Medicine Chest
A Medicine Chest is a compact first aid kit that is a valuable adjunct to the family medicine chest. It contains;
- Aspirin
- Ammonia Inhalants
- Assorted Bandages
- A Burn Spray
- Antiseptic Swabs.
Each of its unit is color coded for ease in keeping the kit stocked.
Some things in medicine chest:
- Antibiotics - there may be antibiotics in the medicine chest but none should be taken except on a doctor’s advice.
It should also contain first aid materials such as:
- Adhesive tape of various widths
- Sterile Cotton
- Sterile Gauze Bandages
- Petroleum Jelly
- Zinc Oxide Ointment
- A pair of scissors.
The rules for care of the family medicine cabinet are:
- Keep the chest locked and out of each of children.
- Recheck the chest every 3 months and discard extraneous items such as old razor blades and outdated drugs.
- Never put in the chest anything that does not belong there; such as household detergents, bleaches insecticides, hair dye, etc.
- Do not save poisonous preparations of any kind. Keep them separate from medicines and plainly labeled.
- Keep the containers tightly closed. When exposed to air, drugs may concentrate and become dangerous or evaporate and lose their effectiveness.
- Do not keep any samples of medicine other than those given to you by a doctor.
- Keep prescribed narcotics in a separate compartment and marked with the name of the drug and write danger in red ink on the label.
- Carefully read the label(esp the warning statement) of any drug before taking it.
- Discard all prepared prescriptions when the special purpose for which they were prescribed is past. Do not repeat use of prescription that helped you in the past without asking your doctor.
- You may include in the medicine chest any medicine which your doctor says you may need in an emergency.
Source:
- Fishbein's Illustrated - Medical and Health Encyclopedia - Home Library Edition- Stuttman