As the concept of van life has taken off with travelers and adventurers across the country, so has the popularity of Sprinter van conversions for long term travel and living. Throaty grumbles of a sport V8 sing a sweet song whether you are a lone adventurer, a married couple or a growing family. But the excitement of travel can sometimes make us forget how important it is to be safe and prepared when we’re on the road.
When you’re living the beautiful national parks and windings coastal highways life offers, having proper emergency equipment like a comprehensive first aid kit is an absolute must to respond to unexpected accidents or health issues. Having the wherewithal and resources to deal with injuries, big or small, can be the difference between staying safe on your adventure to remote locations where professional medical help is far away. In this article, I cover everything you need to know about stocking and using a DIY first aid kit for Sprinter van travelers.
The Importance of First Aid Kits for Sprinter Van Travel
Having a properly stocked and readily accessible first aid kit in your Sprinter conversion van is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to prepare for the unexpected. While hopefully you’ll breeze through your travels without major incident, it’s critical to equip yourself for handling minor cuts and scrapes, unexpected illness and allergic reactions, or major medical emergencies far from hospitals or clinics. Being able to provide immediate first response can be hugely beneficial in treating conditions rapidly and stabilizing them before seeking professional treatment.
Essential Components of a Comprehensive Van Life First Aid Kit
One of the advantages of assembling your own robust first aid kit is that you can tailor it exactly to your needs for your own road travel. There are certainly prepackaged options, but they don’t have the specialized items you may need for remote locations, or take your personal health issues into account. DIY kits also let you customize your first aid supplies to the amount of travelers, length of your trips, and the types of destinations you’re going to. Here are some must-have categories of items to include:
Basic Medical Supplies
These standard medical items treat common minor injuries and discomfort:
- Wound Care – Sterile adhesive bandages, gauze pads, rolled gauze, and medical tape closure strips, multiple sizes. Waterproof versions for water activities are included.
- Individually packed wipes which can be used to clean wounds and prevent infection. Benzalkonium chloride wipes or povidone iodine antiseptics are what you are looking for.
- Antibacterial creams containing bacitracin, neomycin, or polymyxin B that you apply to clean wounds.
- Medical gloves – Protect yourself against biohazards with quality latex-free gloves.
- Pain management – Ibuprofen, acetaminophen, aspirin and naproxen tablets for general pain relief and anti-inflammatory properties.
Specialized Items Geared to Van Travel
Consider useful treatments tailored to common mishaps on the road:
- Motion sickness medication – Tablets like Dramamine or Bonine to prevent nausea during long winding drives. Natural options include ginger capsules.
- Burn relief gel – Soothe minor cooking-related burns with aloe-based gels. Useful for stovetop meals in tight spaces!
- Instant cold packs – Provide cold compression to sprains, strains and bruises with single-use packs that activate on demand.
- Flu medication – Relieve symptoms of colds, sinusitis or the flu while you’re on the go.
Essential Tools and Safety Equipment
A few key items round out your mobile care kit:
- Tweezers – Remove splinters or debris from wounds.
- Scissors – Cut bandages, tape, gauze or clothing. Choose quality stainless steel models.
- Safety pins – Secure bandages, slings or splints.
- Digital thermometer – Track fevers indicating infection or illness.
- Emergency blanket – Retain body heat for those suffering shock or hypothermia.
Tailoring Your First Aid Kit to Specific Needs
While the items above make a versatile emergency prep kit, take time to customize further based on your particular travelers and destinations. Factor in existing medical conditions like heart disease, asthma or bee sting allergies and pack extra medications as needed. If you’re diabetic, include glucose tabs or a glucometer.
Prepare individual kits for each traveler listing their allergies, medical history, emergency contacts and pertinent insurance info. Plan on bringing specialized gear for sports like surfing or rock climbing too. Traveling with pets? Include a pet first aid kit with medications, tick removal tools, bandages and information on the nearest veterinary clinics on your route.
Proper Storage and Maintenance of Your First Aid Kit
Now that you’ve assembled the perfect portable medical center, make sure to house it in a manner that keeps contents protected, organized and accessible. Look for waterproof hard cases designed for travel to both safeguard supplies and extend their shelf life under temperature fluctuations. Pelican brand cases are trusted by emergency responders for their durability and watertight guarantees, while cheaper options from Lewis N.
Clark or Divvy work too. Label the case conspicuously with a red cross to denote medical contents. Organize the interior with removable plastic trays or bags to group similar items in labeled ziplock bags. List all contents on an inventory sheet stored inside or taped to the back of the case.
Additional Safety Equipment to Round Out Your Roadside Preparations
While fully stocked first aid kids serve as the core of medical preparedness, several additional safety items work synergistically to cover other road hazards. Equip your Sprinter van with fire prevention/response tools, visibility items for roadside emergencies, and multi-tools to assist in accidents or breakdowns far from help:
- Fire extinguisher – Critical for containing stove-top or electrical blazes before they engulf your van’s tight living space with nowhere to escape.
- Warning triangles – Alert passing motorists to pull over and assist if your van breaks down on the shoulder or dark roads.
- Safety vest – Ensure visibility for yourself and passengers when exiting a broken-down vehicle en route.
- Multi-tool or toolkit – Contains pliers, screwdrivers and other repair items to fix mechanical problems roadside when help is far away.
Training and Knowledge: Maximizing Your First Aid Kit’s Effectiveness
Now that you’ve assembled the ultimate first aid kit chock full of emergency lifesavers, let’s ensure you know how to utilize them fully with proper training. Consider enrolling in an American Red Cross basic first aid course at your local community college, recreation/community center or fire station. You’ll gain competency in CPR, controlling bleeding, treating wounds and burns, stabilize broken bones, and responding to common medical emergencies.
Real-Life Situations Where First Aid Kits Proved Essential
Reading accounts where emergency first aid proved critical can drive home the importance of preparedness on the open road. A nasty stovetop grease fire engulfed Laura Davidson’s Promaster campervan kitchen – but having an accessible fire extinguisher on hand prevented the uncontrollable spread of flames. She suffered minor forearm burns while extinguishing the fire, which her first aid kid’s burn gel soothed immediately while en route to an urgent care clinic.
Conclusion
Having a custom first aid kit in your campervan or conversion Sprinter equips you for minor to major roadside emergencies and medical issues when traveling to remote areas far from professional help. Fill your kit with such essentials as bandages, medications, tools and whatever safety items you need and will go to. Pair supplies with knowledge by looking for formal first aid training, or reference manuals which describe how to use lifesaving interventions in real life situations.
If nothing else, hopefully just a reassuring safety net, a well stocked first aid kit and the competence to use it can save lives, relieve suffering and give travelers a little power over crisis scenarios. Be prepared so you can wander far from home with confidence that you can handle the bumps in the road. Safe journeys!