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What's in your IFAK?

Discussion in 'Tilted Weaponry' started by ChrisJericho, May 15, 2012.

  1. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    So I took the insights "tactical" first aid class a few weeks ago. It was great for a noob like me because they told us the key things we should have in a first aid kit and we got to practice putting on various bandages/tourniquets and also roleplayed treating casualties with fake blood spurting everywhere.

    Basically from the class I learned I should have the following items:
    CAT tourniquet
    Quikclot combat gauze
    Israeli bandages
    Possibly Kerlex.
    Possibly cravat with windlass. Old school style, not exactly sure what it's called.

    The class was only about wounds to the appendages (arms/legs) and did not deal with chest wounds. I'm probably not at the level yet where I am comfortable sticking needles into someone else's chest.

    What's in your IFAK?
     
  2. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    The American Red Cross and the Boy Scouts of America use the "MARCHER" acronym to both assess and care for casualties as well as load their kits:

    M = Massive Hemorrhaging
    x2 - CAT Tourniquets
    x2 - H&H Compressed Gauze
    x1 - Quik-Clot Combat Gauze

    A = Airway
    x1 - Nasal pharyngeal tube ("horn")

    R = Respiratory
    x1 - 14 Gauge, 3.5" TPD needle (w/ catheter)
    x2 - Bolin chest seal (occlusive dressing, entry/exit wound)
    x1 - 1.5" med tape roll

    C = Circulation
    [Pulse, check capillary refill, basic shock prevention, etc.]

    H = Head Injuries / Hypothermia
    [Check skull, cover casualty]
    x1 Emergency Blanket (backpack item)

    E = Everything Else
    All other injuries that are not immediately life-threatening.
    A fractured arm, burned leg, etc.

    R = Reassess
    Constantly reassess. Just because you put a TQ on doesn't mean it's working.
    Every 45 seconds you need to go over your casualty to check for changes.

    Needless to say, you also want trauma shears, a stubby black Sharpie marker and a non-300 lumen pen light dedicated to your kit.

    It should noted that your "blowout kit" should be instantly accessible by yourself when wounded. As such, the components in your backpack are the "nice but not necessary" things. Before anybody jumps on me about the occlusive dressings, I have been instructed that I will not be doing TPD on myself regardless of how Rambo I am so it will be up to my buddy to get to the occlusive dressings, sit me up and jab me in the second intercostal space. The blowout kit pouch needs to be positioned on your person so that you can get to it with either hand and should always be placed in some type of "tear off" carrier. Fixed blowout kit pouches are incredibly stupid and inevitably lead to a gear dump, either by fumble or out of frustration.

    If you haven't had instruction on how to use properly feed gauze into a wound, you're probably better off just using a pressure dressing, moving out.

    Have a nasal pharyngeal tube in your blowout kit and know to place unconscious casualties in the standard "recovery position" whenever possible.

    Tension pneumothorax decompression can be pretty scary. Shoving a 3.5" steel needle (especially the 10 ga.) into someone's chest is nerve-wracking. You have to know how to do it though, otherwise all the bandaging in the world is pointless and the guy is going to suffocate. Key to success? Prop the guy up (if possible), find the the center of either collarbone with your thumb and then drag it down, moving side to side to find the second intercostal space. It's above the third rib. You always go over the rib because going under the rib can stab nerve meat. I'm sure you've YouTube'd that, though.

    I like to MacGyver me bright red pull handles and break-away tethers on my blowout kit trays to ensure handling success under pressure. I've also seen guys use masking tape on individual items inside the pouch to make them tear-off as well. Do unwrap the TQs and first layer of the E-bandage.

    A really tight blowout kit is about the size of a double AR-15 magazine pouch. A triple mag pouch gives you even more room.

    Honestly, though... I don't know dick so you're going to want to get formal instruction on this incredibly important topic.
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2012
  3. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    Yeah while practicing putting someone up in the recovery position I got stuck with the biggest guy in the class who told me he weighed 250 pounds and reeked of cigarette smoke. Awesome.

    We talked about the pharyngeal tube stuff but didn't practice putting them in. Have you trained with them and the needles for pneumothorax? In my mind if I put those in my kit and all the "experience" I've had is watching youtube I would probably screw something up and cause more harm than good. On the other hand if someone has a pneumothorax and they're going to die in a few minutes anyway it's not like I can make the situation worse. Shit.
     
  4. Ayashe

    Ayashe Getting Tilted

    cleansing wipes
    compress dressings
    4x4 gauze sponges
    gauze roll (kerlix is better but more expensive)
    Telfa pads (or you could use adaptic under 4x4)
    Bottle of water
    various bandaids
    bandage scissors
    antibiotic ointment
    aspirin
    tape preferably foam - it stretches and makes a good compression bandage
    coban - love this stuff great for wounds on the extremities no tape needed
    gloves
    Superglue or dermabond
    tweezers
    Candy
    those disposable ice packs are pretty sweet, even the disposable heat packs but they add weight so consider that

    Don't bring anything with you that you don't know how to use
     
  5. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    ...you could stab them in the heart.
     
  6. Ayashe

    Ayashe Getting Tilted

    Maybe you should just settle for a napkin.
     
  7. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    Is there a reason why you don't have tourniquets?
    --- merged: May 15, 2012 at 6:40 PM ---
    Right. That's the point. If i do it wrong I could kill them, if I do nothing they could die in a few minutes.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 22, 2012
  8. Ayashe

    Ayashe Getting Tilted

    Yes actually, they are rarely used. You can cause more injury using a tourniquet under most normal circumstances. Once those go on, you have to leave them on until help arrives. Tourniquets are meant for wounds in which the bleeding simply cannot be stopped any other way. They are well known to cause severe tissue damage leading to amputation. Sure, if you are a military medic you should have one but I don't feel the average Joe needs one. Besides a tourniquet can be rigged up rather simply with a belt,bit of cord, a sock, a piece of cloth, a bra etc.. I would rather apply good pressure on a wound and get help. If I were going on a really remote trip where getting timely assistance could be an issue, I may consider it.
     
  9. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Ayashe,

    ChrisJericho did a super shitty job explaining the purpose of this thread because the only people that typically respond to Tilted Weaponry threads are the four douchebags on the board that like guns. Just so we're all on the same page: IFAK is a military acronym for Individual First Aid Kit and deals almost exclusively with the self-treatment of battlefield injuries: penetrating wounds caused by gunshots and fragmentation. IFAKs are also known as "blowout kits" or "bleeder kits." An IFAK does not contain Tylenol and band-aids. An IFAK does not contain IV bags or splints. Its sole purpose is to allow the individual or a buddy to stop massive hemorrhaging, maintain the airway and fix the tension pneumothorax so the guy can make it to a trauma doc. Things like broken bones, burns, etc. are not dealt with because they aren't as life-threatening. This is no-shit-right-now flesh mechanics.

    This is 1980s logic. The current state of medicine, especially tactical medicine, is all tourniquet'd out, yo.

    Exsanguination is the leading cause of preventable death on the battlefield. Tourniquets simply save lives.
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2012
  10. Ayashe

    Ayashe Getting Tilted

    Which is why I stated under normal circumstances, perhaps I live in a nicer neighborhood than you.:p
     
  11. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Ayashe,

    Ugh! You quoted my post before I could edit it 19 times.

    ...

    Actually, this is the point:

     
  12. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    But that would require me to use google to find additional training AND go through the trouble of entering my credit card number on a web page. A man can only do so much.

    I'm also going to be adding thess IFAK components to my hiking first aid kit, most of the time me and my friends are out of cell phone range and a few hours walking distance up in the mountains. Despite most of my hiking party being pharmacy and medical students I'm the only one that actually carries a first aid kit. Asshats.
     
  13. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    THIS.
     
  14. Zen

    Zen Very Tilted

    Location:
    London
    Eh ... coincidence: I've been following this thread and Boom ... eBay just messaged me that one of my favourite sellers is doing this deal -

    eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace
     
    • Like Like x 1
  15. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    Yeah I've been looking for pouches. I'm not a military dude, nor am I one of those guys who thinks he is going to be decked out in multicam and a ghillie suit doing guerrilla warfare when the Chinese/NWO take over my neighborhood, thus I'm actually looking for a bright red pouch that I can attach to molle. I've found a few but they look sort of bush league. The best ones unfortunately pretty much come in 'tactical' colors with a little piece of red strap sticking out. I want something bright red so when I get shot/cut open I can tell whoever I'm with "See that bright red bag?! Bring it here!" As opposed to "See that 3rd olive drab pouch on the right hand side of the bag!?" (This is assuming I'm conscious, if I'm passed out the bright red bad would even be more of an advantage because others would know what's inside without me having to tell them.)
     
  16. Snake Eater

    Snake Eater Vertical

    I have a GP Medium in which I have thrown some basic trauma stuff. I typically just throw it in a backpack when we go on trips... Just in case something does happen. I have yet to see a civilian medical kit that doesn't suck balls, so I made my own. I also have another pouch to treat things like diarrhea, etc. I am just going to talk about my major trauma pouch below.

    Be cautious when using the IFAK as a guide to what *you* should be carrying. The IFAK is carried by everyone in a unit, working as a team, and there is typically a medic with somewhat advanced training and additional medical supplies nearby. With that in mind the IFAK is a partial solution and isn't sufficient for many wounds, such as one gunshot through both thighs.

    With that in mind my kit is oriented towards the things likely to happen to a single person. It isn't for mass casualties or craziness, but should be good *enough* to keep someone alive until EMTs/ more advanced care shows up. It is for everyday accidents and gunshot wounds.

    My contents:

    Two things of Combat Gauze. This stuff is great, but one likely isn't enough for a heavy arterial bleed in a hard to reach location (you won't be able to pack it in place properly), or worst-case two bad bleeds from one gunshot wound.

    Other coagulants that I have had knocking around for a while such as Hemcon. I keep one of these in my kit because it is so small I can't think of a reason why not to.

    Compressed Kerlex because it is awesome and good for everything. It can be used to hold combat gauze against the actual source of a bad bleed by using it as a packing agent. Among other things.

    Ace wrap... With Kerlex and an ace wrap you can do everything you can do with an Israeli Dressing and more. The only advantage of the Israeli is that it is quick... and it is only an advantage if you are once again part of a team in continuous combat and you have to treat a casualty under fire. For most circumstances an ace wrap with kerlex is better. Additionally, the israeli won't cut it if someone basically has all the skin off their legs removed (degloved), which I have seen happen in a bad car accident. The skin from the buttocks was more or less ripped off (intact) down to the ankles. It was pretty bad. Our medic needed Kerles and Ace Wrap to package that kid up and get him to a hospital....

    Two SOFT Tourniquets. That whole one gunshot, four holes thing.

    Hydrogel bandage.

    Hy-Vent Chest Seal with valve.

    Naso Pharyngeal airway (try establishing an airway on someone with a smashed face)

    Scalpel

    Trauma Shears

    Epi pen and inhaler (more likely than trauma, I suppose)

    Petrolatum Gauze (good for a lot of things).

    Gloves, in case I have to help someone I don't know...

    And a few other things I can't think of now.

    The combat gauze is to treat wounds that I can't put a tourniquet around... If you have a bad bleed on a leg it is getting a proper tourniquet quickly so I can move on. The Tourniquet is a sure thing if you do it right.
     
    Last edited: May 16, 2012
  17. Plan9

    Plan9 Rock 'n Roll

    Location:
    Earth
    Last edited: May 17, 2012
  18. Stan

    Stan Resident Dumbass

    Location:
    Colorado
    My wife/hiking partner is an orthopedic RN and yes, I'm the one carrying the 1st aid kit.

    My first aid kit is tailored for hiking, rather than combat. More splint, sprain, broken bone ... less bleeding.

    I carry several rolls of Coban, which we refer to as "doggie wrap". Wonderful stuff, especially for those of us with fur.
    Spare set of inhalers for my wife. When she needs one, I can't exactly ask where she keeps it.
    SAM splint
    Most of the usual

    Which reminds me that I need to go through it, check for what has expired or been used.
     
  19. Snake Eater

    Snake Eater Vertical

    I forgot to add: Pulse Oximeter, tape, needle for chest decompression and turns out I do have an Israeli tucked in their as well.
     
  20. ChrisJericho

    ChrisJericho Careless whisper

    Location:
    Fraggle Rock
    Do you guys have a favorite website to get these medical products from? North American Rescue was recommended in the class but their prices seem pretty high for your average non-agency dude, $46 for the gauze while some very reputable ebay sellers are selling brand new 2015 expiration gauze for $25. The same goes for the CAT tourniquet. although I was especially warned that there are chinese knockoffs to be wary off.

    I know med products isn't one area to try to skimp on, but I'm going to be buying a lot of these items for each bag (hiking/shooting/car/home) so I was wondering if there's a good site I'm missing.