Just a reminder…

[hewrue]

…you can bleed out really quick and you can stop breathing real quick. Keep the red stuff in and keep the air moving. Tourniquets on the arms and legs, chest seals on the torso (collar bone to belly button) wound packing in the arm pits, neck and groin.

Assuming that most people don’t keep CAT tourniquets, chest seals and combat gauze with them, here’s some substitutes:

Tourniquet: hunting vest, strip of shirt or pants, weapon sling, cloth belt. Leather belts don’t work too well. Tie the material around the extremity high and tight and then put a stick, flashlight, etc. underneath it and twist it as tight as you can.

Chest seal: duct tape, shopping bag taped down, your hand. Just cover the hole and keep it sealed. And don’t forget the exit hole if there is one.

Gauze: literally any cloth. Your shirt, hunting vest, Chic-Fil-A napkins from your center console, etc. The goal isn’t to soak up the blood, it’s to apply pressure to the severed artery. So just jam something in there and hold pressure.

 

[Torn]

Good advice. Anyone that spends time in the woods, especially remote areas, should take an advanced first aid course as a minimum. Having a first aid kit is great but if you don’t know how to use it doesn’t do much good especially if you don’t know how to recognize the symptoms.

For years I was a trail worker, USFS sawyer instructor, long distance hiker and spent a lot of time in remote mountain areas so I got certified as a WFR (Wilderness First Responder). It was great medical training and I‘ve used it on several occasions over the years helping injured hikers with everything from sprained ankles, cardiac and diabetic issues, dehydration and back injuries.

One of the more serious was an all day medevac of a semi-conscious hiker suffering from diabetic, hypothermia and anxiety attacks (forgot to take her meds that morning before starting her hike) down a rugged snow covered mountain trail in February using a camp cot that I borrowed as a litter, a sleeping bag and the help of other hikers to get her to a road and a waiting ambulance.

 

[Wolf six]

For me its the fact a lot of my family leans on me and getting hurt means a lot of people are going to be put in a bad position. A lot of the purpose built 1st aide stuff is "cheap" if you divide its cost over the years you've had it.

 

[Torn]

For me its the fact a lot of my family leans on me and getting hurt means a lot of people are going to be put in a bad position. A lot of the purpose built 1st aide stuff is "cheap" if you divide its cost over the years you've had it.

Very true. I build my own kits for my truck, home and pack and keep them fresh. Like you said, most store bought kits use cheap, flimsy equipment, may have out of date meds and the last thing you need is something to break or not work when you need it.

 

[hewrue]

For me its the fact a lot of my family leans on me and getting hurt means a lot of people are going to be put in a bad position. A lot of the purpose built 1st aide stuff is "cheap" if you divide its cost over the years you've had it.

So many people have a hard time justifying a $35 tourniquet but they’ll spend that on three trips to Wendy’s. Preparedness isn’t expensive when you consider the alternative.

 

[Torn]

So many people have a hard time justifying a $35 tourniquet but they’ll spend that on three trips to Wendy’s. Preparedness isn’t expensive when you consider the alternative.

Yep. It’s an investment you hope you don’t need to use, but may be a high price to pay if you don’t have one.