Let’s talk of IFAKs…
Combat Medicine Axiom #1 “Sometimes, the best medicine is fire superiority.”
Combat Medicine Axiom #2 “Good medicine at the wrong time is bad medicine.”
We need to start by talking of the Definition of the acronym, IFAK. Individual First Aid Kit. Not Team First Aid Kit, not Squad First Aid Kit. It is for your use as your personal first aid kit and lifeline, for Self-Aid and Buddy-Aid, and should be loaded and packaged as such to address the leading causes of preventable death due to penetrating injuries.
The IFAK is useful because of who has it not by what is in it. To employ an IFAK, still requires Medical Knowledge, Basic Skills, and the ability to decide when it is needed. The IFAK is for YOUR Personal use, not your Buddies, not the dude you just shot Your IFAK is just that, yours. It is filled with the Minimum needed medical supplies to keep your worthless butt alive. It is not a MASH in a Tacticool Pouch hung on you. You are not Inspector Gadget, so forget about some of the super cool stuff you could have in it. Your IFAK is not a Treatment Kit, it is not an EMT/ Paramedical bag, and it is not the Batman Utility belt of Medical goodness. It is for you to use on yourself to save your own worthless life. It is for your Buddies to use on you. You do NOT use your IFAK on your Buddies, always use their stuff on them…
Train with it! Period!
If you do not train with your IFAK and your Gear, then you might as well call your Spouse, Parents, Children, Neighbors, other assorted Friends and Family and all the Family and Friends of your Buddies as well and tell them that you are that douche bag and apologize for being a dummy. However, tell them that you have seen the error of your ways, and will learn and train with your kit.
Loading the IFAK.
Try and stay away from the Pack-Rat mentality when loading out your IFAK, you know the guy I am talking about, The Dude that if one is good thing 6 is better you know the guy that has 6 NPAs (Nasal Pharyngeal Airways) and 4 Catheters for Needle Decompressions. Also equally dangerous is the Boy Scout, you know this guy well too. He is the guy who will stuff burn cream, Ibuprofen, decongestants, moleskin, BP Cuff. Forgetting the purpose of the IFAK is to mitigate immediate life threatening Trauma.
I recommend Lighter and Smaller. Reduce your Options to what you need to save your life. By doing this you will end up having 2 or more Medical Kits, my IFAK and my Jump Bag which is kept in my truck is used to take care of others. Everything else is gravy after that. If you don’t KNOW how to use something by rote instinct, then leave it out of your IFAK until such time as you have trained up on the uses of it to the point it is instinctual to use and little to no thought is required to employ it.
Items in my IFAK.
2 Izzy Dressings
4 Rolls of Compressed Gauze
1 roll of Surgical Tape
1 NPA
1 Chest Seal
1 Combat Gauze
1 Pair of Trauma Shears
Items always on my Person/Vest/Carrier
Tourniquet, 1 on person, 2 more on my vest/carrier
Sharpie, 1 on person, 1 on vest/carrier
Trauma Shears, 1 on person, 1 on vest/carrier
Items not in my IFAK
Tourniquets,
Surgical Gloves
Band-Aids
Burn Cream
Triple Antibiotic ointments
To close this rant.
Put your damn IFAK someplace you can get to it and deploy it with BOTH hands!
Jeremy…
Combat Medicine Axiom #1 “Sometimes, the best medicine is fire superiority.”
Combat Medicine Axiom #2 “Good medicine at the wrong time is bad medicine.”
We need to start by talking of the Definition of the acronym, IFAK. Individual First Aid Kit. Not Team First Aid Kit, not Squad First Aid Kit. It is for your use as your personal first aid kit and lifeline, for Self-Aid and Buddy-Aid, and should be loaded and packaged as such to address the leading causes of preventable death due to penetrating injuries.
The IFAK is useful because of who has it not by what is in it. To employ an IFAK, still requires Medical Knowledge, Basic Skills, and the ability to decide when it is needed. The IFAK is for YOUR Personal use, not your Buddies, not the dude you just shot Your IFAK is just that, yours. It is filled with the Minimum needed medical supplies to keep your worthless butt alive. It is not a MASH in a Tacticool Pouch hung on you. You are not Inspector Gadget, so forget about some of the super cool stuff you could have in it. Your IFAK is not a Treatment Kit, it is not an EMT/ Paramedical bag, and it is not the Batman Utility belt of Medical goodness. It is for you to use on yourself to save your own worthless life. It is for your Buddies to use on you. You do NOT use your IFAK on your Buddies, always use their stuff on them…
Train with it! Period!
If you do not train with your IFAK and your Gear, then you might as well call your Spouse, Parents, Children, Neighbors, other assorted Friends and Family and all the Family and Friends of your Buddies as well and tell them that you are that douche bag and apologize for being a dummy. However, tell them that you have seen the error of your ways, and will learn and train with your kit.
Loading the IFAK.
Try and stay away from the Pack-Rat mentality when loading out your IFAK, you know the guy I am talking about, The Dude that if one is good thing 6 is better you know the guy that has 6 NPAs (Nasal Pharyngeal Airways) and 4 Catheters for Needle Decompressions. Also equally dangerous is the Boy Scout, you know this guy well too. He is the guy who will stuff burn cream, Ibuprofen, decongestants, moleskin, BP Cuff. Forgetting the purpose of the IFAK is to mitigate immediate life threatening Trauma.
I recommend Lighter and Smaller. Reduce your Options to what you need to save your life. By doing this you will end up having 2 or more Medical Kits, my IFAK and my Jump Bag which is kept in my truck is used to take care of others. Everything else is gravy after that. If you don’t KNOW how to use something by rote instinct, then leave it out of your IFAK until such time as you have trained up on the uses of it to the point it is instinctual to use and little to no thought is required to employ it.
Items in my IFAK.
2 Izzy Dressings
4 Rolls of Compressed Gauze
1 roll of Surgical Tape
1 NPA
1 Chest Seal
1 Combat Gauze
1 Pair of Trauma Shears
Items always on my Person/Vest/Carrier
Tourniquet, 1 on person, 2 more on my vest/carrier
Sharpie, 1 on person, 1 on vest/carrier
Trauma Shears, 1 on person, 1 on vest/carrier
Items not in my IFAK
Tourniquets,
Surgical Gloves
Band-Aids
Burn Cream
Triple Antibiotic ointments
To close this rant.
Put your damn IFAK someplace you can get to it and deploy it with BOTH hands!
Jeremy…