Keeping products past their expiry date can be unsafe.  Find out how you should maintain your first aid kit to ensure items have not expired or missing from the kit.

First aid kits are necessary in many places (workplaces, homes, motor vehicles) and circumstances (outings, holidaying, camping) as injuries can happen anytime and anywhere. 

Having a first aid kit wherever you are ensures the safety of everyone around you and keeping your first aid kit well-stocked with current shelf-life products will ensure protection for your loved ones, colleagues or general public when they get injured.  Hence, it is important to ensure your first aid kit is well-stocked with the appropriate items you require. 

There are 2 areas to look out for:

- Items expired
- Items used up

Items expired

When was the last time you checked your first aid kit at home?  Hopefully it was not a few years ago.  The shelf life of items in the first aid kit is usually 1 to 3 years.  It is important to ensure that the items in your first aid kit have not expired as keeping products past their expiry date can be unsafe or the products may no longer be effective.

Note that expiry date only applies if the product is unopened, undamaged and are stored in proper conditions.

Items used up

Often, many people remember to replace products which have expired.  But they forgot to replace items which they have used up.

When items are used, it should be replaced as soon as possible because we do not want to run into a situation where we need the item in an emergency and it is not there just because we forgot to replace it.  You may purchase first aid consumables individually or buy refill packs instead, if it is more economical to do so.

Conduct regular checks

You should regularly check the expiry date and quantity of the items in the kit.  Frequency of the checks will depend how fast you use the items in the kits, which may range from monthly to half-yearly.  For a start you can try every quarter and adjust accordingly after having some experience on your usage.

Keeping a checklist placed in your first aid kit will help you:

- Have a quick glance of each item's expiry dates
- Maintain a list of items and its quantity that is essential for your first aid need

Perform the following during each check:

- Items that have expired should be thrown away and replaced
- Items that are expiring before the next scheduled check date should be thrown away and replaced. 
- Sterile items which have been opened or are damaged should be thrown away and replaced.
- Top up missing or insufficient items