Hi rexboggs,
Some questions - what is your experience in First Aid? Are you looking at minor cuts, burns or something more?
That will tell you what you need.

We carry a comprehensive kit in the car at all times - Pat is a nurse.
And "no" you don't need a full RFDS kit - just something to get you out of trouble. Telstra vehicles carry a kit that is packed in a "lunch box" - the items are renewed on expiry.

At a minimum, you'll need a packet of band-aids, some disinfectant fluid/cream eg Bedadine, surgical scissors, various sized bandaging rolls, sticky plaster, a triangular bandage, some safety pins/clips, perhaps a small tube of saline fluid & the latest St John's First Aid book.

Often you see people selling kits of various sizes in shopping centre hallways - that's where we bought ours.

Dunno what you'll get for $13:

https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/special-buys-sat-7-july/saturday-detail-wk27/ps/p/outdoor-first-aid-kit-101pc/

Also two or three of these are *very* worthwhile having in case of snakebite - they have a visual indicator to ensure correct tension:

http://www.homepharmacy.com.au/products/products_view.cfm?ProductID=4576

MikeL wrote:

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How about posting what you think would be a minimum set of contents?

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I did think about that but I'm an electronics engineer with a blood phobia! Anyway... here is my FAK list, the kit is kept in a Tupperwear like box and the following is printed and taped on the inside of the lid and may be read without opening the box, also the other side of the list page may be used to write on.

Another item worth adding is a red permanent marker to mark the site of snake bite on the compression bandages.

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This First Aid kit belongs to [insert contact details here]

First Aid book
Gloves x 1 pair
Paper tissues
Eye bath
Dettol
Scissors
Antiseptic cream
Stingose
Stop Itch
Oil of cloves
Thermometer - 37=normal, 38=high, 40=hospital
Safety pins x 2
Tweezers
Needle
Pencil

Alcohol wipes x 10
Plasters, minor cuts x 30
Leukostrip x 1 pack - modern replacement for stiches
Crepe bandages x 2 (75mm wide)
Soft gauze bandages x 2
Micropore tape for fixing dressings to skin
Wound dressing (10cm x 10cm) x 3
Gauze swab (7.5cm x 7.5cm) x 1 pack

Soluble aspirin (Aspro) for fevers, rheumatic pains and
general pain relief - take 3 in water every 4 hours

Paracetamol general pain relief - take 2 every 4 hours

Ibuprofen, anti inflammatory - take 2 every 4 hours

Imodium - for diarrhoea. Take 2 initially, then 1 after
each bowel movement

Stemetil - for vomiting. Take 6 per day max. with at
least 20 min gaps between tablets

Phenergan - drowsy antihistamine and stop-itch properties.

Tourniquet - should get one!
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End

>compression bandage (snake bites?)

Absolutely! See my earlier post about Setopress.

http://www.homepharmacy.com.au/products/products_view.cfm?ProductID=4576

>Superglue (for glueing sharp cuts together as a quick fix)

Good point. I recently discovered this was exactly the reason super-glue was developed, for battlefield injuries.

>and that the thermometer should be a fast one such as a tympanic (ear) one.

No, no and thrice no! Stay away from bloody electronics. They sit in your FAK for five years, unused, and then, on the one bloody day you want them, they won't work! The battery is flat of one of the electrolytic capacitors has dried out. Buy a simple, cheap mercury thermometer which has worked since the dawn of time and will continue until end and doesn't need a battery.

A lesson I learned a long time ago now, make sure your first aid kit is clearly identified and easily found. This might help someone else save YOUR life.

We have a St John 'family' or 'general' type first aid kit which contains most of the abovementioned items and also a first aid handbook which can be helpfull. We replenish it as required. Recently we added a specific snake bite kit which includes instructions, a splint, general bandage, marker pen and pressure bandages with pressure indicators on them which ensures that the correct pressure is applied to the affected limb. Both of these types of kits are available online. The general purpose kit would suffice for snake bite, but we though that a specific kit which can be clipped to a belt or put in a backpack would be benificial. An increase in snake sightings in our area (semi rural) also helped. Aside from having these kits, the knowlege on how to use them is paramount. A recognised first aid course is recomended.
Regards EJP