First-aid kit: buy one or build your own?

The short answer

• Buy a basic kit and top it up if you want it done today. It's usually the cheapest way to get sealed dressings and a bag.
• Build your own if you want more of some things (big dressings, plasters for children) and none of others.
• Either way, check it against the Be Ready list below, and learn what to do with it. A kit you can't use is just a bag.

The official lists

GOV.UK's Be Ready checklist includes these first aid items:

• waterproof plasters
• bandages
• a thermometer
• antiseptic
• eyewash solution
• sterile dressings and gloves
• medical tape for dressings
• tweezers

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) gives a minimum list for low-risk workplaces. It's a useful second check for a home:

• a first aid leaflet
• individually wrapped sterile plasters of assorted sizes
• sterile eye pads
• individually wrapped triangular bandages
• safety pins
• large and medium sterile dressings (unmedicated)
• disposable gloves

The HSE says to look for British Standard BS 8599 when buying a workplace kit, but that a kit doesn't legally have to meet it.

What a cheap ready-made kit contains, and misses

As an example, St John Ambulance's own small Home First Aid Kit lists: a first aid booklet, a triangular bandage, 20 washproof plasters, a pair of gloves, a finger dressing, two medium and two large sterile dressings, and four cleansing wipes.

That's a good start. Compared with the Be Ready list, it doesn't include:

• a thermometer
• eyewash
• tweezers
• medical tape
• antiseptic

That's normal for small kits. Buy those few things separately and put them in the same bag. (We're not criticising this kit: it's a sensible base, and we use it here only because its contents are published.)

Add: dressings for heavy bleeding

Small plasters don't stop heavy bleeding. Firm pressure does.

St John Ambulance's steps for severe bleeding start with:

1. Protect yourself: wear gloves if you have them.
2. Press firmly on the wound with a sterile dressing or a clean, non-fluffy cloth. If something is stuck in the wound, leave it in and press on either side.
3. Call 999 or 112, or get someone else to.
4. Bandage the dressing firmly, but not so tight it stops the circulation.
5. If blood comes through, St John Ambulance says remove the soaked dressing, put on a new one and keep pressing.

Sweden's official brochure gives the same message: make sure you're safe, call for help, and press hard on the wound until paramedics take over.

So it's worth adding one or two large sterile dressings or a large pressure dressing to a home kit. Our missile strike post covers what to do after a blast nearby.

What about tourniquets?

St John Ambulance says a tourniquet is for catastrophic bleeding from an arm or leg, such as an amputation or blast injury, or when you need to control bleeding fast because you're in danger. Otherwise direct pressure usually works. If pressure isn't controlling the bleeding, the 999 call handler may talk you through what to do. If you choose to buy one, get trained. We don't sell or link to tourniquets.

Add: burns

Cooling comes first, and needs water, not kit. The NHS says:

• run cool water over the burn for 20 minutes, as soon as you can; if there's no running water, use cool bottled water or a wet towel;
• then lay cling film loosely over it (so add a roll to your kit);
• don't use creams, oils, butter, plasters or sticky dressings, and don't pop blisters;
• call 999 or go to A&E for large or deep burns, burns on the face, genitals or bottom, or burns from chemicals or electricity.

A gel burns dressing is an optional extra; our what to buy list includes one.

Medicines are a separate job

This post is about the first-aid kit. Painkillers, rehydration sachets, antihistamines and your regular prescriptions belong in a medicine cabinet. Our home medicine cabinet post covers what to keep there, and our repeat prescriptions post covers building a small buffer of your regular medicines.

Keep it working

• One place everyone knows, easy to reach, cool and dry.
• A small second kit for the car or grab bag. Our car kit guide has a list.
• Check it every six months. Be Ready suggests a six-monthly reminder to check dates on your emergency kit. Replace anything used, opened or out of date.
• Do a course. Sweden's brochure recommends learning CPR. St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross both run first aid courses; a few hours of practice is worth more than an expensive kit.

Related guides

• Home first aid kit and medicine cabinet: a UK checklist
• The 72-hour emergency kit for UK households
• Grab bag list UK: what to pack if you have to leave home
• Car emergency kit UK: what to keep in your car (and a winter list)

Free tools

• Be Ready kit checklist

We're an independent UK site, not the government. We check guides against official sources and link to them. In an emergency call 999.

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