Are you prepared for a midnight mishap or an after-school scare? Sandra Martin from Today’s Parent is here to help. Here are the essential items you should have in your at-home first-aid kit:

Emergency phone numbers:

Affix a list of emergency phone numbers to the lid of your first-aid kit. Include the contact info for your local poison control centre (you can find the phone number on the Children’s Safety Association of Canada’s site – http://safekid.org/pcc.htm), your doctor, and a reminder that 911 reaches the police, ambulance, and fire department. It’s also a good idea to include the home and work numbers of family, friends and neighbours who can help in an emergency situation.

Bandages, gauze, scissors, first-aid tape, and antibiotic ointment:

These five are your absolute must-haves for scratches and scrapes. You should also include a triangular bandage, which you can use to hold dressings in place or make a sling for support until you can get to the hospital.

Digital ear thermometer:

Ear thermometers are the easiest to use for instant fever detection and monitoring.

Age-appropriate ibuprofen and acetaminophen for everyone in your family:

Here’s a big tip – Sandra suggests that you should dose your child as per their weight, rather than as per their age. Weigh your child regularly so that you know the correct dosage when it’s necessary.

Instant cold packs or ice packs:

Be sure to keep these on hand to ease bumps or swelling, whether you have ice packs which you keep in the freezer, or instant cold packs which you keep in your first-aid kit until you need them (a chemical reaction makes them cold).

Tweezers:

Use tweezers to remove dirt from a wound, ease out splinters, and dislodge ticks.

Compression wraps in both adult and child sizes:

Slip on a compression wrap to treat muscle pulls and tears. In the early stages of injury, they will help the healing process and control the spread of swelling.

Sandra also notes that it’s important to keep medication safe and away from children. She suggests locking all medications in a cabinet, or putting them in a container on a high closet shelf where a child can’t reach. Don’t rely on child-resistant caps! Remember to also keep an eye on the expiry dates on your medications. Sandra recommends going through your medicine cabinet twice a year.