So yesterday I post that you should learn some medical skills.

Then I post about KR Training and Lone Star Medics having an article in a national magazine.

It just keeps coming. Some of this is coincidental, some is intentional, relative to the timing of the Boston Marathon bombing and the West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion. But if casting them in that light helps and motivates people to learn, then there’s some light from this darkness.

And so Greg Ellifritz posts some quick stuff about field medicine for terrorist attacks.  It reminds me strongly about the lessons Caleb Causey (Lone Star Medics) taught me in the Medicine-X EDC weekend and Dynamic First Aid class.

Now I know Greg’s article is presented in the context of terrorism, but really, it’s useful in the face of anything more serious than a boo-boo or bee sting. Serious car wreck? you are likely to encounter a car accident than a gunshot wound or a bombing. Bleeding is bleeding whatever caused it. Stopping bleeding is important, regardless of what caused it.

Greg’s writing really mirrors what Caleb teaches, and what strikes me is how counter it is to any first aid training you may have had in the past.

Point #1: get the patient to safety.

In my youth I was always told to not move the patient. They might make exceptions for if there was severe risk, but it was always presented in a manner to really discourage moving. Thinking about it tonight, I realize that so many of those contexts were never serious. In fact, so much first aid training was never put in any sort of context at all. It was just “here’s a broken bone, how do you stabilize it?”. Maybe they might talk about being on a hike or some such, but really, everything was in a vacuum. Not necessarily a bad thing, but that’s where Med-X EDC really shined because it put you into real situations. It put you into context. It wasn’t done in a vacuum, and it made you realize what you need to do and you had to do it. I mean, Caleb saying “CONTACT FRONT!” over and over to me because I failed to “get off the X” and get the patient to safety as my first and most important task… those 2 words keep ringing in my head. And I’m glad for that, because I bet you dollars to donuts that if I’m in such a situation for real, I’m going to hear Caleb’s voice and MOVE. Learning took place.

Point #2, which really goes with Point #3 – stopping bleeding, and using a tourniquet. Yeah, I carry an IFAK (thank you, Caleb) almost everywhere. I tried to come up with a solution for carrying a SOF®TT-Wide on my belt with the rest of my EDC but haven’t found a workable solution yet (Caleb’s solution of an ankle wrap is genius, but I wear shorts a lot so it doesn’t really work for me). Again, it goes against so much prior thinking. I also appreciate the approach Caleb said about sterility. Everyone freaks about sterility, but Caleb is right: stopping bleeding now, treat infection later. I mean, infection doesn’t matter if the person bleeds to death; infection is treatable… later. Stop the bleeding first and foremost. Tourniquet is one of the best ways to do it, and while you need some training and instruction on how to use and apply them, it’s not hard.

Give Greg’s article a read. It’s short, and it may do more towards saving lives than any concealed carry gun, AR-15, or political hand-wringing ever will.