Essential First Aid Kit: What Medicines and Placement Guidelines Should You Follow?

First Aid Kit Essentials

1. Can anyone tell me what First Aid medicines must be compulsorily kept in the First Aid Kit box?

Criteria for Placing a First Aid Kit

2. What are the criteria for placing a First Aid Kit on a floor, and what is the ratio (in terms of "boxes/Sq Ft", "people accommodated on the floor") of a First Aid Kit for a floor?

3. If there are any other considerations, please let me know.

Regards,
ratnam.S
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Essential First Aid Kit Contents

Can anyone know what are the First Aid medicines that have to be compulsorily kept in the First Aid Kit box?

- Sterile adhesive bandages in assorted sizes
- Small roll of absorbent gauze or gauze pads of different sizes
- Adhesive tape
- Triangular and roller bandages
- Cotton (1 roll)
- Band-aids (Plasters)
- Scissors
- Pen torch
- Latex gloves (2 pairs)
- Tweezers
- Needle
- Moistened towels and clean dry cloth pieces
- Antiseptic (Savlon or Dettol)
- Thermometer
- Tube of petroleum jelly or other lubricant
- Assorted sizes of safety pins
- Cleansing agent/soap

Non-prescription Drugs

- Aspirin or paracetamol pain relievers
- Anti-diarrhea medication
- Antihistamine cream for bee stings
- Antacid (for stomach upset)
- Laxative

Keep your first aid kit where it is easily accessible. Replace drugs whenever they reach the expiry date.

Criteria for Placing a First Aid Kit

What are the criteria to place a First Aid Kit on a Floor and the ratio (in terms of "boxes / Sq Ft," "People accommodation on the floor") of the First Aid Kit for a floor?

The primary requirement addressed by these standards is that an employer must ensure prompt first aid treatment for injured employees, either by providing for the availability of a trained first aid provider at the worksite or by ensuring that emergency treatment services are within reasonable proximity to the worksite. The basic purpose of these standards is to assure that adequate first aid is available in the critical minutes between the occurrence of an injury and the availability of physician or hospital care for the injured employee.

One option these standards provide employers is to ensure that a member of the workforce has been trained in first aid. This option is, for most employers, a feasible and low-cost way to protect employees, as well as putting the employer clearly in compliance with the standards. OSHA recommends, but does not require, that every workplace includes one or more employees who are trained and certified in first aid, including CPR.

The employer must take appropriate steps prior to any accident (such as making arrangements with the service provider) to ascertain that emergency medical assistance will be promptly available when an injury occurs. While the standards do not prescribe a number of minutes, OSHA has long interpreted the term "near proximity" to mean that emergency care must be available within no more than 3-4 minutes from the workplace.

Medical literature establishes that, for serious injuries such as those involving stopped breathing, cardiac arrest, or uncontrolled bleeding, first aid treatment must be provided within the first few minutes to avoid permanent medical impairment or death. Accordingly, in workplaces where serious accidents such as those involving falls, suffocation, electrocution, or amputation are possible, emergency medical services must be available within 3-4 minutes if there is no employee on the site who is trained to render first aid.

Please refer to state rules and regulations.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Dear Mr. Ratnam, Find the attached file regarding First Aid as per Maharashtra Factories Rules. Please let us know if you need any further information.

Dear Raghu, Good input. I think it's not recommended to keep any tablets in the first aid box. If the first aid box is always under the control of a trained first aider, then it's okay. Otherwise, workers/employees may take the wrong tablets, which can lead to troubles.

Regards

Thanks for your input. I agree with you, Mr. Dipil. However, according to OSHA and ANSI Compliance standards for First Aid Kits, they include Aspirin tablets. For more details, please refer to the link mentioned below.

It does not include:
- Anti-diarrhea medication
- Antihistamine cream for bee stings
- Antacid (for stomach upset)
- Laxative

[Osha Certified First Aid Kit, ANSI first aid kits, OSHA first aid kits, ANSI compliant first aid kits, OSHA compliant first aid kits OSHA and ANSI First Aid Kits, OSHA CPR Products, ANSI CPR Kit](http://www.readykor.com/osha-ansi/osha-ansi.html)

Thank you again for your document.

Dear Rathnam, as I mentioned, OSHA standards only apply. Please refer to the Tamil Nadu Factory Act as I do not have any reference links or books for it.

Kind regards,
Regards

Dear Mr. Dipil, I just went through this article where all gentlemen boarders have contributed, and I happened to feel that our country is never going to change from this red tape-ism and bureaucratic rules and hypocrites. Believe me, if we don't go for change, things will occur as they are, and we surely will not be able to check the number of deaths resulting from accidents. No one can stop accidents, but surely these accidents can be prevented from being fatal. Someone mentioned CLI and Factory Inspectorate, etc. I just want to ask you, have you ever seen any office bearer of these great institutes knowing what the contents of First Aid boxes are? Guidelines were made somewhat 40 years back when factory rules were made, and the medicines available at that time are still mentioned in the list of first aid boxes. I have never seen this Mercurochrome or Potassium Permanganate crystals during my 18 years of medical service. And so many things are in the lists which are just outdated and may even be fatal, I feel. Cetrimide is not being used. What I suggest is please strive for changes and don't subject our fellows to those substandard items. We can get much better versions of medicines, antiseptics outside in the market, and those should be kept so that the first aid box can be a real aid box and not an idiot box abandoned and uncared for. We don't want to pay for our healthcare; I don't know why. At least OSHA's directions can be followed in the factories; after all, we have progressed so much. Why do licensing audits etc. have so much priority despite having no significant contribution to developments? It's time that in the first aid boxes, we must keep better disposable dressings, Shell dressings, Crepe bandages, Betadine lotion and ointments, Ready-made triangular bandage, Sofra tulle, Micropore adhesive plasters, a working torch, good quality bandages, medicated dressings (I don't know what the factory inspector is going to do with the approval of these dressings); remember, he is not going to meet with accidents and if he does, he will not ask for treatment as per the list pasted inside the first aid box. There are companies spending so much money only on making world-class first aid boxes and their contents just to ensure that the right quality is provided which is required. And last but not least, nobody bothers about these lists. I know what must have been bothering this gentleman who wrote this article regarding the number of first aid boxes and their contents. And even if it is unavoidable, there are ready-made kits available in the market, and let those people do their job who are specialists in their field. Imagine one single fracture of the thigh bone can use up around 3-4 crepe bandages, 10-15 sterile dressings, a minimum of 2-3 splints, and if we say that up to 10 employees keep 6 dressings, then I am sure an individual's shirt or pant will do.

Modernizing First Aid Kits

I think software companies are more prudent, and surely their administration is practical despite getting very rare casualties. But on the production side, it is common, so why not modernize these outdated things which are really life-saving? So much money is spent on things that may not provide fruits, but if life is at stake, we should keep better things, no matter if medicines or items get expired; they can be replaced as well.

I am sure it will instigate the right minds, and we can come out of those outdated things.

Regards, Ravi Singh

Dear Ravi Singh, A very nice, useful, and thought-provoking write-up. First of all, thank you for sharing your views. After going through your write-up, one incident from my professional life comes to mind. Our management decided to place First Aid Boxes in each section of the plant. My boss assigned me the task of selecting one. Just like you mentioned, I succeeded in finding a supplier who prepares professional Ready-Made First Aid Boxes. The cost of one First Aid Box filled with medicines was 2500. When I proposed this to the management for approval, they rejected it and advised me to arrange only empty boxes that we could fill with the required medicines from our health center. This option was more cost-effective. Eventually, the task was completed in that manner. Initially, I was not very serious about the need for a professional First Aid Box, so I did not insist on it. After reading your post, I feel guilty that if I had tried to convince the management a second time, they might have approved it. However, I will certainly do a better job in the future. Thank you for this eye-opener.

Dear Ratnam, I think you should consider following the suggestions of Mr. R.P Singh and Mr. Rahhu. OSHA regulations are far from our legislation, and I doubt any factory inspector will question it. I may have misguided you in my earlier message, so please disregard that advice.

Thank you.