The Different Types Of Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKs) For Prepping

Are you putting together those stores and supplies you’ll need by way of prepping essentials? In that case, Individual First Aid Kits – which we’ll call IFAKs for short – will come pretty high on your list of priorities.

When you’re able to cope with those scrapes, grazes or even worse that you and members of your party inevitably get during any crisis or emergency, prompt, timely, and appropriate first aid can head off all manner of more serious consequences.

So, let’s give some closer thought to just what your IFAK is likely to look like.

The different types of IFAKs you may need

Like most of the prepping kit you’ll be assembling, IFAKs come in various shapes and sizes – each one suiting a slightly different purpose according to your needs. As always, it’s worth spending a moment or two deciding the most likely circumstances in which your IFAK will be needed – when the time comes to put the kit to use, it’ll be too late to change your mind:

Carry-around

• just as our description of this type of kit suggests, think of it as your basic “everyday carry” IFAK;

• this is the kit you’ll get used to carrying around with you pretty much anywhere and everywhere you go – it’s your all-purpose, break open at a moment’s notice, emergency medical kit;

• to that extent, your carry-around IFAK is going to become an especially faithful and ever-present friend, accompanying you throughout the day, and an essential part of your prepping gear;

Car

• depending on your job – or, indeed, your lifestyle – you might spend a lot of your time behind the wheel of your car;

• even if that’s not the case, there will be lots of time when you and your family are out and about in the car when some manmade or natural emergency occurs – those events are not going to wait until you’re safely tucked up at home;

• so, you’ll need to be able to lay your hands on an IFAK if you happen to be in your car at the time – and, fortunately, the extra space and loading capacity of your car means that the IFAK you keep in it can be bigger and more comprehensive than your carry-around;

Home

• an IFAK is an essential part of the stores and supplies you lay down at home when prepping for any kind of emergency or disaster;

• you could be in for the long run, so the IFAK you keep at home needs to anticipate all those inevitable accidents, scrapes, and injuries that someone or other in your family is almost certain to suffer;

• it’s at home, of course, that you’re likely to have the space – or make space – for the best and most extensive IFAK you can afford;

Bug out bag

• rather like your carry-around the IFAK for your bug out bag is an all-purpose, ever-ready go-to for emergency first aid whenever and wherever you are;

• unlike your carry-around, though, your bug out bag is standing by ready to be grabbed when you need to make a getaway – to escape immediate danger or to retreat to a safer refuge for the duration of any emergency;

• just as the name suggests, your bug out bag has to be portable, readily shouldered, and yet contain the basic medical first aid kit you’re likely to need for however long you are away;

Pets

• they’re members of your family and in the face of any emergency or danger, you’ll want to do all you can to provide a safe haven for the family pets;

• that also means a supplementary IFAK that is appropriate for their likely needs in the event of an accident or injury as well as the basics such as worming and flea preventative treatments.

As Prepper Weekly has constantly advised, there’s little point in spending a small fortune on the most extensive or sophisticated kit if you’ve no idea how to use it. And that is a lesson you’ll also need to learn when it comes to first aid – spend as much as you like and assemble the most extensive kit you can, and it will all be to no avail if you don’t know how to use it or what first aid to give in an emergency.

Take a look at the Survival Medic website, therefore, and pick up some ideas about learning those vital first aid skills – you’ll find plenty there to suit every level of ability.

First Aid Kit checklist

If we’ve convinced you of the need for a suitable IFAK – or a selection of IFAKs to suit every purpose – you’ll also want to know what to include in the typical kit.

Here is a suggested checklist – but remember that you can tailor it to meet the specific and likely needs of you and your unit, depending on their individual ages, health, and circumstances. Our suggestions are by no means exhaustive:

• pressure dressings and gauzes – to staunch the flow of blood;

• bandages – as top coverings for dressings and to provide support;

• sticking plasters – for minor cuts and wounds;

• a roll of adhesive surgical tape (micropore);

• vaseline (white petroleum jelly);

• hand sanitisers and masks;

• 1 x Trauma Dressing (10cm x 18cm)

• 1 x CAT – Combat Application Tourniquet

• alcohol wipes;

• a supply of medicines that you and your family use (e.g. blood pressure tablets)

• tweezers;

• scissors;

• emergency blanket/hypothermia wrap;

• aspirin or ibuprofen;

• eye washes;

• surgical gloves (2/3 pairs); and

• safety pins.

Summary

First aid is just that – a little attention, immediately given, that can save major medical problems and worsening injuries further down the line. There is no definitive list of contents for the IFAK you assemble. It is likely to be different to meet varying needs and circumstances – and you might even decide that it’s going to be safest to keep several separate IFAKs in different places.

In addition to what you’re likely to need in any given IFAK, give some thought to where it’s going to be kept and if and how you’re going to carry it with you if you are on the move – a carry-around will be different to the kit you put in your bug out bag, which will be different yet again to the IFAK you keep in the boot of the car.

An IFAK is an essential part of any prepper’s kit – it could even save your life.