There are few medical shops are few along the trekking routes. Therefore, one is strongly advied to carry first aid kit and be familiar with the possible problems before hand. On the Everest Bsse Camp route at Pheriche and on the Annapurna Circuit route at Manang, there are clinics operated by the Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal (HRA). With the help of foreign volunteer doctors and local health workers, HRA offers medical services to trekkers, porter, trekking guides and local people. These clinics are open only during the main trekking seasons, ie. Spring and Autumn.

The following is a suggested list of supplies and medications that would be useful to carry as a personal first-aid kit while trekking or traveling in Nepal. It is designed to handle the most common problems on a trek. The list should be modified to adjust for the remoteness and difficulty of the particular trek.

While on treks, the following problems could occur

• Upset stomach, often caused by change in diet or contaminated food and water is a common ailment. To avoid it, one should pay particular attention to hygiene and quality of food and drinks.
• Cough, cold, sore throats common in the dry mountain air can lead to chest infection. Sore throats can best be avoided by attemping not to breathe cold air directly through mouth. Smoking should also be avoided.
• Joint muscle strains, foot problems and blisters are other problems the trekker can face. Wearing good footwear could help trekkers to be free from such health hazard. For sprains and strains, apply cold water to reduce swelling and support the joint with crepe bandage.
• Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is a fatal sickness caused by random altitude ascension. Therefore, climbers ascending 3,000 meters or above should acquire sound knowledge of proper acclimatization processes. Symptoms of AMS include headache, loss of appetite, swelling of limbs, dizziness, difficulty in sleeping, irregular breathing, nausea and unusual weariness. Maintaining good fluid intake helps combat altitude sickness and hurried descent or evacuation to lower altitude is the only best cure.

Trekking first-aid kit

• Antiseptic, such as povidone-iodine (eg,Betadine)- the most commonly used antiseptic for cleaning wounds
• 10cm rolled cotton bandages (the stretch type is excellent for bandaging extremities)
• 10cm elastic bandage (to hold on a variety of dressings and to help stabilize minor sprains)
• Four 10cm x 10cm gauze pads (for bandaging wounds or burns)
• Moleskin (or other skin-protection material to prevent blisters)
• Paper stitches (specialized tape for puling gaping wounds together when suturing is not possible, eg, Steri-streps)
• Scissors (for cutting dressings and tape, or to cut clothes away from a severe injury)
• Sewing needle (to drain a blister, or to help remove a splinter)
• Large sterile dressing (for large cuts or burns)
• 10 assorted sticking plasters (eg, Band Aids)
• Roll of 2.5cm tape (for bandaging)
• Tweezers (for removal of splinters)
• Muslin triangular bandage in a compressed package (handy as sa sling or to fashion different types of splints)

Medications

• Antibiotic eye drops (one bottle)
• Anti-inflammatory drugs (such as ibuprofen 400mg – 20 tablets)
• Azithromycin 250mg (six tablets)
• Clotrimazole 1% or miconazole 2% cream (one tube)
• Decongestant (eg, Actifed or Drixoral – 10 tablets)
• Diphenhydraming (eg, Benadryl) 25mg or 50mg (10-20 tablets)
• Hydrocortisone 1% cream (one tube)
• Loperamide (eg, lmodium-20 tablets)
• Medication (cream, dissolvable tablets or an oral tablet) to treat yeast vaginitis (one packt)
• Norfloxacin 400mg or ciprofloxacin (20 tablets)
• Paracetamol (acetaminophen) 500mg (20 tablets)
• Potent pain killer, such as acetaminophen with hydrocodone, or acetaminophen with codeine (eg, Vicodin -20 tablets)
• Promethazine (Phenergan) 25mg (five tablets)
• Ranitidi150mg (10 tablets)
• Rehydration salts (two packets)
• Tinidazole 500mg (12 tablets)