Car

That changes if the vehicle is used for work. Under work health and safety duties, a vehicle that is a workplace generally needs a kit, and heavy vehicle and commercial operators often have specific obligations through their own standards or client requirements. Check your state regulator and your industry.

For everyone else it is a choice rather than a requirement, which is exactly why so few cars have one.

WHERE TO KEEP IT

Somewhere you can reach it, and the same place every time.

The boot suits a full KIT. There is room for it, it is not underfoot, and it is easy to get to with the tailgate up. A console or door pocket suits something smaller that you reach for more often.

What matters more than the spot is that everyone who drives the car knows where it is. In an emergency nobody has time to search, and the person who needs it might not be you.

WHAT SIZE FOR A CAR

The SURVIVAL First Aid KIT - Medium is built for exactly this and is the one most drivers should have. It handles roadside injuries, everyday cuts, and enough of a serious situation to matter.

If the car is also the family car, the SURVIVAL First Aid KIT - Large gives you the capacity for more than one casualty. The Family First Aid Bundle pairs a large KIT for the house with a smaller one for the car, which is how most households should be set up.

ROADSIDE AND FIRST ON SCENE

The uncomfortable truth about a car KIT is that you are as likely to use it on a stranger as on yourself.

If you come across a crash, the most useful things you can carry are gloves, something to stop bleeding, and the confidence to use them. The SURVIVAL Trauma First Aid KIT covers serious bleeding specifically, and a tourniquet is the one item that genuinely saves a life in the minutes before an ambulance arrives.

Your own safety comes first. Park safely, use hazard lights, and do not become a second casualty.

ONE KIT OR TWO

Two, if you can. A KIT in the boot for anything significant, and something small in the console for the everyday cuts, splinters and headaches that otherwise get the boot KIT opened and left unrestocked.

The SURVIVAL Wallet 2.0 clips to a keyring or lives in a door pocket and handles the small stuff, which keeps the main KIT intact for when it counts.

Also see 4WDing, Caravans / Campervans and Motorcycle.