School Me on Field Dressings

[workinwifdakids]

Well, color me impressed.

OK, I withdraw/suspend what I said about tourniquets before pending talking to a couple of EMT/paramedic friends, and some other people. I'll post what they say whether it supports my position or not. It's not too often I'm pants-down wrong, but I'll admit it if so.

EDIT: Oh, and don't be sorry - if I post something that could hurt someone, I want to know. I'm here to learn, and I try not to let me ego get in the way of that.

[moose42]

Tourniquets are quite effective at stopping gushing head wounds. Place it around the neck of the patient and crank that puppy down. The bleeding will stop in short order.*

The old days of automatic amputation from a tourniquet are long gone. I talked to an Idaho National Guard Medic who went there and got the t-shirt, he's put tourniquets on people and had them fully recover with all their appendages.


*Side effects may include death.

[Kommander]

Don't worry about it. Keep in mind when you talk to your friends that some of this stiff has not fully disseminated through the civilian medical services. Several times on other forums I have watched EMTs and the like be educated, sometimes rather harshly, by military medical personal.

Just as an example I have found Moose's method of dealing with head trauma to be quite effective on a few of my co-workers, even though they were only suffering from minor injuries.

[workinwifdakids]

Kommander, I stand corrected. What I said was outdated by many years, to the extent that it's completely wrong. I apologize, and appreciate you for correcting me, and I appreciate other anonymous people for leading me to water, so to speak.

Here is another small note that someone sent me. As for me, it's off to the online retailer - for a couple of tourniquets.

[Kommander]

I should add here that I am not encouraging the use of this stuff in all, or even most cases. The vast majority of the time a simple dressing and trip to the ER will suffice, but for that one time you need this stuff, nothing else will do.

As some of you may recall several months ago one of my coworkers was shot once in each inner thigh. The doctors told him that he had be very luck as both bullets had pass straight through his thighs, missing his femoral arteries by less than an inch in one case. Though I was already carrying a first aid kit in my work bag, this stayed in the truck and would be useless if I got injured outside the truck. So I did allot of research (discovering allot of what I knew was wrong) and developed a small GSW kit to put on my belt. This kits consists of a compression bandage and a SWAT-T tourniquet stuffed into a Maxpedition pouch. I wanted to add some QuikClot gauze but while it fit the pouch would stick out too far to allow proper movement. When I get my vest later this month I will put the gauze back in.

Earlier workinwifdakids did say something rather important "You have to be comfortable using your gear." This is why I don't carry IV bags, intubation tubes, or chest seals. I have read the training materials on and practiced with my bandages and tourniquets and feel comfortable using them. I really wish I could get some formalized medical training, but I am having some difficulty finding a decent class that teaches what I want. I recall one first aid class I took in High School essentially taught us to do some piddly common sense stuff (run burns under cold water) and then call 911 and I would like to avoid a repeat of that.

Lastly here is an awesome discussion about why you should have a GSW kit with you when you go shooting.

[Legman688]

Make friends with a bunch of EMTs (Seriously, you can get some practical advice of what, and what not to carry).

Galls has a lot of EMT/Paramedic level supplies available.

If you haven't done so for a while (or never read them), review Aesop's Lessons in the wiki for ideas and discussion on what, and what not to, stock.

That's exactly what I did when I was in Boy Scouts. Which is probably how I ended up with every first-aid related merit badge the BSA offered as of 1999.

That's a handy link, thanks. Prices are higher than Chinook though.

Reviewed Aesop's stuff before I even started putting it together. Which is why I no longer have any intention of carrying an epi pen, for instance, and went to the trouble of procuring Bactine.

I've got a bunch of HemCon bandages if you want some. They do contain shrimp chitin, so if you have shellfish allergies they're a definite no-go.

Also, I promise I won't charge you 150 bucks each

I appreciate the offer, but I will pass. I already have Celox and QuikClot on the way, and Hemcon was only 48% effective in tests. The same source (can't find the link atm) also said that the shrimp chitin in Hemcon and Celox will not affect an allergic person.

Your going to need to some research into modern methods of treating trauma. Tourniquets, compressed gauze, hemostatic agents, and compression bandages are now the order of the day.

I have been, but couldn't find anything that answered this specific question. I also wasn't looking at tourniquets for all the reasons you mentioned. You've persuaded me to add one at least to my field kit.

I'll give Doc Russia a heads up about this topic, he has a lot to say and he even built me a primo FAK.

That sounds like a plan. Clearly I am not the only one with an interest in this topic.

The Appleseed Forum had quite a comprehensive GSW kit at one time. Don't know if it is still there or not.

Try appleseedinfo.org and go to the forum.

Looked, couldn't find it. Did find out there are Appleseed shoots in College Station though

And I thought it was about what to wear to the hottest social events in a field.

Orange blazers and shoes with flames!

[Dub_James]

Why aren't magic brownies on the list? Good clotting and low dose narcotics

[Kommander]

I honestly only have experience with the Izzys. I have heard that the Oales are better, but are also bulkier. Next time I order some medical stuff I will get a few to play with.

Here are the instructions for the CAT. The SOF-T works on a similar principle.

[Combat Controller]

Is there a thread about your co-worker? I am interested in the story...

[Kommander]

Is there a thread about your co-worker? I am interested in the story...

I posted about it here. I have some updates but I don't know if I should post them here or there as I don't want to hijack this thread.