After injury (or maybe before) many survival situations are caused by people simply getting lost — “Doh! Where am I”. Wandering off and then suddenly realizing they don’t have a clue how to get back. So should a minimal kit also include a GPS or Map & Compass? Probably, but would basic navigation meet your minimal criteria test. Once you start including all the just-in-case contingency items, you don’t have anything close to a “Smallest possible survival kit”.

Do a Google,DuckDuckGo or Dogpile search for “10 Essentials” and see what’s left when you remove everything that’s unnecessary. If you’re honest, you’ll probably find at least 10 items.