First Aid Kit for a Hurricane
by Donald Ray Burger
Attorney at Law

This page contains my thoughts on what should be in a first aid kit in Houston. It is geared toward the most likely natural disaster we face in Houston: hurricanes. It has been developed with the idea that the kit should contain materials one might need for emergencies in a city. It is specifically not intended for overnight or longer camping or hiking trips away from civilization. It also assumes a very minimal knowledge of first aid. It is definitely over-inclusive. The idea is to list as many items as I think may be useful. The reader is invited to take the checklist to the store and use it as a guide to stock a hurricane first aid kit. When stores are closed or when it's raining cats and dogs is not the time to find you are out of one of your reliable medicines. Also, remember to rotate the stock from time to time. Many medicines have expiration dates. I recommend you store as many of these items as possible in a common plastic fishing tackle box. Such boxes are spacious, have many small compartments, and are easily portable.

_____ Alka Seltzer
_____ Anti-diarrhea medication. (You may be eating foods you are not used to)
_____ Imodium A-D (anti-diarrheal caplets)
_____ Ipecac (for some types of poisoning)
_____ Emetrol (for nausea)
_____ Tums
_____ TheraFlu
_____ Vicks Day Care
_____ Listerine
_____ Salt (get the little packets from a fast food restaurant to use as a salt gargle)
_____ Cold-Eeze for colds
_____ Your favorite cough drops
_____ Afrin
_____ Vicks nasal inhaler
_____ Vicks Vaporub
_____ Your favorite cold medicines
_____ Your favorite cough syrup
_____ Alka Seltzer Plus Cold Medicine
_____ Bayer Select for Backache
_____ Your favorite headache medicine
_____ Excedrin Migraine
_____ Anacin
_____ Advil
_____ Motrin IB
_____ Tylenol Headache Plus
_____ Aleve
_____ Tylenol Extra Strength
_____ Vicks Day Care
_____ Contact lens supplies
_____ Glass eye cup (to wash out dust etc. from eye)
_____ Murine
_____ Eye pads
_____ Box of assorted sizes of band aids
_____ Sterile gauze pads in several sizes, and especially big sizes. Spend extra and get the ones that are individually wrapped.
_____ Two-inch sterile gauze roll
_____ Three -inch sterile gauze roll
_____ One inch adhesive tape
_____ Compressed gauze
_____ CAT Gen 7 tourniquet
_____ Nitrile gloves, any color except black
_____ EMT scissors
_____ Cotton balls
_____ Cotton swabs
_____ Sanitary napkins (can double as bandages)
_____ Butterfly bandages
_____ Spenco 2nd Skin (for blisters)
_____ Hydrogen Peroxide
_____ Rubbing alcohol
_____ Iodine
_____ Bacitracin or other salve for wounds
_____ Vaseline petroleum jelly
_____ Bactine
_____ Insect repellant (the ones with DEET work best)
_____ After Bite (for relief of itching)
_____ Baking soda (makes a good paste to put on insect stings).
_____ Calamine lotion
_____ Chigarid (for chigger bites)
_____ Blood Pressure Kit
_____ Tweezers
_____ Magnifying glass (to spot splinters)
_____ Exacto knife (available at hobby and art supply stores. Be sure and disinfect it before using)
_____ Swiss Army knife-deluxe model
_____ Cutter snake bite kit or The Extractor kit
_____ Thermometer
_____ The "First Aid at a Glance" pamplet from the Red Cross or similiar guide.
_____ Oil of Cloves (to relieve tooth ache)
_____ Disposable safety razor
_____ Nail clippers
_____ Nail file/emery board
_____ Scissors
_____ Bandage scissors (the ones with the rounded, not pointed , tips)
_____ Safety Pins
_____ Small bar of soap (like from a motel)
_____ Septic pencil
_____ Small mirror
_____ Small flashlight
_____ Needle (to remove splinters)
_____ Lip balm
_____ Suntan lotion
_____ Johnson's Baby Oil
_____ Get fresh supplies of all prescription medicines. A one week supply is the MINIMUM (and don't forget medicines for babies and pets)