Health issues can happen anytime, anywhere, so being prepared with your own first-aid kit to deal with them is essential. It can be difficult to figure out what are the most important things to get—so here are the four best items for a dorm first-aid kit.

1. Bandaids

It’s inevitable—at some point in your college career, you’ll fall off your lofted bed, trip on the stairs at the Colonnades or slip on the grass at Centennial Mall. This is why the most important item for your first-aid kit is a box of Bandaids. They promote healing of minor cuts or scrapes and keep them unexposed from the germs on campus. You never know when you or a friend might need one, so it’s good to always keep them around. 

“I think Band Aids are most important because you never know when you will cut or nick yourself,” Lilian Lange, a freshman biology major with a concentration in pre-med said. “It’s nice to just slap it on and forget about it.”

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1. Medications

Over the counter medications and any prescriptions you might have are essential to a first aid kit. Medicines like ibuprofen or Tylenol are good for helping headaches, fever and general aches and pains when it’s not severe enough to see a doctor. Other medicines that you might need include allergy medications like Zyrtec, antacids like Tums and cough and cold medications like Mucinex or Robitussin.

“I would definitely say that keeping all your prescription medicines on hand is really important,” Delaney Mattingly, a freshman health sciences major with a concentration in pre-med and a pharmacy technician said. “Keeping over the counter meds like Advil and ibuprofen is super important as well.”

If you have any prescription medications, they should also be kept in an accessible place. If you have an epi-pen, it is good to always keep one in your dorm first aid kit, as well as with you at all times.

1. Ice bag

When it comes to sore or inflamed muscles, ice is usually the best way to go. Walking up the Hill one too many times or going for a little too long at the Preston Center can cause stiff or sore muscles, so quick treatment of these small injuries can prevent long-term problems.

That’s why it’s so important to have an ice bag readily available in your dorm. Treating muscle tenderness, swelling or inflammation is best done immediately after the pain occurs, so having an ice bag in your dorm first aid kit may save you some trouble.

1. Thermometer

Having a fever often indicates what type of illness you might have and the severity of it, so having a thermometer to measure it with is vital to taking care of your health. Especially during cold and flu season, having a thermometer could tell you the right actions to take to get better, such as what type of medication you may need.

A thermometer is also a good method of protection against COVID-19. Because a fever is one of the side effects, realizing a fever early alongside other symptoms could alert you to get a COVID test.

News reporter Alexandria Anderson can be reached at alexandria.anderson337@topper.wku.edu.