What are you using for an IFAK

DocGKR

Dr.Ballistics
Staff member
Moderator
As recent tragic events have yet again illustrated—having at least a tourniquet and hemostatic Gauze on your person, not just in the car, at ALL times, on and off duty, is a good idea, particularly for LE and medical personnel. Officers wearing tactical load bearing equipment, as well as those using the new outer armor carriers have room for a more effective Individual First Aid Kit/Blow Out Kit for treating gunshot wounds. Even civilians should consider carrying an appropriate IFAK, as you never know when you might be required to stop a life threatening bleed.
 

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Mike_IA

Regular Member
Strong side cargo pocket has:
-H&H compression bandage
-Quick clot
-NAR chest seals
- ziplock bag with trauma card and info

Warrant service Kit: (old OSOE mini-IFAK)
- Chest seals (HALO being rotated to NAR)
- CAT on IFAK
- 1x Quick Clot
- 1x NAR Emergency Trauma bandage
- 1x Nasal Airway

Rural Operstions Kit: (BFG full sized Trauma Kit)
- 2x Chest seals (NAR)
- 1x CAT (on IFAK)
- 1x Quick Clot
- 2x compresses gauze
- 1x 4” ace bandage
- 1x Nasal Airway
- 2x NAR Needle decompression kits
- 2x pairs nitrile gloves
- 1x H&H eye patch kit
- Draw and shoot Eppi kit and Benedryl (separate sealed container)

I keep a CAT ranger banded centerline on my belt (for all ops) and calf or shoulder pocket for warrant services. For all operations I have my cargo pocket kit with me.

Focus on warrant service kit is dealing with trauma now since we have team medic in the stack, paramedics in the armor, usually a trauma surgeon in the armor, and a system set to evacuate to hospital care.

Rural ops are further from higher care, minimal or no pre-staged medical evacuation and backcountry risks. The kit is more extensive and can deal with some back country issues, specifically anaphylactic shock and eye injuries.

I am not a medic but a medically trained guy with the team.
 
EDC when not at work, I only carry a RAT's TQ on my person.
At work my duty set is a RAT TQ + a CAT TQ, a Trauma pack from amazon, 2 Israeli bandages, 2 occlusive dressings, Shears, and then a small kit of general bandaids as well as aniseptic.

Its meant to be sort of a catch all kit from major trauma to bumps and scrapes from training.

sorry for the shit formating
 
I'm with Prime. All of that looks pretty terrible.

RATS TQs are garbage. I'd rather have a stick and a rag.

For your off-duty EDC, the SOF-TW is the "lowest profile" TQ that incorporates a windlass. The CAT and TX2 are similarly sized "real" TQs. Acceptable substitutes, as long as you acknowledge the compromise you're making, are the SWAT and TK4.

I don't know what an Amazon trauma pack is.

Israeli bandages aren't trash, but they're really just a pre-made pressure dressing and carrying two is a waste of volume.

2x occlusive dressings is good. What kind are they?

You're missing gauze and/or hemostatic gauze. Wound packing is key for bleeders.
I have not heard any real complaints about the RATs before now.

I have gauze both 4x4s and a roll for wound packing, quickclot granules, and some other odds and ends. I didn't do the best in posting what all I had.
 

krax

Regular Member
It's not that the RATS can't be a tourniquet, it can and they've gone to great lengths to prove it. The problem is that no stretchy TQ is a good one-handed TQ and the amount of pressure is more difficult to apply and reduce without a windlass.

Same thing with Quick Clot granules. It's not that they can't work, it's that hemostatic gauze is a better way for a first responder to apply those chemicals to where they're needed in a shitty environment.

Check out the rest of the kits on this thread. You'll see some common themes. Then make yours look like those. If for some reason you can't, reach out here for help.

None of this is intended to be a personal attack. Sometimes we just don't know what we don't know. If your shit stinks, this is the forum where you'll hear about it in the name of your professional development.
 

Low_Speed_Notper8or

Regular Member
Well Im not an LEO or anything, but for shooting USPSA or a pistol training class, I just got a NAR TQ and holder and will throw a 4 inch Israeli bandage and compressed gauze in a cargo pocket.

I really do need to get some more medical training though to figure out a more optimized solution, like a bleeding control class.
 

Michael Ray

Member
Vendor
My duty IFAK is the Blue Force Gear MTKN! modded to carry a CAT. I wear it just right of my belt buckle. I also carry a CAT on the front of my plate carrier. That gives me 2 quality TQs on the mid line. I also keep a set of shears in my PC's cummerbund.

For out and about, I keep a CAT, shears, 4" flat-packed OLAES, and HyFin chest seals rubber banded together. I keep one such setup in my pack and my wife keeps one in her diaper bag.
 
I have two Blue Force Gear Mini Trauma NOW setups. One on belt (when shooting) one in glove box. I carry a SOF-TW in an Eleven10 Nylon pouch on warbelt and in a stretchy sleeve on regular belt. In each I have:

1 Pair Nitrile Gloves
Mini Halo Seals x2
Dart Decomp Needles x2
NPA
Combat Gauze Z Fold
NAR Mini ETD
A small roll off duct tape wrapped around an old gift card

Shears are on Plate Carrier

I'm a Paramedic in an urban American metro. I've had the great opportunity to use all of these types of things on so many GSW's and stabbings that I've lost count.
 

Teague

Newbie
20180504_131123.jpg

HSGI M3T, the contents rotate fairly regularly with use. But at a minimum it always has my dept issued officer down vacuum sealed ifak, 2 SOFTT-W tourniquets, gauze, 2 chest seals, and a triangle bandage. I only use supplies the city provides, that makes it quicker for me to resupply and I don't have to come out of pocket. I also keep 2 sets of nitrile gloves on me but not in the kit.
 

TacMed

Amateur
I have two Blue Force Gear Mini Trauma NOW setups. One on belt (when shooting) one in glove box. I carry a SOF-TW in an Eleven10 Nylon pouch on warbelt and in a stretchy sleeve on regular belt. In each I have:

1 Pair Nitrile Gloves
Mini Halo Seals x2
Dart Decomp Needles x2
NPA
Combat Gauze Z Fold
NAR Mini ETD
A small roll off duct tape wrapped around an old gift card

Shears are on Plate Carrier

I'm a Paramedic in an urban American metro. I've had the great opportunity to use all of these types of things on so many GSW's and stabbings that I've lost count.

Curious about the NPA, is the juice worth the squeeze? What circumstances on the street have you had occasion to use one?
 

krax

Regular Member
I've heard arguments against carrying chest darts CONUS, but this would be the first time I've seen the NPA argued against. You have my curiosity.
 
Curious about the NPA, is the juice worth the squeeze? What circumstances on the street have you had occasion to use one?

It doesn't really take up any room in my kit and its the rubber kind so it just bends and morphs to the elastic with everything else. As far as professional use goes, we don't have RSI at my department so I use one when using a BVM but not intubating.

To be totally honest, it just seemed like the right thing to put in there.
 

JimH

Regular Member
4 year update:
Still using the microphone pouch/ cargo pocket set up:
index.jpg
For those who like one stop shopping, County Comm is now offering a similar set up:
1549735475254.png
 

Xanthais

Newbie
Hey all. Civilian here, and I have a couple different IFAK setup for various circumstances. Constructive criticism 100% welcome.

ETA: Sorry for the necropost, but figured this is better than a new thread.

Dark Angel Medical - Ankle Kit
x1 CAT TQ
x1 HyFin Vent Slim (dual pack)
x1 H&H Small 4" ETD
x1 Combat Gauze
x1 Nitrile Gloves
da.jpg
I've been wearing this one just recently as my EDC. The pouches are elastic and confirm well to the contents, but the retainers are a little wonky. You can see the retainer on the TQ is pulling down on the right windlass clip. Not a huge deal, unless that constant stress over time causes weakening and thus failure. Plus the retainers sit strange to me. You can see the middle retainer printing in the pouch. That's how they are stitched in, parallel to the width of the pouch (if that makes sense?). Situated that way, means you have to twist them to get them over the side of the contents. Plus the bungies are somewhat short, so if you're retaining anything that sticks out of the pouch, the tension will cause it to bend. The chest seals being bent are the only thing I worry about. Should that be a concern?

Speaking of printing, the CAT TQ prints like a mother. Might switch to a SOFT-T for ankle EDC, just because of the lower profile. All in all, I may be looking into the Ryker or the SFD Responder in lieu of this after reading some of the posts here. This kit feels great, but I think the velcro strap-over style retention might be better and allow for better customization on items of differing heights.

Note to self: Add shears.

5.11 Rush MOAB-6 Sling Pack
x1 CAT TQ (Bright Orange)
x1 HyFin Vent Slim (dual pack)
x1 NAR 6" Rolled ETD
x1 Izzy
x1 Combat Gauze
x1 NAR Compressed Gauze
x1 Nitrile Gloves
x1 NAR Shears
x1 Med Tape 1"
x1 Emergency Mylar Blanket
x1 Ouch-Pouch (painkillers, alcohol wipes, sting & burn pads, band-aids, etc.)
x1 Chem Light
x1 Tac Pen
moab1.jpg

moab2.jpg

This is my "Boat Bag". We go to Lake Mohave multiple times a year, and this bag goes along (in addition to the standard "First-Aid" kids that are on the boat), since we're always in shorts/swimsuits, the ankle kit is obviously a no-go . Outer pocket is the IFAK contents, and the others on the bag are for general admin items. Keys, glasses, etc.

I went with the Orange TQ on this one in case anyone other than me needs to get in the kit. Bright and visible.

I call it a Boat Bag, but it also goes with me on camping trips, hikes, etc.

Speaking of camping trips.....

Condor Deployment Bag

condor1.jpg

condor2.jpg

This is a new purchase, and a work in progress. We recently bought a trailer so this is going to be stored in that.
TQ holder is just something cheap off Amazon.

The eventual plan is to put together 2-3 sets of IFAK components in here eventually.

NAR M-FAK

mfak.jpg

Just a small pouch from NAR that contains the essentials. Store this one in the car's glovebox easily. Another instance where the SOF-T TQ is going to be the way to go due to lower profile.

That's it for now I think. 4 different kits, for 4 different situations and use/storage locations. I originally considered just getting two sets of supplies and moving one from kit to kit (except the ankle EDC which would remain on me, for me), but decided just going with separate kits was the best way to go.
 
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