First Aid and EDC Kits

For the past few months I have been thinking about whether or not I had all of the items that I would need if I found myself in a situation like the Boston Marathon bombing, or the Aurora CO movie theater shooting, or any other disaster where people are seriously injured. Sure I have a first aid kit in the car but what good would that do me in the event of something happening ? Granted there might be time to run to the car and get the kit, but would someone's life or death hang in the balance? I have also thought about whether or not my first aid training is still fresh enough in my mind that I could apply it in an emergency situation.

The questions above are just some of what I have been asking myself over the past few weeks, and I have forced myself to take a long hard look at what the answers really are.

When I was in high school I spent a couple summers working at the local water park as a lifeguard, the amount of training we went through to become certified was sufficient enough to possibly save someone in the event that they were drowning, or had injured their neck, and a variety of other possible scenarios. Thankfully I never had to use any of the training in an actual situation, but the lessons that I learned 15 years ago still bounce around in my head because I had some great trainers who wanted to make sure that we wouldn't forget what we had been trained to do if we had to act in a stressful situation.

Later on when I joined the Air Force I received basic Self Aid Buddy Care training, while not extremely in depth it was a training that I was required to go through yearly. There was a lot to be learned and I can remember when I was a younger airman thinking that I would never have to use any of the information that was being crammed into my head. Fortunately to this day I still have not had to use any of the training, but I am still glad that there is the information in my head on how to apply a tourniquet, how to apply quick clot, or even how to treat a sucking chest wound.

I believe that it is very important for everyone to have some sort of training in life saving techniques because there may come a time where you are the first to respond to a tragedy or event that has happened around you, and the application of basic first aid may just save someones life, or maybe even yours.

Over the next few weeks I will be gathering more information of items to put into an EDC kit that you could possibly keep in a cargo pocket, or a purse. I will also be reviewing the QRK (Quick Response Kit) from Chase Tactical, and hopefully getting my hands on a few other kits from companies. I ask that you bear with me in the process of this as it may take awhile to gather up all of the information and links that I need to write the posts.

For now I leave you with this question. What have you done to prepare yourself that in the event you or others are injured?