How to build a kit that fits your household, what belongs in a trauma kit versus a boo-boo kit, and how to keep supplies current instead of expired.
Everything here rests on one principle: gear without training is decoration. We’ll help you assemble sensible supplies and then point you toward the classes that make them useful.
A free pediatric first aid course: CPR and AED for children and infants, assessing a sick or hurt child, and handling illnesses and environmental emergencies.
A free course on pediatric emergencies: CPR for children, choking rescue, asthma attacks, animal bites, electric injuries, and trauma care for kids.
Health is more than what is on the plate, and this free Alison course takes the whole-person view. Holistic Nutrition and Health runs about 4 to 5 hours and covers nutrient density, better sleep, ...
If you want to truly understand how food works in the body, this free Alison diploma goes deep. Diploma in Human Nutrition runs about 10 to 15 hours and covers nutrients, the digestive system, ...
Digestive comfort has a big effect on how well a person feels and functions, and this free Alison diploma digs into it. Diploma in Gut Health Nutrition runs about 6 to 10 hours with video and covers ...
When a heart stops or someone starts choking, the minutes before help arrives decide the outcome, and this free Alison course teaches you what to do with them. CPR, AED and First Aid runs about 1.5 ...
Most emergencies are first handled not by professionals but by whoever happens to be there, and this free Alison course trains exactly that person. High Performance CPR, Emergencies and First Aid for ...
A free paediatric first aid course with expert tips and illustrations: emergency planning, infection control, choking, bleeding, burns, and shock.
A free paediatric first aid course on equipment and procedures: what belongs in a child first aid kit, newborn and child CPR, choking, and common injuries.
A free CPR and AED course: the Chain of Survival, cardiac arrest versus heart attack, safe CPR technique, and how to use an AED across different situations.
Kit-building walkthroughs by household type, comparisons of pre-built versus DIY, storage and rotation systems, and plain explanations of what common supplies do. We are not clinicians, and these articles are not medical advice — where a topic touches treatment decisions, we point to Red Cross, Stop the Bleed, and published clinical guidance rather than improvising.
• Expiration dates. Most sterile supplies and OTC medications carry 2–5 years. An annual check keeps a kit real.
• Consumable count. Ten gauze pads beat a hundred adhesive bandages in any kit that gets used.
• One kit per location. Home, each vehicle, and each bag. Supplies you can’t reach in ninety seconds aren’t supplies.
• Training hours. A few hours in a basic first aid or bleeding-control class outperforms any dollar amount of equipment.
Start with the injuries your household actually has — kitchen burns, scraped knees, headaches, seasonal allergies — and stock those generously. Add bleeding control next. Then take a class, and re-take it every couple of years, because these are perishable skills.
Keep a written list of your household’s prescriptions and doses somewhere accessible, and talk to your pharmacist about reasonable refill timing. Current prices on kits and supplies are on our first aid deals page.
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These guides are general information. Follow manufacturer instructions and local codes for any product you buy. Some links earn Prepping Bargains a commission at no extra cost to you — it never affects what we recommend.
