Best First Aid Kits for your Air BnB or Rental Property

You want to make sure your guests have the best experience possible. One item that can help provide that experience is a first aid kit. If some minor injury occurs, you’ll be the hero when you have whatever they need on hand. Having a first aid kit in your rental property is also a feature that you can include in your listing and is even recommended by Air BnB. Here are the things you should look for in a first aid kit and some of our recommendations.

Things to consider for your first aid kit

What should it include?

Your first aid kit should include all of the basics as well as some of the typical items you’d have in your medicine cabinet that people aren’t likely to travel with (or wish they had). A good first aid kit should include:

• Adhesive bandages of different sizes and shapes
• Antiseptic wash or wipes. A bottle is probably better because you’ll run out of the wipes quickly and it’s cheaper to restock.
• Gauze in a variety of pad sizes and in a roll
• Medical tape
• A few triangle bandages
• Antibiotic ointment like Neosporin
• Hydrocortisone or Calamine lotion
• Cold pack
• Nitrile gloves (several pairs)
• CPR mouthpiece
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Thermometer
• First aid manual

Don’t forget to create a checklist of your first aid kit contents so you can check if it needs to be restocked periodically.

What about over the counter drugs?

It’s best to not include any internal medications like pills or cough syrup. You don’t want to provide something that a guest may be allergic to or have a bad reaction to. What you can do is point them to the closest pharmacy if they need anything.

Important contacts

Your guest is probably not from the area and not familiar with the local amenities. Provide them with the phone number and addresses of local hospitals, urgent care facilities, poison control, veterinarians, and the closest pharmacy.

Consider the specifics of your rental

Is your Airbnb on a lake or by the ocean? If so, you should consider supplying suntan lotion and aloe.. Is your Airbnb in the woods? Maybe you should include bug spray, insect bite relief, and relief for poison ivy.

How big should your first aid kit be?

If your Air Bnb is a single room in your house, simply providing access to your first aid kit might be enough. Other properties may sleep 10 to 12 people. In that case, you’ll want a sizeable first aid kit for both adults and children.

Where to keep it the first aid kit?

Where you store the first aid kit is important. You want your guests to be able to find it quickly and easily. The most common places to store a first aid kit are in the bathroom and in the kitchen. People often look for first aid supplies in the medicine cabinet, but there probably isn’t enough room to keep your kit there. Consider under the sink or in a linen closet. If you’re storing it in your kitchen you can keep it in a cabinet or where it’s visible on top of the fridge.

Also important is the container that your first aid kit is stored in. For someone who isn’t familiar with the property, making it obvious that the contents are for first aid is critical. Either a container that is red or has a Red Cross or similar symbol is a universal sign for first aid supplies.

Make sure you identify the location of the first aid kit on your guest’s welcome letter or however you communicate with your new guests.

Best first aid kits for your Airbnb

Best combination of price and value

The First Aid Only All-Purpose Essentials Soft-Sided First Aid Kit is a great option for any Air BnB. It is small enough to store anywhere but contains enough items to meet the needs of your guests. You can remove the pill packets to make room for a triangle bandage or a real thermometer.

Contents:

• Adhesive Fabric Bandages, 1″ x 3″: 10
• Adhesive Fabric Bandages, 3/4″ x 3″: 20
• Adhesive Plastic Bandages, 1″ x 3″: 30
• Adhesive Plastic Bandages, 2″ x 4″: 2
• Adhesive Plastic Bandages, 3/4″ x 3″: 75
• Adhesive Plastic Bandages, 3/8″ x 1-1/2″: 50
• Alcohol Wipes: 14
• Aluminized Rescue Blanket, 52″ x 84″: 1
• Antibiotic Ointment Packets, 0.9g: 6
• Aspirin Tablets: 6
• Burn Gel Packet, 1/8oz: 1
• Butterfly Wound Closures: 3
• BZK Antiseptic Towelettes: 15
• Cold Pack, 4″ x 5″: 1
• Conforming Gauze Roll, 2″: 1
• Cotton Tipped Applicators: 10
• Disposable Thermometer: 1
• Extra-Strength Non-Aspirin Tablets: 6
• Finger Splint/Tongue Depressor: 2
• Fingertip Fabric Bandages: 4
• First Aid Cream Packets, 0.9g: 2
• First Aid Guide: 1
• First Aid Tape, 1/2″ x 5yd: 2

Highest quality contents

There’s no doubt that the Band-Aid brand makes the best bandages on the market. If you want the best for your guests, the Johnson & Johnson All-Purpose First Aid Kit should be your choice. All of the contents are name brand and it’s the cheapest kit on the list. Unfortunately, it is missing a lot of items, so you’ll need to pay more anyway.

Contents

• 3 cleansing wipes
• 10 2″x2″ gauze pads
• 1 tube of Neosporin
• 1 tube of Benadryl itch cream
• 2 doses of Tylenol
• 1 cold pack
• 110 assorted Band-Aids
• 3 2″x3″ non-stick pads
• 1 2″ rolled gauze
• 2 pairs of nitrile gloves
• First Aid Guide

Best case & most components

The M2 BASICS 350 Piece Emergency First Aid Kit is the most extensive kit on the list. It has all the basics with some great upgrades like metal tweezers, a CPR mask, and enough bandages to last. The case is wall mountable with 2 layers to help keep it organized.

Contents:

BANDAGES: 50 – Adhesive Bandage 3″ x 1″, 60 – Adhesive Bandage 3″ x 3/4″, 40 – Adhesive Bandage Strips, 10 – Fingertip Adhesive Bandage, 10 – Butterfly Adhesive Bandage, 10 – Knuckle Adhesive Bandage, 15 – Spot Adhesive Bandage, 2 – Knee/Elbow Adhesive Bandage 2″x3″, 2 – Knee/Elbow Adhesive Bandage 2″x4″, 1 – Triangular Bandage

TAPES, SPONGES & PADS: 1 – Abdominal Trauma Pad 5”x9”, 1 – Elastic Bandage, 1 – Gauze Roll 2” Elastic Bandage, 1 – Gauze Roll 3” Elastic Bandage, 2 – Large Eye Pad 2 1/8” x 2 5/8”, 1 – Medical Tape Roll, 8 – Sterile Gauze Sponge 2”x2”, 8 – Sterile Gauze Sponge 3”x3”, 8 – Sterile Gauze Sponge 4”x4”,

STERILIZATION: 10 – Alcohol Prep Wipes, 10 – Sting Relief Pads, 10 – Povidone-Iodine Prep Wipe, 10 – Antiseptic Towelette, 10 – Sterile Alcohol-Free Wound Cleansing Wipe, 30 – Cotton Tip Applicators

SUPPLIES: 1 – CPR Face Protection, 4 – Disposable Nitrile Gloves, 1 – Instant Cold Compress, 2 – Medical Mouth/Face Protection, 1 – Metal Scissors, 1 – Metal Tweezers, 20 – Safety Pins, 1 – Tourniquet, 5 – Wooden Finger Splints/Tongue Depressors

OTHER: 1 – Durable Hard Case, 1 – First Aid Guide, 1 – Emergency Blanket

Final thoughts

There are hundreds of first aid kits to choose from for your Air BnB guests. Although none are perfect, these are your best options that you can add to as needed.