Stop the Bleed Month & A First Aid Kit Deep Dive

Continuing our series for National Stop the Bleed Month (May), Caleb is again joined by special guest Chris Hoyne of North American Rescue to talk about the supplies that should be in a properly equipped medical kit for treating a severe bleeding wound. NAR's Roo M-FAK is a good example of such a first aid kit. The Roo's supplies come in sealed plastic packages, which should be kept sealed until you need them - except for the tourniquet. The tourniquet should be unwrapped because if you need it you'll need it very quickly. The kit is called the "Roo" because, just like a mother kangaroo, it has a pouch in front, which on M-FAK holds the tourniquet for fast access.

 

The main compartment holds items that must be kept sterile, so those packages should NOT be opened. This includes the HyFin® Chest Seal for treating a large bleeding chest wound. The HyFin comes in a two pack, one for the entrance wound and a second HyFin for an exit wound, if present. Quick-Clot Combat Gauze is for wound packing. It's treated with a hemostatic agent that helps stop bleeding. It also has a blue-line material woven through it, so when the patient is X-rayed at the hospital, the gauze in the wound will be clearly visible on the X-ray.

 

The Emergency Trauma Dressing is a pressure dressing, sometimes generically called an "Israeli bandage." It is an elastic bandage with a gauze pad built into it to be applied to wounds that need pressure but are not so severe as to require a tourniquet. How important is it to have an Emergency Trauma Dressing? Caleb shares a story about an accidental discharge from his days as a gun shop gunsmith.... No, he was not the wounded party! Bottom line: you never know when you might need a pressure dressing.

 

Chris recommends extra items for your first aid kit: a set of trauma shears and a second tourniquet. The contents of the Roo M-FAK and similar kits typically do not expire, EXCEPT for the HyFin Chest Seal and Quick-Clot Combat Gauze. How many patients a kit like this will treat depends on the type of injuries.

 

Having a properly equipped medical kit is critical, and so is having proper training in HOW to use it. Visit https://www.stopthebleed.org/ to find out where you can take a Stop the Bleed class near you.