Personal First Aid Kit for the range

[alfred1222]

First aid kits are great and all, and Lord knows they have their uses if something happens. But i have found that first aid kits lull people into a false sense of comfort, and it leads to injury. Trauma kits dont come with instructions, and it is important to have the proper training and understanding on how to triage and treat an injured person. If you just shove Quik-Clot into a wound and have no clue what youre doing, you could seriously hurt the person.

Before you buy the aid bag, go to the local community college, and take an EMR class. If you like it, bump up to EMT. it will get you a good intro into BASIC wound care.

[thomashoward]

First aid kits are great and all, and Lord knows they have their uses if something happens. But i have found that first aid kits lull people into a false sense of comfort, and it leads to injury. Trauma kits dont come with instructions, and it is important to have the proper training and understanding on how to triage and treat an injured person. If you just shove Quik-Clot into a wound and have no clue what you're doing, you could seriously hurt the person.

Before you buy the aid bag, go to the local community college, and take an EMR class. If you like it, bump up to EMT. it will get you a good intro into BASIC wound care.

^^^^^^^^^^^ as a former EMT I carry an emergency kit whenever I leave town.
More important is take a few classes and get some training. Family camping and deer hunting trips don't need to end if you know the difference between boo-boos and oweees and a real emergency,and how to treat them while keeping calm.

[Dannytheman]

I'd be interested in professional thoughts on my kit.

In my kit, besides gloves, tape and scissors, I carry 2 sanitary napkins, 4 Tampons and Super Glue.

Anyone else?

[Never Convicted]

+1 for super glue !

[alfred1222]

I'd be interested in professional thoughts on my kit.

In my kit, besides gloves, tape and scissors, I carry 2 sanitary napkins, 4 Tampons and Super Glue.

Anyone else?

I am a certified EMT (i dont work as one anymore since i went back to school), and my aid kit has: gloves, scissors, israeli bandages, 4x4 dressings, some Quik-Clot bandages just in case, a wide array of painkillers, curlex to pack wounds, glue, and tape to hold it all together. i also have some wood for splints, a sharp knife, and a tourniquet just in case.

i used to have nasopharyngeal tubes, but realistically, if i needed to use those, it would be a pretty bad day

[Librarian]

I'd be interested in professional thoughts on my kit.

In my kit, besides gloves, tape and scissors, I carry 2 sanitary napkins, 4 Tampons and Super Glue.

Anyone else?

The tampons need to be replaced. See, for example, this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NG8V1W

It probably does not matter much with access to hospitals being good, but one of the points of a dressing is to stop bleeding; that's done with pressure, or by encouraging clotting. Tampons are treated specifically to discourage clotting - removing them from their usual location would be incredibly painful if they clotted in place.

A bleeding problem is not the mess, which is all a tampon addresses.

[L84CABO]

The issues I have with pre-made kits are that they often include items that you have no training on and the prices..

Just because you don't know how to use it, doesn't mean there won't be someone on scene who does. Better to have it than not. Obviously if you don't know what to do with a decompression needle you're not going to be stabbing people in the chest with it.

But yes, pre made kits are generally expensive. You can usually assemble the same materials for less...or at least get a lot more materials (refills) for the same amount of money.

[DCNB]

I'd be interested in professional thoughts on my kit.

In my kit, besides gloves, tape and scissors, I carry 2 sanitary napkins, 4 Tampons and Super Glue.

Anyone else?

I guess these are usable expedient/improvised dressings/items. Dermabond is essentially medical grade crazy glue that is more persistent/less brittle. Tampons are not particularly good for hemostasis, but they are absorbent and expand/take up space so combined w/ direct pressure could be used to pack a puncture wound I suppose...

You can improvise a Tourniquet but it's hard to get them working as well as the purpose built TCCC/C-TECC tested ones (SOFT-T, MET, CAT) and the key is that unlike an improvised one that you have to scrounge together, you can put one of these on quickly (within 30 seconds). Important stuff when one can bleed out within 3 min from a major extremity hemorrhage...

There are better/purpose made items out there and in the grand scheme of things they are cheap insurance should you need something that actually works and that is combat proven.

Truth be told, if all goes well, you'll never use your super duper first aid kit (except for the little stash of bandaids and neosporin most likely), but can't account for bad luck/boogeymen.

It's your life : )

[Stan08]

PPPffffttt What does this guy know?

Hint: Its a metric ****ton of info he knows!

Take a good class, not just reading online too. Its a start but barely. I am a former EMT and even i need refreshers.

Oh just to let you know nothing prepares you for working a GSW (especially a kid) until you do it.

Would you agree Crispian?

Agreed, there is the classroom knowledge then you get thrown into the real thing with blood and dirt and it takes on a new dimension.

My opinion on medical training: you should definitely get medical/GSW trauma training as a firearms enthusiast, you just never know. Until you take a formal class the youtube videos are better than nothing. Really simple, go to YouTube and search each medical product then watch it carefully. Really, none of those GSW first aid items are difficult to use. A basic understanding of anatomy will guide your decision making process.

Stan

[bshot]

Agreed, there is the classroom knowledge then you get thrown into the real thing with blood.

Any recommendations on training courses around Orange County?

Thanks.

[purer00r]

I'd be interested in professional thoughts on my kit.

In my kit, besides gloves, tape and scissors, I carry 2 sanitary napkins, 4 Tampons and Super Glue.

Anyone else?

I don'tcarry tampons but I do carry everything else u listed and more.

[hermosabeach]

Knowledge

Any recommendations on training courses around Orange County?

Thanks.

If you have not yet enrolled in CERT, Sign up for CERT. In my area, the fire department paramedics teach in a way where you learn a lot about how the body works... plus you get Medical responder CPR, 1st Aid and AED training.

These guys teach a great class-

http://www.stcrispian.com/Emergency_Medicine.html

REI has some interesting Wilderness medicine classes...

http://www.rei.com/outdoorschool/wilderness-medicine-classes.html

The Doom & Bloom site has a great book for emergency treatment when hospitals are not there.... and a ton of videos / blogs



Friends initially looks strange when we get to our shooting area and I cover the range rules, location of car keys, location of the nearest hospital, the IFAK and what is inside, where they can expect to pick up a cell tower while driving.

Its all about being safe and understanding how things work.... I know folks who have crazy glue in their kits for wounds... When I ask them how they would use it, many simply say to squirt it into the wound and then hold it shut.... They don't understand how the glue would prevent the skin from healing if the glue is on the edge of the skin....


Most of the key stuff is gear that allows you to stop bleeding in order to get someone to a medical facility... you can slap tape or a halo seal over a lung shot, but making it to the OR is the goal.... I am not qualified to run an IV or to insert a chest needle....



The other stuff is comfort stuff... blisters, cuts, scrapes.... not life threatening but things that will put a damper on shooting.... most are covered with sunblock, chapstick and a roll of electrical tape (scrapes, Cuts, blisters)

[DCNB]

A Red Cross or CERT First Aid class is a good start for learning about taking care of less critical/common injuries and basic wound care. Managing penetrating trauma and using the TQ's/Chest Seals/Packing wounds won't be covered in typical courses however. Even EMS and Paramedic level courses are lagging in teaching a lot of the skills needed for penetrating trauma. Our EMS system and the teaching is more geared towards treating Blunt Trauma (which makes sense b/c that's much more common really), airway/respiratory issues and major medical issues (heart attacks, CHF, etc).

Unfortunately good TCCC/C-TECC courses are harder to find. Most of those who are/were Mil got this training as part of their pre-deployment and there are some LE POST Courses that have cover material. To be honest, the concepts and skills aren't difficult (they're taught to non-medically trained 18 yo Soldiers and Marines and non medically trained Cops all the time), it's getting the hands on skills down and repetitions in under stress that makes it work.

Any recommendations on training courses around Orange County?

Thanks.

Try these guys, they are GTG and current.

KIT provides pre deployment training for the military and contractors and some of their courses are open to civilians:

http://thekitgroup.com/medical/

Also:

http://ValiantResearch.com

Maybe some others have links to other local LA/OC area courses? Caveat Emptor though, there are quite a few quacks out there teaching absolutely outdated/inaccurate rubbish. I'd make sure their instructors have good credentials, are current and have operational/real world experience.

[DCNB]

Friends initially looks strange when we get to our shooting area and I cover the range rules, location of car keys, location of the nearest hospital, the IFAK and what is inside, where they can expect to pick up a cell tower while driving.

^^THIS^^ needs be part of any pre-shoot safety brief for a class or even a fun day of shooting. An ounce of prevention, preparation and pre-planning will save a lot of time/frustration later.

Most of the key stuff is gear that allows you to stop bleeding in order to get someone to a medical facility... you can slap tape or a halo seal over a lung shot, but making it to the OR is the goal.... I am not qualified to run an IV or to insert a chest needle....

Could not agree more. As for needling a chest, most of the time a Tension PTX will take time to develop so if you are aware of what to look for, you can always "burp" a non-vented chest seal or fashion a vented one. For short transport times this usually won't be an issue, more of a problem if you're needing more than 45 min->several hours to get to a hospital/trauma center.

Just giving large of IV Fluids for no reason has really fallen out of favor, doesn't improve survivability and may in fact cause problems with clot formation (watering down the blood and clotting factors, clot disruption) and causes hypothermia. Both of which can make a bad situation worse.

The other stuff is comfort stuff... blisters, cuts, scrapes.... not life threatening but things that will put a damper on shooting.... most are covered with sunblock, chapstick and a roll of electrical tape (scrapes, Cuts, blisters)

Yes, that little ziplock of simple band aids and neosporin and stern strips will get used more than anything else. The fancy/major stuff (Chest Seals, Combat dressings) you'll probably never use, but they're not that expensive and they have a really long shelf life.

Remember, we have frequent earthquakes here in CA, it may not just be trauma from a GSW that you'll be treating one day. This stuff is multi use if you get the right education.

These are good books:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0323068138?keywords=auerbach%20wilderness%20medicine&qid=1446596824&ref_=sr_1_11&sr=8-11

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0323100457?keywords=auerbach%20wilderness%20medicine&qid=1446596824&ref_=sr_1_2&sr=8-2

www.c-tecc.org (has the complete guidelines/references downloadable for free online in PDF form)

[Frotz]

In addition to supplies for traumatic injury, make sure your kit contains bandaids, analgesics, and other things for minor problems.