First Aid Kit for a Northern Areas Trip

A first aid kit for a Northern Areas trip needs to cover three ordinary problems far more than any dramatic one: stomach upsets, cuts and blisters from walking on rough ground, and headaches from altitude or a long day in the car. Pack for those, add whatever any regular medication your family takes, and you will cover almost everything that actually happens on a normal trip to Hunza, Skardu, Neelum or the Kaghan valley.

This guide sets out what to carry, why each item earns its place, and what you can and can't count on finding once you're on the road.

What actually goes wrong on a Northern Areas trip

Before the packing list, it helps to know what you're packing for. On an ordinary family trip, the common problems are:

• Stomach upsets, from unfamiliar water or food, which are the single most common illness on a northern trip.
• Cuts, scrapes and blisters, from jeep tracks, riverbank rocks and unfamiliar walking shoes.
• Headaches and mild altitude symptoms, on day trips to Khunjerab, Deosai, Babusar or the high lakes of Azad Kashmir. Our altitude sickness guide covers this in more depth, including when a headache means turning back.
• Motion sickness, on long stretches of mountain road.
• Sunburn and dry skin, from strong sun and thin air at altitude, even on a cool day.
• Distance from care. The main hospitals are in Gilgit, Skardu and Muzaffarabad. On Deosai, above Sost, or on a jeep track to Fairy Meadows, the nearest help can be hours away.

The medicines to carry

• Paracetamol and ibuprofen, for headaches, fever and general aches. Useful for the ordinary first-day altitude headache as well as everyday complaints.
• Oral rehydration salts (ORS), for stomach upsets and for anyone who has been sick from heat or altitude. Cheap, light and worth more than almost anything else in the kit.
• A diarrhoea medicine such as loperamide, plus, if your doctor prescribes one before you travel, a course of antibiotics for moderate to severe travellers' diarrhoea.
• An antihistamine, for insect bites, mild allergic reactions and hay-fever-type symptoms.
• Motion sickness tablets, taken before, not during, a long stretch of switchbacks.
• Any regular prescription medication, in its original packaging with enough for the whole trip plus a few spare days, kept in the car or your daypack rather than in checked luggage or the boot.
• Rehydration and sun care: a high-factor sunscreen and lip balm, since sunburn at altitude happens faster than it feels like it should.
• Diamox (acetazolamide), only if your doctor has prescribed it for you. It is a prescription medicine for altitude sickness and not something to start on a guess at a pharmacy on the way north; ask before you travel if you are planning a trip to Khunjerab, Deosai or a trek.

Supplies and equipment beyond medicine

• Adhesive plasters in a few sizes, plus a couple of larger dressings and a roll of gauze
• Antiseptic wipes or a small bottle of antiseptic liquid, for cleaning cuts and scrapes before they get dusty
• Micropore or similar tape, and a small pair of blunt-ended scissors
• Tweezers, useful for splinters and thorns as much as anything else
• A digital thermometer
• A blister kit or moleskin, if anyone in the group will be walking
• Hand sanitiser and a few sachets of soap, since clean water for washing hands is not guaranteed everywhere
• A few extra face masks, useful in dusty jeep tracks and crowded transport
• A torch or headlamp, for a hotel with patchy electricity or a night stop at a blockage
• Insect repellent, more useful in the lower valleys and in summer than at altitude

What's easy to find locally, and what isn't

Gilgit, Skardu and the main bazaars of Hunza (Karimabad and Aliabad) all have medical stores that stock everyday medicines: paracetamol, ORS, antacids, common antibiotics and the like. Muzaffarabad, the main town for Azad Kashmir, is similar. If you forget paracetamol, you will almost certainly be able to buy it in any of these towns.

What you should not rely on finding:

• Your own regular prescription medication. Brand names and availability vary, and a pharmacy in Gilgit may not stock what you take at home. Bring your own supply.
• Diamox or other altitude-specific prescription medicines. Don't plan to buy these locally on a whim; get them, and the advice on taking them, from your own doctor before you leave.
• Anything at all in the smaller valleys and on the road. Once you're past the last town before a pass or a jeep track, such as Sost before Khunjerab, or Chilas before Fairy Meadows, there is nothing. Pack as if the next chance to buy anything is a full day away, because sometimes it is.

Special additions for children, older parents and chronic conditions

For children, add infant paracetamol or ibuprofen in the right dose for their weight, a thermometer suited to their age, and any rehydration sachets in a flavour they'll actually drink. Pack a spare set of clothes for a day trip, since children get cold, wet or travel-sick more easily than adults.

For older parents or anyone with a heart or lung condition, carry a written list of their regular medications and dosages, in case a doctor elsewhere ever needs it, and ask your own doctor before the trip whether the altitude at Khunjerab, Deosai or Babusar Top is sensible for them at all.

Where to get help if the kit isn't enough

Rescue 1122 operates across Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir and can be reached by dialling 1122 from any phone. Gilgit and Skardu each have a district headquarters hospital that serves as the main referral centre for their region; smaller towns such as Chilas, Karimabad and Muzaffarabad have basic health units for minor injuries and illness, but not major trauma or surgery. If someone in your group needs more than the first aid kit can manage, the plan is simple: call 1122, and head for Gilgit or Skardu rather than trying to manage it from a smaller town. Our travel guide has more on planning around distance from care, altitude and road conditions across the north.

Is a first aid kit really necessary?

For a short trip staying in main towns with a car and driver, a basic kit of paracetamol, ORS, plasters and any personal medication is enough, and you're never more than an hour or two from a pharmacy. For a longer trip, a trek, or anything that takes you past the last town on a route, such as Khunjerab, Deosai, Fairy Meadows or the Neelum valley beyond Kel, a fuller kit earns its place in the car, because there genuinely is nothing to buy once you're past it.

Frequently asked questions