I went to update my first aid kit and found that all the latex gloves had disintegrated. Which glove material (latex, vinyl, nitrile) is better for storage in higher temperatures?

Stick with Nitrile either way. To risk coming across someone with alergic reactions to vinyl or latex is not worth the saved cash on replacing them.

Go with nitrile.

Is it possible you could come across someone allergic to all three? Is there any other alternative materials? I hadn't heard of Vinyl gloves til I saw this thread.

I've never heard of an allergy to nitrile. I suppose it's plausible but hard to imagine.

I echo the suggestion to go with nitrile. Less chance of allergic reaction and I love the safety of their "rip with a pin prick" feature.

Most first-aid kits seem to come with one, sometime two, pairs of gloves. Given their delicacy two pairs might hold up for a few minutes. Hard use, the likelihood a few are damaged in storage, the need to change gloves between patents and when switching between contaminated and not contaminated surfaces, would seem to say even a small kit needs a lot more gloves. Two or three pairs isn't near enough. Six pairs is better but a quick look at accident scenes, even with just one or two people injured, often shows dozens of gloves discarded and there are clearly limits on how may pairs a small kit might hold.

I've entertained the thought that some sort of heavier glove, an industrial model, might serve. Early surgical gloves were fairly thick, durable, and were commonly reused. Surgeons didn't like them due to some loss of dexterity. If your bent is toward preparedness for long term and post-apocalyptic world a huge supply of disposable gloves, or a shorter supply of heavy-duty reusable gloves would seem to be your options. That assumes you absolutely require gloves.

I also have considered going without. The actual benefits of safety in the field provided by gloves have never been entirely clear to me. In a clean and well controlled environment working on a minor wound gloves likely help protect both parties. In the woods, rolling in the mud, large bloody wounds, and mass casualty sites that resemble an ill kept abattoir the advantage is much less clear.

All of the gloves will deteriorate with age, as well as exposure to heat and light, including nitrile gloves.

Sue

To your point Art, I was once the first responder at an accident where two bikers were smashed up by a dump truck. After the paramedics arrived and took over, I was cleaning up and noticed a fresh cut on my hand. I had no recollection of when or how it happened. I only knew that it happened on the scene. I wore 2 pairs of latex gloves, changing the outter pair, went through several pairs, and didn't notice the cut until I was done. That was the moment I realized I no longer had the stomache to be an EMT. (I felt a little better knowing my hepatitis and tetanus shots were up to date.)

Sue's right. There are no guarantees. I might have been better off with a thicker outter pair of gloves. Rubber dish/chemical gloves maybe?

Firemen have long used tough leather gloves and I have seen a few EMTs wearing tough over-gloves, looked like poly knit work gloves, over the thinner rubber ones.

Gloves and glasses are common but offer only limited protection. I've seen an EMT pretty much hosed with blood from a punctured artery. It has always amazed me how blood spreads out and covers everything. How slippery it is and then how sticky and tenacious it gets.