What are the chances we can predict the future nd what it will hold? At some point, if things go sufficiently haywire, we will runout of stuff. The ambulance won't come to apply splints to fractures. A modicum of supplies and goods, properly utilized, will b really handy. This is where real training, hopefully with experience, will be vital'

Enough.....(stepping off his soapbox)

This probably applies to most of us. Medical and combat skills -- highly valued in the imagination of emergency preppers -- are just really hard to come by unless you use them in your profession. Sure, you can take classes, but you gradually lose those skills from lack of use. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I've put in easily over $10,000 into such classes, but I just don't get to use knowledge I acquired -- fortunately, I should say. My life is largely boring and dull.

How do you get around this? (Not the life boring and dull part, but maintaining skills...)

What I do is practice.

Jeanette Isabelle

For firearms skills, I practice regularly and teach. I don’t worry about how much effort I should put into practicing — some people golf, others race cars, and I spend my “hobby” money on firearms classes and practice.

For medical skills, I’m grateful to not be practicing them regularly as a non-professional. While I’d love to get trained as an EMT or higher and work part time in that field, it’s not practical for me. What I can do is take a CoTCCC course approximately annually, and other courses as I find them. “Doc Bones and Nurse Amy” (no affiliation) put on a really good austere medicine class in addition to their excellent books and other content.

Here is a chance for me to trot out my favorite rant. I took my initial FA course as a direct result of my first experience at conducting wilderness search and rescue which became a life changing experience. The majority of my FA work has been in that context. This was mostly in Tucson, AZ, where the wild is closely adjacent. I had lots of experience treating victims, usually suffering from falls and related mishaps, often as a team member with doctors and nurses.

The volunteer group over time became very effective and I enjoyed the companionship and teamwork which developed. at the time I was active we were averaging about one operation a week (much more now).

The thing is, I received more benefits than I contributed and I was very active. Still I got 110 per cent return for every 100 percent contributed. Odd, but true.

Most of our ops occurred on the weekends and I was able to adjust my schedule. My employer, the National Park Service, at first only tolerant of this activity, became more supportive when one of our largest operations was the still unconcluded search for a missing ranger at a nearby National Monument.

Get real experience and volunteer for a similar group near you. If they are active at all, the work will keep you hopping and on your toes and finally, give you great satisfaction...

Practicing is hard when you no longer have the right environment. This is something I discussed with my fellow classmates. Outside of classes equipped with certain facilities, there is just no way to practice stuff like hostage situations, moving human targets, or working in a team. Without partners who are into the same thing, it's just hard to practice, say, splinting someone with available material, transporting an injured person in a makeshift stretcher, or role play emergency scenarios. (The last one requires an instructor to plan and oversee the whole thing, and in my experience is really useful.) Typically these are things you can do only in a classroom setting.

Again and again I came to the conclusion that I'd have to accept a certain loss of skill even with perfect practice, because some things require certain conditions to practice. The things that are more abstract, more divorced from reality tend to be the things we can practice on our own. So a lot of that money I poured into it is just gone.

I think hikermor's suggestion is really good.

Since I'm one person, being the injured person is my only practice scenario.

Jeanette Isabelle

[u][/u]Unfortunately, solitary practice does not allow you the chance to work on a very important skill - diagnosis

After tending to the airway, breathing, and circulation (including severe[i][/i] bleeding, a thorough, comprehensive patient survey is in order. In my experience, this often finds more serious conditions that also require treatment. Typically, you want to treat the condition before moving the patient, even a little. Often you are dealing with spinal or neck fractures or their possibility, the consequences of which could be paralysis or death. Obviously, tricky choices may be involved.

We often transported patients on rigid backboards (better tools are now available) just to get them to the ER reasonably intact. Sometimes you are dealing with an unconscious or incoherent victim - that is really challenging.

you can rarely diagnose fractures in the field - X rays are generally required. So you assume worst case and splint and immobilize.

A good course will seet up these conditions so you have some experience before the real thing....

Recently I added a set of oral airways and the Big Cinch Abdominal Bandage to my medical bag.

https://www.chinookmed.com/01818/oral-airway-kit.html
https://www.chinookmed.com/05151/big-cinch-abdominal-bandage.html

I chose the Big Cinch because of the flat packing.

Separate from the bag, I bought the Chinook Travel Suture Module, Chinook Travel Syringe Module, EYE CARE EMERGENCY KIT, and FIRST AID KIT DENTAL GRAB N GO™.

https://www.chinookmed.com/04611/chinook-travel-suture-module.html
https://www.chinookmed.com/04691/chinook-travel-syringe-module.html
https://store.doomandbloom.net/eye-care-emergency-kit/
https://store.doomandbloom.net/first-aid-kit-dental-grab-n-go/

Jeanette Isabelle

My medical bag is now a medical bag/survival kit. I removed the Pocket BVM and Oral Airway Set to accommodate the added supplies. I also removed the Fresnel Lens, Irrigation Syringe, Scalpel, Safety Pens, and duct tape, as the Sawer Squeese and POCKET SURVIVAL PAK have those items.

The Mk5 is a placeholder for a better knife I plan to include. I'm open to medical bag and survival kit recommendations though I must focus on compactness. The following are the contents of my medical bag/survival kit.

MEDICAL INFORMATION / TRIAGE
(1) Wilderness & Travel Medicine
(1) Tactical Combat Casualty Reference Card
(4) Tactical Combat Casualty Care Card

PERSONAL PROTECTION
(1) Biohazard Waste Bag
(1) Rescue Mask, Soft Case
(6) Personal Antimicrobial Wipe
(2) Emergency/Survival Blanket
(2) Respirator Mask
(6) Bear Claw Glove Kit
(1) Crews Safety Glass - BearKat

BLEEDING
(2) Combat Application Tourniquet, Rescue Orange
(1) QuikClot 3" x 4 yds Bleeding Control Dressing, Z-Fold
(2) Trauma Bandage, 4"
(4) Compressed Gauze

AIRWAY
(2) Bolin Chest Seal
(1) Hyfin Vent Chest Seal Twin Pack
(2) Nasopharyngeal Airway w/ Lube, 28 Fr
(2) ARS Decompression Needle, 10 g x 3.25"
(2) SAM ThoraSite

WOUND / BLISTER / BURN
(3) Burn Jel, 3.5 g
(1) 30 Band-Aid, 6 Knuckle, 6 Moleskin
(1) Durapore Tape, 1"
(1) Stretch Gauze, 3" x 12 yds.
(1) Wound Closure Strips, 0.25" x 4"
(2) Non-Adherent Dressing, 3" x 4"
(5) Sterile Gauze Pad, 3" x 3"
(6) Povidone-Iodine Prep Pad

IMMOBILIZATION
(1) Elastic Bandage Wrap, 3" x 4.5 yds.
(1) Splint, Orange, 4.25" x 36"
(2) Cravat Triangular Bandage

MEDICATION
(1) Eye Wash, 4 oz.
(6) Aspirin, 2/pk (Analgesic)
(6) Diamode, 1/pk (Anti-diarrheal)
(6) Diotame, 2/pk (Stomach)
(6) Diphen, 1/pk (Antihistamine)
(6) Hydrocortisone 1% Creme, 1.5 g
(6) Ibuprofen, 2/pk (Anti-inflammatory)
(6) Triple Antibiotic Ointment, 0.9 g
(2) Hydration Powder
(2) Glucose, 15 g
(1) Insect Bite Treatment

INSTRUMENTS
(1) Digital Thermometer
(1) EMT Shears, 7.25"
(1) Permanent Marker, Extra-Fine Point
(1) Tweezers
(1) Blood Pressure Kit
(1) Disposable Penlight
(1) Stethoscope, Sprague
(1) Hemostat, Kelly Forceps Straight, 5.5"

LIGHTS / SURVIVAL GEAR
(1) SYNC 200
(1) Sawyer Squeeze
(1) POCKET SURVIVAL PAK
(1) RSK Mk5

OTHER
(1) TMM-DE, Dental Module

Jeanette Isabelle