Truth makes a point here.
Stryker, hit me up and I would be happy to go over stuff. I teach this stuff pretty regularly.
Yeah, I may wanna go over a couple things. Couldn't hurt to discuss stuff. My mother just retired as a nurse after, well, 40, almost 50 years? Started in the army though at Madigan. She really knows her shit, not the average nurse, she ran a clinic in NE. She's seen it all. Anyway, in the hospital they use a pressure cuff tourniquet and it's adjustable but they still note permanent muscle damage after 30-60 minutes with permanent nerve damage being an equal concern. I have permanent nerve damage from foot surgeries; when they do the surgery, the first thing they do is put a cuff over your ankle and your foot is numb in no time. The biggest problem with tourniquets arises when they're improperly applied --if there is no massive loss of blood, then the blood gets trapped in the appendage and begins to clot. The result could be nothing, or could be a stroke now or later. Or even loss of limb.
The tourniquet should be applied for the minimum time possible and once applied, rushing to the closest medical facility is paramount.
Then the other stuff I was talking about was how to administer an IV, IV medications, IM medications (doing it all with NODs on!) and you can fuck someone up bad with the airway hook if not careful. All I'm saying is that some of that gear requires some knowledge to use, and that the tourniquet is the last resort with a bleeding wound (or first resort if it's obvious an artery is involved or obviously an amputation). Then knowing where to put it. Also, don't open yourself up to a lawsuit for helping someone. Believe it or not, you can be sued for saving someone's life if you administer certain medical care without a license. Like IV's.
The surplus store down the street from me has ALL KINDS of shit, including CLS kits all the way up do damn near field surgery kits. They have the tourniquets you guys like, they also have a few different types of chest seals including the one with the valve. They have more medical shit than any other surplus store I've seen. Not all is out of date either (and probably not much concern if it is provided it's sealed well). I know where to get it all new, but it's expensive. Do plan on getting a few liter IV bags though, you do want those to be in date if possible. If anyone has requests for hard to find items, I can check if you PM me.
I carry all the usual stuff but also emergency mylar blanket, sutures, etc., but I plan to add some sterilized packs of hemostats and other tools. I think I have lidocaine in there that needs to be replaced. Pretty sure the medlist needs to be replaced as do the IV's.
Thanks for the links. Yeah, my CLS training was around 2002 I believe. Pretty sure. I was really good at it, thanks to mom and reading her Merck Manual! Which would be a good addition if there's room! I do keep an SF medical manual in my gear though and it is quite a bit more complex than first aid.
But getting EMS cert. if isn't too expensive may be a good idea, I have all the time in the world.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking you guys carrying 'em, not at all, I'm just saying know how and when to use 'em, and that they are last resort except in rare instances where they're the first resort.
CPR changes so goddamn much I can't keep up with it. Is it still 30 compressions, check vitals, then repeat? No breath?
