Keep a first-aid box at home

Small injuries and illnesses happen any day, and time is lost hunting for things. With first-aid supplies packed in one clean, dry box, anyone in the house can use them. What to keep: sterile gauze and cotton wool, bandages and adhesive tape, a few plasters, small scissors, a pair of gloves, an antiseptic to clean wounds, a few packets of oral saline, a thermometer, paracetamol for fever or pain, and a few days’ spare of anyone’s regular medicine. Inside, a note: 999, Fire Service 16163, a doctor by phone 16263. Keep the box out of children’s reach but close to hand for adults. Open it every six months to see what has run out and which medicines have expired. The box starts the care, it does not finish it: for a serious injury or illness, go to hospital without delay.