Medical in range bag.

Yes duct tape or electrical tape along with a roll of paper towels are always handy to have around. I'll add that you should also keep a bottle of rubbing alcohol around too. Another thing to keep handy is some plastic big enough to deal with a sucking chest wound.

I keep simple things in my range bag but always have a trauma kit close by. I have a couple of the Everlit Advanced Trauma kits. The price has gone up on them since I bought my last one a year ago.

https://www.everlitsurvival.com/col...verlit-emergency-br-advanced-trauma-kit-gen-2

No matter what type of first aid kit or trauma kit you have, make sure you know how to use everything. And just as important is to periodically check everything and replace as needed. Some things do have expiration dates.

While I was not a medic, I was trained as a combat life saver. We carried basically the same kit as the field medics minus the morphine shots. I was strained to administer an IV too. But I wouldn't try to do so now since it has been 30 years since I have had to do it.

I once sliced my finger wide open on a glass shelf and all I had handy was paper towels, rubbing alcohol and electrical tape. I cleansed the cut with alcohol and then wrapped it in a paper towel and electrical tape. It was about a week before I could get in to see my VA doctor and the nurse practitioner was surprised and pleased on how the wound was healing.

 

Yes, in my vehicle.

 

For those times you need to amputate in the field?

I have two first aid kits in the truck (one store bought, the other is more put together by me) and a box of quick clot.

I used to have a small one in my range bag but a pill bottle with an in opened super glue in it, replaced it around 2010.

 

I am a big fan of building my own First Aid Kit instead of buying complete kits. Building the kit makes sure you get what you want and as important you know what you got in the kit when an emergency hits. I also think you save money and increase the overall quality of the gear. I have thankfully not needed it for a major injury yet but I have used it many times for minor/moderate injuries.

 

I keep a kit in my SUV.
Then again, the SUV is my range bag.

 

Totally agree, and there are not random useless items and stuff you don't know how to use.

 

Mine too - because our "range" is the local county gravel pit. However, we sometimes do get further away from the truck than 10' - like when we walk "downrange" to check the targets.

 

Mine's a Dodge Ram 1500. It used to be a Ford F-150. I liked the Ford better.

 

30 years ago there was a guy that worked for one of my customers that blew his heel off while going after a hog with a shot gun (I believe it was a shotgun). He saved his own life from bleeding to death with a zip tie that he had in his truck.

 

Big zip ties are a good idea but somebody better have cutters of some sort to get it off. And it could be tough to get a cutter between the skin and zip tie but better than bleeding to death.

 

Once applied, tourniquets should only be removed by medical professionals after the application of appropriate medications.
Really bad things can happen, otherwise... .

 

I stash a few Band-Aids in a small zip-lock with a small tube of Triple Antibiotic + Pain Relief ointment in the range bag but that's about it ... cuts , splinters , blisters and bug bites are all I can treat ... anything else , I call somebody with more medical know how than myself .
Gary

 

I consider medical a four tiered system.
1. First aid- this is my job and what I plan for
2. Paramedics- if I've done my job their just a ride. May add fluids if blood loss is bad.
3. Emergency surgeon. This is the magic person who's skill determines if you live or die.
4. Specialist. Fixes long term issues, way after the fact.

I believe we are are own first responders from security to injury. Maybe it's still the boyscout trapped inside.

 

Good thread and lots of good info.

These are the things I carry in my vehicles and range bag that separate my kits from basic “owie” kits:

- 2 tourniquets
- 2 quick clot packs
- 2 chest seals
- 2 Israeli bandages

For folks who say they won’t carry more than a simple first aid kit because they don’t have training, I’d tell you to put the kit together and carry it in your car. At an accident, there may be someone trained to help but they may not have the med kit. Having yours may be the difference in saving a life.

Same reason I make my kids carry jumper cables and a simple tool kit even though I’d be surprised if they actually knew how to jump their vehicle (yes, I tried to teach them…)

 

The last time I saw a significant injury at the range, everyone ran to their trucks and returned with an array of first aid kits that would have kept a trauma center in business for a week. So I'm not sure that one more kit would have been especially helpful. Just judging by that particular event, though, a bit more training would have come in handy...

 

This is true. As a certified combat life saver, I was just below a field medic. We were short on actual medics so some of us got trained enough to patch people up to get them to a real medic or field hospital.

Yes everyone that carries a first aid or trauma kit really should get some level of training. I have kept up on all the skills I was taught with the exception of administering IV's. I could probably still do it in a pinch but I'd rather not do so.

 

Now that the topic has shifted, which is cool please know and understand the rendering aid rules in your area. I will always try and help save a life and I grew up under good Samaritan law. Each state can be vastly different.

 

Thanks for that! I have AFIB and have to take Eliquis, a blood thinner, and with mere scratches I bleed like a stuck hog.

 

They have an impregnated gause that may be good for smaller cuts on the range.

 

That tourniquet looks sealed still. Have you ever played with one. I recommend to take it out and have it prerigged and ready to go.

 

I do have a personal "kit" for the range. However, I keep one in my car. I have been first on scene for automobile crashes TWICE and not working either time. Spoiler alert: No physical damage to those in the cars. But I don't want to caught short. I should likely update and add some equipment as always.

The Shooting Club to which I belong does have a more substantial 'kit' and is more concentrated on serious wounds. And, I know exactly where it awaits.

I have a cell phone with me all the time. I'm not afraid to use it.