Wound Packing is typically sterile (moot point) kerlix gauze that's intended to plug holes in the body. Commercial chest seals are tested and designed to stick to despite blood, sweat, and hair and they are a far better option then arts & crafts. Tape all 4 sides (3 is no longer recommended). You can fashion an improvised chest seal with plastic and or tape. Holes in the armpit are commonly missed, get in there and look. Rely on more then on sense.ĭon't forget to check the downside, roll or sit up the victim to inspect the back. Rake the chest with a monkey claw technique, it's not uncommon to miss large holes because the skin can move and rescuers often develop tunnel vision. Seal the biggest scariest hole first or the one most likely to be pulling in air. Seal every hole from the belly button to the neck 360 degrees around the torso. There is not much treatment that can be provided on scene for internal injuries or internal bleeding, the best option is to seal all holes in the chest, abdomen, and back with an occlusive dressing to prevent air from entering or exiting the chest. Gunshot wounds can often be through & through, secondary injuries from a blast are caused by projectiles flying into the body with a high level of kinetic energy. A thorough examination and exposing of the chest is key part of examining a patient that has suspected penetrating trauma. As a professional instructor that's trained thousands of people, I cannot stress how important quality training and practice is, when it comes to performance in a real life situations.Ĭenter mass is where we teach shooters to aim. I am far less concerned with the specific tourniquet that you purchase and far more concerned about your level of training. The simple answer is the one that your carrying. People always ask what is the best tourniquet. I'd recommend at least on tourniquet as part of your everyday carry and at least one more in a go-bag or IFAK. Nowadays most are carrying one on the outside and one or two more in a pocket or IFAK. You can purchase a CAT tourniquet or SOFT-W for about $30 or a SWAT-T tourniquet for $15 and they take up very little space. I realize the likelihood of that many bleeding extremities is slim to none, that being said in 2004 military personnel deployed in Iraq carried just one tourniquet. If you are stocking a trauma bag for your vehicle and happen upon an accident with three people involved, mathematically speaking that's twelve limbs. Unfortunately there isn't a right answer to that question. It's always a better solution to use the right tool for the job then to try to use stick & rags and wing it. The answer to this question is a resounding YES you can, but it's important to understand that improvised tourniquets are ineffective about 75% of the time. Tourniquets have been around for hundreds of years, new commercial tourniquets have expelled the myth that placing a tourniquet will resort in an amputation, read some other common myths here. Tourniquets are no longer a LAST RESORT item, they should be a First Resort consideration. They do this to save precious seconds and avoid having to fumble through the kit to locate the tourniquet in an emergency situation. Military personnel and Law Enforcement officers often carry their tourniquets on their body armor or duty belt, within arms reach as opposed to inside a kit. Limbs make up about 50% of the body surface area and commercial tourniquets are a proven, safe, and effective means of stopping a life threatening bleed. This is the number one absolute must have item. Use this reference when your considering purchasing a pre-made kit or whether your creating your own kit or adding items to your first aid kit or bug out bag. Ounces make pounds, and pounds equal pain. These are the items a good kit must have and the list is a great starting point, it's always better when you can add additional tools to get the job done but adding more to a kit or bag means additional weight and additional costs. The goal is to discuss and make recommendations on the absolute essential items you must have to render aid to a trauma victim. It is not the intent of this post to get into the different manufactures or the wide range of mounting options, or even to compare one to the other. It can be very confusing even for those of us who work in and around these items everyday to decide on what to spend our hard earned dollar on. IFAKS come in a broad range of shapes and sizes, and every color imaginable from multi-cam to blacktical, all with a laundry list of interchangeable components. Trauma kits often referred to as IFAKS ( Individual First Aid Kits ) come in many different shapes and sizes and can vary in cost from $30 to upwards of $300.
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