The Ultimate First Aid Kit Checklist For Your Next Island Vacation

The ideal island trip will unfold smoothly without any bumps, scrapes, or injuries. Yet, approximately 4.4 million travelers get hurt per year on their international vacation according to one study by Post Office Travel Insurance. In the event that you accidentally become one of these millions, you'll want to have a well-packed first aid kit. 

Even something as simple as a little cut can become more serious on an island where getting immediate medical attention might be difficult. For instance, while it's one of the most popular beach destinations on the planet, the most remote islands in Greece are lacking in enough medical facilities to fully cater to all the tourists who visit. Even if you don't end up injuring yourself on your trip, you could be a saving grace if anyone else around you gets wounded. 

That's why it's best to be ready with a first aid kit for minor ailments, so you can care for it yourself instead of ruining an entire day waiting to see a doctor. For an island vacation, you must strategically pack the right items for the unique scenarios you could encounter there. Thankfully, you're in the right place because this checklist will cover everything you need in your first aid kit to be prepared for your next island getaway. 

Band-Aid, the most famous brand of bandage in the United States by far, was inspired by a woman named Josephine Knight Dickson in the 1920s who would often get little cuts or burns while cooking and had no dressing small enough for such an injury. Afraid of risking infection, she used fabric to create the very first rendition of the Band-Aid. Thanks to her, travelers today have all types of portable bandage options to care for a gash when they're on the move. 

It only takes a tiny misstep to wind up with a nick or slice on your island vacation. Just like back in the day with Josephine, there is a high risk of infection if you just leave it out in the elements unprotected and it is even more dangerous to swim in the ocean with an open cut. Plus, wearing a bandage will help to slow any bleeding. 

Your first-aid kit should include bandages in various sizes and butterfly stitches. These can be used on the fly to patch up deeper cuts instead of resorting to traditional stitches. It's also a good idea to carry some liquid bandage to suture slightly more serious abrasions. It lasts up to 10 days depending on how long it takes the wound to heal. 

After suffering a cut while you're on a trip, you need to do everything possible to lower the risk of an infection. An infected wound can become swollen and painful or even cause a fever in severe cases. This could ruin your fun island adventure very quickly. 

That's why every first-aid kit needs to be packed with an antibiotic ointment and sterile wipes to clean a wound sufficiently. Before applying anything else, use an antiseptic wipe to flush out the area and prepare it for further care. Then, glaze the injury with an antibiotic ointment that will limit bacteria from growing inside the wound. As one Reddit user broke down in r/explainlikeimfive "Antibiotic ointments are just a paste with antibiotics that are designed to kill (or inhibit growth) of bacteria at the site of an injury (to prevent bacteria from getting into the body through a wound). This is important because normally your skin protects you from environmental bacteria; a break in your skin provides an opening in that natural barrier."

Gauze pads are a staple for travel first aid kits because it is easily portable and extremely useful if you have a medical emergency on a trip. Shielding an injury with a piece of gauze can greatly promote the healing process. According to Band-Aid themselves, gauze helps you heal by locking in moisture, which can make new cells develop at up to double the speed. Plus, it can help to stop bleeding in more severe slashes. 

Your piece of gauze should be approximately half an inch bigger than the cut itself. After the area is thoroughly cleaned, the thick pad of gauze can be placed atop the injury and bound with tape or a bandage loose enough that it's not restricting blood flow. Wearing gauze on an abrasion can also work magic to prevent you from getting a bad scar by lowering the chance of a scab forming over the cut. Even more importantly, it will limit the chances that the vulnerable wound comes in contact with bacteria that can cause a throbbing infection.

There are lots of national parks that are completely free to visit, but the medical bills won't be if you don't have the proper tool to pluck a tick off you. Leaving a tick latched onto your skin for too long can cause Lyme disease — a very unpleasant flu-like ailment that requires a lot of visits to the doctor. All you have to do to limit the chances of developing this disease is get the tick out of your skin, but this can be quite difficult with just fingers to grip the tiny pest. 

That's where having a tweezer comes in handy. You'll also be glad you have it if you get anything else stuck in your skin, such as a bee stinger, glass, or a splinter piece. Another key instrument that should be packed into every good first-aid kit is a small pair of scissors. There are so many situations when you could desperately need scissors to properly care for a medical emergency, like slicing up gauze into the proper size for a wound or even speedily cutting clothes off.

You never know when pain or sickness is going to strike on a vacation. It could be a lovely day at the beach until you suddenly feel a nagging headache come on. Perhaps you try everything to avoid getting sick on your flight, but you're still hit with a wave of unbearable nausea. 

Normally, these situations could easily be solved by taking a pill. However, it can be tough to find the right medication in a pinch when you're off galavanting around an island. Save yourself the trouble by keeping plenty of over-the-counter meds in your first aid kit.

Substances like Ibuprofen, Claritin, Imodium, and Dramamine can solve a variety of issues on a tropical island trip. Ibuprofen eases pain throughout the body by diminishing the hormones that cause swelling.  As one Reddit user in r/migraine explained, "Ibuprofen works miracles for me as long as I catch my migraine early enough."

Antihistamines, such as Claritin, prevent your body's histamines from working and this can be a lifesaver if you come into contact with an allergen or get stung by an insect. If your island getaway is anywhere in Asia, Mexico, Africa, or South America, there is a fairly high chance you could succumb to tummy troubles along the journey and you will want Imodium to treat the symptoms. Finally, Dramamine will relieve motion sickness on any boat trip by aiding your body's ability to balance itself. 

Soaking up the sunshine is a part of most island vacation itineraries.  Unfortunately, this urge will cause approximately 13.1% of people who visit the beach in the United States to get a sunburn. Nobody wants to suffer through the rest of their vacation with an aching sunburn, so it's best to carry soothing aloe gel in your first aid kit. This stuff has been shown to relieve the pain of sunburns thanks to its fantastic anti-inflammatory properties and it can even make the condition heal faster. 

It's a solid idea to be prepared with remedies for bites from mosquitos or other critters as well. Especially if your island vacation is a destination that is rich with this type of biodiversity. Lathering the affected area with something like calamine lotion can alleviate any irritating itching from bug bites and stop you from scratching the skin and making it worse. 

One of the top reasons why travelers can feel sick after a big trip is because they haven't been taking care of themselves properly by staying hydrated. Failing to drink enough water can affect your blood pressure, make you confused, or even hurt your kidneys in the long term. It's a safe bet that on an island, it will be all the more important to drink plenty of water. 

When you're doing any type of physical activity in warmer weather it's recommended to drink eight ounces of water every 20 minutes. Staying well-hydrated can prevent you from getting ill in a different climate than you're used to. Just in case you or your travel mates aren't drinking enough H2O throughout the day, your island first aid kit should have electrolyte powder in it. 

Ingesting electrolyte powder in a moment of need can boost your body's ability to rehydrate itself and keep you feeling good on your vacation. As one user on Reddit broke down in r/explainlikeimfive "Electrolytes help with hydration because they match the salinity of your body so your kidneys don't need to expel water to keep the proper salt to water ratio, thus you will pee less and be better hydrated." If you're going to a very remote island destination, you should also pack water purification tablets just in case you end up in a situation where you run out of fresh water. 

While you're running around having fun on your island vacation, there's always a possibility that you could sprain an ankle or bang yourself on something. There is an even higher chance of facing a bump or bruise when you're traveling with little ones who tend to fall or run into things. One simple way to have a stress-free travel experience with your kids is to be prepared for these incidents with an instant ice pack in your first aid kit. 

Pressing a cold pack to the area right after an accident slows tissue bleeding, discourages swelling, and can greatly lessen the pain involved in this type of injury. Instead of ruining an entire afternoon with your child screaming in pain, they can have the damage treated on the spot and recover faster. A compression bandage is also a smart item to have for more serious sprains to keep the appendage in place and diminish any inflammation. 

You may think to stuff your first aid kit full of tools and medicine to fix any situation. Yet, you could still overlook some of the most fundamental pieces, like disposable gloves. While these might seem inconsequential, they can be crucial in the midst of an emergency for both the victim and the people helping them. Wearing gloves blocks any potential contaminants from getting into an open wound while it's being treated.

Another item that might seem unnecessary at first is hand sanitizer, but it is a powerful way to protect yourself from getting sick while traveling. Most hand sanitizers are made with alcohol and can decrease the number of germs on your hands after visiting places like a high-traffic restroom at the beach or riding on local public transportation. It's better to have it with you in a germy situation rather than forgoing hand sanitizer in your first aid kit and winding up sick as a dog. 

It's common to walk way more on a vacation than you would at home. As one user in r/solotravel shared "My favorite part of travelling is walking around a new city and getting lost in small streets so I walk a lot. I average 25km a day, usually walking 30+km on my first full day in a city and 15-20km on half travel days." While getting to know a walkable city is an exhilarating experience, it can also come with the side effect of getting excruciating blisters on your feet after all those miles. 

Attempting to continue your adventure on foot with this affliction can be agonizing, but it can be soothed tremendously and heal quicker when you pop a blister patch over it. This convenient covering creates a necessary barrier between the injury and the friction of walking. Plus, these types of bandages are specially made with an ingredient called hydrocolloid that sucks up all the liquid from the wound and enhances healing by keeping the area damp (as gross as that sounds). On the occasion you do develop a blister during an island trip, you'll be thanking your past self profusely for packing these patches in your first aid kit. 

One of the best parts about treating yourself to an island vacation is having access to some of the best beaches in the entire world. While it's a blast to take a dip in the sea and float around weightlessly in the waves, you could find yourself in pain when you return to the shore if you get water stuck in your ear. According to the Mayo Clinic, this condition is aptly called swimmer's ear and it happens when bacteria festers from the outer ear canal being too wet. It presents with some very bothersome symptoms, such as difficulty hearing, swelling, redness, and pain in the ear. 

This situation can be averted entirely by supplying your first aid kit with isopropyl alcohol-drying ear drops. At the first sign of discomfort, these drops should be used to dry out any liquid that's left behind in your ear canal after swimming. Stopping these symptoms in their tracks can genuinely save a whole trip. 

Saline solution is another crucial elixir that can be used for many purposes and belongs in every traveler's first aid kit. It's a combination of salt and water that is an extremely effective tool for washing out wounds. If you get anything in your eyes while you're swimming through the ocean, saline is also a safe method of purging out any foreign materials from your peepers. In the unfortunate instance that one of your children gets sick on a trip, you can use saline solution to clear out congestion in the nose as well. 

There are an estimated 600,000 islands around the globe and many of them are extremely remote. While it can be a one-of-a-kind trip to visit one of these far-off isles, there is a bigger risk of getting stuck in a survival situation when you opt for this sort of destination. Don't let that reality deter you from an island vacation, though — just go there equipped with everything you might need in an emergency. 

A key travel-friendly survival tool to have in your arsenal is an emergency whistle. Whether you're trapped somewhere, lost, or injured and can't move yourself to get help, this little instrument can really save the day. These types of whistles are created with a three-chamber construction that can produce sounds of up to 120 decibels, letting anyone in the vicinity know your location immediately. As a Reddit user in r/survival advised, "You can shout for about 20-30 minutes before your voice gives out. You can toot on a whistle all day. Loudly. Emergency gear needs to serve either multiple purposes or serve one purpose really well. You can't beat a good whistle for noise making."

Another compact implement that can make the difference between life and death in a survival scenario is a Swiss army knife. This compact multi-tool comes with things like two sizes of blades, a corkscrew, a screwdriver, a bottle opener, scissors, a wire stripper, tweezers, and even sometimes a toothpick inside. These things can be invaluable if you find yourself stranded somewhere on your island vacation unexpectedly.