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.