Trauma Kits (And why they are a necessity post SHTF)

[izzyscout21]

Damn Izzy, make sure I never let you work on me! I can see why you never made it at Med school.

I'll be gentle.... well, as gentle as dirty medicine can be. I can patch you up, that don't mean it's going to be pretty.

I've got a really neato staple suture gun and this really cool high-speed pen type cauterizer.

And I wouldn't wake it in med school because most patients don't appreciate you telling them to "suck it the f&^% up, shut the hell up, and quit acting like a bitch."

I also don't believe they encourage you to comment on how cool the scar is going to look.

I DON'T HAVE GOOD BEDSIDE MANNER.

[Twitchy]

I'll be gentle.... well, as gentle as dirty medicine can be. I can patch you up, that don't mean it's going to be pretty.

I've got a really neato staple suture gun and this really cool high-speed pen type cauterizer.

And I wouldn't wake it in med school because most patients don't appreciate you telling them to "suck it the f&^% up, shut the hell up, and quit acting like a bitch."

I also don't believe they encourage you to comment on how cool the scar is going to look.

I DON'T HAVE GOOD BEDSIDE MANNER.

hahahahaha!!!

I dunno about that, your bedside manner might just scare them to forget about the pain

[The Stig]

One aspect of trauma kits that can be overlooked: they can be used to patch you up too.

You may well be injured to the point of not being able to tend to yourself. Having a IFAK or tourniquet easily available means someone else can patch you up.

[Twitchy]

One aspect of trauma kits that can be overlooked: they can be used to patch you up too.

You may well be injured to the point of not being able to tend to yourself. Having a IFAK or tourniquet easily available means someone else can patch you up.

yep... good point...

a good tourniquet should be with you at all times when working with dangerous equipment in the god forsaken event that you cut something off... That goes for even today... you can bleed out a lot faster than you would think...

[bacpacker]

Great point. I have a bunch of chain saw work coming up. Back in the earlier days of the forum there was a great thread on using chain saws. I think the same thread had some good discussion on med prep for chain saw use.

[The Stig]

Great point. I have a bunch of chain saw work coming up. Back in the earlier days of the forum there was a great thread on using chain saws. I think the same thread had some good discussion on med prep for chain saw use.

After nearly slicing my leg off with a chansaw this summer (as detailed in a post around here somewhere) I started carrying a trauma kit with me anytime I worked with any dangerous tools out in the yard.

[mitunnelrat]

For those who may be interested, Surefire's Fall 2011 edition of their "Combat Tactic's" magazine has a good article on this and interesting pieces on a few other things we discuss here (morality in a disaster and bug out bags).

The article pertaining to this thread is titled "What's In Your Trauma Kit?" and walk's readers through the process of selecting or building a kit relevant to their circumstances and situation. It says that "proper kit design and content selection should begin with a three-question process."

What role is the kit to perform? Or to put it another way, what is the mission profile for which the kit might be employed?

We've discussed in the weapons forum the tendency for people to select firearms based on the "cool guy" factor. i.e. AR's over shotguns because our troops look badass carrying them. The article warns against doing the same with our IFAK's/ trauma kits.

Realistically assess your needs and remember that one kit likely won't fulfill every situation. A kit in your range bag will look very different from one that you take on a backwoods hunting trip.

What is your medical skill level?

I know for a fact that we here tend to justify having components that exceed our level of training, and know we all agree already that some form of training is a given. I think this goes back to what kit you're carrying, and why. I know I personally carry more gear than I'm qualified to use because I don't have too many kits set up yet, and while it might be to my benefit to have an NPA and such in a range kit for firearms classes, where there may be a qualified individual on site that can use it effectively, I cannot. I'd set myself up for legal issues if I tried. Further, many of those same components are a waste in a woods kit for me, where I know that neither I nor the people I hike out with will know how to use the stuff. Good food for thought for when when I get around to expanding my medical response. As they stated, medical components can be expensive, so I agree its better to tailor each kit to the activity at hand rather than fill it with everything I can.

The third selection question is

How is your kit to be carried?

The author states

Assess what carry method you will most likely utilize and then have that kit with you when you might need it. I have access to any number of high-speed kits, yet my daily carry kit is a simple affair that's vacuum sealed and fits in my back pocket.

He also makes the point that a basic trauma kit on hand is better than an ambulance 10 minutes away, and

a cool military MOLLE bag makes no sense if you aren't wearing MOLLE in your deer stand and the kit is hooked to you tactical vest back home.

The article goes on to say that there are some common items to every kit though, with a focus on controlling blood loss. The article provides information on each piece, and I won't get into all of that here, but the items are a tourniquet, combat gauze, pressure dressing, protective gloves, a blanket, cpr mask, and some miscellaneous items like trauma shears, tape, 4"x4" gauze pads, band aids, and burn gel.

At the end it has a list of contacts that one could use to source the items they need. I found it an informative, well thought out and written article. Paired with the other articles I mentioned its a decent resource to provoke thought or learn about a few things, and while I wouldn't recommend that everyone run out and buy it, if you're interested in the overall content to begin with, it would be a worthwhile issue to pick up over some of the other gun mags on the rack.