The Emergency Kit Every College Girl Should Keep in Her Dorm
One thing that surprised me about sending my daughter off to college was just how many “emergencies” she ran into that she wasn’t prepared for.
At our house, we have acquired so many things over the years that we just take for granted. When our children move into a dorm, they are usually only moving in with the basics.
It’s not uncommon for a college student to even need to visit the campus health center for headache medicine.
Before you send your daughter off to college, put together an emergency kit for her to keep in her dorm room so she is prepared for most minor emergencies.
This is everything I’d include if I were putting together an emergency kit for female college students today:
First Aid Basics
You can really knock this one out with a quick run to a big box store.
We bought our daughter a first aid kit during a grocery run, and it has come in handy on more than one occasion.
If you’re putting together you’re own first aid kit, be sure to include bandages in several sizes, antiseptic wipes, gauze and tape, tweezers, instant cold packs, and a thermometer.
If your daughter has these basic items, she can handle most of her own minor medical issues without even leaving her dorm.
Keep everything together in one large zipped bag or container with a lid.
If you give it to her nicely contained, it’s more likely to stay that way when it reaches her dorm. This way, she’s more likely to find what she’s looking for when she really needs it!
Medicine Cabinet Must-Haves
Your daughter’s first time feeling truly sick while away from home is sure to be as emotional for her as it was for my daughter.
Our kids are used to having us around to take care of them.
Getting sick away from home can feel super lonely. The best thing you can do for your daughter is make sure she has all of the medical supplies she’ll need to feel better.
Buy things like pain relievers, cold and flu medicines, allergy medicine, something for an upset stomach and diarrhea, cough drops, and electrolyte packets.
You know your daughter best, so you know the things that work for her most common ailments.
For example, one brand of allergy medicine has always worked wonders for my daughter while another brand does absolutely nothing.
If you’re sending items that you already have on hand, make sure to check the expiration dates!
Finally, remind your daughter that there is no shame in going to the clinic on campus and that she should always talk to a pharmacist when she has questions about dosing, drug interactions, etc.
We just want to make sure that our daughters are prepared for minor illnesses and are comfortable enough to seek medical attention when an illness seems a little too big to handle on her own.
Period and Personal Care
I remember how embarrassed I was the first time I had to buy my own period products on my own.
In our house, I have always just purchased these for myself and my daughter.
When it was time to send her off to college, I made sure she had several months’ worth of her usual period and personal care products.
I also included a heating pad, extra underwear, and stain remover…just in case.
These products are all easy to forget about until you need them!
Wardrobe and Beauty Emergencies
These things don’t feel like emergencies until your daughter is in a situation where she has a broken strap, a stuck zipper, or a huge stain on her favorite shirt.
I tried to always be prepared for these moments when my kids were at home, so I want to make sure they are prepared for them now that I can’t be there.
Put together a small wardrobe and beauty emergency kit.
I’d include a mini sewing kit, safety pins, fashion tape, stain remover pen, lint roller, blotting papers, bobby pins, and hair ties.
Everything she could possibly need will fit into a tiny zipper pouch.
Hopefully your daughter will never need these things, but it will be a huge relief to have them if she ever does!
Safety and Power Preparations
This might seem a little overboard, but my daughter goes to college in an area prone to bad weather for part of the year. I hope she will never need most of what I packed, but I sleep better at night knowing she has it.
The first thing I packed was a flashlight. I know she has one on her phone, but if ever the power goes out, you don’t want her to have to run down her cell phone battery just to be able to get around her dorm room.
Portable chargers or power banks are also a great thing to have on hand for those times when your daughter is nowhere near an outlet.
My daughter is super forgetful about charging her phone and somehow seems to live her life at 10% battery, so a portable charger gives us both a little extra peace of mind!
A personal safety alarm is another small item to buy for peace of mind. She can keep it on her keychain so it’s always convenient on walks to and from class.
It’s also a good idea to come up with a plan about what to do if she loses her dorm key or finds herself locked out. Figure out how to contact campus housing before she actually needs it!
Sick-Day Comfort Items
Being sick is always miserable. Being sick away from home is even harder.
As much as we wish we could be there to comfort our children through every hard day and illness they’ll face, the truth is that they have grown up on us.
Now we have to learn to support them from afar.
This is where a few sick-day comfort items can make such a difference.
Send a few comforting items that every sick girl would love to have. Things like tissues, lip balm, her favorite tea, crackers, a sleep mask, and ear plugs.
A sleep mask and ear plus are especially important when your daughter is going to have a roommate or two!
While none of these things are absolute necessities, maintaining morale while sick and away from the comforts of home are priceless when illness strikes.
The Important Info Card
When there is some sort of emergency, you’re often dealing with too many emotions and stress to think clearly.
The more we can handle ahead of time in preparation for these moments, the better we can handle them when they come up.
Having all of your daughter’s important info in one place that she can easily access will be super helpful in an emergency situation.
Include things like emergency contacts, a copy of her insurance card, and any allergies on a card that she can keep with her.
Also list important contact information for her college or university. How to reach the campus health center and campus security are two important ones!
While it’s helpful to have all of this information in hard-copy form, I thought ahead and had my daughter add this information to her cell phone.
I highly recommend taking this extra step!
Prepare ahead of time and then hope your daughter never needs to use it!
How to Pack and Maintain an Emergency Kit
Maybe the most important part of putting together an emergency kit is making sure it is actually usable.
Keep everything as simple and organized as possible.
We used a clear plastic bin with locking handles for ours.
You could also separate these items into several emergency kits based on the categories that we discussed here today.
I prefer to have everything separated by use, but still stored in the same container that my daughter can keep in her dorm room closet.
The items we sent along to college with our daughter have come in handy on more occasions than I even know about.
Now, we just replenish items as needed when we send care packages each month.
This is an easy way to make sure her emergency kit stays stocked without having to make a new one every semester.
You Can’t Be There for Everything…But You Can Help Her Be Prepared
One of the hardest parts of sending your daughter off to college is knowing you won’t be there when she needs something.
You can’t fix every wardrobe malfunction, check her temperature through the night, or offer ibuprofen when she has a headache.
Instead, you can send a little bit of maternal preparedness along with her, no matter how far away her college is.
Putting together an emergency kit gave me some extra peace of mind knowing that I had done all that I could to get our daughter ready for life on her own.
I love knowing that she is prepared when a little emergency pops up…but also knowing that her dad and I are always just a phone call away!
