First aid for range

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

Squeaky Wheel

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2011
Messages
157
I keep a small store-bought first aid kit in my range bag. I've been wondering whether that first aid kit would be adequate should there be a kaboom at the range or any other kind of range accident. I know about eye and ear protection, and use both always. This question pertains specifically to first aid.

Additionally, if there is a kaboom what is the recommended treatment (the do's and don'ts)? What should be in the first-aid kit? Do you supplement prepackaged first aid kits? Do you assemble your own?
 
I'll start by saying I'm a paramedic by trade. I would say what you have would be fine if you add a tourniquet of some kind. Cat tourniquets work the best. It will save your life or another's if a shot to artery happens. Most importantly would be to take your standard first aid and CPR classes. You are more likely to encounter someone dying of a heart attack at the range then a serious gunshot wound. And bystander CPR before the medics get there has been proven to save lives.
 
Merely an example: http://www.amazon.com/Fully-Stocked-MOLLE-Tactical-Trauma/dp/B00BSG81OM

If your goal is to treat cuts and bruises, any well stocked first aid kit will do. If your goal is to treat more serious injuries then you'd likely need a trauma kit. There are many on the market and you can also find references on how to build your own.

If your idea is to deal with heart attacks, stroke, insulin shock and etc. then any kit will be at best marginally effective without proper first responder training.
 
if there is a kaboom what is the recommended treatment.... ?
Click to expand...
Notwithstanding adding the CAT as recommended above, simple direct PRESSURE to the wound is the
first and formost immediate action/treatment to serious bleeding.... even before you might have to
apply the CAT

For that, large gauze pressure pads -- or just a well-washed bandana sealed against the elements
in a Ziplock is as good as it gets. In a real pinch, tear off a shirt, wad it up, and shove it against
the wound -- hard.

Don't worry/get too fancy. Remember the parallel to the question of "what is the best camera in the world?"
Answer: The one you have with you when you need it.

.
 
Last edited:
Range First Aid

The caveat: I am not teaching anyone anything, I am not certifying anyone in anything. I am sharing my opinion regarding first aid in a hobby that we all enjoy.

Range First Aid falls into two categories:

Blow out or Boo-Boo.

The decision can be made quickly upon seeing the injury pattern. A bullet in a body is generally a blow out. You need a blow out kit and you need to know how to use it.

A blow out kit will address the three killers in field trauma. Field trauma is GUNSHOT WOUNDS for all intents and purposes. If you read any of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care guidelines (THE authority on which all current battlefield trauma protocols is based) you will find that the vast majority of preventable battle field death is due to hemorrage from a limb. Then Tension Pneumothorax, then airway problems.

You don't have to be a paramedic to stop the bleeding, start the breathing. That is what the Individual First Aid Kit or IFAK is for. It should have at the MINIMUM, a tourniquet, (Either a CAT or Soft T) packing gauze and occlusive chest seal.

You SHOULD know how to use the gear. (Tourniquets are no longer the "boogey man" they once were. We know that tourniquets save lives. Stopping bleeding is no longer a secondary concern. It is a primary concern especially in gunshot injuries. Current tourniquet times have exceeded 6 hours without loss of function from the battlefield. Tourniquets are many times first line treatments any more. (See TCCC recommendations.)

Weather we shoot recreationally or train to defend ourselves, this hobby carries inherent risk. That risk is ventilation of ourselves or someone else on the range, in the home, in a gun fight. Have you ever stopped to consider what you would do in the event of catastrophic injury?

We know from studying the battlefield that the preventable deaths occur from:

1) Bleeding out from a limb injury
2) Tension Pneumothorax
3) Airway obstruction

A typical first aid class can miss the vital interventions that can mean the difference between life and death in trauma. If you carry a gun, you MUST be familiar with the tools and techniques that are can save lives. It's folly to think that you can prevail in a gun fight without getting wounded. (As it applies to a range setting, an errant shot should be an embarrassing learning experience and not a deadly one.)

We spend hundreds of dollars on a carry gun, ammo, holster, and training. I recommend you spend $160 to get yourself a GOOD kit that has the tools you need in the event of the unthinkable.

The kit that I've decided to carry is from Dark Angel Medical. It's a no-nonsense pack. It holds a pair of gloves, chest seals, quick clot gauze, plain packing gauze, nasal airway, trauma shears, and a CAT Tourniquet.

Buy the kit, then learn how to use it:

Youtube CAT Torniquet Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3-WnRUi5UZIYoutube

Halo Chest Seal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZcKpOI_3KR0Youtube Quick Clot Packing Gauze
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Cj4gSDivxt0

Take a class. Dark Angel Medical does a fantastic job with this stuff. Professional, friendly, and based in evidence based medical practice, everything Kerry Davis teaches is the good stuff.

The biggest take home point is this: Keep the life saving gear where you can get to it NOW. Leave the boo-boo stuff in your big kit in the car/home. Eye injuries, hypothermia, shock, burns, etc are all important to know what to do, but saving lives on the range due to TRAUMA of a bullet wound is simple. It requires a simple but specialized kit. Get one, carry it, learn how to use it.

I will be doing a Shooter casualty class as part of the course offering at Adaptive Defense Concepts in NW Ohio as well. Stay tuned for that. ADAPTIVE DEFENSE CONCEPTS

I am a SWAT Doctor for a regional Tactical Team. I am a former Navy Physician, and have 10 years of experience in Emergency Medicine. I am an NRA Certified Instructor. My kit is the D.A.R.K from Dark Angel Medical, LLC.

First aid for workplace bumps and bruises is important too, and little things like band aids and bandages go a long way. Maybe some burn cream, antiseptic like peroxide or betadine, or even motrin or tylenol is nice to have. A few band aids, some gauze, some kerlex, and tape is good to have. Saline solution for eye wash is also a plus.

I like having redundant stuff in my kit. I like to have maxi pads. Not only can you put them on pretty sizeable cuts and scrapes, but you never know when someone may need one for what they're designed for. Duct tape is awesome to have. I prefer Gorilla Tape. It seems to last longer. You can use duct tape to hold on gauze and to hold on chest seals.

Consider some multi purpose bandages: Israeli Bandages and/or Olaes Bandages from Tactical Medical Solutions are good ones to look into. The Olaes are a bit bigger, but for a range kit or car kit are pretty good to have.

Here is the video for the Olaes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_xyrA4ClA

First aid truly is a custom needs type deal. If you have any injuries you usually see, I would be happy to tell you what gear I would use to treat that in the field. (If you think that would help.)

Thanks for reading.

RJ
 
I've been wondering whether that first aid kit would be adequate should there be a kaboom at the range or any other kind of range accident.
Click to expand...

Unless your store bought kit is for gunshot wounds, no. I'd get a commercially available blowout kit and add an eyewash, eye cover, angle tipped tweezers, and a couple of other minor bits.

There's no need to carry tylenol and a raft of small bandaids when the catastrophic injury are the critical need.
 
It's nice to have band aids, a little antiseptic and a little gauze at the range. Hot brass can do bad things. Spall Happens too. So having some around isn't a bad idea.

But like HSO says, a blow out kit is the essential gear, along with the knowledge to use it.
 
I carry the same kit I have for hunting. It includes all of the above plus celox. I do lots of bow hunting and bleeding can be very difficult to stop when hit with a Broadhead. I hope it would work as well for a gunshot. Opinions gladly accepted.
 
Last edited:
I keep about 10 bucks worth of Dollar Tree first aid stuff in a zip lock bag in my vehicles for life's little accidents. My Mercedes came with a first aid kit in the rear window shelf. Kinda neat.
 
Op here. Thank you for all the replies. You've given me a lot to think about.

The serious (deadly) gun-related accidents that I've known about are both hunting related. In both cases, the hunter was crossing a barbed-wire fence with a loaded shotgun. During the crossing the shotgun fired point-blank into their torso. In both cases, they were experienced hunters. Both hunters died.
 
Good resources ....

For basic first aid, I'd check these good sites:
www.policehq.com www.galls.com www.qmuniforms.com www.gunvideo.com www.deltapress.com .
Galls, a KY based public safety/security firm has all types of stuff. You can buy Combat Clots or Quik-Clots, CAT torniques(as used by the US Army), nitrile medical gloves, etc.
Lenny Magill, Gunvideo.com has a few first aid & gun shot/trauma DVDs-VODs.

To take a few first responder/first aid classes is smart.
I'm looking to update my CPR & AED(automatic external defibrillator) with the local FD.
If you have a gun club or shoot at a gun/private range, you might want to set up a first aid kit, AED, fire safety system.
In 2015, you can buy compact kits that fit in vehicles or cabinets or the industrial/professional grade versions.

RS
 
Thanks to the professionals who have shared! I'm sure I could always use more training, but the guidance above confirms what I've put together.

I have two first aid containers:
1. the boo-boo kit in an outer pocket of the range bag for the cuts, burns, and scrapes
2. The trauma kit in its bright red small backpack with tourniquets, Israeli bandages, chest seals, quick-clot, splint and other wound dressing supplies. It's in a dedicated easy-to-see pack so I could tell someone else what to bring to me and they wouldn't have to dig around to find it.
 
rjriveta is dead on. I just put togther a blow out kit for a state championship match and included two CAT tournaquets, a Soft-T tournaquet and a SWAT tournaquet plus two vented chest dressings, two Israeli bandages and an assortment of other supplies. We put standard boo-boo first aid kits out for the shooters. The blow out box was held in reserve for the professionals.

Your first goal MUST BE TO STOP THE BLEEDING. Then its Airway, Breathing, Circulation.

Get the EMT's on the way PRONTO. If you must transport it requires a driver and an attendant to managed the patient.

Every range needs an emergency phone somewhere accessible with the physical street address and the GPS coordinates posted by the phone.

Hope you never need these supplies.

RMD
 
Quick clot, some bottled water and various common first aid stuff.

Butterfly bandages too.

And a knife and a tube for an emergency tracheotomy.
 
Last edited:
I go with a basic first aid kit for scrapes & cuts.
A Leatherman tool for cutting off fish hooks in my hide while fishing.

A SAK knife I carry 24/7 that includes tweezers for splinters.


For gun shots on a range?
Might as well carry a big trash bag with a clean white towel in it.
You can use the plastic trash bag turned inside out so it is semi-clean to stop up a sucking chest wound.

And the semi-clean white towel as a compress to contain the blood, until dust- off gets there.
(Or, the victim dies.))

That's all I learned in the service about gunshot first aid.

rc
 
My concerns:

Eyes - Sterile bandage and tails or tape to hold it about the head to stabilize an injured eye during transportation visine and an eye-cup with a pint of sterile water.

Bleeding - Sterile bandages, betadine, a couple of thigh-size tourniquets, tape and super glue.

Maxi-pads rock as do tampons.

I'm sure this'll cause some argument too but if I think I need a dedicated kit, I have a tiny flask of scotch that I haul along.

Everything fits in a handy claymore bag but I dig my old M-3 bags and you can in fact buy decently equipped M-3s and tune them to your particular need.

Eyes - puncture - slash/displacement and amputation......... I don't worry too much about burns. Shock, blood loss and dangling bits are my concerns - maybe airway too without going over board.

Todd.
 
First aid, trauma, shock .....

I'd have some basic items in a compact first kit or trauma gear bag.
Note: in World War II, most GIs died of shock more than anything else in combat. :eek:
Having a emergency blanket or re-assuring the casualty-victim is a good idea.
In the late 2000s, I did security work at a business where a car-jacking victim came in. She was a mess but not seriously hurt. More shook up, scared than anything. I got her a blanket and some water has we waited for the sheriff's deputies & paramedics. :uhoh:
I'd get a CAT, a few nitrile gloves, combat clot or Quik Clot, Asherman Chest Seal, tape, scissors, maybe a small LED light, Advil or Alive, wipes or hand sanitizer, IDF or milspec bandages, band-aids.
Having a bright orange signal blanket and maybe some LED/signal lights isn't a bad idea either. If a helicopter or search & rescue team needs to find you quickly that can be useful.
 
This brings up a concern of mine- the outdoor range I'm a member of has a card access gate.
Sometimes on a weekday I am the only one there.
Would be very unsettling to be badly injured and then the ambulance can't even get in!
 
This brings up a concern of mine- the outdoor range I'm a member of has a card access gate.
Sometimes on a weekday I am the only one there.
Would be very unsettling to be badly injured and then the ambulance can't even get in!
Click to expand...

Same is/was true at an outdoor range I'm a member of. I suggested the towns police chief and 2 amt's have card access with their own swipe cards. Now if alone and hurt one is only a cell call away.
 
DUMB NEWBIE QUESTION: I understand how this question pertains to hunting. But ranges? I thought all ranges have guys working the range to make sure everything stays safe, are they not also trained in basic first aid?
 
Entirely range dependent....

Some ranges are self-policed: Which means an entire spectrum of knowledge from none to expert.
Some ranges qualify their RSOs using the NRA Range Safety Officer short course, which does include a modicum of emergency medical response/treatment
 
The one formal range I've used the most didnt have anyone there. Members had the combination, it was left open for non-members on certain days, if anyone was officially there, I wasnt aware of them being there.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

G
  • Locked
what would you put in a first aid kit for your range bag?
2 3
Replies
50
Views
2K
CoalCrackerAl
CoalCrackerAl
M
  • Locked
first aid/medical supplies
Replies
11
Views
709
Dionysusigma
D
W
  • Locked
Essential First Aid for Shooting Range
2 3 4
Replies
75
Views
2K
jaysouth
J
J
  • Locked
Blow Out Bag Contents?
Replies
22
Views
2K
thesolidus
T
W
  • Locked
Range Bag First Aid Kit
Replies
20
Views
1K
DMK
DMK
Back
Top