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I was editing a health story on how to be prepared ahead of time for accidents that will happen in the future.
Imagine my surprise when when a pretty basic term did not appear in the AP Stylebook: first-aid kit.
My first thought was hyphen or no hyphen? Luckily, someone had the same question in 2010 and asked on AP Stylebook Online's Ask the Editor.
The official answer: hyphen. It is, indeed, first-aid kit.
However, no hyphen in the noun version: first aid.
ex. "He administered first aid to the patient."
Here are some other medical terms to know, straight from the AP Stylebook:
Band-Aid: "A trademark for a type of adhesive bandage."
*** Check out this blog post: "AP Stylebook: Writing around iPod, Kleenex and other brand names." ****
Doctors Without Borders: "Use English translation in copy for the French group, Medecins Sans Frontieres."
Doctor: "Use Dr. in first reference as a formal title before the name." Use the last name only in subsequent references.
Dr Pepper: (Ok, not a medical term, but semantically related.) "A trademark (no period after Dr) for a brand of soft drink. Headquarters is in Dallas."
From the latest AP style changes to timely copy editing reminders, check out everything you need to know to make your copy clean.
