mild, gentle soap.
Wash and treat bug bites. If you experience a bug bite, wash it with mild soap and water. If it’s itching, you’ll want to apply a bit of alcohol rub to the area of the body that is bothering you. The rubbing alcohol takes away the itch, which keeps you from endless scratching that can lead to infection.
Have saline solution available to use. Just in case you end up getting something in your eyes, it’s a good idea to have a saline solution available. While you can rinse your eyes out with water, the substance may continue to cause irritation. Using the saline solution will clear it up and allow you to see clearly without the pain caused by whatever got into the eyes.

These simple first aid tips could save you and your loved ones from experiencing pain, discomfort, and infection from different injuries sustained at different times. If you have the right products and know the right steps to take, you don’t have to worry so much. Even if you do end up needing to go to a doctor’s office, you at least know what to do until you’re able to get to the doctor’s office.

As a homesteader, you may enjoy living the life of self-sufficiency. It’s a wonderful feeling and a fantastic way to live your life! However, you’ll also need to know some important first aid tips that can help you in times of need.

You can create a first aid kit full of essentials that you stay safe when you or someone you love gets injured. Once you have created a first aid kit full of those essentials, you’ll be glad that you have it for emergencies.

Remember, you never know when an emergency will occur, but you can make sure you’re prepared for anything.