What's In Your First Aid Kit?

It feels doomsday-ish to put a first aid kit together. You have to sit and think about what might be useful in urgent situations. Even further, you need to recall something unpleasant and remember what you would have wanted in that situation, and then prepare for it to happen again. This exercise is not the light summer beach read. It's the Winter of our Discontent. But, it must be done, like washing the car, or reading Steinbeck in high school. So, on an already gray and chilly Venice day, I went to the store to buy new first aid provisions and a decent bottle of wine. As I put my kit back together, I drank to my health.

cotton pads, cotton-tipped swabs

Acts of motorcycling, camping, backpacking and living in an earthquake zone have made me more vigilant about keeping my kit updated. It is our portable mini-hospital, and I keep just one, because the gels, creams and pills have assorted expiration dates, and I don't want to keep replacing duplicate kits. So, our little problem-solver goes from backpack to motorcycle to car to bathroom and back as needed.

Class of First Aid
Not shown: extra zip-top bags, Dramamine, cotton pads, cotton-tipped swabs, bug spray, sting gel, matches

I break the kit contents up by situation. Perhaps not the best method, but it is mine.

Universal

• Multitool, multitool, multitool. This has scissors, a straight and serrated knife blade, screw head bits, an awl, pliers, etc. Next to my wallet, it's probably the most used thing in my bag.
• Bug spray, bug spray, bug spray. We nice fleshy city-folk are hungry bugs' PowerBall number. Almost every time I go outside and end up waiting somewhere, I wish I had it. Now, it's a permanent fixture in the kit.
• Mints. I keep them in my kit for one very important reason. I absolutely believe the most important thing one can do in an urgent situation is to stay calm. Mints are my reminder. If it's not a life-threatening situation, I pop a mint, make a plan, and get to work. No big. Just a scrape/cut/sting/burn/bear mauling. Also, if you've ever tasted blood, you know they come in quite handy.