A first-aid kit is a collection of supplies and equipment used to provide immediate medical care, known as first aid, for minor injuries and emergencies until professional treatment becomes available. Kits are assembled for a wide range of settings, and their contents vary according to anticipated risks, the training level of users, local regulations, and applicable standards. Personal or household kits usually contain only a limited range of basic supplies, while in many countries employers are legally required to maintain workplace kits that conform to national specifications, such as the ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021 standard in the United States or DIN 13164:2022 for motor vehicle kits in Germany.
First aid equipment is generally identified by the ISO 7010 "first aid" symbol (a white cross on a green background), while the red cross emblem is legally protected under the Geneva Conventions and reserved for humanitarian and military medical services. Proper maintenance of a kit involves regular inspection and the replacement of used or expired items.
The contents of a first-aid box vary depending on its intended use, local medical practices, and regulatory requirements, but most kits include a combination of medical supplies, basic medications, and protective equipment. Common items found in household and travel first aid boxes include adhesive bandages, sterile gauze pads, adhesive tape, antiseptic solutions, cotton wool, scissors, tweezers, disposable gloves, and wound dressings. Many kits also contain medications for immediate symptom relief, such as analgesics, antihistamines, antacids, and topical creams for burns, rashes, or minor skin infections.
Specialized first-aid boxes may include additional items tailored to specific environments. For example, vehicle first-aid kits often include reflective safety vests and emergency blankets, while workplace or industrial kits may contain eye wash solutions, burn dressings, and trauma supplies. Kits designed for schools, sports facilities, or outdoor activities are similarly adapted to address the most common injuries associated with those settings.
First-aid boxes play a crucial role in emergency preparedness by enabling rapid response to injuries and sudden medical conditions. Immediate first aid can help prevent complications, reduce the severity of injuries, and improve outcomes while awaiting professional medical assistance. Public health organizations and emergency response agencies commonly recommend that first-aid boxes be readily accessible in homes, vehicles, workplaces, and public spaces, and that users receive basic first-aid training to ensure effective use of the contents.
Proper storage and maintenance are essential to ensure the effectiveness of a first-aid box. Kits should be kept in a clean, dry, and easily accessible location, clearly marked with a recognized first-aid symbol. Regular inspection is recommended to identify missing, damaged, or expired items, particularly medications and sterile supplies. Replacing used or outdated components helps maintain readiness and ensures compliance with safety standards and organizational policies.
The composition of first-aid boxes may differ across regions due to variations in healthcare systems, climate, injury patterns, and legal frameworks. In some countries, first-aid boxes commonly include prescription-free medicines that are widely used for digestive issues, fagallergic reactions, or minor infections, while in others, regulations restrict kits to non-medicated supplies. Cultural practices and local health recommendations may also influence the selection of items included in a first-aid box.
First aid kits intended for personal or household use typically contain a limited range of basic supplies for treating minor injuries or emergencies, such as adhesive bandages, sterile gauze pads, antiseptic wipes, tweezers, simple analgesics, and emergency blankets. Most of these basic supplies are readily available through general retail outlets such as pharmacies.
By contrast, workplace first aid kits are subject to minimum performance specifications under standards such as ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021 in the United States, which classify kits by anticipated hazards and container durability, while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations impose additional requirements in certain industries. In Europe, motor vehicle first aid kits in Germany must comply with DIN 13164, which specifies a standard set of supplies required for passenger cars. In Canada, workplace first aid is regulated at both the federal and provincial levels. The federal Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations specify the types and minimum contents of workplace first aid kits, including supplies such as a resuscitation mask with a one-way valve. Several provinces impose additional rules; for example, Nova Scotia requires vehicles used to transport employees to be equipped with a Type 2 first aid kit.
Basic items on a first aid kit consists of:
Trauma injuries, such as bleeding, bone fractures or burns, are usually the main focus of most first aid kits, with items such as bandages and dressings being found in the vast majority of all kits.
The use of personal protective equipment or PPE will vary by the kit, depending on its use and anticipated risk of infection. The adjuncts to artificial respiration are covered above, but other common infection control PPE includes:
Topical medications
The ABCs (airway, breathing, and circulation) form a foundational framework in first aid training. Some standardized workplace first aid kits, such as those meeting the ANSI/ISEA Z308.1-2021 standard in the United States, include a CPR breathing barrier to reduce infection risk during rescue breaths.
Advanced first aid kits may also contain items such as:
Some first aid kits, specifically those used by event first aiders and emergency services, include bottled oxygen for resuscitation and therapy.
Besides the regular uses for first aid kits, they can be helpful in wilderness or survival situations. First aid kits can make up a part of a survival kit or a mini survival kit in addition to other tools.
In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all job sites and workplaces to make available first aid equipment for use by injured employees. While providing regulations for some industries such as logging, in general the regulation lacks specifics on the contents of the first aid kit. This is understandable, as the regulation covers every means of employment, and different jobs have different types of injuries and different first-aid requirements. However, in a non-mandatory section, the OSHA regulations do refer to ANSI/ISEA Specification Z308.1 as the basis for the suggested minimum contents of a first aid kit. Another source for modern first aid kit information is United States Forest Service Specification 6170-6, which specifies the contents of several different-sized kits, intended to serve groups of differing size.
In general, the type of first aid facilities required in a workplace are determined by many factors, such as:
After the 2012 Sandy Hook School Shooting a collaborative effort between the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Hartford Consensus, and federal agencies like the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security worked together to create the Stop the Bleed campaign which is focused on teaching everyday Americans how to stop major bleeding and trauma and has helped to popularize the availability and access of IFAKs or Trauma Kits.
Trauma kits tend to have fewer items focused on basic items for scrapes and abrasions and instead focus on Tourniquets, Chest Seals, Hemostatic and non-treated gauze for wound packing, and pressure bandages among other things.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) sets a standard for first aid kits of being green, with a white cross, in order to make them easily recognizable to anyone requiring first aid.
The ISO only endorses the use of the green background and white cross, and this has been adopted as a standard across many countries and regions, including the entire EU. First aid kits are sometimes marked (by an individual or organization) with a red cross on white background, but use of this symbol by anyone but the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or associated agency is illegal under the terms of the First Geneva Convention, which designates the red cross as a protected symbol in all countries signatory to it. One of the few exceptions is in North America, where despite the passing of the First Geneva convention in 1864, and its ratification in the United States in 1881, Johnson & Johnson has used the red cross as a mark on its products since 1887 and registered the symbol as a U.S. trademark for medicinal and surgical plasters in 1905.
Some first aid kits may also feature the Star of Life, normally associated with emergency medical services, but which are also used to indicate that the service using it can offer an appropriate point of care. Though not supported by the ISO, a white cross on red background is also widely recognized as a first aid symbol. However, for very small medical institutions and domestic purposes, the white cross on a plain green background is preferred.
Older first aid kits have elements which are no longer used today. As the understanding of first aid and lifesaving measures has advanced, and the nature of public health risks has changed, the contents of first aid kits have changed to reflect prevailing understandings and conditions. For example, earlier US Federal specifications for first aid kits included incision/suction-type snakebite kits and mercurochrome antiseptic. The historic snakebite kit is no longer recommended. Mercurochrome was removed in 1998 by the US FDA from the generally recognized as safe category due to concerns over its mercury content. Another common item in early 20th century first aid kits, picric acid gauze for treating burns, is today considered a hazardous material due to its forming unstable and potentially explosive picrates when in contact with metal. Examples of modern additions include the CPR face shields and specific body-fluid barriers included in modern kits to assist in CPR and to help prevent the spread of bloodborne pathogens such as HIV.