Individual first aid is the missing link.

[rjrivero]

Weather we shoot recreationally or train to defend ourselves, this hobby carries inherent risk. That risk is ventilation of ourselves or someone else on the range, in the home, in a gun fight. Have you ever stopped to consider what you would do in the event of catastrophic injury?

We know from studying the battlefield that the preventable deaths occur from:

1) Bleeding out from a limb injury
2) Tension Pneumothorax
3) Airway obstruction

A typical first aid class can miss the vital interventions that can mean the difference between life and death in trauma. If you carry a gun, you MUST be familiar with the tools and techniques that are can save lives. It's folly to think that you can prevail in a gun fight without getting wounded.

We spend hundreds of dollars on a carry gun, ammo, holster, and training. I recommend you spend $160 to get yourself a GOOD kit that has the tools you need in the event of the unthinkable.

The kit that I've decided to carry is from Dark Angel Medical. It's a no-nonsense pack. It holds a pair of gloves, chest seals, quick clot gauze, plain packing gauze, nasal airway, trauma shears, and a CAT Tourniquet.

Buy the kit, then learn how to use it:

Youtube CAT Torniquet
[video=youtube;3-WnRUi5UZI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3-WnRUi5UZI[/video]
Youtube Halo Chest Seal
[video=youtube;ZcKpOI_3KR0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcKpOI_3KR0[/video]
Youtube Quick Clot Packing Gauze
[video=youtube;Cj4gSDivxt0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4gSDivxt0[/video]

Take a class. Dark Angel Medical does a fantastic job with this stuff. Professional, friendly, and based in evidence based medical practice, everything Kerry Davis teaches is the good stuff. I had taken this class last weekend. I have been approached to become the SWAT DOC for a NW Ohio Regional Tactical team. I had to re-aquaint myself with the battlefield medical protocols and this was a great opportunity to do that. Things have chagned a bit since going through Combat Casualty Care in the Navy. It was a two day class directed to folks who had no previous medical training. It was a GREAT time. We all learned a ton about immidiate care protocol.

The biggest take home point is this: Keep the life saving gear where you can get to it NOW. Leave the boo-boo stuff in your big kit in the car/home.

I will be doing a Shooter casualty class as part of the course offering at Adaptive Defense Concepts in NW Ohio as well. Stay tuned for that. ADAPTIVE DEFENSE CONCEPTS

 

[Jaydub 42]

Man that last video is a little gory! Great great post though. I've been wanting to get on my first aid kit for a while and theirs looks pretty comprehensive.
Little expensive for their training but I'm sure it'd be worth it.

 

[KeithD]

Kerry is a great dude and his kits are tops. We teach a 1 day Medical class here in Michigan that is kind of an "introductory" to Kerry's. He sponsors and endorses us. Medical training is deff one of the least taken and most likely used areas of training.

 

[rjrivero]

Hey Keith, good to see you here. I've heard good things about your one day classes!

 

[KeithD]

Thank you, im gladd the word is spreading. Id like to get a few classes a year scheduled in Ohio If I can get them around.

 

[Olmsted Risk Solutions]

I carry the Rescue Essentials Officer's Pocket Trauma Kit as part of my EDC. You all have raised some very great points. You're more likely to use first aid training than your CCW training and yet very little emphasis is placed on first aid compared to CCW. Just not as sexy or we want to avoid considering the possibility of us getting shot, etc.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[diesel]

Great post, RJ. Something the average guy, who lacks military training, such as myself, needs to watch this because it's something I never honestly thought about.
Thanks, I will definitely look into some first aid training.

 

[whitewolf68]

Good points Olmsted, I agree 100% I know I need to brush up on my first aid procedure as well. I did take a Red Cross first aid course to get my Foster/Adopt license as part of the requirements. Thankfully I've never had to use any of it.