first aid training for gun shot wounds and similar injuries

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Willie Lowman

New member
I take a first aid class every year for work. It's basically a CPR class. Most of the day is focused on chest compressions, rescue breaths, and how to use a AED. At the end of the class we practice wrapping gauze pads on a partner to simulate covering a cut.


I would like to find a class that is more focused on treating injuries. Gun shots, broken bones, bad cuts, etc. I'm not a paramedic but I want to know how to help people while the paramedics are on the way. Response times to some ranges I shoot at could be a half hour or so.

Does anyone know where such a class is taught? I'm in Ohio but I'd travel if I had to. Every first aid class I have found in SE OH and in the Columbus area are CPR focused. I know how to do CPR. I want injury response training.
 
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TunnelRat

New member
SIG Sauer Academy has a class on Trauma Management. The instructor is often Jon Carlson, who was a Special Forces Medical Sergeant (he was a Green Beret).

https://www.sigsaueracademy.com/productdisplay/trauma-management

https://www.sigsaueracademy.com/instructors/jon-carlson

The course outline on the webpage is far briefer than the class. You cover the MARCH (Massive hemorrhage, Airway complications, Respirations, Circulation, Hypothermia prevention) trauma assessment, bleeding control (from tourniquets to wound packing), the recovery position, nasal airways (and using NPAs), chest trauma (including using chest seals), fractures, frostbite, hypothermia prevention, and anaphylactic shock. The printouts I have make up 52 pages and I have notes written all over them.

I would say if you can’t make that course, find a course locally that at least covers tourniquet use. As someone waiting for a first responder when it comes to broken bones you’re generally applying a basic splint or just limiting movement. Stopping massive blood loss, however, is something that is critical while waiting for EMS and for people that use firearms it can be an important tool to know how to use. The other part of this is actually having medical equipment with you.


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shafter

New member
Find a Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) class nearby if you can. They cover touriquet use, wound packing, and chest seals. That's really all you're going to do for a gunshot anyways outside of a hospital.
 
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HiBC

New member
Willie and Tunnel Rat, both good posts!.
I'm no expert, but long ago I took EMT training.

There are stages to helping an injured person. The most critical thing a first responder can do is get an ambulance or helicopter on the way.
If,for example,your concern is about a shooting range, find out ahead of time how the cell service is. If its a dead zone, browse REI and study up on InReach or other sat phone devices.

The training you are looking for is about what you can do with what you have in the time it takes for the paramedics to arrive. And what you can't do.
 
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Onward Allusion

New member
Took a class after I got my CCL and one key thing that stood out was to - prevent blood loss. Tourniquet and blood clotting powder are essential.
 
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Aguila Blanca

Staff
Onward Allusion said:
Took a class after I got my CCL and one key thing that stood out was to - prevent blood loss. Tourniquet and blood clotting powder are essential.
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Discussing trauma kits with a former military [male] nurse, I was surprised when he told me that clotting powder is to be avoided, because it makes a mess and makes treatment more difficult when the patient gets to the ER.

That said, I have it in my trauma kit, but I need to study up more on how & when to use it. In general, though, you are correct. The key with traumatic injuries is STB -- "Stop The Bleed." Depending on where the wound is, that may call for a tourniquet, a pressure bandage, clotting agent, or a combination.

General purpose first aid courses aren't going to address gunshot wounds. You need a course geared toward trauma, not "first aid." The courses suggest by others above are a good starting point. Something else to keep in mind -- a lot of ranges don't have a trauma kit. Most probably only have a general purpose "first aid" kit, which is often nothing more than a plastic box with a few Band-Aids and some antibiotic cream. A friend of mine who shoots (or did, pre-COVID) a lot of IDPA always carries his own trauma kit when he goes to a range, because he's fairly certain that the ranges won't have one. Bare minimum, a trauma kit should include a tourniquet, an Israeli bandage, and chest seals (for a sucking chest wound). Also, a couple of pairs of medical exam gloves.
 
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TunnelRat

New member
Aguila Blanca said:
Something else to keep in mind -- a lot of ranges don't have a trauma kit. Most probably only have a general purpose "first aid" kit, which is often nothing more than a plastic box with a few Band-Aids and some antibiotic cream. A friend of mine who shoots (or did, pre-COVID) a lot of IDPA always carries his own trauma kit when he goes to a range, because he's fairly certain that the ranges won't have one. Bare minimum, a trauma kit should include a tourniquet, an Israeli bandage, and chest seals (for a sucking chest wound). Also, a couple of pairs of medical exam gloves.
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This is an important point. If you get this training you’ll likely want to invest in having some kit on or with you as few places will invest it themselves. I have kits with the items Aguila mentioned in each of my vehicles and my range bag.

There are a lot of vendors of medical equipment. I would avoid Amazon as a lot of it can be knock off stuff and while cheap, cheap and medical equipment aren’t generally something you want to go together. I bought a lot of my stuff from TacMed solutions. They have both kits and individual items you can buy. They also run sales throughout the year of up to 20% off (often during May as well because of May being National Stop the Bleed Month). The same instructor I mentioned above also recommended North American Rescue, Bound-Tree, Moore Medical, and Chinook Medical. I have heard good things about Dark Angel Medical, too.

In the event you can’t find something local, there are some online courses that at least go over the basics (even the DHS has one I think). stopthebleed.org has one too, but I haven’t taken it before. It’s not as good as having a practical component, but it’s something.


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HiBC

New member
I freely admit I don't know anything about the use of Quik-Clot..
I made the assumption on my own that there is some education that needs to go with it.
Loose clots floating around can be killers and it may be an obstacle to the paramedics or trauma surgery team.

I'm not condemning clotting agents, I'm just suggesting it may be best to get trained in proper use. Once again,I don't know what that is.
 
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Mike38

New member
To the OP, contact your local hospital and see if they have EMR (Emergency Medical Responder) classes. It's just below an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician). The cost is reasonable, about $150 or so. Usually somewhere around 20 hours of training.
 
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LeverGunFan

New member
Another option is to contact your local fire department, as they are often the first responders to trauma victims. A VFD near me has conducted classes on immediate care for chainsaw injuries, as they cover a rural area with a large population of firewood cutters. Plus the VFD members are more likely to be shooters, and thus more sympathetic to your request.
 
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shafter

New member
As others have mentioned, make sure you aren't buying the cheap stuff on Amazon. It's junk and doesn't work. The windlass on the cheap tourniquets from China are notorious for snapping off. There are some reputable companies that put together ready made kits or you can assemble one yourself, but expect to pay around a hundred bucks or so for the bare basics.

Mine includes several CAT tourniquets, a pair of chest seals, two Israeli bandages, quick clot, rubber gloves, and several other odds and ends. This should be readily accessible while shooting and shooting partners should know where it is and how to use it.

I have several kits and I always have one in my vehicle where I can reach it and when I'm in remote areas camping. It's must-have equipment and something you need to invest in.
 
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JohnKSa

Administrator
Discussing trauma kits with a former military [male] nurse, I was surprised when he told me that clotting powder is to be avoided, because it makes a mess and makes treatment more difficult when the patient gets to the ER.
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If there is serious bleeding and nothing else is working and it will likely be quite awhile before professional medical attention will be available, then use it.

If you can stop the bleeding some other way, or if the person is going to get very rapid medical attention then make it easy on the ER and don't.

There are some things you can almost always do in a first aid situation that are extremely unlikely to cause any problems. There are other things you do only if there are no other good options or there are other extenuating circumstances.

Knowing the difference is very important and that is part of why training is good.
 
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Rob228

New member
The powder has been replaced by impregnated gauze. Its a little more user friendly and you don't so much have to worry about it going into anyone's eyes in the wind.
 
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TailGator

New member
Re bleeding: I had a surgery professor who loved to intone "Significant bleeding is that which you can hear." In administering first aid, you don't need to stop all bleeding; you want to concentrate on stopping pulsatile bleeding that is emptying out your patient. Tourniquets, pressure points, and compression are the way to do that. You don't have to stop it, just reduce it to survivable levels. If you have a pulsing bleeder, those powders and such are going to be carried away. Pressure, control it, reduce it to something survivable. Get them to the OR with a pulse.
 
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Sharkbite

New member
Rob228 hit it on the head. Loose powders are obsolete. Impregnated gauze and wound packing skills are the way to go on junctional bleeding.

Tourniquets on extremities. Wound pack junctional bleeding. Seal abdomen and/or chest
 
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raimius

New member
Stop the Bleed would be a basic class (great intro). There are other trauma care classes that are good. A wilderness first aid class also has a variety of good info.
 
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44 AMP

Staff
when I was a lad, the Boy Scouts taught first aid, along with a great many other useful skills. But, that was back in the 20th Century, and probably isn't allowed today....:rolleyes:

today, in the 21st century, I suggest your first step is to find out if your state has a "Good Samaritan" law or something like it, BEFORE you treat anyone, for anything.

It shouldn't be needed, but in today's world, sadly, it is, so make sure you have legal CYA before you risk losing all your money and maybe everything else you ever worked for because you tried to help someone or save a life.
 
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IZZY

New member
The course I took a first aid course in University ( Virginia) that actually did cover stab/ gunshot wounds to some limited extent...like turning a guy with a sucking chest wound on his side so he might be able to breath with his good lung, etc.

Virginia also has "good Samaritan" laws that shield people from liability who render first aid...so long as you don't do anything grossly negligent. O-HI-O has a similar law:

https://www.ageeclymer.com/blog/good-samaritan-laws-ohio/
 
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