How to Prepare a First Aid Kit for Hiking

Video Transcript

"Hi this is David Jackel on behalf of Expert Village, and I am here to talk to you about first aid in the Appalachian Mountains. Now even though the Appalachian Mountains are relatively small and towns are not too far away, you want to have a first aid kit with you, because the mountains are still pretty big and it may take you awhile to get down to a place where you can get proper medical attention. The point of a first aid kit is to take care of you until you get to the point where a real doctor can see you, so you want to have items with you that can eliminate pain or reduce pain, you want items that can take a wound and that can clear up any bacteria or any other kind of infection, you want bandages, you want tweezers so that you can pull out splinters, and you want any kind of medication that you would normally need to deal with a particular situation. You also want to be able to immobilize broken bones so that you can get down properly from the mountain without getting your bones broken anymore. I usually carry aspirin or ibuprofen so that if I have a headache or if I have some kind of pain, it will calm down the pain so that I can get down with as much comfort as I can possibly have. It is also good to pack blister pads that you can attach to your feet in the event that you do get a blister because hiking on a blister is extremely painful. I also like to carry aloe just in case I get sunburned. Aloe is very good for moisturizing the skin and reducing the pain. The first aid kit that you bring should be big enough to contain everything you need, but small enough that it does not become a huge burden, because you want to be able to fit other things in your pack, and the first aid kit is really just there to help you get down from the mountain so that you can get proper medical attention."