10 Best First Aid Kits 2024 in the United States

A first aid kit is something that everyone should have on hand, whether in their home, at the office, or when traveling. Unlike a survival kit, which has supplies for a disaster scenario, a first aid kit has the basic items that are needed most frequently. A first-aid kit is a means of providing immediate treatment of minor injuries. The simplest kits will have enough to treat minor injuries: adhesive bandages, gauze, low-grade antiseptic (alcohol or iodine) and burn ointment. More advanced kits will also contain a pocket mask or face shield for administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, snakebite treatment, a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, and remedies for motion sickness or seasickness.

We've put together this guide to help you select the best first aid kit that answers to your needs. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of first aid kit,

• See useful tips about that type of first aid kit,    

• Read reviews of different brands of first aid kit, and what customers are saying,

• Select the right brand of first aid kit, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

• Basic First Aid Kit: This will contain the items that are needed most often, for minor cuts, burns and abrasions. It will contain antibiotic cream, burn ointment, alcohol wipes, gauze pads, bandages, surgical tape, tweezers (to remove splinters), scissors (to cut bandages to size), disposable gloves, and more. More deluxe first aid kits will have more of each item, as well as ice packs, adhesive bandages, and more.

• Sports Or Health Club First Aid Kits: These will have supplies to treat orthopedic injuries that occur in sports activities. They will have splints to set broken bones, cold packs and compression wraps, and electrolyte tablets for treating dehydration.

• Outdoor Kits: Besides the basic first aid equipment, this will also have means to treat the types of injuries that occur during hiking or camping. It might contain a tourniquet, a snakebite kit, or means of treating insect stings.

• Medical Kits: These kits will have more specialized items, such as a CPR face shield, a defibrillator, a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.

Based on all the consumers' reviews we've scanned, these are the top things they mentioned about their new stuff:

• Refill the contents as you use them up: You could always put together your own first aid kit, even though it would undoubtedly cost more to buy each item separately. But be sure to replace each item as you consume it.

• Kits have things you would normally overlook: People prefer first aid kits, because the designers have included items that people normally wouldn’t think of. Everyone would take along band-aids and antiseptic, but you might forget taking scissors, safety pins and tweezers.

• Good to have basic kit wherever you go: The inexpensive basic kits are small enough that you might as well buy several. You can keep one in your office, one in the house, and one in your car’s glove compartment.

• Easy access to contents of first aid kit: The First Response 130- Piece First Aid Kit is made in three sections that fold together. When you open it, you have easy access to all the contents, with each item in its own pocket. This way, you don’t have to fish around for a tourniquet or bandage, and lose precious time.

• Meets health standards: The First Response First Aid Kit meets FDA standards, as well as the OSHA (= Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and ANSI ( = American National Standards Institute) standards. This ensures the safety of the products, and that the kit is kept in a way that maintains its shelf life.

• Number of items in the kit: Clearly, a kit with a larger number of supplies will have you ready for more emergency scenarios. First Response has a 130-piece first aid kit, whereas TempIR has a 108-piece kit.

tsProtect Life--are makers of a first aid kit containing 115 different hospital-grade medical supplies, specially optimized for a large variety of injuries. It comes in a durable and compact bag that weighs only 1.1 pounds. It is possible to transport it in your car, keep it at home or at work, when traveling or when camping, during sports activities and more.

TempIR--are makers of medical supplies and home medical equipment. They are located in Gibraltar, and were founded in 2013. Besides first aid kits, they make non-contact thermometers, oximeters, baby monitors, electric toothbrushes, dual purpose ear thermometers, blood pressure monitors.  

First Response--are specialists in medical training and supplies. Besides making first aid kits, they also give courses in first aid, fire safety, and health and food hygiene. They were founded in 1999 by Bill Curtis, and are located in Walsall, England.

Oumers--are retailers of outdoors and camping accessories. Their products include GoPro accessories and camera supplies, biking supplies, survival and first aid kits.

American Red Cross--was founded by Clara Barton in 1881. Their headquarters is in Washington, D.C. They provide blood services--controlling donations of blood and distribution, disaster services, and health and safety services worldwide. Their first aid kit is part of their health and safety service training.