Sometimes being a parent is a lot like being a taxi driver, without the added perk of a salary or tips to compensate you for your troubles. What’s even worse, there are precautions you have to take to ensure the safety of your children that no bona fide taxi driver would ever have to consider – like a car emergency kit to deal with the inadvertent cuts and scrapes, bruises and burns, and insect stings that are part and parcel of everyone’s childhood. It’s easy to get your hands on a first aid kit to handle most eventualities. But taking matters into your own hands and making your own kit will ensure that no essentials are left out.
Here’s our top 10 list of the most important car emergency kit items for parents.
1) A little black book. You may never know when you need to dial up your family physician or call a nearby friend for help. Keeping a little black book of phone numbers and addresses handy ensures you always have the information, even in the event that your trusty cell phone takes the proverbial dive. It’s also a good idea to include health care account information if you find yourself having to make a quick dash to the ER to treat an injury that’s just outside of your area of expertise.
2) Prescription meds. If your kids are taking prescription meds, you never want to run the risk that blowing a gasket in the middle of nowhere will delay them from getting their necessary dosage in time. Be on the safe side and set aside a few dosages and keep these in your emergency first aid kit.
3) Burn cream. You never know what your little ones are going to get into when you’ve got your back turned, but as long as you have a tube of burn cream you can make their occasional and random mishaps a lot less painful on them.
4) Adhesive bandages. Be sure to stock up on bandages of all sizes, from small band aids that care for tiny nicks, to gauze that can be used to dress major cuts. Don’t skimp on these, as they don’t take up much space and you can never really have too many.
5) Antiseptic wipes. Without easy access to a sink where you can wash and dress your child’s injury, you’ll want to have antiseptic on hand to prevent the potential development of infection.
6) Antibiotic cream. Once you’re done cleaning a scrape, scratch or cut, you’ll want to add a tad of pain relief – otherwise you may find yourself having to put up with a sobbing child. Antibiotic cream can also come in handy for treating the occasional blisters that arise as a result of too much play and not enough foot rest.
7) Insect sting cream. Whether your little ones are allergic to bee stings or not, this is an essential that will help you deal with insect attacks of any kind.
8) Insect repellent. Less of a first aid treatment than it is a preventive measure, you’ll want to be liberal with your use of insect repellant if you’re taking a field trip and don’t want to have to break out the sting cream.
9) A pair of tweezers. This is one inclusion that you may just thank yourself for having thought of, especially with the knack kids have for attracting splinters and broken glass. Without these, there’ll be much unnecessary suffering and tears.
10) A bottle of sunscreen. Yet another inclusion that falls easily into the preventive category, you’ll never kick yourself for having a spare one of these on hand. Keeping sunscreen with you will prevent you from having to make yet another inconvenient stop on your way – and remembering to use it and reapply it after certain lengths of time will ensure your little ones don’t overexpose themselves to the sun’s harmful rays.