Dr. Lewis First (Provided photo)

With next week being National Childhood Injury Prevention Week, parents have been asking for my aid — I guess you would say “First” aid — regarding what they should keep in a first-aid kit.

Let me bandage up those concerns and provide some answers on this topic.

Each year, emergency departments see more than nine million minor injuries.

Many of these can be handled at home, assuming a first-aid kit exists at home as well as in the car to deal with the problem.

What goes into a first-aid kit?

– Any first-aid kit should have various sizes of bandages, adhesive tape, sterile gauze, a cold pack, alcohol-based wipes or hand-rubs, soap, and a pair of latex-free rubber gloves.

– A family will also want to have in the kit ibuprofen, acetaminophen, an antihistamine for allergies or insect bites, as well as hydrocortisone ointment for insect bites or itchy skin reactions and perhaps some calamine lotion for poison ivy.

– An autoimmune injector device to give adrenaline also known as epinephrine is essential for those who are predisposed to have a severe allergic reaction to particular foods or insects.

– A thermometer, scissors, tweezers, and a flashlight can be helpful.

– The kit should also contain immunization and health insurance information and information regarding prescription medications.

– Families should replace whatever they use in the kit and check it every few months for expired medications.

Besides what is in the kit, there should be a list of emergency numbers on hand inside or near the kit including police, fire department and health care providers for all family members.

Do not forget to make sure babysitters and other caregivers who help to supervise your children when you are not there know where the kit is and how to use it.

You can find first-aid kits at the Red Cross, in some stores, or you can talk to your health care professional and make the kit yourself.

For school age children you may want to make a child-safe version that has no medications or sharp objects but can be accessed by children while waiting for an adult to arrive and help.

Hopefully, tips like these will be just what the doctor ordered when it comes to putting a first-aid kit together for your family.

Lewis First, MD, is Chief of Pediatrics at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine. You can also catch “First with Kids” weekly on WOKO 98.9FM and NBC5.