Activate Your New Superpower: Properly Dressing a Wound!

As a mom, your superpowers may include: distracting your child at the doctor’s office, convincing your little one to leave the playground at dinnertime, and carrying an extra 32 pounds of toys and snacks in your bag.

Ready to add another superpower to your arsenal? Let’s learn the ins and outs of properly dressing a wound! With an active child, you never know when you’ll need to pull this skill from your back pocket and put it to good use.

With a KEEP>GOING compact First Aid Kit in hand, you have everything you need to dress a wound like a pro. Grab your travel First Aid Kit and follow along with these steps the next time your child gets hurt.

1. Assess

After an injury, take a moment to assess the wound. If you see blood that’s squirting from the wound or is bright red, you’ll need to seek medical treatment as soon as possible.

Medical treatment is also necessary if there’s a deep puncture wound located right above the elbow or right above the knee. Generally, wounds that look to be an inch or deeper and are located on the back, pelvis, abdomen, head, or chest also require professional treatment right away.

However, minor cuts and scratches are easily treatable with the premium items included in your KEEP>GOING GoKit and SuperKit. If there’s only a bit of blood or the wound doesn’t look too deep, whip out your family First Aid Kit and get started on saving the day.

2. Clean - Treat - Protect

Clean: When it comes to preventing infection, cleanliness is key. If possible, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water. If clean water is not available use the guaranteed non-sting cleaning wipes from your First Aid Kit.

Treat: Grab the triple antibiotic ointment in your KEEP>GOING First Aid Kit bag and apply a thin layer to cover the wound completely. This will keep infection at bay, while also reducing the pain associated with the wound. And we all know: less tears = a better day for everyone.

Protect: Choose a bandage from your cute First Aid Kit that covers the wound completely with padding and apply it gently yet firmly. For a wound with a larger surface area, consider using the gauze and first aid tape included in your large or medium First Aid Kit.

3. Soothe

Any wound, big or small, can be traumatic for your little one. Distract and soothe your child by pulling out the fun and colorful stickers included in your kid friendly First Aid Kit. Let your child sit, rest, and take a break from playing to recover a bit.

As your little one joins back in on the playground activities, check the wound periodically to ensure it remains covered. You may need to change out the dressing if blood seeps through the bandage or gauze.

4. Observe

As long as you keep your child’s wound clean and covered, it should heal on its own. However, it’s important to observe the wound. If it becomes numb, tender, swollen, red, or starts draining pus, it could be the sign of an infection, and medical treatment is needed.

Your KEEP>GOING First Aid Kit is Designed to Help and is always ready for action. Now that you know the proper way to dress a wound, you can teach your child the next time your they fall from the swings or take a tumble off the slide.