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Campus gyms need first aid kits. 

Just this week, I was lifting weights in Founders Gym when another student came over with a bleeding cut. We searched for a Band-Aid to no avail. This week was the second time in just a few months I’ve needed a simple first aid kit in Founders Gym and haven’t been able to find one. 

Though lifting, martial arts, cardio, and the other athletics that happen in campus gyms are reasonably safe activities, injuries happen all the time. Most of them are minor. But even minor cuts and scrapes can turn into bloody messes when there isn’t a Band-Aid in sight.

It’s a simple, cheap fix. Basic first aid kits sell for $10–15 at pharmacies and online. Though the main weight room in the Roche Sports Complex has first aid supplies handy along the back wall, many dorm gyms do not. Founders Gym has a kit, but it lives in a cabinet designated for staff use only that is usually locked.

Hillsdale fitness instructor Rachel Kookogey Eller said she supports providing well-stocked first aid kits. 

“I’m going to look into ways we can improve that, as I myself have been the victim of a nick or two when training,” Eller said.

Easily accessible first aid will save students time and hassle, but even more importantly, it will help the cleaning staff. No one wants to wipe up someone else’s blood from the floor. 

Accidents happen. Band-Aids help.

Caroline Kurt is a senior studying English.