consider adding clindamycin or metronidazole for GI infections; clinda of course can double for cellulitis. Seems infections run rampant after this stuff.

Zofran/phenergan/compazine for Nausea/vomiting.

Personal scrips, including spare glasses. Personally, if you wear contacts, have a case with some saline already in the cups, and ditch the contacts if you are in a disaster zone. Too much potential for crud to infect your eyes.

Your memory is right - KI for fallout.

Otherwise, I think most of the other meds have been touched upon.

Maybe a bag or 2 of saline, in case dehydration gets the best of someone. Which of course, entails all the set-up equipment as well.

I have been wearing glasses for quite a few years now and I have come to appreciate them. I experience none of the hassles that affect contact wearers. Get safety grade hardened lenses and protect your eyes routinely.

I always carry a spare pair - otherwise I cannot drive legally (or competently).

MDinana ... thanks. Will add to my list.

other Pete

Good post on an important (and somewhat controversial) topic.

My take is if you are going to 3rd world, you bring as much as you can to cover as many scenarios as possible. Hence, the docs in my clinic have no problem writing z packs and other antibiotics to send with people going on multi-week adventures in a place where they may not have access to the meds.

Here in the states, if you want to include a course of antibiotics in your BOB or whatever, that is your choice, but the difficulty of rotation and cost become something to seriously consider vs. the benefit.

I know some persons who went to Haiti to help out, and it was really meatball stuff. Horrid, really, with bandages running out (remember, bandages need to be changed, etc.)

If you want to go to the trouble of maintaining a fresh antibiotic supply in your home kit, go for it. I don't, even though I can easily obtain them.

Interesting about the CDC note, didn't know that here in Canada. Trimethoprim-sulfa came back as one of the useful agents in a patient who had a yersinia infection recently, and can actually be really useful in chest infections/pneumonia and skin infections also.

On keeping a fresh supply, I would discuss with your doc a travel /preparedness kit and then talk to a pharmacist about expiry. I have discussed this with pharmacists and the main thing is heat and moisture that kills drugs, and thus refrigeration or a freezer might be an option, though you have to be able to access it of course in a rapid emergency.

Eric

For sure, oral rehydration salts and the know how to replace them is important. World Health Organization has some nice home made recipes also.

Eric

About epi-pens...

No one in my family appears presently to suffer from allergies that would require an epi-pen, but I've been working to build an all-around good first aid kit and several sources convinced me to get my doctor to write a scrip for an epi-pen. He did, and I have the box of two injectors sitting on my desk here.

What I didn't think about was leaving the epi-pens in the kit (which resides in my car) would kill them from heat. I leave the FAK (assembled in a Home Depot orange Homer box with tray and handle) wrapped in a blanket to moderate the heat, but it can quite quite warm in there at times. 87 degree or higher heat will kill an epi-pen, or so I'm told. On the other hand, its useless if you don't have it available when someone needs it.

Anyone with suggestions how to deal with this problem?

My kit has a box of 4x4s, tape, a County-Comm scissors, Zip-loc bag of gloves on top, my son's Type 1 diabetes test kit (except insulin), bandages, the full contents of the FAK that came with my SUV, alcohol pads, three ACE bandages, a SAM Splint, Kerlix rolls, Diabetic sugar tabs, Benedryl, Immodium, ibuprofen, a couple of light sticks, antiseptic wipes, calamine lotion, some hydroxycodone left over from a prescription, two face masks, triple ointment, ant-itch/burn cream, some moleskin, children's cold/cough tablets and a bottle of Tums. Based on the advice here I'm going to add some anti-nausea pills and some PVP wipes (non-Traid!). Still working on it.

Store them in a properly sized thermus or lunch box with a ice pack you replace daily?

In the circumstance you describe, I would think an epi-pen completely unnecessary, and, as you are finding out, rather complex. My understanding is that epi-pens are for those with allergic histories, rather than the non-allergic general population.

I have a good friend who is highly athletic - college level pole vaulter, marathon runner, highly skilled rock climber - with a known sensitivity to bee and insect stings. he carries an epi-pen at all times. On one occasion we were climbing near a bee hive and, rightly so, he kept a very low and cautious profile. it was fine with me - I got to do most of the fun stuff.

There are posters here with greater training and more recent experience with this subject than I possess.. I hope we will hear from them.

Digimark,

This problem has precluded me from keeping a back-up supply of insulin in my own vehicles. The only solution I have been able to come up with was to make it part of my EDC ... sort of. Not in my pockets EDC, but rather in a separate case containing all my necessary supplies and testing equipment that goes with me in a bag I carry with me EDC. The bag is never usually not far from me (it is sitting beside my office chair as I type) and it goes with me everywhere - well it is supposed to anyway. It is far from perfect (if I forget the bag, my needed supplies are left behind as well, which is why I DO have a backup kit that stays in my office as well). Good thing is the bag can also carry additional gear that I might otherwise not be able to EDC (like a heat sheets bivvy). I considered a belt pouch but my work environment precludes me carrying something like that. If you are serious about carrying the epi-pens, find a way to make them part of your own EDC. One good thing about doing that will be you can probably work it out to carry some extra insulin with you as well. Good luck.