OK I'll go where yall fear to tread.
If you have been shot, and the situation allows, lie down on your left side and relax. This is best if you vomit, so as not to occlude your airway. 'Also if you pass out you're least likely to occlude your own airway with your tongue. If you're shot, your chances of vomiting go up. Relaxing slows your heart rate, which slows how fast your blood is leaving the vessels, and also keeps you from passing out either through falling blood pressure or the physiological effects of your adrenalin dump.
GSWs to extremities may encompass any or all of the following:
1. Minor to life threatening bleeding, leading to trauma arrest (death)
2. Bone fracture(s) limiting your ability to function.
3. Nerve damage limiting your ability to function.
4. Pain
GSWs to the trunk...
1. Minor to life threatening bleeding.
2. Bone fracture(s) limiting your ability to function.
3. Spinal cord damage limiting your ability to function.
4. Pain
5. Interruption of vital organ function.
6. Sepsis.
7. Respiratory distress/failure
8. Trauma arrest (death)
9. Pain
GSW to the head/neck...
1. Neurological failure (unconsciousness/death)
2. Blindness
3. Airway failure (traumatized tissue in airway)
4. Bone fracture(s)
I'm sure someone will point out that I've missed something, thats OK.
Lets deal with what we can...
Bleeding below the elbow or knee is usually not life threatening, and thus does not require a tourniquet.
To control bleeding:
1. Direct pressure.... this means your hand on the wound
2. Elevate (if possible) above the heart
3. Pressure point... these are places where the artery runs close to the skin and over a bone
4. Pressure dressing... a dressing tied snugly over the wound
5. Tourniquet... these are rarely used, and even more rarely applied correctly... military has a good one hand tourniquet
Penetrating wounds to the trunk will benefit from an occlusive dressing... petroleum jelly on gauze... plastic... cellophane from a cigarette pack
This is to seal the chest in case there is damage to a lung. Lungs move, do not discount abdominal or shoulder injuries. Be aware that a simple pneumothorax can develop into a tension pneumothorax. Occasionally "burp" the occlusive dressing, especially if respiratory distress worsens.
Abdominal organs can bleed quite briskly. Your only signs will be bruising and swelling. Pressure/pressure dressings can help, even if there is no external bleeding.
So what do you want in your first aid kit? And how much room do you have?
If this is an on body kit, I'd carry Celox-A. This is an emerging product. A powder in a syringe. You stick the syringe in the wound, then push the plunger as you withdraw. The powder will stop bleeding quickly (not instantly). Hold pressure for a couple minutes. Regular Celox comes in a pouch, less expensive ($15 vs. $50). A large Kotex pad, maybe a roll of gauze.
Go here to see some other ideas:
http://www.onesourcetactical.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=101
The H&H pocket trauma kit is a bit hardcore, with a 14 gauge needle for chest decompression, but if you KNOW HOW TO DO IT, it's nice to have...
If you think you have a life threatening injury, forget EMS, get to a hospital PDQ unless the hospital is further away than EMS is to you. Remember that EMS WILL NOT come on scene until LEOs advise them the scene is secure!
OK that's it in a cracked nutshell. Probably remember something else after I post...