About Us

AFASSCO was established in 1970 with one goal in mind - to maintain America's industrial and commercial work site as a safe and productive place. AFASSCO's founder and chairman, Don Schumaker, pioneered the safety and first aid kit route van service, an industry which has grown to $500 million in sales in the United States. Mr. Schumaker reasoned that by selling and installing an industrial grade first aid kit at the industrial or commercial work site, the work site would become a safer place. Afassco's Mission Statement To provide our customers with products of quality. To develop and maintain relationships based on honesty and trust. To set a standard of quality, excellence and professionalism. To provide the vehicle through which our distributors are able to own their own business and, more importantly, be successful. Afassco's Commitment to You For 30 years, we have been the international leader in first aid products and programs. Our commitment continues to grow through our distributors who are constantly providing better and more effective products to you the customer. We are aware of the continuing emphasis placed on the health and safety of your employees and we have met those challenges by offering the finest first aid and safety products on the market today. From handy first aid cabinets & kits, to the newest bandages, dressings, antiseptic and burn treatments, our goal is to keep you and your employees healthy and safe in the workplace. Not only do we have a commitment to your health and safety, our distributors are constantly exploring new ways of serving you, the customer, better and more efficiently. Along with our international organization of distributors, we will continue to lead AFASSCO through the millennium as the First Choice in First Aid. Afassco's Reputation for Superior Customer Service Your business has more to worry about than whether or not your first aid kit is stocked with bandages. That is why AFASSCO is here to serve you. We will deliver top quality first aid products that meet OSHA, FDA, DEA and insurance requirements. We strive to attain the highest level of customer and user satisfaction. That is why we are the leader in the first aid and emergency medical industry. We cater to our customer's needs and concerns so every employee in your organization can be healthy, happy and more productive. Talk to us today. We've been listening to our customers' needs for over 30 years. ISO 9000 Certification AFASSCO continues to set standards for the first aid industry. We were the first to be awarded the ISO CERTIFICATION. AFASSCO guarantees our customers quality of product and service with the emphasis toward the demands of a global economy.

HISTORY OF FIRST AID KITS

Although the use of first aid supplies and kits in a route van service oriented business in the United States seems to be a relatively new industry, having flourished after creation of OSHA regulations in 1972, its origins (in the form of medical emergency supplies and medical chests) date back to as early as the Civil War. Prior to 1921, the "medicine chests" were usually prepared for explorations or personal trips. First Aid kits, and companies packaging them, go back to the early 1900's when a few companies primarily in the Northeast and Midwest started assembling a few different types of dressings and materials available for first aid into different types of containers designed to keep contents together in one place. The packaging came in the form of boxes, bags, and even roll-up tubes. Companies like Johnson & Johnson, Bauer & Black, Acme Cotton and American White Cross primarily made bulk kits. These companies made all different shapes and sizes of gauze rolls and pads, adhesive tape, cotton and adhesive strips. These items made up 90 percent of most of the capacity of the first aid kits that ranged in size from small pocket sizes to larger cabinets that hung on factory walls. The range of first aid kit bulk sizes was larger than unit kits. Unit kits were manufactured in those days primarily for military use. These two methods stayed pretty much the same until the late 60's and early 70's when due to the formation of OSHA the Route Van Refill Service began with combination type kits and larger cabinets, including both unit and bulk items, plus OTC pharmaceuticals such as headache and cold tablets, antacids and throat lozenges. HISTORY OF AFASSCO AFASSCO is a growing pharmaceutical and first aid packaging company based in Minden, Nevada, at the foot of the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe and Reno. Don Schumaker, CEO and Chairman of AFASSCO, began the business with the idea of loading all the fill supplies for first aid kits in a van. His theory was that if the van were properly racked and signed, it would not only be a rolling billboard, but would bring the refill supplies, bandages, dressings, cold, headache and stomach remedies right to the business user. They would clean, check and replenish all of the first aid kits and cabinets right on the spot as well as check for used up supplies, unsterile and unclean dressings and expired products. Mr. Schumaker quickly found that most managers, owners and supervisors of small to medium sized businesses don't want to be bothered with or worry about whether they are out of band-aids (plasters) and aspirin or other first aid items. Another foundation for AFASSCO is based on the fact that business owners generally recognize the need for healthy employees who feel good and who are physically capable of dedicating 100 percent of their attention and efforts to the job function for which they have been hired, therefore working with utmost efficiency and safety. AFASSCO was founded over 30 years ago by Mr. Schumaker. A recognized authority in the industrial first aid field, he has had many articles on first aid and safety in national publications and has had a hand in changing the requirements, fills and standards for the industry. In addition, AFASSCO and its people have been instrumental in starting and are pioneers in the route van service distribution system in the United States. Mr. Schumaker and AFASSCO's goal and objective all these years has been to help companies have more effective and a wider variety of treatments for their employees' injuries, help workers have a safer work environment and to teach and help people become successful in providing these services, treatments and products on a regular basis to their customers and companies in their areas. And he and his people are still doing that today. Progress... AFASSCO continues to add new products and has available many infection control and safety related product lines for its dealers and distributors to market. Packaging improvements have been made regularly and continue to be made. Even now AFASSCO is recognized in the industry as having the best packaging as well as the best quality products. AFASSCO is a leader because we pioneered and first developed: the route-refill service concept for first aid kits unit dose of ointments and creams for first aid kits, and other unique items and packaging the combination-type first aid kit.