Concealed Carry & Firearms Safety Training Blog

Why You Should Carry Medical Gear, Part 3

Wed, 15 May 2019 15:26:16 Z

This is the third and final part of a series discussing what medical equipment you as a shooter should be carrying to classes and the range. In part one, we discussed how important it is to carry a commercial tourniquet. In part two, we talked about how to pack and dress a wound to a junctional area with an individual first aid kit (IFAK). Now we’re going to discuss how to treat wounds on the torso, which includes the chest, stomach and back areas.

How to treat an injured torso

The torso is the largest part of our body and houses vital organs like our heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and spleen. It is important that we separate how we treat penetrating injuries to this region. From the neck down to the naval (belly button), we treat those areas as chest injuries. From the naval to the waist, we treat those as abdominal injuries.

We need to work quickly with a penetrating injury to the chest to keep the injured person from developing a tension pneumothorax. This occurs when there is a hole in the chest wall allowing air to enter the chest. This disrupts the normal function of the lungs by creating pressure on them. The added pressure doesn’t allow the person to breathe effectively because their lungs can’t expand.

How to use a chest seal

Applying a chest seal over the hole keeps air from entering the chest cavity and helps prevent a tension pneumothorax. A chest seal is like a big, very sticky sticker that’s simple to apply. All you do is open the package, use a piece of gauze to wipe away any blood and apply the chest seal over the hole. A chest seal will need to be applied over any hole that happens from the neck to belly button on the front, back or sides.

It is important that we cover these holes quickly to prevent a tension pneumothorax from occurring. However, even if you cover them quickly, there is still a chance that a victim will begin to develop a tension pneumothorax when the projectile that caused the hole in the chest wall also caused a hole in the lung. As the victim breathes, air leaks through the lung and into the chest cavity. If you apply chest seals to a victim’s chest and they start having more difficulty breathing, you’ll need to “burp” the chest seal. All you have to do is lift a corner of the chest seal to uncover part of the wound, wipe away any blood and reapply the chest seal as they exhale. This releases the pressure in the chest and makes it easier for the victim to breathe.

There are two different versions of chest seals: vented and non-vented. A vented chest seal has channels built into the sticker that allows air building up in the chest to release on its own without the need for “burping” the seal.

If you want to learn more about the specifics of chest seals, I recommend attending a bleeding control course or trauma medical course.

How to treat abdominal injuries

For the abdominal area (from the naval to the waist), the best care for the victim is to apply firm, direct pressure. Wound packing an abdomen or applying chest seals is ineffective.

To treat an abdominal injury, apply a roll of gauze directly over the wound. Then apply direct pressure to help reduce the bleeding.

Remember the basics of an Individual First Aid Kit

I’ve now covered everything you should have in your individual first aid kit and how to use it. And once again, I recommend attending a trauma care course to get hands-on training on how to use the supplies in an IFAK.

Try to remember the following basic knowledge to help someone when the time comes:

Arms and legs get tourniquets
Junctional injuries (hip, neck, shoulder) get wound packing and direct pressure
Chest and back get chest seals
Abdomen (below the navel) gets direct pressure

Even if you are unsure of exactly what to do, direct pressure to any injury will slow down bleeding until more help arrives. Be prepared when you head to the range or a training class. Make sure your take your IFAK, because it is a simple piece of gear that can have the greatest impact on saving someone’s life.

If you missed the other parts of my blog series, read part one and part two now.

Look for firearms safety training classes near you.

Why You Should Carry Medical Gear: Part 2

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 14:15:59 Z

This is the second part of a series discussing what medical equipment you as a shooter should be carrying to classes and the range. In part one, we discussed that the most important thing you can carry is a commercial tourniquet.

Two reliable options are the Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T) from North American Rescue and the SOFTT-W tourniquet from TacMed Solutions. If you have not already done so, now is the time to make a tourniquet part of your normal, everyday carry and shooting range gear.

Individual First Aid Kits

In this part of the blog series, we are going to start by discussing individual first aid kits (IFAK). Having one is a necessity every time you hit the range. An individual first aid kit includes a tourniquet, gloves, gauze, pressure bandages, chest seals and scissors. It provides us with all the needed supplies to treat a penetrating injury.

IFAKs come in a variety of setups, and not all are created equal. I recommend looking at North American Rescue and TacMed Solutions for IFAK options. Below is the M-FAK Mini from North American Rescue. This provides everything needed. Since it’s small and compact, it can easily be carried on your belt.

How to Pack and Dress a Wound

Tourniquets are an essential tool to have on the range, but what happens if someone is injured where a tourniquet cannot be applied? Tourniquets are the best option for injuries to the arms and legs, but they aren’t the best solution for an injury to the hip, neck or shoulder. These parts of the body are called junctional areas. In these locations, wound packing and direct pressure are the medical priority over tourniquets.

Junctional areas bleed fast. After two to four minutes without treatment, injuries to these areas can become non-survivable. An injury to a location on the body in which a tourniquet can’t be used needs to be packed with gauze and then have direct pressure applied. The goal of wound packing is to help form a clot to stop the bleeding. It’s important to pack the cavity with as much gauze as possible. See the illustration below.

After wound packing, pressure needs to be applied to ensure the gauze can start clotting the wound. A pressure dressing, similar to an ACE wrap, should be wrapped around the injury to help keep continuous pressure on the gauze.

Basic Trauma Classes

The best way to get a full understanding of how to pack a wound and become more comfortable in doing so is to get basic trauma care training. Stop the Bleed classes and basic trauma classes are held all over the country.

Stop the Bleed is a nationwide initiative to teach everyone basic trauma injury care. The courses are low cost and provide invaluable training on how to care for an injured person with a life-threatening, bleeding injury. You will learn how to properly apply a tourniquet, pack a wound, hold direct pressure and apply chest seals.

In the next part of this series, we will continue to discuss the components of an IFAK and why they are important to have. I recommend taking a basic trauma course and purchasing an IFAK to have as part of your gear. You should be able to provide immediate medical care in the case of an injury with life-threatening bleeding to increase the chances of survival.

If you missed the first part of my blog series, read part one now.

Why You Should Carry Medical Gear: Part 1

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 20:44:57 Z

The next time you pack for the range or training class, include medical gear. If you don’t see the importance of carrying an Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) yet, I hope to change your mind. It could make all the difference in unfortunate situations.

Let’s face it, the firearms we’re practicing and training with can cause injuries that could quickly become life threatening. After a penetrating injury, time is not on our side.

Be Prepared

I’ll bet you’ve heard a safety brief like this from a firearms instructor: “If there’s an accident during this class, there will be a cease fire. We’ll call 911 and send someone to the end of the drive so EMS knows where to go.”

Statistics show that’s not the best way to treat an injury on the range.

As the graph below demonstrates, there’s a 40 percent chance of dying seven minutes after a penetrating trauma injury, such as a gunshot wound. The average EMS response time is seven minutes. That response time increases to more than 14 minutes in rural areas. That means there’s a 40 to 50 percent chance of death while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

A Tourniquet Saves Lives

Data and research gathered from war experience proves immediate point of injury care can decrease the chance of death. A gunshot wound to the leg can cause death in as little as three minutes, if the bullet strikes the femoral artery. However, applying a tourniquet immediately can stop blood loss, making survival likely if that’s the only injury.

The most important thing you can carry, hands down, is a Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (CoTCCC)-approved tourniquet. This should be either a North American Rescue Combat Application Tourniquet (C.A.T) or a TacMed Solutions SOFTT-Wide tourniquet. Through military usage, these tourniquets have proven practical, easy to use and effective.

Purchase Cautiously

When purchasing a tourniquet, it’s important to buy from a reputable dealer. Buy directly from the manufacturer or find a reputable vendor who sells genuine tourniquets. There are countless fake and generic devices on the market that break during application or fail to stop bleeding, so buy cautiously. We’ve tested many generic tourniquets, and they rarely make it through one class without failing.

A tourniquet isn’t the only thing you should carry, but it’s a great start. We’ll talk more in-depth about IFAK’s and what should be in yours. We’ll also discuss more about tourniquets, but I urge you to carry a C.A.T. or SOFTT tourniquet every time you set foot on the range.

Also, we’ll discuss the importance of taking a trauma medical class. Just as you take firearms training courses, you also need to take a medical class. Should you ever need to apply a tourniquet or pack a bullet wound, it’s vital to have the proper training to do so quickly and effectively and buy time until EMS arrives.

Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts to learn more about being prepared for injuries caused by firearms.