The Perfect Survival Kit for Your College Student

Worried about your kid at college? Nurse Barb Dehn has ideas on what to put in a survival kit that will put your mind at ease when your kids are away at school.

Write out all the important numbers
To set your college kid up for success, write down all the important numbers they may need. Put it all in the emergency kit so it is easy to find. Write down the numbers for campus police, poison control, the campus health center and even your own phone number, just in case of an emergency and their roommate needs to contact you. Dern says by writing all the numbers down it helps them become more self-sufficient in the long run. 

"You want to teach your child to trust their gut and go to the campus health center," said Dern. "But you know they are still going to call you at 2 a.m. so you need to have all these things available for them." 

Stock up the kit with medicine 
When living in the dorms surrounded by people, it can be super easy for your college student to get sick. Put medicine in the kit so your child will have it on hand so they can get on the road to recovery right away. Dern recommends packing Emergen-C, Pepto-Bismol, allergy medicine and day-time and nighttime flu medicine. 

Explain the labels for the medicine
Make sure your child understands what is in the medicine and what can and cannot be mixed. For example, Dern says be aware of acetaminophen, which is Tylenol. 

"Never take more than eight in a day because that can cause liver damage and don't take it if you've had any alcohol," said Dern. "Make sure you read the labels of other medicines because in some cold and flu medicine they have Tylenol in them already. You don't want to take too much."

Include a light 
Make sure there is a flashlight or headlamp in the emergency kit in case the power goes out or any other accident happens. Batteries are also good items to keep stocked in the emergency kit. 

Contact Us