My Trauma IFAK with Pictures

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In effort to be better prepared for the chance meeting of a would be active shooter, terrorist, or otherwise trauma-inflicting sociopath, I began carrying an ITS Tactical EDC trauma kit last summer in my daily EDC bag. I continuously questioned the legitimacy of it and felt it wasn’t enough albeit stocked with great gear. Here’s that and please forgive the brightness:
IMG_20170428_163119799 by ArkansasFan, on Flickr

Going in search of a very compact trauma kit, hearty enough to treat penetrating injuries, I couldn’t find a pouch small enough to fit my needs. I ended up ordering a small pouch from 5.11, which turned out to be larger than I anticipated. I’m not satisfied, but it’s a start. To that I added the contents of the ITS Tactical EDC trauma kit, plus a few other items. Since taking the picture, I’ve added a few large BandAids that are about as big a credit card because they wouldn’t fit in my Altoids booboo tin. Below is my Trauma IFAK:
IMG_20170428_163739314 by ArkansasFan, on Flickr
IMG_20170428_163046398 by ArkansasFan, on Flickr
IMG_20170428_163015971 by ArkansasFan, on Flickr
IMG_20170428_162609182 by ArkansasFan, on Flickr

Since taking the pictures I’ve discovered the Blue Force Gear Micro Trauma Kit NOW, and plan to incorporate that into my EDC and transition the above kit to my field gear.

Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged.

[admin]

In effort to be better prepared for the chance meeting of a would be active shooter, terrorist, or otherwise trauma-inflicting sociopath, I began carrying an ITS Tactical EDC trauma kit last summer in my daily EDC bag. I continuously questioned the legitimacy of it and felt it wasn’t enough albeit stocked with great gear. Here’s that and please forgive the brightness:
Going in search of a very compact trauma kit, hearty enough to treat penetrating injuries, I couldn’t find a pouch small enough to fit my needs. I ended up ordering a small pouch from 5.11, which turned out to be larger than I anticipated. I’m not satisfied, but it’s a start. To that I added the contents of the ITS Tactical EDC trauma kit, plus a few other items. Since taking the picture, I’ve added a few large BandAids that are about as big a credit card because they wouldn’t fit in my Altoids booboo tin. Below is my Trauma IFAK:

Since taking the pictures I’ve discovered the Blue Force Gear Micro Trauma Kit NOW, and plan to incorporate that into my EDC and transition the above kit to my field gear.

Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged.

[admin]

Looks good. If you have room I’d recommend a small space blanket (post injury hypothermia) and mini-sharpie (mark T application time).

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No room for the blanket. Keep forgetting the Sharpie. Thanks for pointing that out.

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I have a Resqme attached to the zipper of mine, never had to use it but it might come in useful. And has less bulk than the EMT shears.

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Journo said: ↑
I have a Resqme attached to the zipper of mine, never had to use it but it might come in useful. And has less bulk than the EMT shears.
You can cut off clothing with that?
Click to expand…

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Yeah, you just slide it up whatever you’re trying to cut, like you’d cut a seatbelt.

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Journo said: ↑
Yeah, you just slide it up whatever you’re trying to cut, like you’d cut a seatbelt.
Click to expand…
I didn’t really there was sufficient gap for that. Cool. Good to know.

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Nice kit. I can’t tell how much more room you have, but I might try to get in a couple of 5 x 9 trauma pads and some flat folded duct tape. A second pair of gloves would be helpful. Be great to see Blue Force items when you get them put into your kit.

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volvoboy said: ↑
Nice kit. I can’t tell how much more room you have, but I might try to get in a couple of 5 x 9 trauma pads and some flat folded duct tape. A second pair of gloves would be helpful. Be great to see Blue Force items when you get them put into your kit.
Click to expand…
I can’t add anything of substance. The bag has to be squeezed to close and when opened the Israeli bandage comes popping out. The pouch needs to be more squared, a little wider, and perhaps a little longer. This was actually based on the TCCC guidelines.

I’ve held a lot of varying healthcare related degrees and licenses starting with EMS going on up to now prescriber level. My aim is to improvise what can be improvised. In reality, nothing truly makes a good tourniquet other than a tourniquet. I do like abd pads. Maybe the next iteration will have that. I want to replace the 5.11 pouch post haste.

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Why use a bag/pouch at all? Pick what you need and then vacuum-seal it. Doesn’t get more compact than that and you can choose how to pack it (i.e. Flat, long,short,wide)

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Looks good. The HALO seal rolled up seems to dictate the minimum long-side length, and the width is just wide enough for the Izzie, so that looks about as compact as a traditional pouch will get and still hold the basics. Will a CAT instead of SOFT-T fit okay? I may pull the trigger on one

The glassbreaker / seat belt cutter works well, they can be found for like $1.50 on ebay and still work just like the $10 ones (we’ve had some of our firefighters use them during extrication classes). The razor as mentioned cuts through light clothing without issue. If you’re doing thicker/heavier clothing benchmade rescue hooks work well (even through boots)

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ArkansasFan30 said: ↑
I didn’t really there was sufficient gap for that. Cool. Good to know.
Click to expand…
I can confirm. I also carry a ResQme as part of my small EDC pouch (contains an URIEL bandage as a 1-for-all trauma item) and tried the ResQme on an old pair of jeans: once the small blade is in place one simply pulls it up (assuming cutting trousers from feet to belt). Awesome and much smaller than trauma shears (which are part of my trauma/IFAK kit, of course).

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That’s a lot of stuff in a small space. For the space I think that you’ve got a good assortment of trauma gear. Nice.

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I carry a CAT tourniquet, quickclot gauze, mini compression bandage and gloves in a Phlster Pocket Emergency Wallet.

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