Thoughts on mixing boo-boo and trauma kits

**rob_s** · 03-13-10, 07:49

Thought I would bump this for two reasons.

First is that the Tacmedsol bag appears to be just a hair over $100 for the bag alone! Great solution at that price-point. Be sure to watch the video at the original link
http://www.tacmedsolutions.com/07/pr...ows_get_pics=3

Second is that the Eagle GTHB in the milspec monkey video doesn't appear to have made it to release yet.

**AZwildcat** · 06-03-10, 08:44

Originally Posted by rob_s

that Clamshell design is what I'm after. I imagine I could add a clamshell booboo on the MOLLE on the front.

What's in the top zippered compartment?

I really like the looks of that bag! It has both the boo-boo and major injury stuff covered and separated. I agree with some of the other comments that express concern with guys rifling through your gear on the range. I have had that happen a couple of times and it is aggravating to have something taken for a use that it's not meant for. I had a guy who cut his finger take a Quikclot pad to bandage the cut when a regular boo-boo gauze pad would have done the job. The cost difference of a couple of cents versus the $7 Quikclot pad was not a necessary expense. In addition, they make a mess of the bag when they go through it.

This bag looks like it has a clear separation of use and I think that I will label mine when I buy it. The bag I use now has a clamshell design, but I even open the wrong side on occasion. Thanks for the posting and the pictures.

**Mitch** · 06-17-10, 22:12

I know this thread has died a little but I thought I'd bump it to see if you've found anything suitable and give a couple of suggestions.

My dept. has been using the "Backpack Plus" bags from Iron Duck for a couple of years now with good success. They have small pouches velcroed to the inside that can be organized by BLS equipment, Bandages, I.V. setups, etc. We have two bags, one for airway and one for everything else (we call it the trauma bag although it has a lot of equipment used for medical patients). They may be a little big for range use but I.D. has other bags too. Here's a link for Statpacks (great gear, my bro uses these on the Ambo and loves'em) and Galls too, who have various packs as well.

My general thoughts on the subject are to make trauma items easily accessible vs. boo boo items, and categorize the contents by task then put them in a colored bag in a way that is easy for you to remember (red for bandages, blue for airway). This also makes it easy to tell a stranger/bystander to grab the "blue pouch" instead of an item they may not be familiar with, like an OPA. Trauma items are the items that you'll need in a pinch and under pressure, you don't want to have to do any digging to find what you need when someone's bleeding out or not breathing. Boo boo stuff can be stashed in its own pouch and ripped out when needed as these medical needs are generally not life threatening. Just my .02.

**rob_s** · 06-18-10, 05:03

Mitch, I agree with you that the trauma items would be RIGHT NOW while a band-aid for a splinter can stand to take a little longer. The issue I have, and the reason I initially started this thread, is that thee band-aid is something that will be dug out hundreds of times before I ever need a trauma dressing, and I won't be the only one digging. Kid(s), woman, dufi (plural of dufus

) at the range, etc. This, plus other reasons, is why I like the Tacmedsol bag. I just need to get off my ass and order it. Thanks for reminding me. I never seem to have my wallet on hand when this thread gets bumped up.

Those statpacks look interesting, and I like that they are easily identifiable as medical supplies by others, but none of the designs seems to quite do what I'd want it to.

I may wind up finding that the Tacmedsol bag doesn't work for my needs either, but it also has the added benefit of the molle front to which I can attach a sissy kit if I need to for easy, frequent, access.

**MechEng** · 07-29-10, 09:52

Originally Posted by Gutshot John

I suddenly realized where you were going which is why I withdrew.

In my experience bags with too many panels, and fancy "johnny gage" inserts get too complicated and invariably you're limited to stocking it in exactly one way. I think your concept of keeping them together in some way is sound in fact I think it probably should be extrapolated further. In terms of an organized setup you can achieve the same thing with a single compartment bag and various "modules" that can be stacked accordingly. So you have a "booboo" module, a "meds" module, a "hemorrhage" module, an "airway" module etc. There are a lot of ways to skin that cat.

If you're looking for a small boo boo type kit that can be inserted into the above bags, check here. They might also be good sources of other modules that you can insert into your car bag.

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/

This is how I keep my First Aid/Trauma/Boo-Boo Kits organized. Eagle Creek (www.eaglecreek.com or REI) makes several different sizes of see through “Pack-It Sacs” that work great for setting up various modules. I just mark them, using a silver sharpie or white paint pen, with bold descriptions like BOO-BOO, BLEED, BURN, AIRWAY, etc…

**chriskc04** · 07-30-10, 09:20

For a FAK that you're not strapping to your person, I've heard very good things about the blackhawk (!

) medic roll.
http://www.blackhawk.com/product/Eme...oll,237,42.htm

There's also the BFG trauma kit now:
http://www.blueforcegear.com/product...=6&prod_id=119

A quick video demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HdQXUgzYz0

And boo-boo pouch:
http://www.blueforcegear.com/product...=6&prod_id=140

Hope it helps. I'd be interested to know what you end up with and your thoughts on it.

**sniperbusch@hotmail.com** · 07-30-10, 15:36

This is one of my favorite subjects and I finally convinced a good friend to take an active interest by sending him a modified USGI IFAK. I personally maintain several kits but one of my first pouches from SO Tech (CIMP-OD) is what I carry with my range gear. It is set up for general first aid as the injuries that I have encountered on a shooting range are minor cuts, insect bites and minor burns. This kit also has a readily accessible 6-inch Emergency Bandage (ETD) w/ mobile pad and SOFTT for gunshot wounds. I also try to have a Medevac plan in place with planned routes to the nearest medical center or hospital, when 911 is not feasible. For these rural shooting ranges, I tend to bring more gear such as a dedicated trauma kit. For Second Line Gear, I only carry a small HSGI Bleeder Pouch (blowout) that only contains a 6-inch ETD, CAT and Shears. I carry a trauma kit on my Third Line Gear along with a separate small GP first aid kit. In my layman opinion, the Emergency Bandage is the single best medical gear to have (KISS).

**motorwerks** · 07-30-10, 16:04

my med stuff is in a couple stages.

Small bag.

This one stays in the map pocket of my truck it started out as a first aid kit from an Audi that I bought from a wrecking yard for like $10.00 and its the best pre-made small kit I have ever seen, I added some extra gloves and 4x4's and its good to go for most little stuff.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/AUDI-...Q5fAccessories

Medium bag.

This ones my bug out bag. It sits next to my nightstand with an MRE, water bottles, Ammo Ear plugs and my 1911. Along with this it has a ziplock with sissy stuff, and a larger Ziplock with enough that I could take care of a GWS till an ambulance or fire got there. This always goes to the range with me so I can rotate the ammo and water, but the First aid stuff is not to be touched unless someones dying.
http://www.countycomm.com/DESERTBAILOUT.htm

Big bag.

This bag started out as a bag that I picked up from Cheaper then dirt STOCKED FULL of goodness. I actually had to down stock it because there were a few things that are out of my scope of practice and a few things that there were to many of. Again I added some things mostly cardboard for splints, a better stethoscope and traded the C-collar for one that wasn't OD green (mostly because I wanted to keep it around) this things broken into basically 4 pockets.

I have the main pocket stuffed with Trauma gear, the cardboard, Collar, Larger gauze stuff, extra gauze for splints, stuff that i dont use day to day.

The next largest pocket is split up into some pouches I bought from Homedepo and one from an army navy store. These all have some sort of mesh and I have labeled them all with a sharpie and 2 inch med tape with whats in them. The main one holds the sissy stuff and stays up on top It has bandages some gauze and such. The others hold stuff I am more likely to use day to day like BP cuff, stethoscope, 4x4's etc.

The bottom outside pocket on the outside holds admin stuff, I have a note pad, pens, hand cleaner, flashlight, a kind of generic run sheet, that I can refer to if I get stuck on something and keep track of stuff in case back up is going to be a while out.

The top outside pocket holds my airway stuff. I put it here because if I need airway now I don't want to have to look for it, I have a good selection of OPA's and NPA's and a mask.

So back to the original question. Yeah I keep boo boo stuff with trauma stuff, but in a different place in the same bag. I also keep a box of stock in the garage so if I use something out on the street I ether hit up the ambulance I hand care to for a replacement (and they bill out for it) or I replace it at home. I do it this way because I just never know whats going to happen. I always have a ton of crap staged around my house or when I go shooting, or driving around or whatever.
http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/MHR333-1.html

This system works for me and since I have been running this system I haven't had to many times that I have REALLY needed it. I feel Murphy's law is working to keep people safe since I will be around to help out.