Any summer done right brings with it an array of health hazards. To keep you and your family safe and confident as you face them, we offer some warm-weather tips for creating your preparedness kit.
Here’s to long days, deep lakes, sibling rivalries, skinned knees, bruised elbows, itchy calves, and all the other maladies that come with this green, ripe season.
Be Prepared. No, Seriously. We Mean It!
What makes me an authority? I am a world-class klutz who likes to cook. Burns and knife wounds are regular occurrences for me—twice they’ve sent me to the hospital for stitches—but most of the time the well-stocked first aid kit I keep in scarred arms’ reach takes care of things.
You need to have a first aid kit. I don’t care if your moves around the stove are as smooth as the silk from a freshly picked ear of corn. The day may come when you, or one of your kitchen helpers, are caught off guard by a sharp edge and a ripe tomato (or more likely, an evil avocado). In such moments, the last thing you want to do is ransack the house searching for Band-Aids. Have lots on hand in many sizes and know where they’re kept! Accidents happen, and there’s no telling when; all we can control is our ability to respond when they do. A bit of preparation will go a long way toward lessening your anxiety so you can think clearly and act sensibly when the time comes. Please get yourself a first aid kit, keep it in one place (and return it to the same spot), and make sure everyone in your home knows where it is. The finger you save may be your own!
First aid kits that come pre-assembled are fantastic, but if you’re loyal to certain brands and prefer to create your own, use this checklist as a guide and while you’re at it, get a nice case. Check your first aid supplies as you would the batteries in your smoke detector, twice a year when the clocks change. If you don’t have a smoke detector do not pass go and do not collect $200. You belong in jail!
A Klutz’s Best Friend
You know how the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding thinks Windex® can solve any problem life hands you? That’s the way I feel about NEOSPORIN®. Regardless of my sentiment, having any antibiotic cream on hand is a good idea to keep wounds and cuts clean. There’s a tube in my kitchen junk drawer, at my bedside, in my purse, and on my desk at work. It promotes healing, dulls pain, and minimizes scars from all the burns, scrapes, blisters, and paper cuts I’m prone to. It’s my security blanket. It soothes me. You might want to carry Windex® wherever you go too, if that’s your thing. It’s certainly useful to have some in your car, as first aid for the windshield. Keep it next to your own mini first aid kit.
Knowledge Is Power
Injuries are scary, especially when it’s your child or any loved one who’s suffering. Show how much you care by making them feel safe. That feeling of security and calm they get from you is as healing as anything you can find in the pharmacy aisle. That goes for anyone, really, since pain makes babies of us all. If you’re not wounded, you’re in the parent seat, so act like it. It won’t be easy, but if you familiarize yourself with the basic home treatments for cuts and burns now, you won’t have to pretend so much later.
A Bug’s Lunch
Most bugbites are merely annoying and itchy. I don’t need to tell you that scratching will only makes things worse, do I? I’d rather tell you a story of a bugbite gone bad. Last summer, at a friend’s pool party, I became lunch for some sort of insect. I didn’t notice it happening until my face blew up. There was a doctor there, but he wasn’t concerned. I took some Benadryl®, and after an hour or so, my face returned to its normal, if unglamorous, shape. Ask your doctor for recommendations to include in your allergic reaction arsenal.
Injuries are scary, especially when it’s your child or any loved one who’s suffering. Show how much you care by making them feel safe. That feeling of security and calm they get from you is as healing as anything you can find in the pharmacy aisle.
If your summer landscape includes deer, tick-weary pros will advise that you keep tweezers in your first aid kit. You’ll need to watch for ticks, and check yourself and your family regularly for them. If one has made a home on one of you, evict it using whichever method you prefer. If you can’t remove it completely, or at all, see a doctor immediately. Tick bites can be dangerous. Please read up on them here.
Killer Rays
Everyone got the memo about skin cancer (not to mention wrinkles) and UV rays, right? I trust that you scrupulously apply a thick layer of sunscreen to every inch of your body and wear a wide-brimmed hat anytime you’re out in the sun. What’s that? You’re the spontaneous type who likes to chill on the beach without getting into a lot of sticky fuss beforehand? If you spend too long in the sun, there is a variety of aloe vera or calendula and anti-inflammatories to help your skin recover.
“First, do no harm,” the central principle of medicine, is the best advice for any situation under the literal sun. Please use common sense and get your information from reputable sources (not Reddit!). Finally, if you have any questions about the seriousness of an injury, step away from the computer and toward the nearest emergency room or walk-in clinic. No one knows more than a doctor or a trained professional... not even me!