Tactical Medicine

View Poll

Are npas even useful in a trauma bag anymore

I'm looking for ideas on a mass causasulty kits for a volunteer fire department any budget recommendations or any recommendations at all is appreciated.

Who would you recommend as a forward-leaning training provider in the US for TCCC? Some companies are stuck in the dark ages, and I would like to attend one this year that is run well and has knowledgeable instructors. Thanks

For the airway portion of MARCH, we’re checking to see if there are obstructions to the airway or what specifically? The jaw thrust opens the airway but does that position have to be held? Not certain on what we’re doing in this stage.

Which stage do you check look listen and feel of breathing- airway or respiration ?

Thank you !

Looking for recommendations for a drug carrying case that can handle about a dozen medicines. Thanks!

I'm building my IFAK and was wondering if its worth to get one of those expensive hemostatic gauzes in addition to a couple of regular NAR ones.

Was researching a bit and although there are some quite significant improvements on bleeding stopping while using the fancy ones, there are a couple of studies where it was mentioned that Chitosan (the active ingredient of Celox and other similar gauzes) has been found to cause blood clotting. And altough there are some mentions that the "3rd Gen" gauzes have fixed this issue, I kinda don't believe that fully, and would rather avoid the risk altoghether.

Does QuickClot has similar risks? As I understand it uses a more conservative choice of active ingredient (alum or something in that mineral family, which I know as being used as a hemostatic for more than a century probably), but I havent found anything regarding its risks of clotting. [Oh and unrelated, but since QC uses an inorganic compound I guess it might still work far longer than the validity date on the package, contrary to chitosan?]

Or should I just go with the regular NAR gauze?

My IFAK is for long multiday hikes, mainly in an area with a history of stray hunting bullets hitting hikers; so far have a tourniquet, 2 israeli bandages and 2 NAR Zgauzes for bleeding control.

Hello all,

I'm fairly new to the whole "tactical medicine" thing but I'm going to college soon and would like to go to medical school to become a doctor (my original plan was trauma surgeon). I'm stumped on what path to take since now I'm getting interested in tactical / military medicine and I'd like to position myself best as possible in the event that the U.S. goes to major war or I could be of use elsewhere in the world (i.e., humanitarian or disaster relief). I'm in EMT school at the moment and set to be certified (hopefully) by the end of the summer, so I'm going to do that throughout college, but I'm not sure if I should look into joining a military branch (Navy?) to help pay for medical school (I know about the Navy's HPSP—would this be a good plan? Or would it not necessarily be tactical medicine, rather in a civilian military hospital? I'm also a dual citizen technically, which they don't permit...). I like the idea of the Navy's medical ships, or working alongside a Marine team, but I'm wondering if there's not much to do unless we're in wartime.

I would appreciate any and all help / advice, or stories about your path(s) and what to do / not to do!! Or, if there's another subreddit I should be posting this too, I would love to be pointed in that direction.

TL;DR — I'm a high school grad who wants to do tactical / military med but go to med school... path recommendations?

EDIT: thank you all for your help and insight!! I know I seem naive ... mostly because I am ;) but this has been immensely helpful for me to see what people typically do / don't do! TYSM again!

So I’ve recently built out a couple of IFAKs for my dad bag and car, but I’m debating the best way to carry on my dad bag, since it’s MOLLE compatible, I’m thinking just throwing a mini pouch on the outside, but I get a little paranoid about having a tq standing out, or people just thinking I’m LARPing and putting a target on my back when/if they notice. How do y’all carry day-to-day IFAKs?

Total beginner here but I went to Stop the Bleed and they told me that you should only pack a gunshot wound if there is not an exit wound. If there is an exit wound then you should not try to pack it, just seal both sides (or TQ). I asked them why, but their explanation didn't make any sense.

Can anyone clarify what am I supposed to do and why?

Recently purchased some Kerlix to add to an IFAK and it came unwrapped. Intended use was for wound packing, would it be better to return it and get individually packaged Kerlix or is it safe to vacuum seal it? I understand sterility goes out the window during the process but I want to ask for the pros opinions

Check out our Tactical Medicine Courses at Strategic Operations in San Diego.

1-day (8 hours): TECC LEO

2-day (16 hours): TECC Provider

5-day (40 hours) SWAT Medic Course: TMT

We are an authorized NAEMT Training Center, approved by CA POST, and an educational partner with C-TECC. Our cadre consists of prior Navy Corpsmen, Flight Nurses, Firefighters, Paramedics, SOIDCs, and EMTs.

If you have any questions, [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Thank you.

Good afternoon all, Following a bit of an incident that happened working as a basic, I’ve realized that TCCC could be a fun and meaningful way for me to grow as an EMT. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a course for me and a buddy ideally in norcal to advance our training.

I’m a primarily CCT EMT, but I also run 911 and volly with SAR. I found a course with NorCal Tacmed for a few hours and was wondering if this was meaningful.

NAR Stop The Bleed Basic

Use code NSTBD2024 for 25% off. Applies to most of their Stop The Bleed kits

Army dude here that just got offered a mountain Med slot at the MCMWTC. All the information I’m finding on it is kinda old. Has anyone been recently? Mostly just looking for knots i need to know so I can practice them beforehand.

All the Reddit post and articles mentions a PT test but in the packet it just says to take one 30 days before arrival. I read the whole packet I was given and it’s not on the schedule.

Any other information would be awesome

In the last year or so I've taken Stop the Bleed and AHA's BLS and Heartsaver CPR/AED courses. What other classes are available to me as someone with no professional medical background? I've looked into becoming a volly EMT but that isn't really a thing in my area.