Stop The Bleed

post-training resources

To schedule a Stop The Bleed® course with me, email peacemindset@pm.me. To find an offering near you, check out https://cms.bleedingcontrol.org/class/search.

Next steps

Today, learn about opioid overdose reversal in 9 minutes online, and find some free naloxone.

Today, empower yourself with the AHA Guidelines-On-The-Go or other apps, the Red Cross First Aid App, or the Red Cross First Aid Guidelines.

This week, take a free webinar from survivalmed.org.

This month, sign up for a $35 online or an $100 in-person Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED training.

This summer, take a $250 Wilderness First Aid 2-day course, TECC/TCCC, or the 20-hour Street Medic course. Then every few years or so, take a different one.

Re-learn the STB content

You can find the course or the individual skills taught by professional providers and instructors on YouTube. It's a great way to refresh your knowledge after an in-person training.

Academic and organized with slides of info and stats

(17 mins)

Great demonstrations of the skills on a simulated limb

(21 mins)

Skills demo from American College of Surgeons

(2 mins)

Purchase materials

If you sign up for NARescue’s emails, you'll hear of their 20% sales that happen every 2 or 3 months. You can buy pre-made kits from NAR, STB, or Rescue Essentials, but you’ll spend about 20% more for the convenience.

Tourniquets should be bought from reputable vendors to avoid counterfeits. The most common TQ is the CAT Gen 7, but there are other good CoTCCC-approved TQs. The best vendors are North American Rescue, Rescue Essentials, and Stop The Bleed. Orange TQs stand out, which is a benefit for most uses. Blue is the universal training color, but they're the same product.

Most other items don’t have counterfeits, so you can buy them elsewhere, but you won’t save much, and buying everything from one vendor will help you get the free shipping (at least from NARescue).

Chest seals have a few viable types and brands. The most popular is the Hyfin Vent Chest Seal Twin Pack or the compact version of it.

Wound-packing gauze is usually around $4 for the regular stuff and 5 to 25 times that for the hemostatic stuff. This NAR gauze can be seen on an X-ray. NAR S-Rolled Gauze has an awesome dispenser that keeps it off the ground.
Emergency trauma dressings (ETDs), Israeli bandages, or OLAES are popularly carried. Some are flat and packable. Four inch width is probably fine.
Regular gauze is very useful and about 35 cents per roll.
Trauma shears come in all styles - foldable, budget, carabiner, and more. I fly with my $4 NAR shears, and I won’t be sad if they’re lost or confiscated. They work better than other budget shears.

Avoid

hemostatics that aren’t impregnated in gauze because they’re less effective and can add complications - no powders, no beads, etc.
decompression needles because they require very advanced skills
large or overstuffed trauma kits that make you not want to bring them

My favorite pouches

I own and use all of these except the STB-branded kit.

$20 molle or belt pouch

This is the perfect size to fit massive hemorrhage tools and chest seals. The TQ goes on the outside if you cut the middle stitching of the elastic, and the pouch can be pulled off if you yank it right. It’s budget, it looks good (even the multicam), it operates well, and it works on a belt or molle. It’s also the smallest IFAK I've found. Larger IFAKs tend to flop around, and people feel the need to fill them with non-emergency equipment that belongs in a backpack. Fits TQ, wound-packing gauze, chest seals and an extra gauze.

The Wilderness Ankle IFAK (4-inch)

I've been wearing this for several years. It's comfortable all day until about hour 14. If I'm wearing shorts or skinny jeans, I throw it in a backpack.

- 1 CAT gen 7 TQ

- 2 NAR Hyfin Vent Compact chest seals

- 2 I.V. naloxone vials with syringes

- Elite First Aid 7.25" EMT Shears (get the 5.5" if you fly, although they've never taken mine)

- QuickClot Combat Gauze hemostatic dressing 3"×4yards

- tweezers, gloves, first aid ointment, a small roll of tape, and a buncha bandaids.

Stop The Bleed kit pre-filled

These are what you may find in public as part of mass casualty preparedness.

Large $12 pouch

This is too large to carry on your person, but it's large enough to fit splints and instant ice packs, so if you have a lot of large things, this bag is good. It has a molle and velcro attachment to be able to quickly detach. It would work well on or in a backpack or in a car. You could even mount it in a car with a little craftiness.