While food and water are unquestionably the most important items that need to be secured as a prepper, it would be a mistake to not to take your first aid kit seriously. You shouldn’t just have a first aid kit, you should have a very large first aid kit that is well stocked with an abundance of remedies for anything that could potentially happen.
Many people when getting a first aid kit ready will stock it with tourniquets, gauze, burn cream, hydrogen peroxide and bandages, but forget about other important things they will be needing in a SHTF scenario.
It’s definitely advisable to have over the counter medicine like pain relievers, cold and allergy medicines, things to treat blisters, antibiotic ointments, NSAIDs for inflammation and physical pain,
Many people who are into prepping are also into natural remedies and holistic means of healing. I get that. Those things are desirable to me as well. Some people might opt not to use these products in their day to day life. What people need to understand though is that you can go back to living your all natural lifestyle after you survive what you are preparing for. Your special herbs and tonics from nature likely won’t be available to you. If you have a splitting headache from the stress you’re enduring, just take the Aspirin or other name brand pain reliever and in a few weeks after you’ve survived catastrophe you can go back to keeping your liver and kidneys in a perfect state of homeostasis. I would recommend having both aspirin, and also an OTC medicine for headaches that is stronger, ideally one of the name brand headache medicines that says “for migraine relief” on the label.
Being unable to sleep from all of the stress and adrenaline is something many people are likely to experience. For that reason having a bottle of the most popular household name pain reliever with PM on the label is advisable. Getting an adequate amount of sleep will be essential to staying sharp and navigating the storm, and being sleep deprived can really put you at a disadvantage.
The point I’m trying to make is, it’s important to have these things on hand in your first aid kit, even if you aren’t into using these products in your day to day life. In such turbulent times when things are moving at a very fast pace, you’re likely to put a lot of stress on your body, which can manifest in poor digestion, headaches, sinus issues, and
Many people under such extreme stress and duress can develop stomach issues also. Having a good anti-diarrhea over the counter medicine in your stockpile would be a good idea. Or perhaps antacids. When there’s a possibility that the toilets won’t be working without filling the tank with every flush, you don’t want to have to go every 10 minutes or deal with the uneasiness of your stomach hurting.
Is it likely that you’ll get a toothache in the 3-4 weeks that you’re hunkering down to survive? Not likely, but if it did happen, how miserable would that be. I’d advise anyone putting together a first aid supply kit to also have either some clove oil, or a pharmacy bought over the counter toothache product, which will almost certainly have clove oil as its main ingredient.