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Traveler's First-Aid Kit

By Rick Steves

You can buy virtually anything you need in Europe, but it's handy to bring along:

Particularly if you'll be hiking in isolated areas, bring a first-aid booklet, Ace bandage, space blanket, and tape and bandages.

For eye care: Those with corrected vision should carry the lens prescription as well as extra glasses in a solid protective case. Contact lenses are used all over Europe, and the required solutions for their care are easy to find.

Basic First Aid

Travel is much more fun when you're healthy. Be proactive to stay well. If you do get sick, take action to regain your health.

Headaches and other aches: Tylenol (or any other non-aspirin pain reliever) soothes headaches, sore feet, sprains, bruises, Italian traffic, hangovers, and many other minor proble ms.

Abrasions: Clean abrasions thoroughly with soap to prevent or control infection. Bandages help keep wounds clean but are not a substitute for cleaning. A piece of clean cloth can be sterilized by boiling for 10 minutes or by scorching with a match.

Blisters: Moleskin, bandages, tape, or two pairs of socks can prevent or retard problems with your feet. Cover any irritated area before it blisters.

Motion sickness: To be effective, medication for motion sickness (Bonine or Dramamine) should be taken one hour before you think you'll need it. This medication (or Tylenol PM) can also serve as a mild sleeping pill.

Swelling: Often accompanying a physical injury, swelling is painful and delays healing. Ice and elevate any sprain periodically for 48 hours. A package of frozen veggies works as a cheap ice pack. Use an Ace bandage to immobilize, stop swelling, and, later, provide support. It is not helpful to "work out" a sprain.

Fever: A high fever merits medical attention. A normal temperature of 98.6° Fahrenheit equals 37° Celsius. If your thermometer reads 40°C, you're boiling at 104°F.

Colds: It's tempting to go, go, go while you're in Europe — but if you push yourself to the point of getting sick, you've accomplished nothing. Keep yourself healthy and hygienic. If you're feeling run-down, check into a good hotel, sleep well, and force fluids. (My trick during the hectic scramble of TV production is to suck on vitamin C tablets.) Stock each place you stay with boxes of juice upon arrival. Sudafed (pseudoephedrine) and other cold capsules are available nearly everywhere.

Diarrhea: Get used to the fact that you might have diarrhea for a day. (Practice that thought in front of the mirror tonight.) If you get the runs, take it in stride. It's simply not worth taking eight Pepto-Bismol tablets a day or brushing your teeth in Coca-Cola all summer long to avoid a day of the trots. I take my health seriously, and, for me, traveling in India or Mexico is a major health concern. But I find Europe no more threatening to my health than the US.

I've routinely taken groups of 24 Americans through Turkey for two weeks. With adequate discretion, we eat everything in sight. At the end of the trip, my loose-stool survey typically shows that five or six travelers coped with a day of the Big D and one person was stuck with an extended weeklong bout.

To avoid getting diarrhea, eat yogurt. Its helpful enzymes ease your system into the local cuisine.

If you get diarrhea, it will run its course. Revise your diet, don't panic, and take it easy for a day. Make your diet as bland and boring as possible for a day or so (bread, rice, boiled potatoes, clear soup, toast, weak tea). Keep telling yourself that tomorrow you'll feel much better. You will. Most conditions are self-limiting.

If loose stools persist, drink lots of water to replenish lost liquids and minerals. Bananas are effective in replacing potassium, which is lost during a bout with diarrhea.

Do not take antidiarrheals if you have blood in your stools or a fever greater than 101ºF (38ºC). You need a doctor's exam and antibiotics. A child (especially an infant) who suffers a prolonged case of diarrhea also needs prompt medical attention.

I visited the Red Cross in Athens after a miserable three-week tour of the toilets of Syria, Jordan, and Israel. My intestinal commotion was finally stilled by a recommended strict diet of boiled rice and plain tea. As a matter of fact, after five days on that dull diet, I was constipated.

Constipation: With all the bread you'll be eating, constipation, the other side of the intestinal pendulum, is (according to my surveys) as prevalent as diarrhea. Get exercise, eat lots of roughage (raw fruits, leafy vegetables, prunes, or bran tablets from home), and everything will come out all right in the end.

For lots more tips, check out our best-selling Europe Through the Back Door travel skills guidebook.