You have a fairly good kit there Jeanette. Don’t try to envision every “what if” scenario or eventually the kit will end up in a backpack that’s too big for you to want to lug around.

As a normal person going about her business you already have put more thought into this than most. You aren’t a paramedic after all.

Tourniquets like the CAT are great for military use. The type of injuries seen on deployment (bullets, shrapnel or blast) make having these things available to be applied at seconds notice justified. I put them in my kits at home because I get them free and because I am familiar with them. They could come in handy if ever I arrived at the scene of an accident before an ambulance (happened to a couple of friends of mine) or for a hunting accident where it may come in handy. The truth is however, that You most likely will never need to apply one in civilian life under most circumstances. If you did find yourself in that situation without one you could improvise one with a whole bunch of stuff (same as a splint) and medical help should be available within a reasonable time.

In Canada at least, I am technically not even allowed to use one on a civilian as civilian FA vastly differs from combat FA. Application of a tourniquet is a big no no under a lot of circumstances. Not sure about your neck of the woods. The use of combat gauze to pack wounds (quick clot) and tourniquets cause extreme pain to the casualty usually to the point of them needing to be restrained. I would face a judge knowing I saved someone’s life if I had to of course, but that’s just me. I would expect to justify my actions to someone after the fact however.

Maybe you are joking about wanting a tourniquet to be quickly accessible at all times, but it’s possible you might be overthinking things slightly. If you work in a place other than the military where there is an excessive chance of losing a limb or getting shot perhaps.