Do you want to be ready for everyday life emergencies by having a well-stocked herbal first aid kit?
I've been doing herbal first aid workshops for many years (it's actually the first herbal workshop that I ever did in public), and I've loved getting to fine tune and customize what people need their herbal first aid kits for.
Herbal first aid kits are different depending on your situation. Whatever YOUR specific kit it is for, you want to keep it simple and figure out what you're most likely going to experience in those situations.
From there, it's a lot easier to pack the specific remedies that you might need instead of packing everything in your to-go bags.
I've broken the types of first aid kits I work with into 3 or 4 categories:
1. Backpacking Trips
When I'm out hiking or backpacking, I want to keep things lightweight. I don't want to carry a bunch of stuff with me because that will slow me down as well as make my trip feel miserable. And with those kits, I like to be trauma care focused. That means more bandages, more things for stopping bleeding, poultices for trauma and herbs for diarrhea.
I like to have my tinctures and supplies be as light and packable as possible, I love small packaging for this kind of kit. I do a lot more capsules and powders. If you have the option of plastic bottle tinctures, you can. I typically carry glass, but I'm not really doing any rock climbing or anything where I'm worried about breaking things. A lot of times I carry some powdered/already packaged herbs for poultices. Just sprinkle a little water and put the paste on your injury.
So again, my backpacking trips are super lightweight, really simple and I keep it as small and minimal as possible with a trauma-care focus.
2. Traveling and Road Trips
These type of kits can be a little more extensive. I focus more on digestive issues, UTIs, and then some first aid. A lot of times, these kits are more cold care focused and oriented around comfort for the road. Capsules are still great, tinctures, as well as simple tea infusions that only require hot water.
And then for traveling, I also like to keep in mind that liquids can spill and oils can go bad in a hot car. So whatever might explode, I keep double-packaged in plastic or in a shaded cooler kind of bag so that nothing spoils or spills when I'm traveling. There's nothing worse than opening up your suitcase and finding your favorite blouse filled with tincture on top of it. So I try and keep things nice and sealed up and away from my clothes.
3. Family or Work Trips
I used to do a lot of life-guarding and child care when I was younger and had specific kits for when I was out with the fam. In these cases, I like to prioritize herbs that are really child friendly, things that I'm not worried about someone accidentally swallowing. So I don't put capsules in those kits (or I use child-proof containers) because I don't want kids thinking it's candy.
For these, I like to keep things a little bit simpler. I'll have salves for booboos, oils for bug bites and stings. And if I have something for stopping bleeding, it's typically a packaged powder or a tincture that I have with a child safety lock on it.
And for those, I always want to make sure that they're purse friendly. That means keeping things light and packable but also making sure it won't spill. A waterproof bag will do that trick, and I try to keep my salves and oils in a good seal container.
When I started working with kids, that's when I switched to screw top lids, which are really great to make sure that they're actually sealed and ready to go. And then for those salves, I even might add a little extra beeswax so that they are more travel safe and stiffer. They're kinda hard to use, but I can keep a little wooden spatula in my purse. And that way, it's easy to scrape it out and use just a little bit at a time instead of having kids dip their fingers in the salve and get goop everywhere. So I try to keep it as mess free as possible.
Want More Herbal First Aid Info?
Whatever it is that you're planning on doing in your traveling and fun adventures this summer, just remember:
Keep it simple
Know who you're treating
Plan how you're working with things
Consider what you want to have on hand
Include travel safe containers for storage
If you are really excited about making herbal first aid kits like I am, Artemisia Academy is offering an Herbal First Aid Workshop coming up. I love nerding out with people and figuring out the perfect first aid kit for you.
You'll learn what remedies you want to have on hand, what herbs to use, and what form you want to have them in. And then at the end of the class, you'll learn all the different how to's to make your own Herbal First Aid kit just for you. So if you are excited about this workshop, sign on up!