So I'm and some of my fellow officer are looking for gun wound kits. Now we all know there are a lot of them on the market but we are not looking for a kit that you have to go back to your squad for but one you have on you at all time.

IFAK type but something not as large as ones used by military something small and can always be carried. I have seen the kits that go behind the trama plate in your vest and like them a lot but want to know if anything else is better?

Thanks for the help!

I keep three separate med kits in my car (one on my active shooter rig, one loose in my trunk organizer, and one shoved between my cage/rifle mount and passenger seat headrest.

On me, I have a tourniquet in my front right pocket (front left pocket is backup gun), plus a chest seal and decomp needle (and appropriate training) in my vest behind the trauma plate. Need to find a way to carry an Israeli dressing or some gauze too, but I've run out of room.

Look at TacMedSolutions for some ideas. They have some good small LEO kits.
Rescue Essentials also has some good stuff. They custom build kits for many customers then make them available for sale.

The uniforms at my department are very old school. Round hats, ties, cross straps at all times, so I don't anywhere to fit a trauma kit on my person. So I carry a trauma plate pack with celox rapid in it, from OSS. It fits right in the plate pocket on my vest, behind the trauma plate, without adding too much bulk.

http://www.officersurvivalsolutions.com/products/pocket-pack-series/trauma-plate-pack-celox-rapid-detail.html

I carry a DARK from Dark Angel Medical daily.

Where do you carry it on your person?

Based on your situation, this is what you want, all you'll need is a tourniquet and some training.

If your just thinking a kit for GSW there is a cheap easy way to do it. The military guys will tell you it works great. Ready. Get a meavy flow maxi-pad, a heavy flow tampon, and either an ACE wrap or roll of Kerlix. Only thing I would spend any money on was a turniquet, but only if you didn't want to use kerlix (you can wrap the pretty tight). You could use electrical tape too, small roll is very compact and will wrap really tight. If you get shot, pull out tampon and shove it in the hole. Then cover it with maxi-pad. If you need a seal use wrappers. Wrap whole thing with ACE wrap or kerlix and your good to go until EMS is available. Plus, a box of pads and tampons is cheap, you can outfit a dozen guys for $10 of female hygeine products. If you know any EMS guys they can "aquire" a few rolls of kerlix or ACE wraps for you. You may think it's crazy, but think about how much research and money has gone in to the acience of blood absorbtion in female products!! Plus their sanitary. Not so crazy now huh! You dont need to have expensive fancy gear that you cant get too or dont know how to use, you need simple effective gear that will keep you alive until dr's can fix you up!

FAIL!!! (x87)

Buy the right stuff for the right job.  In comparison with your life, the cost is quite small.

There's always someone who recommends this, and it baffles me.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Better to have something nothing. It's by no means to fail if you have done something to try and help yourself. I respect your dislike of the idea, but I know EMT's and Dr's that are ex-military that have told me that although not picture perfect, it will still save your ass when you need it.

Although it may be better than nothing, why not carry something that's more appropriate? Hemostatic dressings and tourniquets are much more effective at stopping hemorrhaging than tampons.



 

On my duty belt, about 8 o'clock position.

Took some time but now I don't even notice it there.

Nice, I may have to give that a try. I follow them on social media and they're always running deals on their gear.


As for the tampon idea... this has been run over and over and over again. Tampons absorb blood, they don't STOP the flow. Packing a wound with kerlix and applying direct pressure helps the blood clot and staunch the flow.

From a medical standpoint only, and completely ignoring all other factors mentioned, there is NO difference between tampons and kerlix, as both will do the exact same job!   Neither stop the flow!  Both absorb liquids.  There is no difference in function......just size!  

Tampon = compacted woven cotton that will expand when saturated, colleting more volume of fluid than its original size    
Kerlix = fluffed woven cotton that will stay the same size when saturated, collecting the same volume of fluid as its original size

You are packing the wound, to put INTERNAL pressure on the bleeding organ/artery/vein.  You then use a pressure dressing over both.   Kerlix is better than a tampon for variety of reasons, but a tampon(s) is better than nothing at all.  

Now, considering everything else, ANYONE using a IFAK is deep crap.  Something went bad. You are already improvising and doing anything you can to increase chances of survival.  textbook is gone and you use what you can.  Don't have a TQ?  Use a belt, use a hsoe lace or anything else you can find!  99% of folks with a IFAK won't get squat done with the ONE roll of Kerlix they carry in their IFAK, even with the pressure dressing if they come across a genuine GSW or stab wound.  You are screwed from minute one, especially when there is both an entry and exit wound!  And even with just an entry wound, it will be worthless in about 30 seconds after applied for most.  The more you get in there, the better you are.  All of us LEO's have a "space" issue with the amount of gear we can carry and it is not practical to carry multiple rolls of kerlix.    

I have been doing EMS for 22 years (paid and volunteer) and LE for 18 years, six of which is tac med.  SOMA and John Hopkins Center for Law Enforcement Training all teach the same- when you can't carry all the rights tools, improvising with the best options is OK.  While it may not be textbook or ideal, if you can't carry a full trauma kit, tampons enhancing kerlix are actually a lot smarter than just a role of kerlix or just a tampon.  So if a LEO "enhances" his IFAK with one or two high flow tampons, he or she is not doing anything wrong.