Tactical First Aid

No such thing as "tactical" First Aid. There's just First Aid. All First Aid is "tactical".
Did the Red Cross course recently. Thought it was too short with insufficient practice. Even the CPR part was mostly playing with the machine and not enough on the dummy. That might have been due to the circumstances though. Government sponsored in a lousy location. Big, empty, banquet hall with horrible acoustics.
Did the St. John's Standard years ago. It was much better.
 
First Aid training is not TCCC. Drop the semantics and realize that a TCCC course is a good next step after a first aid course.
 
I agree with Mark

Get past the Red Cross BASIC bandaid stuff and get into a TCCC course. If you are not prepared to get bloody and apply a Tourniquet, hemostatic agent or do a needle decompression...then your skills are sub-par in a critical incident.
 
Check your state laws, most have a 'Good Samaritan' law that eliminates your liability to any party involved as long as you acted in good faith and within the limits of your training.

Having said that, it took nearly 5 years to get Defibrillators in our offices, in compliance with Federal law, because some staff thought they were lawsuit magnets, totally without justification.
 
I am a 38 year firefighter and a 31 year EMT. Much has changed in the world of EMS in 31 years. Tourniquets are back in use for massive bleeding and not just for those circumstances where transport is not available. If it is the only way to stop bleeding we would apply a tourniquet and transport as rapidly as we can. MAST pants have come and gone, cpr has changed dramatically, use of long boards for spinal immobilization has been reduced, oxygen is not an automatic for any and all emergency calls.

The only thing tactical about EMS is going in and doing the job during dangerous situations, including active shooters.
 
And get training so you know neither of these should be done unless evacuation
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And get CURRENT training in stopping bleeding and establishing an Airway as the most immediate and CRITICAL elements of saving that life
 
I was reading about some of the EMS/First Aid treatments which have come and gone over the years. At one point in my formative years, I recall "First Aid" for darned near everything being 12-year-old Single Malt Scotch. Didn't really HELP much, but who cares?
 
I carry several sizes of clotting pads/cloths in each of my vehicles. For those who know or have seen used, are they worth a diddly?
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If you are referring to the Kwik-clot products...they work as advertised. The original powder was a PITA and had some serious limits and drawbacks. Still it was the best thing out at the time.

The newer "combat gauze" is good stuff. Pack it in and put a pressure bandage over it. Most bleeding will be stopped by that.
 
If your training happened long enough ago that someone told you not to apply a tourniquet unless evacuation was not possible, your training is outdated and WRONG.

The rules have changed, along with our understanding of best practices to save lives. The things we learned just a few short years ago aren't true any longer. Get yourself to a class! :)

pax
 
If you are not prepared to get bloody....
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No one should be prepared to come into contact with blood born pathogens. You need training to avoid such exposer. Even if it's a family member, the latex gloves go on before I make contact with anyone.

Mike38, Illinois Department of Public Health Certified EMR FRD.
 
Amen Pax....

When i got into Govt contracting, the client we worked for mandated TCCC training. It was a far cry from what i was trained in the Marine corps back in the day. Different then any Department training not so long ago.

Needle decompressions, cricothyrotomy, starting lines. Way more then the EMT basic course i took.

My experience is that ANY serious bleed that i have any doubt about controlling IMMEDIATELY, gets a tourniquet. If there is ANY spurting...tourniquet.

Even in a big city with 911 services, a person can bleed out before professional help arrives. When in doubt...tourniquet.

If i think i can control it with direct pressure (Israeli bandage and kwik-klot) i'll do that. But if there is any doubt...a tourniquet is my go to.
 
Old adage of if you carry a knife for self defense prepare to get stabbed. I imagine it stands true that if you carry a gun.
Im a not so fresh EMT and TCCC trained. Trauma has the simple rules of bones are straight or curved and and under the skin, blood goes round and round, air goes in and out. If anything changes, splint, cover and plug.
If any fluid is coming out of the body, always glove up.
Bandages only go so far Quck Clot is great ,TQs have the most stopping power, but can be over kill.
The rule for bandages even hemostatics is plug into the bleed, pack to the bone and wrap.
TQs have been a big and evil No! in the civilian world, and military due to the old school of thought that as soon as you apply it correctly(stopping the blood flow completely) the limb is dead. direct studies from combat hospitals have proven it takes about 4 hrs for limb death to happen.
Every medical company has their own best thing since fire medical kit. I've used and finger banged a lot of bandages and have found Tacmedsoultutions to figure out a good all in one bandage, they have created a modular bandage that has occlusive dressing( piece of plastic sheet to cover airway wounds), gauze, and a pressure cup and dressing all in one package. It can be used as once piece, or taken apart.
 
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