Re-supply of first aid kits

[MarkCO]

Does anyone KNOW the actual shelf life of first aid kit items such as anti-biotic creams, antiseptic wipes, Celox, etc.? I am about due to rotate some emergency food/water items and it occurred to me that I have some first aid kits that are over 20 years old. I tried a band-aid from an 11 year old car kit to make sure it still sticks, and it does. I've got a kit in each car, one for the house, two for the range, one for hunting and one in my BOB gear. I know bottled pain releivers typically say five years, so I checked the labels on several of my kits OTC medicine packets to find expiration dates from 1998 to 2003 on the old kits.

As a related topic, any one have any favorite places to re-stock on these types of supplies in individual packets? Also looking to resupply things such as pain releivers, Imodium type stuff, cold pills in packets?

I might just trash the whole car kits and buy new ones since they are relatively cheap. But I'm not tossing out the $100 and $200 kits.

Thanks for any advice.

[Wulf202]

The sterile items should be fine as long as the packages haven't been punctured. Any medication is case by case but since they're cheap you can just dump them.

When celox doesn't work it is worse than useless. 3 year shelf life

I find it cheaper to buy a big bottle for the house and split it into kits and the house than buy several individual packets even though you expose the whole lot to air and loose the shelf life the cost is far cheaper. Or buy the blister cards and tear off enough for one kit if you want them individually sealed.

[Paladin]

I don't think this place has the "pills" you're looking for, but I doubt you'll find much better for the "other" stuff. The prices on things like tape and gauze pads are hard to beat. The customer service and shipping speed is superb.



http://www.qualitymedicalsupplies.com/



I am, in no way, affiliated with them other than being a very satisfied customer.
BTW, sterile packages do have an expiration date. After the date, the product is no longer guaranteed to be sterile. Usually, it's a relatively short time. i.e.- one or two years

Later, Dave