EDC Medical/Trauma Kits: It’s amazing how many people will carry a gun every day, on duty or off, and not have anything with them to treat a gunshot wound…or, if they do have something with which to plug those embarrassing unexpected extra holes, they leave it in the glove box or the trunk of the car or in their manly man purse. No blow-out kit or trauma kit or any amount of first aid gear is going to help you if you can’t get to it or don’t know how to use it.

Hell we’ve seen guys go to the range to train all day – a time when they KNOW there will be gunfire – and not have any medical kit with them.

“I can run my weapon just fine,” you may say, “and I’m always safe.”

To that we respond, “What about the dipshit one bay over who is new to shooting…or what if the guy next to you has a stroke or a heart attack with his finger on the trigger while you’re downrange checking targets?”

To which Dark Angel Medical follows up with, “All that’s just nifty, but let’s talk about an actual fight. Can you run your gun with one hand, after being hit, fight your way to cover while neutralizing the threat AND THEN, take care of that bullet hole you seem to have gotten in the exchange? Do you have the right mindset, kit and training?”

Having something nearby but not on your person is certainly a laudable start, but it’s not always going to do you much good. You need three things, the way we see it:

1. You need some sort of kit to handle the unpleasantness.

2. You need it in proximity.

3. You need to be practiced and rehearsed, so you don’t fuck it up when you or your comrade/family member is dying.

This is a graphic demonstration of how little time you actually have to fix the problem if you or someone nearby takes a hit. Warning: it is graphic, and a man dies – don’t watch it if it will bother you, and don’t watch it for jollies…watch it as an object lesson so you’re not the focal point of an AAR someday.

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We’ve made no secret that most of our handlers carry a Direct Action Medical Kit from Dark Angel and/or a Pocket DARK (also from Dark Angel). Some of the boys and girls have different medical trauma kits, but one thing they all have in common – they do carry something, on their person, in their vehicles, staged a couple places around the house. The Dark Angel motto is “Simplicity Under Stress“, which fits right in our theory of how to Not Bleed To Death And Be Dead.

Go here: http://www.darkangelmedical.com/LiabilityWaiver.html to pick up one or the other or both. If not, put some sort of kit together. Over the coming weeks we will talk about some other T-CCC EDC routes you might take.

You can also follow Dark Angel on Facebook; they frequently have pop quizzes that will help keep your mind right when it comes to treating injuries.

Meantime, if you have some experience with the DARK or some field-expedient suggestions on how/what you carry, we’d like to hear them.

 

Mad Duo Clear!