Integrating Medical and Firearms Training

[Talyn]

It's always a good practice to have medical training and be prepared with medical supplies. It can be a life saver in an emergent situation.

Integrating Medical and Firearms Training

 

[TSiWRX]

I really like that this article didn't just stop at "Stop the Bleed" with tourniquet use, and instead also encouraged its readers to pay attention to more centralized, torso, wounds.

One thing I wanted to point to is that there are differences between combat versus civilian mass-shooting events in terms of the types of casualty:

The profile of wounding in civilian public mass shooting fatalities - PubMed

Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level IV; therapeutic/care management study, level V.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[ Full-text version available: https://www.yolocounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument/61822/637159785062570000 - this should show as a .pdf document that can be downloaded. ]

While exsanguination due to concurrent wounds at multiple anatomic sites is much more common in the military/combat context (think blast injuries), this is definitively less so in the civilian context, where instead fatalities typically arise from direct lethal wounding to the head or chest, with only 7% of those studied in this paper having survivable wounds in these areas. Case fatality rates for civilian mass-shooting events is shockingly high, and in-reality, this is NOT solely due to the fact that a tourniquet wasn't readily available.

It is absolute fact that in modern military conflicts the tourniquet has saved many lives that would otherwise have been lost. Similarly, I read of tales near weekly -if not daily- of confirmed "saves" of civilian lives also from the tourniquet, be it from gunshot wounds or from motor vehicle collisions. It's not my intention to suggest that we all abandon carrying tourniquets: as a matter of fact, not only have I EDC'ed one for many years, I actually carry two: https://www.thearmorylife.com/forum/threads/show-off-your-every-day-carry.177/page-2#post-9640

But as the authors of this paper notes, while "Stopping the Bleed" is undeniably important, it's both foolish and short-sighted to focus only on this aspect of the equation.

Over the last few years, having a ready-access TQ on-display on one's war-belt, plate carrier, or on the headrest of one's vehicle has become a de-rigueur part of the Instagram set. Realize that although the tourniquet is an immensely powerful tool, there's other powerful tools that also reside inside the properly configured IFAK/blow-out pouch. Modern chest-seals and vacuum-sealed hemostatic-agent impregnated dressings take up very little space and are packaged in highly wear-resistant packaging that makes them very suitable for everyday carry.

 

[HayesGreener]

My daughter is a trauma doc in the military. When she was home last year I asked her for some information for training RSO's at our range which evolved in her doing a 2-hours class for the RSO's. She covered the supplies that need to be in your kit, how they are used, and immediate life saving treatment of gunshots. The training was a much needed eye opener and extremely well received by the RSO's. In my view all RSO's and instructors should have this type of training on a recurring basis. Many Fire departments are a good source of instruction. I carry a fully equipped trauma bag and a portable defibrillator in my truck. Fortunately I have only needed a couple bandaids for minor cuts and scrapes, but when you need trauma gear nothing else will quite do.