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Trauma IFAK and trained individual at matches?


RickT

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I run a scaled down SC match and recently took a basic trauma treatment class.  I know one of the IDPA matches I've shot in the past has supplies and almost always someone on hand who has had some training.  Is the the rule or the exception at club level and beyond?   I suspect it's much more the rule and I've just been oblivious.  I'm sold and I would rank the kit an basic training right up there with CCW and seatbelts.  

 

Case in point there was a recent ND at a police range where the first tourniquet (CAT) broke (it had been in a cruiser trunk for a number of years) and they had to use a second.  Basic supplies cost almost nothing and even with basic training a life could be saved.

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I didn't see a video, but the latest Gen 7 CATs have a stouter windlass;  it's the windlass that apparently failed.  The instructor in my basic class suggested one year changeout if worn outdoors on a vest or belt due to UV exposure, not an issue for us civilians.  The windlass that failed had apprently been in a hot cruiser trunk for a number of years.

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We had a sponsor (http://www.paratus46.net/) give a 30 minute class to all ROs at the Run N Gun going over very basic gunshot would immediate response (direct pressure, pressure points, tourniquet, pressure bandage, evac) before the match started. Several of the folks there were ex-mil or LE and had already had this training and more, but for the rest of us it was very useful.  I came home and bought  a tourniquet and pressure bandage and will take it with me from now on.  Hopefully I never have to use it, but it's stupid NOT to have one.

Edited by Matt in TN
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Getting shot is not the only risk at the range.  This one could have happened on a golf course... but there would not have been the immediate assistance.

Before every match, the MD asks for a show of hands on CPR and assigns guides to keep the road open. 

 

June 10 IDPA started out well, but I nearly passed out on my fifth stage. The BG emergency team swung into action and I was getting care in short order. The gates were manned and an ambulance (Fire engine with EMTs, too.) came right in and whisked me away to Brookwood Medical Ctr. I was diagnosed as "orthostatic hypotension." Seems like when I stood up to go shoot, I outran the blood supply to my brain likely due to hot weather and low blood volume/blood pressure. A guy I know only as Mike and another medic at the range and Dr Hudson and his minions at Brookwood took good care of me and I am feeling lots better today. Thanks also to Randy, Suzeann, and Bill who gave up the rest of their day to support me and get me home.

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I stopped off at our local practice range at the scheduled end of a Cowboy match.  Temps were 100 degrees or so.  there was a gent flat on his back in the shade waiting for the EMTs.  Might have been heat stroke, but it took the EMTs 15 minutes to get there.  This range is associated with a sporting clays facility with an air conditioned office and golf carts that could have been used to transport him.  There were ice chests around.  Not an EMT, but it seems like getting him out of the heat would have been a good idea.

 

 

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Volunteer EMT here, with about 16 years under my belt. Close to 2000 patients treated at this point.
 

@RickT that guy should definitely have been moved into a cooler location. If they have an on site office with AC and golf carts there's really no excuse. If there's no trauma or other contraindication, always move the patient to the most comfortable position/location. Especially if EMS has an extended arrival time. And yeah, at the very least, use some ice for a cold compress on the wrists!  Heat stroke needs to be reversed ASAP.

 

To answer the OP: at my local weeknight match, as part of the shooter meeting the match director always asks for a show of hands from anyone with advanced medical training. There's always a couple of us and I think it's a great move.  All small matches should do it.  There's also a comprehensive med kit stored near the gate, and he points it out so that anyone/everyone knows where it is and to grab it.

 

Personally, I have a tourniquet, set of chest seals, airway management tools, and 2 trauma dressings that live in my range bag. In my car I have a more comprehensive kit as well.  I recommend everyone take, at the bare minimum, the Red Cross First Aid and CPR class. Once you have that, move on to TCCC. If you spend enough time around guns, statistically, eventually someone is gonna get hurt. Or just have a heart attack.

Edited by ClangClang
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  • 7 months later...

+1 on the fact that more than GSWs can happen. An instructor and I pulled a heat casualty off the line one summer during a local class, sending her off by ambulance. 

 

I keep a small kit attached to my range/stage backpack, with essentials like a CAT, some gauze, pressure dressing, tape to improvise chest seal, nasal airway, long needle, and compact TK4 in case the CAT fails or needs a little boost. My larger bag is a NARP kit that rides in my daily driver. Some of the stuff may be expired, but expired trauma supplies are better than nothing. The only time that kit has been used in anger was when I used the SAM splint to immobilize my own unstable broken ankle. 

 

This thread actually reminded me to get some more Israeli dressings. They are handy for pressure and areas not amenable to tourniquets. I used one a few months ago for a GSW on a guy's deltoid. It controlled an arterial bleed that was squirting several feet. 

Edited by sleepdr
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  • 2 weeks later...

One area that USPSA is specifically lacking is any type of medical planning or SOP's for treating at match GSW's.

At a minimum range staff should have basic self-aid/buddy aid training and all matches should be required to have a trauma kit. 

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  • 3 months later...
On ‎3‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 11:26 AM, threat said:

One area that USPSA is specifically lacking is any type of medical planning or SOP's for treating at match GSW's.

At a minimum range staff should have basic self-aid/buddy aid training and all matches should be required to have a trauma kit. 

I agree, I would even go as far as having a AED onsite since most ranges are not easy to find for EMTs. It should be one of the priority purchase of the club along with steel targets.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm a SWAT Cop, Flight Paramedic, and TCCC instructor, and have been running classes throughout Pennsylvania geared specifically towards range injuries over the last couple of years.  I know I'm much more comfortable shooting a match when there's someone there whom I know is trained (other than me).  It still amazes me that guys won't think twice about plunking down 5 grand on a pistol, but will balk at a hundred bucks for some medical supplies and 50 bucks for training on how to use it.

 

Andy

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A basic first aid kit, tourniquet, combat gauze and clotting agent s/b SOP at any range.  I have my own kit just in case one is not available  Question for the OP re: the case you cited.  Was it actually an ND and what was the negligent action?  Just curious.

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  • 1 month later...

I think it would be a great idea to have an IFAC on every stage and a defibrillator or two depending on the size of the range, in a centrally located spot. It doesn’t take much training to hold pressure with a bandage, or as they used to say, put your finger in it. Something is better than nothing. Might be the difference of life and death.

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  • 4 months later...

I just completed my biannual Red Cross First Aid/AED/CPR recert, but getting into the shooting sports, I was wondering about finding something more like TCCC, but that seems to only be available for LE/Military.  Can someone recommend something for the "layperson" in terms of trauma training?

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Dark angel medical has some good training if your close to one of the class date

http://darkangelmedical.com/training/

 

I carry the DARK kit on my uspsa belt.  Its costs a bit but with a little training or knowledge it has everything you need for a gun shot wound until the ambulance gets there.  It is not a first aid kit no band aids or aspirin.  I have that stuff in my range bag.

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  • 3 months later...

Last year, Area 8 match sponsors (PHLster, Race Street Range, and Techline Technoligies) coordinated a 4-hour bleed control class for Area 8 staff. We had about 20 attendees who received training and were given a tourniquet and blow out kit. We now take the equipment and knowledge to every match we shoot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/15/2018 at 11:26 AM, threat said:

One area that USPSA is specifically lacking is any type of medical planning or SOP's for treating at match GSW's.

At a minimum range staff should have basic self-aid/buddy aid training and all matches should be required to have a trauma kit. 

 

I think all of the shooting sports need to address this issue.

 

At a local match yesterday, the MD held a safety briefing and let everyone know where medical supplies were located.  Then he asked if there was anyone in the crowd with first aid training.  There was a first responder and an ER doctor there.

 

Aside from the safety meeting, there didn't appear to be any type of plan in the event of a major accident.

 

I spent the rest of the day thinking about this and came to the conclusion that some kind of a plan would be smart.  How far away is an ambulance?  Where is the closest hospital?  What are the capabilities of that hospital? Do they have a surgeon there? How far away is the next "best" hospital?  Should a helicopter be called?

 

I agree that tourniquets, quick clot bandages, chest seal, and AED, etc. are all a good idea, but then what?

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I carry an IFAK with tourniquet, combat gauze, Israeli bandages and chest seals on my belt during competitions. It's a bit heavy and I've thought about just stashing it in my range bag but I want to know where it is at all times in case something happens. Usually, moving between stages you set your bag down somewhere and with multiple similar looking bags you may not be able to find it in a high stress situation.

 

I've only really watched youtube videos on how to use it though, as there really aren't any classes for this type of thing in my country (just regular cpr classes for civilians) but it doesn't seem difficult and it's better to have the means to do something while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. 

 

Edited by JonasAberg
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  • 1 month later...
On ‎5‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 4:07 AM, JonasAberg said:

I've only really watched youtube videos on how to use it though, as there really aren't any classes for this type of thing in my country (just regular cpr classes for civilians)

 

Have you discussed with your local emergency services the need to have such training more available for citizens?  I would have to think that they would be in favor of helping sport shooters in this regard.

Edited by elguapo
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  • 4 weeks later...

Pretty close guess; I live in Finland but my mother tongue (as well as my last name) is Swedish.

 

On 7/8/2019 at 5:49 PM, elguapo said:

Have you discussed with your local emergency services the need to have such training more available for citizens?

 

At our last big match, we had tourniquets at every stage, which was a direct result of a competitor at a different match some weeks earlier accidentally shooting himself in the foot. One of our members is a firefighter and gave a quick lesson in how to use it.

Other than that, man, I wouldn't know where to start. I tend to think there is a reasoning that ordinary citizens should not feel that they have a need for such training and that the authorities will handle it, in the same sense that we are not allowed to carry anything for self defense.

 

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