What Should I Have in a Car Emergency Kit?

Car Emergency Kit: Essential Items | Quad Cities Injury Lawyer
Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham Blog June 20, 2024

What Should I Have in a Car Emergency Kit?

Although many car accidents are preventable through safe driving practices, some accidents can happen through no fault of your own. Even with a reported decrease from previous years, data from 2022 indicates that a concerning number of people, 2.38 million, were still injured on U.S. roadways. This is why having a comprehensive car emergency kit in your vehicle is essential. A well-stocked kit can help lower the severity of injuries, make you more visible to emergency service workers, keep you safe and comfortable until help arrives, and more.

To help you and the drivers in your family prepare an optimal emergency kit, the Quad Cities injury lawyers at Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham go over essential items to have in your car emergency kit.

5 Items You Should Have in Your Emergency Kit

While it would be fantastic if everyone had a fully stocked kit filled with items for every imaginable situation, that’s not feasible or practical for most people. That said, there are some items that should be part of every emergency kit. Our team recommends having the following:

1) A First Aid Kit

A proper first aid kit can sometimes make the difference between suffering a minor injury and letting it develop into a catastrophic injury. Our team recommends the first aid kit content guidelines given by the American Red Cross. Make sure that your first aid kit contains the following items:

  • 2 absorbent compress dressings (5 x 9 inches) 
  • 25 adhesive bandages (assorted sizes), also found within our Family First Aid Kit 
  • 1 adhesive cloth tape (10 yards x 1 inch) 
  • 5 antibiotic ointment packets (approximately 1 gram) 
  • 5 antiseptic wipe packets 
  • 2 packets of aspirin (81 mg each) 
  • 1 emergency blanket
  • 1 breathing barrier (with one-way valve)
  • 1 instant cold compress
  • 2 pair of nonlatex gloves (size: large)
  • 2 hydrocortisone ointment packets (approximately 1 gram each) 
  • 1 3 in. gauze roll (roller) bandage
  • 1 roller bandage (4 inches wide) 
  • 5 3 in. x 3 in. sterile gauze pads 
  • 5 sterile gauze pads (4 x 4 inches)  
  • Oral thermometer (non-mercury/non-glass)
  • 2 triangular bandages 
  • Tweezers
  • Emergency first aid instructions

The item recommendations above are for a family of four, so you may have to adjust accordingly.

2) Canned or Bottled Water

You should have at least one gallon of water in your car in case of an emergency. For example, water can cool down an engine to prevent a fire, treat burn injuries, wash wounds to prevent infection, and keep yourself hydrated until help arrives. If you often drive together as a family, try to have one gallon of water per passenger. This is especially important during the summer when the risk of dehydration is higher.

3) Flashlight

Many serious accidents and auto fatalities happen at night. However, many drivers do not keep a flashlight in their vehicle. A powerful flashlight can help make you visible to oncoming traffic and to the police or paramedics. Additionally, it can help you avoid dangerous obstacles and other hazards as you move to a safe place. A flashlight, flairs, reflector signs, and glow sticks can increase your visibility even more. The Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham team recommends using a tactical flashlight that runs on 18650 lithium-ion batteries. Tactical flashlights are more durable and hold charges longer than home flashlights that use alkaline batteries.

4) Fire Extinguisher

Whether it’s sparks from an internal combustion engine or the battery of an electric vehicle, many high-impact car crashes result in a fire. Having a fire extinguisher in your car emergency kit can help prevent injuries and additional property damage by allowing you to contain a fire before it becomes large enough that the fire department is needed. While many people think of car accident injuries in terms of blunt-force trauma, our Quad Cities injury lawyers have served many clients that have suffered burn injuries in car wrecks.

5) Seasonal Items

Depending on the season, certain items should be swapped into and out of your car emergency kit. For example, in the winter, having a collapsible shovel, ice scraper, dirt, cat litter, or road salt, and heat packs in your car is important. In the hotter months, you should have ice packs, a brimmed hat, and sunscreen in your kit. Naturally, certain items may be specific to your particular area and climate, so plan accordingly.

Contact a Quad Cities Car Accident Lawyer

The team at Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham hopes that you better understand the essential items you need in a car emergency kit. Of course, there are many more things that you can include to make your kit more thorough, but the items listed above should be used as a starting point.

While our staff hopes that you never have to use a car accident kit, some crashes happen due to the negligence or recklessness of other parties. If you’ve suffered car accident injuries and believe that another party caused them, then contact our team immediately by phone at (309) 794-1515 or online through LiveChat.

Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham has been serving Quad Cities injury victims for more than 60 years, including clients in Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Whiteside, and Knox counties in Illinois, as well as Scott, Clinton, Muscatine, Cedar, and Jackson counties in Iowa. Reach out to us today, and you’ll quickly discover why we’ve become one of the most trusted law firms in the Midwest.

The information on this blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing herein should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute an attorney-client relationship.