We all have our EDC.
Generally a knife, flashlight, pocket tool (which may double as a knife), pen, maybe a firearm or pepper spray.
We need to add bleeding control to that.
In case you missed it there was a shooting in the NYC subway this morning.
Here are some images (graphic):
That is a lot of blood.
Bright red arterial blood.
That’s not good.
You don’t need to be a medical expert to stop bleeding like that.
A basic bit of knowledge and the right tools.
I’m a big believer in the Israeli bandage.
I know a lot of people like tourniquets
I’m an Alton Brown fan and he loves multi-tasker tools for the kitchen.
The Israeli bandage is the trauma multi-tasker. It is a compression bandage that can also be used as a tourniquet or for a thoracic bandage.
A tourniquet is just a tourniquet.
The video below shows the multiple ways of using an Israeli bandage.
A 4-inch bandage is about the size of a wallet.
I keep one in my pistol fanny pack as well as my glove box.
This is one item worth adding to your bag, suitcase, purse, etc. as an EDC item.
Who knows when shit will go down and you find yourself needing to stop someone’s life from gushing out of an artery forming a puddle on the ground.
You’re wearing a t-shirt?
And a belt around your waist?
Bleeding control problem solved.
Next question.
“The police encountered a lunatic in only his blood soaked underwear at the scene of the attack.”
😀
Belts, especially leather ones, make bad tourniquets. You can’t get them tight enough. You need a windlass to do it correctly.
This blog post covers it well: https://mymedic.com/blogs/journal/your-belt-is-not-a-good-tourniquet
An Israeli bandage for less than $10 is a much better option.
One always needs a windlass for a tourniquet.
Otherwise, it’s not a tourniquet, is it?
And a belt is an excellent one: wide enough to do the job right, and sturdy enough to use, plus already right there.
Same thing with a t-shirt. With the added bonus that for non-extremity wounds, the belt will give you more pressure than an IBD, even without the windlass. (I would have said handkerchief, which was the grown-ups’ Israeli dressing for 300+ years, but nowadays is going the way of men’s hats).
This has been basic first aid knowledge since, oh, ever since anyone wrote it down.
Additional cost: $0.
The number of things available to use as a windlass on one’s person, let alone at any NYFC subway station, is limited only by the imagination. Starting with a sturdy pen or pencil.
If this is news to anyone, they’re never going to master an Israeli bandage.
A pressure bandage keeps your blood off the floor.
A tourniquet keeps it inside your bloodstream.
Choose wisely. 😉
If you’re carrying concealed, the TQ goes next to the spare mag.
The IBD goes in the range bag, or first aid kit. I do gunshot trauma for a living, and not even I am going to ever carry an IBD, unless I’m already wearing LBE. (In my experience, riding public transit with LBE is generally outside the mainstream. Maybe NYFC is different.)
Well-trained cops, wearing a 25# utility belt Batman would envy, will whip out a tourniquet and save a life.
Joe Average is sorely taxed to just not lose his wallet, keys, and cell phone, 7 days out of 8.
If you can tuck a wound dressing in a briefcase, good for you. Most of us don’t tote one of those everywhere either.
When someone’s imaginary EDC is starting to look like a bulging hiking rucksack or Mary Poppins’ carpetbag, and you feel more like one of Edmund Hillary’s sherpas, the entire concept has jumped the shark.
People would be far better off by learning to improvise with things they actually already have, instead of piling on more stuff they usually won’t have, and/or won’t master.
YMMV
Already mostly covered. Two Israeli bandage in the truck, one in the range bag. Haven’t really thought about carrying one on my person though.
TK on belt, if I’m wearing pants, I have a TK.
One on ankle, whenever I’m wearing jeans/long pants. SWAT TK in pocket of pants/in hoodie. And that’s without getting to my truck with both a trauma kit, and my medic bag.
Be prepared. Because Da City doesn’t have their ambulance equipped. Nor, at your scene, when you NEED them.
Definitely have a kit in each vehicle. I have yet to integrate a TQ or bandage into EDC. Need to figure that out, would probably carry a TQ over a bandage. A bit more compact, and there are dedicated carriers/ mounts. You can use almost any clothing as a bandage. EDC is growing – gun, spare mags, knife, flashlight, tac pen, and now bleed control
The thick older style menstrual pads make very good trauma pads along with pretty much anything to bind them down on the wound.