Medical equipment for all bases and aboard ship consisted of ‘a complete outfit of Burroughs and Wellcome’s drugs, dressings, &c., and Allen and Hanbury’s surgical instruments,’ Mawson wrote.

Each base was equipped with extensive medical supplies. The most frequently used medications during the AAE were compounds to relieve constipation (which probably resulted from dehydration). Drugs and dressings in portable first aid kits, with size and contents varying according to the location, were prepared by the pharmaceutical company Burroughs and Wellcome.