Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
General product and checklist information only, not medical advice. For an injury or illness, contact a clinician or local emergency services.
A home medical kit is the household’s stock of first aid items plus the things a first aid box usually leaves out: each person’s daily prescription medications and any prescribed monitoring supplies. Two public sources set out what such a kit holds: the county government checklist from Sacramento County and the national preparedness site Ready.gov. Neither gives item quantities, so this page does not either. This guide puts the two checklists side by side and covers the part most lists skip: how to keep the kit current.
Purpose and setting: home medical kit vs first aid kit
The two sources draw the line in different places. Ready.gov lists “a first aid kit” as one item in the basic disaster supplies kit and gives no contents for it; prescription medications, non-prescription medications, eyeglasses and contact lens solution appear as separate lines. Sacramento County’s “Home First Aid Kit Items” page folds the medical items into one list: wound-care basics, plus daily prescription medications “such as insulin, heart medicine, and asthma inhalers” and “prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment and supplies.”
So the practical difference is this: a first aid kit treats minor injuries; a home medical kit also holds what the people in the household depend on every day. If you want the standards behind a ready-made wound-care kit, see individual first aid kit, which covers the first aid kit standards; this page does not repeat that.
Checklist: emergency medical kit for home, by category
Items below are from the Sacramento County checklist unless the source column says Ready.gov. Quantities are not set by either source and depend on the household.
| Category | Item | Source note |
|---|---|---|
| Protection | Disposable gloves | County checklist |
| Bleeding and wound care | Sterile dressings to stop bleeding; adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes | County checklist |
| Cleaning and topical | Cleansing agent or soap and antibiotic towelettes; antibiotic ointment; burn ointment; eye wash solution | County checklist |
| Tools and measurement | Non-mercury thermometer; scissors; tweezers | County checklist |
| Daily prescription medications | The medications you take every day (the county gives insulin, heart medicine and asthma inhalers as examples) | County checklist; Ready.gov says an emergency can make it difficult to refill a prescription or find an open pharmacy |
| Prescribed supplies | Items such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment and supplies | County checklist |
| Non-prescription medicines | Aspirin or a non-aspirin pain reliever; antacid; anti-diarrhea medication; laxative | County checklist (optional); Ready.gov lists pain relievers, anti-diarrhea medication, antacids and laxatives |
| Vision | Prescription eyeglasses and contact lens solution | Ready.gov |
Medicines are listed here only because the sources list them. This page gives no doses or advice on taking any medicine; for that, ask a pharmacist or clinician.
What varies by household
The sources point to one driver: who lives there. The daily-medication and monitoring-supply rows depend on the people in the household, and Ready.gov says to re-think your needs every year and update the kit as the family’s needs change. Households with a baby, a person receiving care at home, or frequent travel have needs the general lists do not address, and CASRAI covers those separately: newborn first aid kit, home caregiver supplies and travel medical kit.
Storage, expiry and restocking
- Containers. Ready.gov advises storing disaster kit items in airtight plastic bags and keeping the whole kit in one or two easy-to-carry containers such as plastic bins or a duffel bag.
- Expired items. Ready.gov says: “Replace expired items as needed.”
- Prescription medications. The county checklist says daily prescription medications should be rotated with newer medications that have later expiration dates.
- Annual review. Ready.gov says to re-think your needs every year and update your kit as your family’s needs change.
Neither source gives an expiry timeframe for any item, a restocking schedule beyond the annual review, or a storage temperature. Read the date and storage instructions printed on each product’s own label.
Standards and rules that apply
Neither checklist is a regulation; both are preparedness guidance. The standards usually cited for first aid kits are workplace rules. OSHA 29 CFR 1910.151(b) states that adequate first aid supplies shall be readily available in workplaces. That is a workplace rule, and it does not cover household prescriptions or monitoring supplies. The kit standards are covered in individual first aid kit.
If you are considering a ready-made kit, compare its printed contents list against the table above and check what is not in it: the daily prescriptions and prescribed supplies are yours to add. For how supplier listings are usually vetted, see first aid kit suppliers.
FAQ
What is a home medical kit?
It is a household’s first aid items together with each person’s daily prescription medications and any prescribed monitoring supplies, per the Sacramento County checklist. Ready.gov lists the first aid kit and the medications as separate lines in the disaster supplies kit.
What goes in an emergency medical kit for home?
The county checklist names gloves, sterile dressings, bandages, cleansing items, antibiotic and burn ointment, eye wash, a non-mercury thermometer, scissors, tweezers, daily prescriptions and prescribed supplies. Ready.gov adds non-prescription medicines, eyeglasses and contact lens solution. See the table above.
How often should a home medical kit be checked?
Ready.gov says to replace expired items as needed and to re-think your needs every year. The county checklist says to rotate prescription medications with newer ones that expire later.
Is a home medical kit the same as a first aid kit?
Not quite. A first aid kit is one item in Ready.gov’s basic supplies list. The county’s home checklist extends it with daily prescriptions and prescribed monitoring supplies.
Sources
- Ready.gov, “Build A Kit”, https://www.ready.gov/kit, checked 2026-11-01.
- Sacramento County, “Home First Aid Kit Items”, http://sacramentoready.saccounty.gov/us/en/are-you-prepared/first-aid-and-cpr/home-first-aid-kit-items.html, checked 2026-11-01.
- OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.151, Medical services and first aid, https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.151, checked 2026-11-01.
