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Music.

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Hello and welcome to another episode of The Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

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Episode 7, we talk about having a trauma kit and building our own trauma kit

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and the difference between a trauma kit or a blowout bag and a boo-boo bag or

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your typical normal first aid kit you may have in your luxury vehicle or might

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have purchased for yourself at home.

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I’m going to share with you the items that I carry in my trauma kit and give

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you some tips and tricks of things to look for there.

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I want to get this disclaimer out of the way before we get started.

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I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nurse. I’m not an EMT, nor am I a paramedic.

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I’m just an individual guy who wanted to take the responsibility for myself

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and wanted to get some knowledge and go out and get some training.

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And so I’m certified in CPR, first aid, basic first aid, and AD.

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I’ve been certified now for several years, both through the American Heart Association

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and most recently the American Red Cross.

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Certifications are good for two years. You’ll probably pay between $90 and $120

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for the course, but it’s well worth it.

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But that’ll get you, I believe, both adult and child or infant CPR,

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basic first aid and AED use training certification.

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Again, it’s good for two years. If giving someone mouth-to-mouth totally freaks

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you out, grosses you out, whatever, there’s actually a no-breath version of CPR, variation of CPR.

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There’s a website for it. I can’t remember it off the top of my head without

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looking. But it’s all about giving those compressions to the sternum for the heart.

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The most recent studies, findings, teachings is that compressions really are

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the most important piece, especially in adults, because it’s just figured that

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if you’re an adult and you’re not breathing and your heart stopped,

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it’s most likely because of cardiac arrest, hence the compressions being so vital.

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So but I highly recommend the full on program.

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Plus, you’ll be certified and that gives you good credentials and shows people

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you’re interested and know what you’re doing.

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You know, if you’re child care person, if you’re a personal trainer or if you

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own and run, you know, and teach martial arts school.

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A great idea. And I think in all of those cases, it’s actually required for

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you to be certified in CPR and first aid. So go and do it.

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I’ve also participated and been certified in my county’s CERT program.

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CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team. And so I’m one of the CERT members for my county.

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I highly recommend this. Not all counties offer it, but you can look at your

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county’s government website, and if they have it, you’ll probably find it there.

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There’s fantastic information, a lot of which you probably don’t know.

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Like, for example, do you know how to deal with a train that overturns somewhere

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close to where you live and what that means potentially to your neighborhood,

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your family, your house, your surrounding communities?

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You’ll deal with learning how to fight fire on a small scale,

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and you’ll learn how to deal with basic trauma, shock, bleeding, et cetera.

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A lot of good information in that. I highly recommend it. And the best part

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of it is, is it’s free program to the public.

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I’ve also participated in some active shooter, active killer training a few times.

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And part of that training has been dealing with severe bleeding.

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As you might imagine, that’s kind of an important topic goes hand in hand with

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all this active shooter killer stuff we’re dealing with today.

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And so So knowing how to deal with hemorrhaging and severe bleeding and getting

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that stopped in those scenarios is critical.

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So I’ve seen it there. And last but not least, I’ve also been certified in basic

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BCON, BCON being the short version of bleeding control, basic bleeding control.

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And I did that through the Stop the Bleed program.

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And if you’ve listened to our podcast for a while now, I believe it was episode

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three, we talked about the Stop the Bleed program.

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It’s fantastic. You’ll learn how to deal with severe bleeding and learn how

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to use a great number of the things that we’ll be talking about that’s in my

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trauma kit that you should have in your trauma kit.

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One of the best parts about that program, besides the information you’ll learn, is it’s free too.

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And you can reach out to your local hospital’s trauma center and or probably

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your local fire department and they can tell you if they’re offering the Stop

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the Bleed program and stop the bleed also has a website too.

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You can look up and learn about it.

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So those, that’s kind of my background and the training I’ve received.

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Again, I just thought I’d take responsibility for myself and anyone that’s around me.

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Dealing with severe bleeding is just one of the things that you’ll come across

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in dealing with trauma cases, but severe bleeding and learning how to deal with

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that, learning how to stop the bleeding is so vitally important because as it is right now,

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severe bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death in trauma cases today. day.

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So if you learn how the ABCs of bleeding, which we’ll talk about here in a minute,

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or learn how to apply a tourniquet, that can go a long way towards saving a life.

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So I’m certified CPR, first aid, AED.

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I’ve gone through and I’ve been certified in my CERT program with my county,

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and I’ve received some trauma training through active shooter training,

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which if you have an opportunity to participate in, I highly recommend.

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And then I guess you’d say over the last few years since I’ve been more involved

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and gotten this training in trauma and first aid, etc.

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I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to work three accidents,

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two of which I was first on scene.

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I happened to be first on scene, and the second one I actually witnessed and arrived first on scene.

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All three of those accidents fortunately did not involve severe bleeding.

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There were some boo-boos and some slight bleeding that I helped take care of

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until first responders came on the scene.

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But when you get this knowledge and this information, I don’t know about you.

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But I feel like I’m kind of obligated to help when and where I can. I can’t always stop.

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I won’t always be first on scene.

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But I feel like I’m kind of obligated because I have the information and I know

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what to do for the most part.

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So, like I said, I guess it’s fortunate that I was able to stop,

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unfortunate that I’ve already seen and worked three accidents until first responders

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came on scene. So that’s kind of my background.

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I’m hoping that by me sharing this information with you, it inspires you to

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go out and learn some more, to go get some training.

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Again, the CERT program and the Stop the Bleed are free for you.

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And then we’re going to talk about

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what is a trauma kit, and I’m going to tell you what I carry in mine.

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So with that, let’s get started.

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So what’s the difference between a trauma kit and your typical old run-of-the-mill first aid?

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I don’t remember how long ago it was, but I remember the first time I heard it described this way.

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You know, your first aid kit is kind of like your boo-boo, your boo-boo kit.

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And then your trauma kit is like your blowout. You know, if you had a gunshot

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wound, you can’t patch it up

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with the alcohol swabs and the Band-Aids that are in your first aid kit.

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You need something more substantial. Substantial and that’s where your blowout

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kit your blowout bag or your trauma kit comes into play you know first aid.

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Lucky enough, some of these luxury cars and others now are coming with some basic first aid.

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You’re probably familiar with the basic first aid in the offices that are required.

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You know, they’ve got some Band-Aids and some aspirin in them maybe.

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And then you probably have either together or piece milled throughout your house.

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You probably have some items that are more commonly found in your first aid kit.

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Like you’ll find obviously Band-Aids being one. You’ll find little swabs for

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bee stings, alcohol pads.

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If you’re lucky, you’ll get an assortment of gauzes.

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Just your basics, right? And, you know, if you’re really lucky,

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you’ll get a cheap little tiny pair of inexpensive kindergarten-like scissors

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and maybe a plastic pair of tweezers. I don’t know exactly.

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I guess those are for ticks or other things. But, you know, not a whole lot

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to do much more than basic boo-boo care. Hence, the term boo-boo kit, boo-boo bags.

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So I’m going to tell you, any of those are fine. The one that I actually carry

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with me is from AAA, but there’s lots of them, right?

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Everybody’s got a basic first aid kit. Some are better than others.

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I can tell you that over time, as you use things or even before you use things,

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you’re likely going to want to replace items as you can with your own choices, your own things, right?

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Put some better Band-Aids in there. And that’s a great place to start.

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I typically cannot stand and have not had much luck at all with the types of

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Band-Aids that they include in these cheap first aid kits.

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I guess the Band-Aids come out of China. I don’t know.

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But they’re thin. They tear easy. The adhesive doesn’t last 30 seconds after

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you put them on, especially if you happen to get some ointment on the adhesive part of the Band-Aid.

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So the first thing I would recommend doing with your first aid kit is replacing

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those band-aids with a decent brand.

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You know, I got to promote them here because it’s a great Band-Aid.

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Band-Aid brand Band-Aids from Johnson & Johnson make a Band-Aid called their Tough Strips.

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And these are fantastic.

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They even make a waterproof version. And I just can’t recommend these enough.

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They’re kind of a tough cross-woven of some sort cloth-like material.

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And the adhesive on these things is fantastic. As a matter of fact,

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if you have hair on your fingers or arms like I do, sometimes the adhesive is

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a little too good when it’s time to change out that Band-Aid, if you know what I mean.

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But the Tough Strips from Band-Aid brand are fantastic.

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And if you switch out nothing else, I highly recommend swapping out the Band-Aids

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for something decent like those.

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So first aid kit’s basic. But when it comes to severe hemorrhaging,

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severe bleeding or hemorrhaging,

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the first aid kit that comes in your car or that you have lying around the house

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or that’s in the office place likely is not set up to deal with severe bleeding.

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And that’s what I want to talk to you with today.

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So there’s a lot of component parts to this.

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The good news is, is that everything is relatively easy to come across today.

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In fact, most everything, if not everything that I’m going to talk about,

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you can actually go out and find on Amazon.

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I’m sure there’s some other places that you can get the stuff,

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including direct from the manufacturers, et cetera.

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But you can get all of this on Amazon.

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You know, if you’re a Prime member, you can get it all relatively quickly in two days, usually.

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And you can, you know, with a little bit of shopping and looking around and

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searching there, you can put yourself together a decent trauma kit to have on

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your person at all times in the car, in the house, wherever you might be.

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So one of the things that you’re going to want to have is a bag.

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And so what I’ve wound up doing personally for various reasons,

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one, they’re easy to carry and B, they’re more portable, is I get these little bags.

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And I’ve had some success, quite a bit of success, actually.

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I have two or three of them from a brand called Orca, O-R-C-A.

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I found them on Amazon. on. They’re nice little bags.

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Just by eyeballing here, I’d say the bag’s five or six by eight or nine inches.

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They typically have MOLLE strapping on them so you can stick things on the outside

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like knives or your shears, making it easy to access.

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They even, because they’re really designed to be first aid trauma type bags,

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they even include, typically include a little first aid patch to put on the

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Velcro outside the bag, which is a nice little touch for quick,

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readily identifying what bag has what,

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especially if your trauma bag is in the mix with other things in your trunk or in your house.

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So that’s first. Like I said, Orca is the brand I’ve kind of been working with.

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I think Condor is another one that puts out probably some decent bags.

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And look, you’ll find just about everything you want out there today, right?

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Orca just happens to be what I have. So the next item, which is arguably one

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of the most important pieces of equipment,

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not only for the patient, but as if not more importantly for this reason for you, are gloves.

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Gloves and you know especially if you’re allergic to latex i’ve had a lot of success with midnight.

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M-i-d-k-n-i-g-h-t they

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happen to be black gloves they have a sometimes seem to have a little bit of

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texturing to them but they are latex free like i said i’ve had good luck with

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them they fit my hands size large fit my hands you know fine the fingers may

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be a little long but that’s okay,

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The ladies may prefer medium.

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I think small would probably be too small for most anyone, but try them out.

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You can find boxes of these or cases of these, again, on Amazon.

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So got to have your gloves, especially dealing with blood and other people’s

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blood, more importantly.

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So I want to talk about what I have in this, and I’m not going to go in any particular order.

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Just as I think of things, I’ll mention them, make mention of them.

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And again it’s all in the spirit of.

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For the most part, in the spirit of stopping hemorrhaging. So one of the things

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you have to have is gauze, and not just little 3×3 or 4×4 gauze pads,

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even though having some of those either in your first aid or your trauma kit’s

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a good idea because like the accidents that I’ve worked so far,

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the bleeding was minimal and those pads came in really handy.

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But for larger jobs, especially for needing to compress larger wounds where

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the bleeding is more, you know, more severe and there’s a lot of it,

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or for packing wounds even,

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you’re going to want to go with something bigger and a lot more of it.

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So one of the things I have in my bag, in addition to those little pads,

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are these rolls of four and a half inch by 4.1, I don’t know why 1.1,

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but they’re four and a half inch by 4.1 yards of rolls of sterile gauze.

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And just to stop for a moment, sterile gauze you want to use when the wound

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is open, especially a new fresh wound.

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You’re going to want to use only sterile gauze. Now look, if all you’ve got

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is non-sterile gauze or a dirty t-shirt and you’re desperate and you know first

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responders are not going to be there for a minute, go ahead and use it.

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Because the miracle of antibiotics and whatever else, you know,

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we can deal with whatever funk gets contracted by using dirty equipment later at the hospital.

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So if you have to, you can use it. But ideally, you want to have plenty of sterile

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galls. And these rolls are really nice because they’re all rolled up and easy

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to open, tear open packages.

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And they’re nice because you can wrap up wounds with them.

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You can use the whole thing without unrolling it even as a giant compression

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pad to then use another roll to wrap around.

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Or you can undo them and use them to pack a wound.

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And we’ll talk more about that. As a matter of fact, we’re not really going

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to get into technique so much in this episode, because again,

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I want to talk about making a trauma kit and what’s in there.

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If you missed our Stop the Bleed episode, which I believe was episode three,

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that talks more about dealing with bleeding and the different ways to do that, one of which is packing.

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So while we’re talking about gauze, let’s talk about the ABCs of bleeding.

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So this is just foundationally basic, obviously, with ABC.

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It’s meant to be basic for the masses.

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So what is the ABCs of bleeding? Well, A stands for alert.

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And that basically means when you’re dealing with hemorrhaging,

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severe bleeding, the first thing you’re going to do is get on the phone with 911.

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If you’re working with a patient and there’s someone else free and available and is willing to help.

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It’s always perfectly acceptable for you to give a strong command to a specific individual.

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Don’t just yell it out, even though you couldn’t do that.

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Point out an individual and have them dial 911.

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Most everybody has a phone today, a cell phone today, and should be able to easily dial 911 for you.

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Worst case scenario, you’re going to have to do it. But But that A is for alert.

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B is for bleeding. And that’s really about finding where that blood is coming from.

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And so before you can stop the bleeding, you got to be able to find it.

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And so this is where, you know, you might have to unbutton some clothing,

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take off some clothing, peel back some clothing, or even use a pair of shears

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to cut off some clothing in order to find the source of that blood,

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especially if it’s a severe hemorrhaging, et cetera.

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You’re going to want to just, you’re going to want to find it.

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And ideally, you’re going to want to remove any clothing in order to better apply a tourniquet,

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or any method that you use to stop that bleeding anyway.

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So look for that bleeding and find it, which makes sense.

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So call 911 and find the bleeding. And the last one, and the most important one, is compression.

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And that’s really the key piece. And whether it’s a severe bleeder,

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hemorrhaging, you know, or basic boo-boos, you know, the number one way to stop

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any sort of bleeding is compression.

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And what that means is you’re going to put pressure down on that wound,

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grab hold of that wound, put pressure down on that wound, hold it steady and

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firm as you can, and hold it there until it’s stopped.

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And really and truly, this requires a bit of patience because what you don’t

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want to do is you don’t want to lift whatever bandaging you’re using up again.

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You don’t want to lift it up to see if it’s stopped or not. If it’s severe enough,

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the blood will continue to soak through the gauze or whatever it is you happen

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to be using to compress that wound.

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What you’re going to do is you’re going to maintain compression and pick some

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more gauze and just place on top.

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And of course, it’s okay to let up compression enough to get some more gauze

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before you put your hand back down on there to hold it down.

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But you never want to lift up your hands and look. It’s not Christmas time.

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You’re not checking the gift. the gauze will tell you how much

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blood is coming and then you’re either slowing down that flow or

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you’re not and if you’re not you’re just going to keep grabbing more

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gauze and putting it on there if it’s stopped then

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you’re in good shape but the idea is to get that bleeding stop and then you

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can wrap it up and wait on first responders to show but you want to keep good

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compression on there you don’t want to look lift up anything you’re using to

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compress because what you’re doing with compression is you’re shutting off that

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blood flow and giving the body time to clot.

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And if you lift up that gauze or otherwise or disturb that wound,

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there’s a good chance you’re going to disturb those clots, tear those clots

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loose again, which means what?

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That wound’s going to potentially start bleeding as bad potentially as it was

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when you first got there.

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So don’t look, steady compression, lift up, add more, don’t lift up the gauze,

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but lift your hand up to grab more gauze to compress down if need be.

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So that’s the ABCs of bleeding.

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A is alert, call 911.

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B is for bleeding, find that source of blood, and C is for compression.

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00:20:28,396 –> 00:20:31,896
And so with our gauze, we’ve got rolls of gauze to do that with.

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They actually make a narrower width of these rolls, but for most wounds that

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are going to be causing substantial amount of bleeding, I think this four and

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00:20:43,476 –> 00:20:47,376
a half width is a really good width to have and pack in your kit.

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It is a little bulky, I warn you, but it’s good to have on hand.

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00:20:52,476 –> 00:20:57,496
And again, if you want to trim down because of space, then, you know,

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00:20:57,556 –> 00:20:59,916
they do make narrower rolls.

292
00:21:00,176 –> 00:21:03,496
And again, you want to look for sterile galls. That’s the key there.

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00:21:04,335 –> 00:21:09,675
One of the things that Adventure Medical Kits has put out that’s really convenient, and again,

294
00:21:10,015 –> 00:21:14,615
you know, it may not be as much of stuff as you need or the best of the stuff

295
00:21:14,615 –> 00:21:19,975
that you need, but, or would want to have ideally, but Adventure Medical Kits

296
00:21:19,975 –> 00:21:21,715
makes these trauma packs,

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00:21:21,975 –> 00:21:29,335
PAKs, with quick clot, and they’re fast, easy, convenient, and they come in this waterproof bag.

298
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They’re not all that expensive, and they come with things, just the basic things that you’ll need.

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00:21:35,775 –> 00:21:38,975
They come with 25 grams of quick clot,

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00:21:39,075 –> 00:21:44,455
and quick clot, for those of you who don’t know, is a blood clotting agent that

301
00:21:44,455 –> 00:21:49,175
when put in the wound, on the wound, it helps congeal that blood to form those

302
00:21:49,175 –> 00:21:51,935
good clots, which is what we want to stop that bleeding.

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00:21:52,395 –> 00:21:57,355
This has a trauma pad, a 5×9 trauma pad. It has nitrile gloves,

304
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which is great, and a hand wipe.

305
00:22:00,295 –> 00:22:03,875
It has some duct tape if you really need to gag your patient.

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00:22:04,615 –> 00:22:10,875
Just kidding. It has a triangular bandage. It has some 4×4 sterile gauze dressing,

307
00:22:11,115 –> 00:22:13,495
a 2×2 sterile gauze dressing,

308
00:22:13,735 –> 00:22:20,175
a 3-inch conforming gauze bandage, some antiseptic wipes for cuts and scrapes.

309
00:22:20,175 –> 00:22:23,235
And then you know this bag is resealable it’s

310
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actually got kind of like a i guess kind of a ziploc mechanism

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on it so you can reseal the bag and put dirty gauze and bloodied gauze or whatever

312
00:22:33,175 –> 00:22:36,835
in your gloves back in here to give you a convenient disposal so these trauma

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packs i can’t recommend enough i think these are in the neighborhood if memory

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00:22:41,135 –> 00:22:43,775
serves between 20 and $130.

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I know it’s kind of a rough range, but again, really easy to find on Amazon.

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00:22:49,835 –> 00:22:54,115
Just as a sidebar note, when you’re buying medical equipment like this or any

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00:22:54,115 –> 00:22:57,835
of this for this matter, except for maybe the gauze and the tourniquets,

318
00:22:57,895 –> 00:23:00,775
you’re looking at about a five-year shelf life, right?

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They recommend replacing things every five years.

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I’ll let you make that decision for yourself when and if the time comes.

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I will say that, you know, if you’re like me and carry these items and bags

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00:23:11,596 –> 00:23:14,996
in your trunk of your car, the car’s out in the sun quite a bit,

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you’re probably going to want to consider replacing them at some interval.

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And again, I’ll let you figure that one out.

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With my trauma kit, there’s a couple little nice things that I include for myself. One is a light.

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And it just so happens that I carry a little LED pen light here.

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00:23:31,996 –> 00:23:35,716
And of course, you know, LED flashlights are probably as good or better.

328
00:23:35,796 –> 00:23:38,996
This is meant to be more of a backup because especially at night,

329
00:23:39,036 –> 00:23:42,356
I typically have a flashlight in my EDC, my everyday carry.

330
00:23:42,716 –> 00:23:46,556
But just as an example, this is a little Princeton Tech Pulsar II.

331
00:23:46,956 –> 00:23:50,216
It’s an older model, but it’s a little key chain size.

332
00:23:50,576 –> 00:23:53,916
You just press on the side of it and gives you a little LED bulb.

333
00:23:54,016 –> 00:23:57,316
It’s got a little switch so you can turn it on. Otherwise, every time you press

334
00:23:57,316 –> 00:24:00,496
it, it kind of turns on and off real quick with your thumb press.

335
00:24:00,496 –> 00:24:04,016
I recommend one of these or, you know, a full-on flashlight.

336
00:24:04,036 –> 00:24:06,916
If you don’t have it, it’s a good idea to have it in your trauma kit,

337
00:24:07,056 –> 00:24:11,116
which you should have a flashlight in the glove compartment of your car anyway.

338
00:24:11,796 –> 00:24:15,636
I also have, I make sure I have a knife with my kit.

339
00:24:15,736 –> 00:24:19,876
So in this case, I have a Swiss Army pocket knife to go with my kit.

340
00:24:20,136 –> 00:24:22,936
And then as I mentioned earlier, when you go to find that bleeding,

341
00:24:23,076 –> 00:24:24,936
you’re probably going to have to remove some clothing.

342
00:24:25,016 –> 00:24:28,696
And it’s easiest and best just to use a pair of medical shears.

343
00:24:29,276 –> 00:24:33,336
The ones that I have here in my hand are from Prestige Medical,

344
00:24:33,456 –> 00:24:37,296
but I know on Amazon there’s a bunch of brands.

345
00:24:37,456 –> 00:24:41,896
They range anywhere from $7 up to $35.

346
00:24:43,336 –> 00:24:47,436
$7 might be okay, depending. Just follow the reviews.

347
00:24:47,556 –> 00:24:53,136
One of the brands that I see pop up pretty frequently that are around the $13 mark is,

348
00:24:53,695 –> 00:24:59,355
As a brand from Madison Supply, they seem pretty popular and get really good reviews.

349
00:25:00,015 –> 00:25:04,735
So those might be an option for you. These Prestige Medical seem pretty decent.

350
00:25:04,815 –> 00:25:08,375
And then I’ve been following these, I don’t want to say how new they are,

351
00:25:08,475 –> 00:25:15,795
but these X Shears, X-S-H-E-A-R, X Shears, kind of have my interest.

352
00:25:15,915 –> 00:25:20,935
They don’t have a typical look about them, but they’re supposed to be super

353
00:25:20,935 –> 00:25:24,575
efficient. Matter of fact, I watched a YouTube video last week of them cutting

354
00:25:24,575 –> 00:25:29,495
through some combat boots of some sort and cut through them like hot butter, I have to say.

355
00:25:29,935 –> 00:25:34,295
They have some titanium coated, which is supposed to make it slip through whatever

356
00:25:34,295 –> 00:25:36,855
material you’re cutting that much easier.

357
00:25:37,015 –> 00:25:42,175
These are about $37, so I think their models run between $35 and $37.

358
00:25:42,355 –> 00:25:45,215
Kind of pricey, but they’re supposed to be really good. good

359
00:25:45,215 –> 00:25:48,035
one of the things that you’ll want to consider is what you’re

360
00:25:48,035 –> 00:25:50,915
going to do with the shears to clean them after you’ve

361
00:25:50,915 –> 00:25:53,735
used them the one nice thing is if you don’t

362
00:25:53,735 –> 00:25:57,035
spend a lot of money on your shears you don’t feel so guilty when you throw

363
00:25:57,035 –> 00:26:00,155
them out because obviously you probably don’t have an autoclave at the house

364
00:26:00,155 –> 00:26:04,855
to clean them up if it’s a family member you might feel okay using alcohol to

365
00:26:04,855 –> 00:26:09,835
wipe them down but you might you know if you wind up cutting up somebody some

366
00:26:09,835 –> 00:26:13,675
perfectly good stranger’s clothing on the side of the road and get them all bloody,

367
00:26:13,795 –> 00:26:18,575
you might want to consider just tossing them and getting you a new pair.

368
00:26:18,775 –> 00:26:21,855
You know, hopefully you’re not going to be working severe bleeding accidents,

369
00:26:22,215 –> 00:26:23,715
trauma cases that frequently.

370
00:26:24,115 –> 00:26:29,695
So spending that $12, $13, every blue moon shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

371
00:26:29,775 –> 00:26:32,575
So just some thoughts there, some options for you.

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00:26:33,115 –> 00:26:39,275
Kind of skipping out of order here a little bit. One of the things that I have in my trauma kit,

373
00:26:39,275 –> 00:26:43,795
which you may or may not choose to carry in yours are chest seals and chest

374
00:26:43,795 –> 00:26:49,375
seals are used typically in the thorax region of the body you know chest belly back.

375
00:26:50,535 –> 00:26:58,355
Bs are for deep penetrating wounds, like a gunshot wound, a GSW, for example.

376
00:26:58,475 –> 00:27:02,935
And chest seals, again, all of this in the spirit of keeping that precious red

377
00:27:02,935 –> 00:27:05,535
fluid inside the body where it’s supposed to be.

378
00:27:05,635 –> 00:27:11,395
And basically, chest seals are used to cover that gunshot wound, for example.

379
00:27:11,955 –> 00:27:15,755
There’s usually two in a pack, two in a kit for chest seals.

380
00:27:15,755 –> 00:27:19,615
One, you know, the idea being that if you had a pass-through gunshot wound,

381
00:27:19,855 –> 00:27:22,795
you know, say entering the chest, coming out through the back,

382
00:27:22,935 –> 00:27:27,835
you would then be able to put a seal on the chest and then a seal on the exit

383
00:27:27,835 –> 00:27:31,575
wound on the back and hopefully help keep some of that fluid in.

384
00:27:31,975 –> 00:27:35,575
I get that some people aren’t comfortable with that because it feels like a

385
00:27:35,575 –> 00:27:41,435
more advanced procedure, which in some cases it is, but that’s just my option.

386
00:27:41,435 –> 00:27:45,275
And so there’s a couple of brands, and again, really easy to get even off of

387
00:27:45,275 –> 00:27:46,475
Amazon, believe it or not.

388
00:27:46,595 –> 00:27:49,215
One’s called, one name brand is Halo.

389
00:27:49,415 –> 00:27:52,975
You’ll see those pop up quite a bit. And then the other one is Hyphen.

390
00:27:53,375 –> 00:27:56,995
And I think both of them are supposed to be really decent options.

391
00:27:56,995 –> 00:28:02,755
The idea being that you cover the wound, it glues down technically on four sides

392
00:28:02,755 –> 00:28:09,095
in some cases, in others it’ll just glue down, tape down, if you will, on three sides.

393
00:28:09,615 –> 00:28:14,055
Because if you have a sucking chest wound, you want that chest cavity to be

394
00:28:14,055 –> 00:28:19,335
able to vent off air, and so that’s why you leave one of the four sides open.

395
00:28:19,555 –> 00:28:23,235
But at any rate, chest seals are an option, and again, that’s anything,

396
00:28:23,535 –> 00:28:26,155
you know, chest, belly, that sort of thing.

397
00:28:26,895 –> 00:28:31,015
Packing a wound is generally reserved for the junctures of the limbs.

398
00:28:31,095 –> 00:28:35,695
So in the groin area, for example, or the armpits, you know,

399
00:28:35,695 –> 00:28:39,615
where you can’t really make effective use or even the neck for that matter.

400
00:28:39,675 –> 00:28:43,055
It’s anywhere where you really can’t make effective use of a tourniquet.

401
00:28:43,155 –> 00:28:47,335
And then your chest seals are for, again, chest and back, basically.

402
00:28:47,595 –> 00:28:51,375
Chest, stomach, back. So I do carry those in my trauma kit.

403
00:28:51,515 –> 00:28:55,755
You can decide for that whether or not you want to go that far or not.

404
00:28:56,155 –> 00:29:00,335
Because I’m not EMT or paramedics and I really don’t have any experience in

405
00:29:00,335 –> 00:29:04,315
any of my training with it, I don’t carry compression needles and I don’t carry

406
00:29:04,315 –> 00:29:10,555
airway passage things because I don’t know really even how to use them.

407
00:29:10,655 –> 00:29:13,035
So that’s beyond the scope of this.

408
00:29:13,255 –> 00:29:17,195
If you know how to use them, then by all means they should be included in your kit.

409
00:29:17,335 –> 00:29:24,115
But I’m focused primarily on severe bleeding since I know that’s what I know to deal with. Okay.

410
00:29:24,655 –> 00:29:27,815
One of the items that I carry, which is just a nice to have,

411
00:29:27,935 –> 00:29:33,355
but I recommend it is carrying a emergency blanket and emergency blankets are

412
00:29:33,355 –> 00:29:39,275
basically giant folded up pieces of aluminum foil. Okay. Not really, but similar.

413
00:29:39,415 –> 00:29:44,675
They’re basically giant folded up mylar. The idea being is that reflects body

414
00:29:44,675 –> 00:29:46,835
heat in. And if you wrap up somebody’s.

415
00:29:47,691 –> 00:29:51,551
That’s in cold weather or in shock you know that’s going to keep them warm or

416
00:29:51,551 –> 00:29:55,571
if they’re exposed to the elements it’s a really quick and easy way basically

417
00:29:55,571 –> 00:30:00,351
a mylar sleeping bag a mylar sheet if you will to wrap them up in and keep them

418
00:30:00,351 –> 00:30:04,611
warm you know if you had working a car accident on the side of the road in the

419
00:30:04,611 –> 00:30:06,831
middle of the winter it might be really nice to have.

420
00:30:07,591 –> 00:30:11,311
Emergency blanket to throw over the person and they’re relatively inexpensive

421
00:30:11,311 –> 00:30:16,371
and again you can find various price points on Amazon and some other places.

422
00:30:16,811 –> 00:30:21,331
Next on my list dealing with extreme bleeding, hemorrhaging,

423
00:30:21,471 –> 00:30:27,331
that’s one of my favorite things is the Israeli bandages. These are fantastic

424
00:30:27,331 –> 00:30:29,031
for a lot of different reasons.

425
00:30:29,331 –> 00:30:33,951
And when you see them, I recommend buying yourself a couple that make them in

426
00:30:33,951 –> 00:30:36,451
four inch and six inch widths.

427
00:30:36,511 –> 00:30:39,251
Buy yourself an extra one and open it up and play with it

428
00:30:39,251 –> 00:30:42,231
so you see what I mean and you know how to use it more importantly because

429
00:30:42,231 –> 00:30:45,711
it is a little different but you can use these things for compression you

430
00:30:45,711 –> 00:30:48,631
can use them like an ace bandage and when you

431
00:30:48,631 –> 00:30:52,931
open it up and play with it the first time you’ll see what I mean and if you

432
00:30:52,931 –> 00:30:58,491
didn’t have a tourniquet you probably could even use this thing as a crude tourniquet

433
00:30:58,491 –> 00:31:03,011
believe it or not it just serves a lot of purposes and it’s cool for a couple

434
00:31:03,011 –> 00:31:06,151
of different reasons and you’ll see it if If you get yourself one and play with it,

435
00:31:06,171 –> 00:31:11,551
it has this little hook catch mechanism that as you’re wrapping the material around itself,

436
00:31:11,691 –> 00:31:17,091
you feed it through this hook and then back over itself and it adds extra.

437
00:31:17,151 –> 00:31:22,351
It’s really what helps add extra compression down on the compression pad that’s

438
00:31:22,351 –> 00:31:25,011
attached to this thing. And that’s just brilliant.

439
00:31:25,591 –> 00:31:29,991
Additionally, one of the things that I really like about it is that ACE bandage

440
00:31:29,991 –> 00:31:32,931
material that you’re going to be wrapping around the compression pad,

441
00:31:33,151 –> 00:31:37,911
the pad that’s going to be used to absorb the blood and put compression on the

442
00:31:37,911 –> 00:31:40,811
wound, that material is rolled up, right?

443
00:31:40,931 –> 00:31:45,511
So it’s easy just to unwind and wrap around the limb or whatever it is that’s bleeding.

444
00:31:45,831 –> 00:31:49,551
But the nice thing that they’ve taken the extra step to do is they’ve put a

445
00:31:49,551 –> 00:31:53,991
stitch in it so that as you unwind it, you’re having to break this little piece

446
00:31:53,991 –> 00:31:56,751
of weak, probably cotton thread.

447
00:31:56,811 –> 00:32:01,331
But it’s so nice because if you happen to let go of that role as you’re trying

448
00:32:01,331 –> 00:32:05,811
to wrap it around the leg or arm or the patient’s fighting you, which does happen.

449
00:32:06,470 –> 00:32:09,510
The nice thing of it is, is that you’re not going to drop it necessarily,

450
00:32:09,730 –> 00:32:14,970
at least the rolled up part, because that thread throughout the rolled up part is keeping it together.

451
00:32:15,030 –> 00:32:20,530
So as you’re unwinding it, wrapping the wound, that thread will break very easily.

452
00:32:20,730 –> 00:32:25,410
But if you just let go of that roll, you’ll see it holds on and won’t let it

453
00:32:25,410 –> 00:32:27,630
unroll and roll across the dirty ground.

454
00:32:27,850 –> 00:32:30,310
And those two features make that really nice.

455
00:32:31,110 –> 00:32:35,710
Additionally, as a tip I’ve learned more recently, that Israeli bandage really

456
00:32:35,710 –> 00:32:40,490
comes in two bags, the outside exterior bag, which is nice, nice enough,

457
00:32:40,590 –> 00:32:44,250
but it’s okay if you tear that open and take it out.

458
00:32:44,870 –> 00:32:49,270
It’s still in a bag, and it’s still sterile at that point, and that’s good,

459
00:32:49,410 –> 00:32:53,570
but that internal bag, you can keep it that way.

460
00:32:53,610 –> 00:32:56,130
You don’t have to pack them with the exterior bag.

461
00:32:56,370 –> 00:33:00,230
You can just take them out of that one. You’re that much closer to being ready

462
00:33:00,230 –> 00:33:02,210
to use, faster to use with it.

463
00:33:02,270 –> 00:33:05,750
And the other thing is that I’ve also, a little tip that I’ve picked up more

464
00:33:05,750 –> 00:33:10,270
recently, is you can use that internal bag, because it’s sterile,

465
00:33:10,350 –> 00:33:12,790
as a chest seal if you don’t have anything else.

466
00:33:12,830 –> 00:33:17,890
You can put it over a chest wound, that gunshot wound, tape it on three sides,

467
00:33:18,130 –> 00:33:20,590
and you’ve got yourself a makeshift chest seal.

468
00:33:20,730 –> 00:33:25,150
So the Israeli bandages are just fantastic tools in our arsenal,

469
00:33:25,310 –> 00:33:31,630
I highly recommend you include these even maybe before the rolls of gauze.

470
00:33:31,890 –> 00:33:34,910
Certainly rolls of gauze are easy enough and cheap enough to get,

471
00:33:35,030 –> 00:33:39,290
but you should have a couple of Israeli bandages in your mix as well.

472
00:33:39,590 –> 00:33:45,410
One of the things that I want to mention real quick is the use of Cellox gauze.

473
00:33:45,550 –> 00:33:50,830
It’s impregnated with a hemostatic agent that helps, again, with the clotting of blood.

474
00:33:51,130 –> 00:33:55,890
And I carry a pack of that in my trauma kit. I think they make it in rolls,

475
00:33:56,170 –> 00:34:00,210
but I went with the Z-fold, which basically they just took the,

476
00:34:00,290 –> 00:34:06,150
it’s a three inch wide piece of gauze and they just folded it back and forth into a stack of X width.

477
00:34:06,370 –> 00:34:10,470
They make a couple, or X length, I should say. They make a couple of lengths.

478
00:34:10,990 –> 00:34:14,470
It’s good for packing wound. That’s what it’s intended for.

479
00:34:14,850 –> 00:34:18,850
I suppose you could use it for compression if you didn’t have anything better,

480
00:34:18,850 –> 00:34:25,210
But that’s good for packing and that Z-fold makes it easy to undo as you’re

481
00:34:25,210 –> 00:34:29,810
sticking that stuff down into the wound like a gunshot wound and packing it up.

482
00:34:30,470 –> 00:34:34,950
Again, we won’t talk about techniques here, but I would recommend keeping some

483
00:34:34,950 –> 00:34:39,630
Cellox with gauze with hemostatic agent in your kit as well.

484
00:34:40,030 –> 00:34:43,430
Last but not least, I want to talk about tourniquets.

485
00:34:43,550 –> 00:34:47,810
I know that you guys have probably been waiting for me to get to that and wondered

486
00:34:47,810 –> 00:34:50,330
when I was going to. Well, here we are.

487
00:34:50,910 –> 00:34:54,810
Tourniquets. There are lots of tourniquets on the market, and I’m not going

488
00:34:54,810 –> 00:35:00,830
to talk about them all. The ones that you’re probably most familiar with are the cat tourniquets.

489
00:35:00,950 –> 00:35:07,110
These are by and far the most talked about, most popular, most referenced,

490
00:35:07,430 –> 00:35:12,430
most suggested, preferred tourniquets out there probably.

491
00:35:12,710 –> 00:35:16,890
Cat being combat application tourniquet. These are some of the oldest,

492
00:35:17,050 –> 00:35:20,510
if not the oldest, tourniquets or among the oldest of tourniquets.

493
00:35:20,530 –> 00:35:23,470
And they’ve had a lot of experience in the battlefields.

494
00:35:23,570 –> 00:35:28,310
So that’s why I think they’re so popular and get such good press because they’ve

495
00:35:28,310 –> 00:35:32,270
been used to great success in our military, which is the main place you’re going

496
00:35:32,270 –> 00:35:34,570
to see and need to use tourniquets.

497
00:35:34,850 –> 00:35:39,570
There are some others. There’s this RATS, which is interesting.

498
00:35:39,790 –> 00:35:44,710
It’s Rapid Application Tourniquet System. I actually have one of those in my

499
00:35:44,710 –> 00:35:47,450
trauma kit as well. I carry primarily cat.

500
00:35:47,650 –> 00:35:50,370
I have about three of those across different bags.

501
00:35:50,730 –> 00:35:54,210
I carry a trauma kit to the gun range and it has a tourniquet.

502
00:35:54,310 –> 00:35:58,750
I have both a cat and a rat in my trauma kits in my car.

503
00:35:59,110 –> 00:36:02,430
The rats is also an interesting option.

504
00:36:03,170 –> 00:36:08,230
Recon makes a tourniquet as well that smells similar to a cat.

505
00:36:08,470 –> 00:36:13,470
It has what they would argue is some enhancements over the typical cat.

506
00:36:14,330 –> 00:36:18,890
The Generation 7, which I think is the latest generation, the latest version

507
00:36:18,890 –> 00:36:20,810
of the cat, is pretty nice.

508
00:36:21,250 –> 00:36:26,970
But the Recon variation on it is pretty nice. It has Kevlar stitching.

509
00:36:27,370 –> 00:36:31,650
It has a finger hole at the end of the strap, making it easier,

510
00:36:31,830 –> 00:36:33,450
potentially, to cinch down.

511
00:36:33,830 –> 00:36:38,090
And then the windlass, which is the rod that you use to twist it up,

512
00:36:38,130 –> 00:36:41,590
is actually aluminum, metal instead of plastic.

513
00:36:41,590 –> 00:36:46,730
Now, I think for a one-use application type of thing, the plastic that the combat

514
00:36:46,730 –> 00:36:52,510
application tourniquets use is fine, but the recons do seem to be a really nice option.

515
00:36:53,130 –> 00:36:57,010
Let me just say this about the cats and probably the other types, too.

516
00:36:57,110 –> 00:37:01,770
You want to be careful to avoid knockoffs. There’s a lot of stuff coming out

517
00:37:01,770 –> 00:37:06,570
of China that look similar to what it is you think you want and subsequently

518
00:37:06,570 –> 00:37:08,370
have a real attractive price.

519
00:37:08,670 –> 00:37:14,810
Look, a cat tourniquet or even a recon tourniquet are going to be pricey, right?

520
00:37:14,930 –> 00:37:22,390
You’re talking about north of $25, $25 to $30 typically for a cat or even the recon for that matter.

521
00:37:22,610 –> 00:37:29,290
Expect to pay that much. For a life-saving tool to include in your kit, $25 is not that much.

522
00:37:30,236 –> 00:37:33,116
There’s actually the soft tee,

523
00:37:33,236 –> 00:37:37,616
which is the Special Operations Forces tourniquet. It’s another option.

524
00:37:37,936 –> 00:37:42,436
Instead of having a buckle to thread the strap through when you have to undo

525
00:37:42,436 –> 00:37:47,936
the strap, for example, it has a D-ring and a kind of a hook to catch itself

526
00:37:47,936 –> 00:37:49,836
back on, just as an option.

527
00:37:50,016 –> 00:37:54,816
That soft tee doesn’t seem to have the notoriety that the cat does,

528
00:37:54,956 –> 00:38:00,336
but it’s very similar. And I say that D-ring potentially could be faster than

529
00:38:00,336 –> 00:38:02,856
threading the strap back through a buckle.

530
00:38:02,976 –> 00:38:06,096
So just some food for thought there. It’s about the same price,

531
00:38:06,236 –> 00:38:08,516
but again, the cat seems to be a good go-to.

532
00:38:09,116 –> 00:38:15,876
One of the newer ones that I’ve seen out is the SWAT-T, which stands for stretch,

533
00:38:15,916 –> 00:38:18,196
wrap, and tuck tourniquet.

534
00:38:18,196 –> 00:38:22,976
The SWAT-T, stretch, wrap, and tuck tourniquet. and it’s basically a four or

535
00:38:22,976 –> 00:38:25,976
five inch wide giant rolled up rubber band.

536
00:38:26,856 –> 00:38:31,096
It has its, I’ve seen them, I’ve played with them. It has its applications.

537
00:38:31,316 –> 00:38:37,076
It gives you a gauge of how far you need to stretch that giant rubber band to

538
00:38:37,076 –> 00:38:38,516
make it an effective tourniquet.

539
00:38:38,696 –> 00:38:43,896
But you could also use it over the top of a wad of gauze to help just put simple

540
00:38:43,896 –> 00:38:45,456
compression on a wound too.

541
00:38:45,956 –> 00:38:50,416
So that’s an option. I still probably would stick with the cat.

542
00:38:50,876 –> 00:38:54,976
Or the rats, or even the recon, but SWAT is another one.

543
00:38:55,116 –> 00:38:56,616
So that just kind of gives you a

544
00:38:56,616 –> 00:39:01,216
brief range of things that you’ll see out there. Again, cat is the go-to.

545
00:39:01,416 –> 00:39:05,596
The original manufacturer of the cat-like tourniquet is North American Rescue.

546
00:39:05,796 –> 00:39:11,056
So that is the authentic cat. And so that’s what I would recommend making sure that you stick with.

547
00:39:11,216 –> 00:39:16,856
And again, you’re looking at $25 to $30 range for any of these tourniquets that

548
00:39:16,856 –> 00:39:21,516
we’re talking about here, give or take. The tourniquet is meant to go on the limbs.

549
00:39:21,736 –> 00:39:27,836
The idea is that you want to go at least no less than two inches above the wound,

550
00:39:27,936 –> 00:39:31,076
probably ideally three to four inches above the wound.

551
00:39:31,176 –> 00:39:35,356
Like let’s say you’ve severed your arm or your hand. You want to make sure you don’t push.

552
00:39:35,746 –> 00:39:39,926
The tourniquet right at the point of where the limb’s been severed,

553
00:39:39,926 –> 00:39:42,466
but probably two to four inches above it.

554
00:39:42,526 –> 00:39:45,786
The reason being is, especially in the cases of amputations,

555
00:39:45,786 –> 00:39:51,546
is the sinew, the blood vessels, the arteries, the muscle will actually retract

556
00:39:51,546 –> 00:39:53,486
because it’s under tension.

557
00:39:53,746 –> 00:40:00,386
And so when a limb is severed, all that contents of that limb withdraw up into

558
00:40:00,386 –> 00:40:05,506
the body to protect And so we want to make sure we get that tourniquet on high

559
00:40:05,506 –> 00:40:08,146
enough to compress down,

560
00:40:08,446 –> 00:40:12,606
it’s a proper term, to compress down when we put that tourniquet on to make

561
00:40:12,606 –> 00:40:16,266
sure we can get that blood shot off. So we want to go high and tight.

562
00:40:16,986 –> 00:40:21,146
Ideally, we want to remove the clothes. There should be no clothes in between

563
00:40:21,146 –> 00:40:25,226
unless you just absolutely, you know, can’t get the clothing out of the way.

564
00:40:25,306 –> 00:40:29,546
And then we want to make especially certain that we don’t put a tourniquet over

565
00:40:29,546 –> 00:40:31,526
the top of joints because if we do,

566
00:40:31,666 –> 00:40:36,426
the tourniquet cannot necessarily get as tight as it needs to go to compress

567
00:40:36,426 –> 00:40:41,246
those muscles and arteries and such to stop that bleeding.

568
00:40:41,246 –> 00:40:48,666
So avoid the joints, go above the wound two to four inches, and get that thing on tight.

569
00:40:48,906 –> 00:40:52,726
The patient’s probably going to be squirming and fighting and fussing because

570
00:40:52,726 –> 00:40:57,626
it’s painful to put on a tourniquet, but just reassure them that you’re doing

571
00:40:57,626 –> 00:41:01,566
them a favor and keeping that precious red fluid in their body.

572
00:41:01,906 –> 00:41:06,486
So with that, that covers everything that I carry in my trauma kits.

573
00:41:07,186 –> 00:41:11,966
I’m certain it gives you some ideas of what to put into yours and what to carry in yours.

574
00:41:12,566 –> 00:41:17,026
Again, it’s important to differentiate the first aid kit from the trauma kit

575
00:41:17,026 –> 00:41:21,186
because they serve two different things and a first aid kit just will not suffice

576
00:41:21,186 –> 00:41:23,026
when there is severe bleeding involved.

577
00:41:23,386 –> 00:41:27,546
I hope that you never have to use your trauma kit, but it is great insurance

578
00:41:27,546 –> 00:41:31,406
and it’s important that we know how to do those things and use those items that

579
00:41:31,406 –> 00:41:32,986
we have in our trauma kit either way.

580
00:41:33,086 –> 00:41:36,106
So again, Again, look for that training, seek out that training,

581
00:41:36,246 –> 00:41:39,446
seek out that information and the best of luck to you.

582
00:41:40,086 –> 00:41:43,806
That concludes episode seven of the Self-Initiative Project podcast.

583
00:41:44,186 –> 00:41:48,606
I want to thank you again for listening in and we look forward to seeing you

584
00:41:48,606 –> 00:41:50,246
the next time. Thanks so much.

585
00:41:51,600 –> 00:42:10,198
Music.