First Aid Manual

If you are a parent or child care provider, the importance of having a portable first aid kit available cannot be stated strongly enough. Sure, first aid kits are likely to be carried by an EMT, an athletic trainer, and by any medical responder who may be called upon to treat the injured should there be an unfortunate occurrence. However, as a parent, or child care provider, you are in the unique position of being in charge of the safety and welfare of the child while that child is in your care. Regardless of whether or not you have any medical training, having the tools available to treat a child in the event of an injury or sudden impairment could prove to be the difference between a serious situation and one that is soon under control.

While most parents and child care providers will not have to see the child in their care sustain a serious injury, packing and carrying a medical bag of supplies can let you be ready for the worst case scenario. Additionally, many supplies you will pack will come in useful quite often. For instance, what child has not had a fall, bump, or bruise while playing at the park? The mom, dad, or child care provider with the proper supplies can quickly patch up scrapes, allowing the child to resume play with only a small inconvenience. Quick treatment of the scrape does more than just allow a child to keep playing. Proper care to a wound, such as cleaning it, covering it, and causing the bleeding to cease, promotes good healthy habits and will likely keep the injury from becoming infected or from taking a long time to heal. Dressing a wound quickly will keep bacteria far from the area, and will also keep blood pathogens away from other children or from shared toys or playground equipment.

Packing a medical bag is not a difficult chore to complete. If anything, it is simply a matter of a little advanced planning. A wonderful option for a mom, dad, or child care provider is to purchase a pre-packaged bag, filled with ready to use supplies. These bags can be ordered online and are very affordable. The great benefit to ordering a bag that comes to you pre-packaged, is that it is most likely going to have everything you will ever want or need contained inside. It is a good idea to look through all the contents of the bag, making sure there is nothing additional you wish to include, as well as making sure you understand how to use each item.

Make sure to place your medical supply bag some place where it is easy to access. The great thing about a portable bag is that it is designed to be used for travel, and therefore, does not take up too much space. One important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the medical supplies are not some place where children can get into them. It really goes without saying that children should not have access to medicines and treatment supplies. Before you know it, kids can unwittingly misplace, consume, or render useless, supplies which you may assume are available in case of injury or emergency.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 11:17 pm and is filed under Health and Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.