This topic comes at a good time. It's reminding me that I have to sort through my medical kit and replace items that have expired before we go out on our next trip.
The list is pretty good, but I'd suggest two things. Byron mentioned triangular bandages, which have many uses, including making a sling for a mangled arm or broken collar bone (clavicle); two of them is better, one to make a sling, the other to wrap around the body and hold the arm snug so it doesn't flop around. They can also be used to splint an ankle, secure gauze to the chest, or immobilize one leg to another.
The other is a combination of several "4x4" gauze pads (a small box of, say, 10) and several (I carry six) 2" sterile gauze rolls. 4x4 is big enough to cover most wounds and scraped knees, make an eye patch, etc. Gauze rolls come in handy when you can't or shouldn't use tape or compression bandages for things like burns, eye injuries, and any time something is impaled in the skin (use the gauze rolls to wrap around the object and support it.
I carry five other things of note with me or in my kit. One is a few combine dressings (I carry 3), which act like sponges and can be used to help apply pressure to a large wound; a good alternate choice are fragrance-free maxi-pads, which are "sanitary," not sterile, but can be used in a pinch to do the same thing. I also carry a pencil and small note pad so I can write down information about a victim (name, contact information, current medications, pertinent medical history) in case they aren't able to convey this information later and I carry a few safety pins, which have many uses, including pinning my notes to a patient's/victim's shirt. A couple large "chux pads," large absorbent pads with a leak-proof plastic backing; they can be used as a clean surface you can spread out anywhere but could come in really handy if you wind up taking someone to the hospital in your car. Last, I carry a breathing barrier for CPR.
All my first responder kit stuff fits in a 6x12x7 inch ammo box.
--Peter
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