How to create basic first aid kit and emergency plan for your office

Whether you are an employee or someone in charge of office health; having knowledge of commonly needed medical supplies at an office is extremely useful. Overlooking the need for a first aid kit could seriously harm you or anyone else in the office should something bad happen.

Here’s a list of medical items every office should have in its first aid kit to be accessible by all employees:

Pain relievers

Your office’s medical kit should contain various over-the counter pain killers to accommodate various common pain such as headaches, toothache, abdominal ache…etc

Popular choices are Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Panadol.

Cold and flu medicines

We don’t recommend coming to work if you have flu but it’s a good idea to have some cold and flu relievers in the office’s medical kit for emergencies only. There are some popular choices for relieving symptoms of cold or flu such as Panadol Cold & Flu and Aspirin with vitamin C.

Supplies for injuries

In case of accidents, every office should have basic supplies for minor injuries such as bandages, compresses, sterile pads, antiseptic cream, burn cream, adhesive tape and exam gloves.

In some work environments where particular hazards need to be protected against, it may be advised to have cold packs, eye patches, eye wash and a CPR barrier device to the kit.

Emergency training

Training staff on using office medical supplies is a must but consider other emergency training such as CPR for a safer work environment.

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It is not enough to buy all the required medical supplies; in some unfortunate cases, an employee might need professional medical help. This is when the emergency medical plan is needed.

Have an emergency medical plan posted somewhere in the office where everyone can see it, and inform current employees as well as new hires of its existence as well as when and how to use it.

The plan should include the following:

·         Address of the workplace

·         Phone number of the workplace

·         Location of the first aid kits

·         Names of those people trained to render first aid

·         Emergency services phone number

·         List of medical services located in close proximity to the workplace (minimum of three), including their:

ü  Phone numbers

ü  Address and directions

ü  Hours of service

Training personnel on using the first aid kit as well as the emergency medical plan is essential for their health and a duty that falls on the shoulders of HR. It’s also important to consider employees’ allergic reactions to certain medications in addition to other health risks they may have before adding any supplies.