Buy first aid kit or built your own? Especially tourniquet

[seadonist]

Gold standard in tourniquets:

SOF® Tactical Tourniquet

The SOF Tactical Tourniquet is ideal for outdoor enthusiasts. Make sure your camping first aid kit has one of these effective tourniquets. Order yours today.

mymedic.com

I carry one on my hunting pack, my plate carrier, in my truck and in my side by side. I carry a small trauma kit on my plate carrier and on my hunting pack. I’ve got a larger “catch-all” kit that I keep in the truck and transfer to the side by side when going into the woods. Good online sources:

Galls
Botach
Blue Force Gear


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[fwafwow]

High and tight is what we go by in my fire dept and what our swat medics were taught

High being close to the trunk



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Thanks. Now I’m wondering if it is my faulty memory. I’m going to dig around a bit.

 

[Kayl]

High and tight is what we go by in my fire dept and what our swat medics were taught

High being close to the trunk



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That is the current training in law enforcement and EMS. "high or die"

 

[MNFarmHunter]

Going high when placing a TQ is simply a K.I.S.S. approach as the higher (farther away) from the injury you are, the greater the probability of staunching the blood flow from a retracted artery.

Going closer to the injury brings any collateral TQ injuries closer to the wound itself but that doesn't matter if you miss the artery and continue to bleed out.

 

[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

Build your own, especially with your own tourniquet. It allows you to oick and chose exact thing youll think youll need. Most kits come with basic and excess useless stuff.

 

[BackSpasm]

I was trained professionally by an expert on bleed prevention to apply 2-3 inches above the wound if possible. He cites personal experiences where people lost more limb than necessary in combat zones etc and for the rest of their life they can’t use a prosthesis for instance because they had to be amputated at the hip. The “high as possible” recommendation is designed to make sure that the application is on a long bone and not on a joint where there is collateral flow in a stressful situation. It makes sense in a wilderness setting like bowhunting for me personally to apply it closer to the wound, knowing I am still in an effective area, because I am probably a lot further than care than the typical swat medic, emt, or other rescue care personnel would be. Also for those who are worried about reperfusion injury, a high device creates a whole lot hypoxic tissue

 

[fwafwow]

So apologies to all, especially the professionals, for continuing to post about this tangent. (And for the time it took me to do so, as @BackSpasm and @MNFarmHunter made several of my points below - more eloquently and quickly than me.). It appears that Stop the Bleed and the manufacturers of the CAT and SOF tourniquets are now saying to place the tourniquet "at least" 2-3 inches above the wound (again, other than on a joint).

BUT I remember Dark Angel was emphatic about "high and tight" and I was still curious as to what support, if any, is out there for any variation. I dug a bit further and found what appears to be the most recent (12/21) version of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care Handbook and it refers to both 2-3" and high and tight - with the "high and tight" being placed over the uniform (the K.I.S.S. principle), and the subsequent 2-3" placement being on the skin if the wound location can be found.

I think the most important issues are (1) get trained, (2) be equipped, and (3) practice. In comparison, 2-3" vs. high and tight is less important.

FWIW, after skimming through the 2021 TCCC handbook, although it is designed for tactical considerations, I reaffirmed my personal view that if in doubt, I'm using a TQ to stop the bleeding. There's always the ability to reassess to see if hemostatic dressing and pressure can subsequently stop the bleeding. But if you need a TQ, the time is so short that I want to err on the side of caution.

The 2021 TCCC handbook also reminded me of the possible need of 2 TQs, so I'm going to aim to get a handful of the ETQs.

End of my soapbox.

 

[fwafwow]

I haven't been able to get my hands on one yet, but it looks very promising!

I saw they were sold out but restocking on 12/2. I made the mistake of not checking at the date and time and they are sold out again. Next restock is on 12/16.

 

[PancreasBroke]

Since this thread is still going, red cross has decent online courses that require you to interact and test. You can even get an online cert - but not the full cert. it coats money but may be better vs youtube and you can go in person for hands on test/training after you do their online stuff.

 

[Kayl]

I saw they were sold out but restocking on 12/2. I made the mistake of not checking at the date and time and they are sold out again. Next restock is on 12/16.

I set a reminder and picked a couple up on Friday. I was still hunting and a deer busted while I ordered though

 

[Iron_llama]

SOFF-T and CAT are gold standard in TQs. There are a lot of others on the market, but none have saved as many as those two. Buy from a reputable cop shop or med supply outfit, not Amazon. There have been a number of large agencies - including DOD components - who wound up with unserviceable counterfeit tourniquets they found on scAmazon.

I happen to get good IFAKs through work, so I just carry one of those. North American Rescue has a selection of IFAKs, "blowout kits", "officer-down kits", etc., that are also sold by cop shops like Galls and LAPoliceGear. I did add a "booboo kit" with bandaids, gauze, tape, and Neosporin. I'd advise you to carry your IFAK so someone rescuing you can see it while they're working on you. TQ pouch clearly marked on your upper torso, IFAK visible on your outer layers and clearly marked with red fabric or a red cross. The best kit in the world won't do you any good in the bottom of your pack.

 

[Boomah21]

Just preparing some of my stuff for the upcoming season and figured I would bump this up for others as well