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Essentials

Emergency first aid kit and medication plan

An emergency can cause new injuries while disrupting ordinary treatment. Prepare to give basic first aid within your competence and to protect existing health needs until professional care is available.

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From AidWorkers Humanitarian experience applied at homeEvidence base 4 named sourcesReviewed 26 July 2026

Why this matters

Training matters more than owning a complicated kit. Take recognised first-aid training appropriate to your location and refresh it. Keep supplies organised, within expiry dates and matched to what trained household members can use.

For ongoing health needs, create a clinician-informed continuity plan. Record diagnoses, medicines, doses, allergies, equipment, providers and emergency contacts, then protect that information and keep it available offline.

Before disruption

Prepare now

  • Take recognised first-aid and CPR training and learn the local emergency call process.
  • Maintain a clearly labelled kit with gloves, dressings and supplies appropriate to your training.
  • Keep an up-to-date medicine and allergy list plus copies of essential prescriptions where lawful.
  • Ask providers about safe backup power, storage temperatures, refills and disrupted appointments.
  • Plan transport to urgent care and an alternative if roads, lifts or public transport fail.

When it is happening

Protect the next decision

  1. Make the scene safe, call for professional help and give care within your training.
  2. Use official triage and public-health advice when services are overwhelmed.
  3. Keep a written log of medicines, symptoms, fluids, care and changes in condition.
  4. Seek urgent help for severe bleeding, breathing difficulty, chest pain, stroke signs, major burns, poisoning, unconsciousness or other local emergency signs.

Plan for real people

Access, care and inclusion

  • Keep communication needs, consent, trauma history and decision support in mind during care.
  • Plan privacy and dignified assistance for personal care, continence and reproductive health.
  • Include glasses, hearing devices, mobility aids, sensory tools and spare consumables.
  • Ask qualified professionals about infants, pregnancy, complex conditions and medicine-dependent needs.

Mental readiness

Protect morale and clear thinking

  • Assign one calm communicator to explain what is happening and what will happen next.
  • Use grounding and reassurance, but never minimise symptoms or promise an outcome.
  • Rotate carers and protect rest where possible. Exhausted carers are more likely to make errors.

Common mistakes

What to avoid

  • Using medicines, doses or procedures recommended by unverified online sources.
  • Assuming a full first-aid kit replaces training or professional assessment.
  • Stopping or substituting prescribed treatment without qualified advice unless immediate safety leaves no alternative.

Evidence and review

Sources behind this guide

These sources are evidence to evaluate, not instructions imported unchanged into this guide. Each source is identified by institution type so you can consider its remit, funding, jurisdiction and limits. Check the original date and current version for your location.

  • Civil Defence Emergency HandbookSingapore Civil Defence ForceGovernment or public authority

    For information and context. Useful for current rules, warnings, services and the institution's stated position. It is not a guarantee of timely help, completeness, neutrality or suitability for your household.

  • Build a KitFEMAGovernment or public authority

    For information and context. Useful for current rules, warnings, services and the institution's stated position. It is not a guarantee of timely help, completeness, neutrality or suitability for your household.

  • Steps to Get Ready for Disabled PeopleNew Zealand National Emergency Management AgencyGovernment or public authority

    For information and context. Useful for current rules, warnings, services and the institution's stated position. It is not a guarantee of timely help, completeness, neutrality or suitability for your household.

  • The Sphere HandbookSphere AssociationIndependent humanitarian or civil-society source

    For information and context. Informed by humanitarian practice or civil society. Check the hazard, location, people affected, evidence and publication date before applying it.

Continue preparing

Air & breathingPrepare for smoke, dust, poor ventilation, airborne illness and instructions to shelter indoors.Older people & carersProtect health, medication, mobility, communication, memory, care routines and carer continuity.Power & lightingProtect essential devices, use safer light, manage batteries and avoid generator and charging hazards.

Editorial status: first staging edition. Safety-critical instructions will receive specialist and jurisdiction review before public launch.