The new IFAK

Quoted from an article in a magazine:

Titled: "Every Soldier is a First Responder"

"For every 10 soldiers who die from battle injuries, 9 never make it to a field hospital. Statistics reveal these nine Soldiers either bleed or choke to death from lack of immediate care"

What I looked at here was the new Individual First-Aid Kit (IFAK)

"All components of the new IFAK - tourniquet, bandage, gauze, rubber tube, a plastic wrapper, roll tape and exam gloves - are securely wrapped for sterility, and fit onto a Soldier's Load Carrying Equipment belt just as ammo pouches or water canteens do."

One IFAK is being issued to every four initial entry soldiers and it apparently comes in an ACUPAT pouch. The entire Army will take about 2 years to switch over to the IFAK

Well, my question is, does this have any lesson and/or application to us civilians when dealing with traumatic injuries? Should I pack a similar kit in addition to my regular FAK? If so, should I vary it any? BTW, I've not kept up with the latest FAK threads (shame on me)

Edited: I found the article online:

https://www.bliss.army.mil/usasma/public...quot;ifak"

The kit looks good. The only application that I can think of for this type of kit in civilian life would be to keep it in the car. (Unless you are in law enforcement in which case you should probably carry it at all times to treat gunshot and stabbing wounds).

The types of injuries this kit would treat, all involve some sort of severe bleeding, something not commonly encountered in everyday life, except perhaps for car accidents.

I have a Bloodstopper and some maxipads in my car kit for severe bleeding, plus some 4x4s and Durapore tape for the less severe one. Tourniquete can easily be improvised. As far as nasopharyngeal airway, this could be an overkill unless one knows how to use it well.

So, you sayeth, Yoduh, carry it in a BOB we must not? Carry it on a hiking/camping or hunting expedition we must not? What if training with this type of kit we hath partaken?

Personally I have no problem with people carrying lots and lots and lots of gear with them as long as they know how to use it. Treatment of traumatic injuries is simple and doesnt really involve advanced training as long as you follow the rules. What serious trauma needs is hosp not field treatment (only field stabilization). Remember that all bleeding eventualy stops on its own. My typical lecture on soft tissue injuries and bleeding takes about 2 hrs. Splinting is another 2 hrs. If you want to carry all that stuff with ya go ahead as long as you know how to use it.

Personally I evaluate my day and what Im going to be doing that day. I go hiking I may take bigger FAK with me. I go to the range I may throw a bag with some fluids and maybe few extra occlusive dressings. I go diving and I will take my O2 tank. But if I'm hanging out around city or just running around basic small FAK is sufficient. You guys know me and I used to carry a small field hosp with me and many many other stuff. Not anymore. I'm new and improved streamline model with carries basic minimum.

One of my hobbies is target-shooting, pistol and light rifle at a local indoor range and high power rifle at an outdoor range some miles form my home. While I do not normally carry an IFAK, I bought the Marine version as a supplement to my normal first aid kit that remains with my shooting kit. I try to tailor my medical supplies to the activates I’m engaged in. When backpacking I add a snakebite kit, extra Motrin, along with foot care products.

This kit is designed for military usage, and replaces a woefully understocked first aid package that's been around forever. Good components, but there wasn't enough of them. It was compounded by the general "lightness" of the medical training that most troops have historically recieved. The Marines and Airborne both issued kits that had about twice the gear compaired to the regular one, and a wider spectrum of gear, and generally had better first aid training.

It isn't bad, but the tournequit is easily enough made and rarely needed. (The military includes it becuase of the likelyhood of IED + body panel = amputation, in whole or in part.) You probably carry a bulk bandage, either maxipads, or an ABD or spare crevate or roller gauze. You probably already carry a roller anyway, as it is one of the best ways of getting a dressing to stay on a limb. Personally, I'm not a fan of surgical tape, but you probably already have that and/or sports and/or duct tape in your gear. You probably already have 3x3s or 4x4s in your FAK, along with the gloves. And while you probably don't have the training for an airway, don't sweat it- I'm more worried about a trooper who got shown how to do an airway once trying it on me.

Other than the plastic shrink wrap and the quikclot, you probably already have this. And you can find other things with plastic wrap in your kit.

There are SO many places in the forest, where if you stumble, you can impale yourself on a broken branch or small broken off tree, that I would think that this sort of thing would be important.
It just seems to me that you have to consider not just the likelihood of an accident, but also the consequences of the accident, IF, it happens...
It my not be likely, but IF it happens, it is IMMEDIATELY life threatening... And it is not like it is something that is VERY unlikely.
And if you have to be wandering around in the dark, it becomes MUCH more likely.
And if you are in an URBAN area after an earthquake or other disaster where buildings are destroyed, there is going to be re-bar sticking out all over the place for you to impale yourself on!

Please keep in mind the best treatment for impalement is to leave the impaling object (tree branch, rebar, etc.) in place and to cut the object away from its source. Packing/dressings should then be built up around the remaining impaled object and transport the victim as securely as possible to prevent further damage. By leaving the impaled object in place, it is providing tamponding, removing it can lead to uncontrollable hemorrhage. Treatment of impalement in the wilderness setting is really no different then the urban environment. To do otherwise may result death depending upon the location of the impalement.

I have doubts, that the IFAK has enough materials to properly stabilize the impalement, if that is reason being used to justify the carrying of said kit.

Pete

Theory floating in the pre-hospital field is that if Steve Irvin left the barb inside he might have lived. Of course if toxins didnt paarlize the cardiac muscle, etc, etc.

I imagine it is quite instinctual to pull out something that has just pierced your body. It takes a mighty controlled <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> and forward thinking <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> individual to override this instinct. I have had only couple of impaled object victims and it is easy to tell them to relax <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />, not attempt to pull out the object (nor will you) and allow you to dress and bandage the object. However, I am not too sure I would have the presence of mind <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> to stop myself from quickly snatching the object from my body, as it seems my first instinct, whenever I cut my finger, is to immediately stick the offended finger in my mouth <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />.

Pete

In this case, the barb was part of a living creature. I don't think he had a choice to leave it in. The stingray probably wanted to beat it out of there...flight after fight.

My deepest condolences to his family.

Well according to "experts" the barb breaks off. ANyway it is easy to be a monday morning QB.

True enough, if the barb was still attached to the ray, it is likely the ray itself would have thrashed around enough in an attempt to escape, to cause massive/fatal damage. However, if it had broken off, leaving it in place was likely a better option. Doing so would require a strong self-controlled individual. The added issue of the toxin, which I understand is very painful, would have made the desire to remove the barb even more intense. We will likely never know the full story or what was going through Steve’s mind in those last few seconds/minutes of his life.

Pete

The question is... What do you do if you are stuck, days away from rescue, and you get impaled by something...
Do you just lay there and not move because of the object stuck in you, or do you try to remove it and stop the blood flow??? Sitting there may not be much of an option if you do not expect rescue in a timely fashion... If it is less than a day, sitting there may be ok, two or three days, moving around with it still in you may be ok, but if it is going to be a week or more, unless you are surrounded by supplies, I do not see how you could survive with something sticking out of you! <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

True enough, but like I said, it is the recommended treatment, not the only treatment. Of course circumstances will dictate the best course of action in any situation. Having a pair of shears or saw on hand might allow you or others in your party to increase your chances of survival by allowing you to separate the impaled object from its source.

Removing an impaled object will not necessarily result in uncontrolled hemorrhage, but it could and my main point of the posting was to point out the current recommended treatment and that reliance upon the IFAK solely for a trauma involving an impaled object may not be the wisest decision.

Pete

I'll second the "streamlined" approach. Trauma medicine can best me summed up in one word: SLOWER.

If the patient is bleeding fast, you want them to bleed slower.
If the patient is thrashing around, you want them to move slower.
If the patient is panicing you want their mind to go slower.

The "fast" part of trauma medicine is all about how fast you can slow down the problem.

And that requires only a small amount of gear.

Look, the fire company just bought a used ambulance, which was used as a BLS (basic Life Support) rig. This was an AMBULANCE, and they gave it to us fully stocked, and while there was lots of stuff on board, there was lots and lots of the same basic stuff - a cabinet full of gauze in various sizes, another cabinet full of sterile water, some bandages, some ointments (numbing cremes, mostly), O2, some backboards, a few BP cuffs and stethoscopes, lots of gloves, instant icepacks, some goggles and masks, a gurney, some splints and, well, that was about it.

And it just so happened that the night we got the ambulance we were also doing our O2 delivery certification, and we had a paramedic with 20 years experience there, and I asked him to help me make up a couple of jump bags with all that handy stuff on the ambulance. The kit he packed for me was basically a collection gauze, gloves, bandages, tape, a BP Cuff & Stethescope, N95 mask and a penlight. That's it. He said that we could add a "boo boo" kit to that (bandaids, neosporin,rash ointment) but that's not really what a trauma kit is all about.

So back to the civillian use of the medic kit described. While I've seen a crainial GSW up close, I've not a lot of experience with them. The last trauma victim I saw, which was yesterday, was already dead, but before that, we had a pediatric with a compound fracture to the femur piercing the skin, and in that case all we needed was plenty of packing and a stong stomach as the medics attached the kid to the gurney. It was just a stop the bleeding job, as are most traumas.

You don't need much to do that.

Greatings Ladies and Gents; IMO, if you carry personal defence weapons or are in an environment that you might be exposed to said weapons or feel that your FAK would be used to treat others, then it must include supplies to manage (at least remedially) more then a "booboo" kit can handle. With the requisit knowledge,the kit is designed to treat life threatening injuries until more/better arrives. On the street, at the range/class, or while hunting ect., the need is the same as on the battle field. You need to be able to keep yourself or another alive long enough to get to an ER or for EMS to arrive. I think these kits are called "blow-out" kits, and I've seen recomendations that everyone that goes about armed add one to their EDC. Do a web search and you'll find kits of all sizes, shapes and descriptions, Jim

Since the subject of a specialized kit (blow-out kit) for certain circumstances has come up again, how about a Crash Kit for bike riders (either) or even runners for roadrash type injuries? Wouldn't mind having one under the seat of each motorcycle to supplement the Boo-Boo Kit in the EDC bag.

And yes, you could probably put one together for less than one of these pre-made kits...

I am seriously considering what I need to add to my EDC to be able to handle traumas until help can arrive. I am taking an EMT course and planning to carry a trauma bag in the car, but for EDC I'm thinking the following:

ADC Sheers (I can't carry knives EDC)
Keychain CPR mask
Examination Gloves
Vegetable bag from the grocery store
Duct Tape

The more I think about it, and learn from class and you guys, the less I realize I really need to carry.

I already EDC most of this, just need to add the sheers and mask.

I provide training in my Unit for the IFAK and it is a vast improvement to what we used to do. A lot of what I talked about was improvisation with what you have (cardboard, duct tape, etc.) The IFAK Tourniquet is easily applied with one hand, having splinting materials immediately to hand is also useful. Admitedly, the powder to make a sports drinks for dehydration is not a requirement in many circumstances, but you have to remember the climate that many of our Troops are deployed to. All in all, everyone has been impressed with the new IFAK. I personally wish I had come up with the Combat Application Tourniquet; it is simple, effective and the inventor is undoubtedly making a killing off of it.