You will never appreciate having a proper set of medical supplies on hand until you have been wounded or seen someone you care about get wounded. Before I start this article, I will just say that you need to be trained in how to use these items before you just grab them and think you will know what to do. And it is important to practice using these items after getting training. Failure to do both of these things will result in you being less than useful when it really matters. With that said, you preppers and minutemen out there need to have an appropriate first aid kit for the team or situation you are working with. All members should not only be able to provide aid to you with your own IFAK, but also be capable of treating themselves, within reason. Having the right gear for the situation without going full MEDBAG is key, unless you are indeed the team medic.
PACKAGING
I'm obviously not one of the cool kids of the modern shooting community, if there is such a thing. I still like good old ALICE gear, and I have made a lot of things happen with it in the years I have used it outside the military. That said, I never thought I would truly have a use for the old IFAK covers until I set up my IFAK and looked for a pouch that could offer quick access.
I use an Army IFAK insert to organize and consolidate my main IFAK materials in. I am using an old boot lace to serve as a kind of handle, which I intentionally wrap around the buttons prior to closing them. The insert folds up nicely and fits with a little slack in the IFAK pouch. PERFECT!!!
TOURNIQUETS
No, the picture is not of what I have exactly for emergencies. This is a picture of the tourniquet I train with. I have it distinctly marked as you can clearly see the time strip is marked with a "T" for "TRAINING". This is one of two tourniquets that regularly cut the blood flow from my limbs and leave marks that show that I am using it properly. That is how you train, Yoohoos.
I believe that each member of a patrol should have at least 2 tourniquets on their person and within easy reach with either hand. They should be able to put a tourniquet on themselves properly and get back in the fight within a minute; preferably under 45 seconds in the dark. This whole BS of staring at the tourniquet while putting it on is ridiculous, especially if you just got shot. I don’t know, there may be some other things that are more important than watching yourself do a task you can easily do by feel alone. I have a CAT tourniquet in either each cargo pocket or each chest pocket, depending on the uniform I am using. A properly folded CAT tourniquet will easily fit in my front chest pocket on my MARPAT uniform. I have never liked using rubber bands to keep my TQ in place because they just get exposed to the elements and seem to get in the way. Just my experience.
A CAT or SOFT-TW tourniquet is going to set you back about $30 each, unless you buy in bulk in a few places. This is something you should be able to improvise, but you are better off not having to.
HEMOSTATIC GRANULES AND GAUZE
The chances of dying from gunshot wounds to limbs and junctions are pretty high if you are prepping for unrest. For this reason, you might consider having Hemostatic agents in your kit just for these situations. Specifically, I am talking about having Chitogauze or Celox instead of Quickclot due to the fact that Chitosan will pretty much force clotting of the wound instead of trying to motivate your body to do the job itself.
I have granules from Celox that come in an applicator, and it is designed to be used specifically for gunshot wounds to places where the artery can’t be clamped with a tourniquet. Another method is to pack that wound tight with gauze, and I have Chitogauze XR Pro for that. The Chitogauze is in a stiff, perfectly flat vacuum sealed wrap and it is quite rigid until you open it.
These packages of hemostatic gauze are not cheap. It cost me $25 for the applicator and about the same for the gauze. But it is money well spent if I should need to fill the void left by hot lead, don't you think?
TRAUMA BANDAGES
If you can swing it, I think you should spend the extra bucks and get the OLAES modular bandage. It just gives you more without wasting much space. You get an eye cup, gauze, and an occlusive sheet in case you need to improvise. Never know, but this just screams value to me.
If you don't feel like upgrading to that, I would vote for the good old reliable Israeli bandages we have pretty much all become familiar with in the military. They can be tightened down pretty easily and also used one handed when topping off a gauze-packed gunshot wound.
CHEST SEALS
If you can, make sure that you get a pair of compact chest seals for a sucking chest wound. It is unlikely that you will be able to apply both sides yourself, but you could apply the front one, if you were coherent and feeling like being helpful to your team. Make sure that your chest seals are vented so that you can lower the chance of a tension pneumothorax. Kind of a big deal, yuh know?
MYLAR BLANKET
They are not just for people in the arctic, like myself. They have been used to save many lives when people have suffered traumatic injuries, so don’t go without one. It can be used for signaling, and even to hide your thermal signature. Not the sexiest piece of gear to lug around, but it is pretty useful.
EXTRAS ALL OVER
It is good to have medical capability, especially as an armed citizen in a SHTF scenario. There may come a time when you not only need your IFAK, but more than what it can reasonably fit. For this reason, I like to add extras throughout my kit for medical assurance and for improving gear functionality. Always gotta make sure your gear has at least two purposes to justify the weight, right?
I have an additional pack of Chito-gauze in my most forward left side mag pouch. This is strategically placed in case I need more gauze. If I need more gauze, it is right in front and easy to grab, even if I have to handle my rifle simultaneously. Chances are that you are going to need more than just one pack of gauze. My rear left and front right side mag pouches have plain compressed gauze. In my experience, gauze is something you seem to never be able to get enough of once bullets and shrapnel find a human victim.
In my rear shooting side ammo pouch, I have an old Carlisle style trauma dressing. This is not because “they don’t make dressings like they used to” but because I like to have more than just one dressing, and Israeli bandages are not compact enough. This bandage pushes my 20rd 7.62 mags up to a perfect height for reloading, which is the second point to having it in a mag pouch. In addition, I carry an additional Israeli bandage in my cargo pocket. The gauze actually has a functional use and it is not very noticeable if I carry a 4" or 6" Israeli bandage in my pocket.
If you can functionally swing it, you should try to find some room for some gauze or an extra dressing. Even if it is just to fill a pocket in your pack. These little things are lightweight and will literally be a god-send if you should get mangled in a fight.
SELF AID ‘IS’ BUDDY AID
If you are wounded, the best thing you can do is to stay helpful to the team. If you are hit, you will be doing a lot for your team by getting yourself out of the line of fire. Of course, this is unless you are paralyzed and therefore deadweight, literally. Also, if you are hit, keep in the fight and help by competently firing your weapon accurately at known enemy positions. Just because you got a booboo doesn’t mean that is the end of you doing your job in the team. If you want yourself or your team to have a chance at living, you will stay in the moment and stay in the fight. Lastly, if you are coherent, you should treat yourself as best you can. In these combat situations, you most likely will be your own medic.
You should drill yourself and your team on self-application of a tourniquet and how to use the hemostatic applicator and a dressing to seal a junctional wound that has clipped or severed an artery. Apply the tourniquet properly and ensure you and your team did it right by ensuring there is no distal pulse in the limb. Beyond that, practice treating yourself, but still staying in the fight. Spend more time fighting than looking at what your hands are doing. Tourniquets can be put on and wounds packed by feel, but you need your eyes to see if any enemies are needing you to stop and give them some lead. No point giving yourself treatment if the enemy is just going to gun you down again.
NO NPA?
Some of you med geeks out there may be thinking I am a bit short on my medical supplies since I don't have an Nasal Pharyngeal Airway tube. Remember that this kit is more concerned about gunshot wounds in SHTF. You can have an NPA if it really makes you happy, but I feel that it is more than is reasonable. If you think you will somehow just shove that tube down your throat through your nose while you are still conscious, more power to you.
KEEP THIS IN MIND
I just hope that preppers understand that there will be very little to no help available for you, such as medical centers staffed to feed and rehabilitate you, if you get seriously hurt in your SHTF scenario. Keep in mind that these items may only be enough to buy you some time and give you a chance to pass on information or at least say your goodbyes. For the most part, the likelihood of you having a good outcome after needing to plug a severed artery with hemostatic granules or gauze is very slim. However, it is a good idea to at least give yourself a fighting chance, and hopefully you will just end up like Forrest Gump and take a clean one in the ass. That way you can live to tell your tale of heroics during SHTF to an old lady on a bus stop bench in the future.
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