The excitement of life lies in its uncertainty, but it doesn’t remain exciting when it threatens our safety. Therefore, while we must find joy in experiencing new things, we must do so with caution and preparation to ensure our safety. Of course, we cannot prepare for every emergency, but keeping a travel safety kit with us can help us get through several unpleasant situations.
So whether you are packing your bags for the vacation or stuffing your car with the essentials, a travel safety kit can prove handy at several unexpected places. Let’s take a look at essential components of a travel safety kit and how they can prove life-saving for yourself or those around you:
1. Basic First-Aid Kit
A basic first-aid kit is the primary component of every travel safety kit. You can prepare one yourself or buy one from a medical store. If you choose the latter option, ensure that it holds the following items:
- Alcohol-free sterile wipes, alcohol swabs, alcohol-based sanitizer, and rubbing alcohol
- Bandages and plasters, varied sizes and types, cotton swabs, and napkins
- Sticky tape, masking tape, and safety pins
- Latex gloves, scissors, and tweezers
- Thermometer and hot and cold packs
- Pain killers, anti-allergy, antacids, anti-diarrhea, and motion sickness medication and epi-pen
- Clean water, as much as possible, and rehydration packets
When assembling a travel safety kit, ensure that the basic first-aid kit includes enough quantity for the number of days you will be traveling and the number of people you will be traveling with. For example, if you prepare a travel safety kit for a five-hour road trip, you may not need multiple boxes or large tubes of every essential item. On the other hand, a ten-day family trip to another country requires as much quantity of every item as you can pack.
If you cannot carry too many liquids due to baggage restrictions, make it a priority to get all the vital liquids, including water, saline rinse, etc., as soon as you land at your destination. You can also call the hotel you are staying at or your tour guide to arrange these items.
2. Safety Gear
The second component of your travel safety kit also includes multiple other items. However, you may not need everything; all the items are generally categorized as safety gear, depending on your destination. For example, if your purpose in preparing a travel safety kit is to ensure you stay safe in your car when you get stuck in a snowstorm, you may not need aloe vera gel.
That being said, you can only benefit from keeping everything in the list below:
- Flashlight
- Eyewash, saline rinse, aloe vera gel, Vaseline, sunscreen, skin rash cream, antiseptic cream, and insect repellant
- Waterproof matches
- Rain parka
- Blanket
- Tourniquet
- Parachute cord
If you have completed confined space training BC and fall arrest training BC, you can add other safety equipment which can help you help others.
3. Prescription Medication
While the basic first-aid kit comes with medications that can help everyone during an emergency, your travel safety kit cannot be complete without the prescription medication you need. Keeping an extra box of your prescription medication you or your family members need, whether it is insulin or anti-anxiety medication, can prove significantly helpful.
Keep extra medication despite packing the required amount during travel and in a different bag. You can run across travel emergencies where you may need extra medication, such as flight delays or lost baggage. You may need special medication, safety gear, or vaccinations depending on your travel destination. These can include a high-SPF sunscreen, medication for food poisoning, or flu shots.
Once you return from the travel, utilize the extra prescription medication and restock the travel safety kit with a fresher bath with a far-off expiration date. Keep the extra prescription medication in rotation, restocking the travel safety kit every time, so you are not disappointed upon finding expired medication in your time of need.
4. Non-Perishable Food
Non-perishable food items are another must-have for every travel safety kit. After all, a situation can become more desperate if it cuts off excess food. Lack of food can result in health issues for diabetics and pre-diabetics.
Those with sensitive guts, celiac disease, or dental problems can also face unnecessary health issues when they cannot find suitable food. Lack of food also results in low blood sugar and declining cognitive ability, preventing one from thinking clearly and making the right decisions to escape an unpleasant situation.
Therefore, keeping your and your family’s preferred foods from the list of non-perishable food items below can make any difficult situation significantly easier:
- Protein or granola bars
- Beef jerky
- Freeze-dried or dehydrated vegetables and fruits
- Trail mixes and dry fruits
- Crackers
- Peanut butter
- Breakfast cereal
Make sure to buy these non-perishable food items that suit your and your family’s dietary preferences and restrictions. Check the expiry date before purchasing to ensure you can use them for at least six months. If the items go unused during the travel, use them once you return home and stock up on fresher, non-perishable items for your travel safety kit.
5. Navigation and Communication Equipment
After ensuring health and safety, adding navigation and communication equipment to your travel safety kit is important. To prepare this section, you will need the following;
- Maps, that of your destination
- Road flares
- Magnetic compass
- Battery-powered radio
- A simple backup phone with a long-lasting battery
- Phone charger
- Power banks
- Extra batteries
6. Emergency Contacts and Information
Keeping communication equipment can prove useless if you don’t know who to contact. So keep digital and hard copies containing all contact numbers and addresses of safe spaces you may need. If you are travelling to a foreign country, save the contact information of the local embassy on your phone’s speed dial.
Similarly, don’t forget to keep copies of your essential documents, including your ID, passport, and primary care physician’s contact. Keeping lists of important health information about you and your family members, as soft copies folded inside the travel safety kit, can also prove beneficial.
7. Manuals and Guides
Last but not least, manuals and guides on surviving emergencies are also essential. Preparing a travel safety kit alone will not help. You must also educate yourself on using whatever you include in the travel safety kit.
Get Trained in First-Aid and Emergency Care
Manuals and guides help, but training in first-aid and emergency care ensures perseverance in life and wellness. Completing first aid level 1 Vancouver and OFA 1 training Metro Safety can prepare you for all kinds of emergencies.
At Metro Safety, we can train you to stay calm and collected, make rational decisions, and ensure health and safety for yourself and everyone around you, no matter where you go. We also teach you efficient usage of every item you include in your travel safety kit.
Click here to register for first-aid training and emergency care courses, such as first-aid level 1 Vancouver, OFA 1 training, confined space training BC, fall arrest training BC, today to protect yourself, your family members, friends, colleagues, or whoever needs help.
