Before we get into this here’s a general disclaimer. I am not an medical expert, and these are my opinions and what I consider adequate for myself and my own use. I do believe that it is important to have some form of First Aid Kit for use at the range, or if you are doing training, on your belt. For this reason I wanted to share what I have, and why.
If you’re in the shooting sports for long you will here the term IFAK, which stands for Individual First Aid Kit. The name IFAK is a little misleading, as it has “First Aid Kit” in the name, and when most people think of a First Aid Kit they think of a kit that contains Band Aids, Sports Tape, Pepto Bismol, Aspirin, Ibuprofen, maybe a CPR Mask and a whole host of other things. This kits are great to have around the office, but are really designed to treat non life threatening injuries. They also tend to be a little bulky, and are not something that can be worn on a belt, or stuffed in a cargo pants pocket.
An IFAK is design specifically to provide immediate care to a trauma injury, and specifically trauma that involves copious amounts of bleeding that may occur from a gunshot wound, deep lacerations, or puncture wounds. For this reason, IFAK’s contain mostly sterile gauze, wraps and bandages that will help to control bleed. There is usually some very basic airway management tools, such as an nasopharyngeal (NPA) tube with accompanying gel, and a basic triangle sling.
Some IFAK’s also contain the supplies needed to deal with “Sucking Chest Wounds”. These range from the plastic wrapping the kit came in and tape, to specially designed adhesive bandage with an integrated one way valve. If you are building you own you can choose what you want to put in your kit. Usually the quality of the IFAK and the components they contain is proportional to the amount of money you spend.
Before we get into the details of building a basic IFAK, there needs to be a few words spent on training. The fanciest blood clotting gauze, and the $1,000 titanium nitride plated trauma shears will not make any difference in the world if you do not know how to use them. Gear is useless if you do not have the training to accompany it, so do yourself a favor and look into a “Beyond the Bandaid” Course or take a look over at Dark Angel Medical’s Free Online Video Series on Stopping the Bleed. I volunteer for my local EMS, and am fortunate enough to get Basic EMT training, along with the experience of running emergency calls with our area’s ambulance service. I hope to continue on get my Advance EMT license.
One final note before we get into the details of what’s in a IFAK, when the Military trains it’s soldiers on the use of the IFAK, they make the point that your IFAK is to treat you in the event that you get injured. Likewise your buddies IFAK is what you use to treat him, should he get injured. Now that is in a combat situation, if an accidental discharge happens at my local range, you can bet that I will likely be opening up my IFAK to provide immediate care to the injured part. Just as I would hope someone would do the same for me.
What makes up a Basic IFAK?
Most everything in an IFAK is there to control bleeding. For that reason you want gauze, gauze pads, gauze wrapping, and something that will hold pressure on the wound.
If you are building your own kit, 2 or 3 of these Absorbent Abdominal Sterile Pads are a good place to start. They measure 5in by 9in and help to absorb blood. These can be placed directly on the wound, whether it is on the abdomen or the extremity. Additional gauze or wound wrappings then can be placed on top of the pad to aid in keeping pressure on the wound, promote clotting, and slow bleeding.
The Abdominal Pads are large and while they can be cut down to size, it’s better to have some smaller gauze pads that will be easier to handle. If all I have is the large pads, I’m using them, but if I have some small squares of gauze to choose from, I am more adept to grab those first. 4in by 4in gauze squares can be cut down if needed, and they are light and simple. Pack a few five or six for starters.
You can go smaller with the gauze, a 2in by 2in pad is not unwarranted. But those are the two basic sizes of gauze pads. I would recommend having in a basic IFAK. What the pads lack, a roll of gauze will help
Pack a few rolls of gauze, they are extremely versatile. They can be used as a wrap, for packing a wound, or they can be wrapped over to apply pressure on the wound. It is a good idea to keep a few of these in the kit, at least two, maybe three.
While the gauze rolls can be used to wrap a wound, typically you want to put something a little more robust on top of that. This banandage will keep pressure on the wound, keep the gauze in place, and help keep the gauze from snagging on everything it touches.
Gauze and wraps makes up the foundation of an IFAK kit, but there are some specialty bandages that can make your life a little easier. Most everyone has heard of an Israeli bandage. These bandages are basically gauze and a wrap all built into one piece. This can make it easier to apply and manage in an hectic situation. Keep at least one in you IFAK, and these can usually be purchased in a vacuum package water tight package.
So why include both abdominal pads and an Israeli bandage? Well depending on the nature of the injury, you may first grab the Israeli bandage, and not but able to control the bleeding, so you put on an abdominal pad and wrap it over the top of the Israeli bandage. You may have multiple wounds that need to have remedies applied, a single Israeli bandage isn’t going to help you there. The abdominal trauma pad and a wrap will do everything an israeli bandage will do.
The next specialty bandage I would consider placing in an IFAK is a Chest Seal, and I would get two. The purpose of a chest seal is to prevent air from getting into the chest cavity, and simultaneously allow air to escape the chest cavity. This relieves pressure on the lung, and can help prevent the lung from collapsing. The reason I get two, is if someone got shot, and the bullet went through the chest cavity, then I need to seal both the entry and exit wound.
In a pinch, latex gloves or a plastic bag can be made to function as a sufficient chest seal. However, if you need one of these, you likely are having a bad day already, it’s best not to chance making it worse by having to improvise.
A triangle bandage may seem like it doesn’t have much to offer, but it can be used to fashion a rudimentary sling. It can also be applied to a wound and used in a similar manner to how gauze would be used. It is small, cheap, and lightweight, and makes a good addition to your IFAK.
There are a few basic tools that should be part of an IFAK. The first being a bit of tape. Don’t skimp. Duct works better then most of the medical tape out there. If you’re really serious get a roll of all weather duct tape. It’ll be sticky but we want it to keep things in place and not come off due to it getting wet. (Think torrential downpour)
The next thing to pack is a pair of Trauma shears. These shears aren’t your basic sewing scissors. They are designed to cut through pretty much any kind of cloth that someone could be wearing short of a ballistic vest. Leather, Demin, Nylon, Bra’s, and pretty much anything else. When dealing with a trauma you want to expose the wound as quickly and as efficiently as possible, without cutting the patient. These shears are designed to do just that.
A few pairs of gloves would not be unwarranted. These are more to protect the person administering the aid, then the person receiving the aid. Blood borne pathogens are real, and present a real risk to first responders. Take a moment, put a pair of gloves on before treating the wound. Include them in your IFAK. I wouldn’t be too concerned about making sure they are a sterile glove, but I would check and make sure they are latex free.
The last piece of medical equipment is what people seem to get the most excited about. Tourniquets. They use to be used rarely, but now are commonly used to control bleeding to pretty much every appendage below the neck. It is wise to have at least one tourniquet as part of your IFAK. Personally I would carry at least two. It is possible to injure more than one limb in a single incident, or sometimes a second tourniquet is required to control the bleed.
The last thing you typically will find in IFAK’s is some sort of airway management. Something I debated about including it as part of my list is a nasopharyngeal (NPA) tube with accompanying gel. This is used to help maintain an open airway to allow the patient to breath easier. However there are times when it is inappropriate to use an NPA and when more harm than good can be done. So before you purchase one to include in you IFAK, make sure you know how and when to use it.
That is it. Besides the small pack to carry it all, that is you basic IFAK. There is a reason these are called “Bleeder” kits. They are designed to control major bleeds, and pretty much that is it.
There may be a few additional things you may consider including such as a splint.
If you are allergic to any stinging insects it might be good to carry an Epipen. If you are a diabetic, some glucose is probably a good thing to have close by. With that said, it can be really easy to over complicate an IFAK. These are designed to be carried on a belt or stowed away in a cargo pants pocket. If you start including lots of stuff, you’ll be tempted to leave it in a backpack, which may or may not be on your person in an emergency.
A lot commercial IFAKs include a mylar blanket to help keep the patient warm. Depending on the climate, and the situation you may be in, having one isn’t a bad idea. Even in warm climates, as a patient goes into shock they have a hard time regulating body heat and these blankets do a lot to reflect the heat back at the patent keeping them a little warmer.
If you feel you’d like some more things, then my suggestion is leave the Basic IFAK alone, but carry supplemental First Aid stuff in a backpack. Basic medications such as benadryl, ibuprofen, aspirin, are a good things to have, it’s up to you whether or not you feel they need to be in your IFAK.
IFAK Pouches
The IFAK Pouch should be something large enough to carry all of your medical gear, but still small enough to fit on a belt or in a cargo pants pocket. The one I have is about the size of the one pictured below, and is probably a little larger than it needs to be.
Premade Kits
If you’re on a budget (Aren’t we all?). You can buy a lot of what you need in multiples which saves some money if you do a group buy. (Several of the examples I gave are bulk purchases which would be sufficient to assemble several IFAK Kits) Alternatively you can buy some premade packs that will include most of what you need, and you can add on to it.
Neither of the above premade kits have everything I listed but serve as good foundational kits to get you started. In the case of the second kit I would add in my choice of tourniquet and not rely on the one provided. I would add additional rolls of gauze, a proper chest seal, and some self adhesive bandage wrap.
How Much Should You Expect to Spend?
If you do everything in a group buy and have an IFAK assembly party with four or five of your bestest shooting buddies, I suspect you will spend between $60 to $100 on your IFAK. With most of the expense being tied up in the Tourniquet, Shears, Isreali Bandage and Chest Seals.
If money is tight, put the IFAK together one piece at a time. There is usually no one piece that will set you back more than $25 dollars. A lot of that depends on you and what you choose.
Waterproofing and Expiration Dates
There’s a few items on my list that are sterile, but the packaging they come in isn’t particularly robust, and I have my doubts if they would stay in good shape over a long period of time. For this reason I recommend that they are vacuum sealed. Vacuum sealers are inexpensive and provide two benefits. 1st, they provide a robust waterproof package for the item, and 2nd the act of vacuum sealing compresses the item down to take far less space then before.
Most of the medical products that are sterile will have an expiration date marked on them. This date basically is there to guarantee that the item remains sterile and is usable to the given date. In theory you ought to be changing things out and relegating the expired items to your “Practice Bin”. In practice if you get into an emergency situation and you have to use some expired gauze, so be it.
Wrapping it Up
I purposely left things off such as Quick-Clot impregnated bandages as I wanted to be cost conscious. Also Quick-Clot itself can be misused, where it does little to nothing to stop the bleeding but does alot to complicate the healing of the wound. Antiseptic wipes for your hands are nice, but gloves are better. If there is dirt and grime in a wound either bandaged over the top of it, or gently try and wash it out with water.
As mentioned before, even the top of the line Dark Angel Medical kit will do you no good if you do not have the training to back it up. Basic IFAKs, like the one I’ve outlined, are first response kits designed to control bleeding but will be of little use if someone has a heart attack on the firing line.
Hopefully this has been a good introduction in to how to build a basic but robust IFAK. I probably have included more then the bare basics, only because I would like a little more than the bare minimum in my kit. Add or take away as you see fit, and as expense or space allows.
This write up was suggested by a friend. If you would like to suggest an topic for a future write up, or would like to make edits or suggests to this or any other write up on the site, please email me at jayandrew338@gmail.com.