Building Your SHTF Gunshot Survival Kit
Tuesday, 30 April 2013 06:23
Brandon Smith
The purpose of survival culture is to assess and address
probabilities and uncertainties, and of course, prepare accordingly. We
view assumption as the greatest Achilles Heal of humanity, and disdain
attitudes of complacency, apathy, and general stupidity. For us, wide
eyed and naïve ignorance is a fatal disease; one that gestates during
the best of times, and strikes mercilessly during the worst of times.
That said, there are some scenarios which even survivalists do not like
to think about.
Being shot, or, hit with indirect shrapnel, is
not a problem many of us want to imagine having to deal with. Some
preppers, believe it or not, refuse to acknowledge that fighting may
ever occur. They may think that the coming collapse will be mitigated
and that government tyranny will fade away along with the financial
structure. They may have a rather irrational faith in the effectiveness
of digital currencies and other questionable technologies in defusing
future crisis. They might even see themselves as “invincible” or
untouchable, believing that their training will trump any circumstance.
However, historical precedence cannot be denied. Most economic
disasters over the past century have led to eventual widespread war,
internal conflict, surges in domestic crime, government brutality, or,
all of these violence prone situations combined. And, no matter how
much training you might have, there is no accounting for being in the
wrong place at the wrong time.
Ideally, the best method for
dealing with a gunshot wound is to not get shot. Since there is
absolutely no way to guarantee such luck (even people who avoid conflict
can still be a victim of it), we must set aside some money, and space
in our bug-out-bag, for a fast and effective medical pouch designed
specifically for a traumatic combat injury.
This means a kit
entirely separate from our general purpose medical supplies that is easy
to get to not just for ourselves, but also for others who might be
trying to save us. I recommend this kit be standardized amongst those
in your survival community so that everyone has the same setup, and
understands the functions of each item within the kit. It is also
important to avoid the mistake of centralizing all medical functions
into the hands of a single person within your community. Every
individual survivalist should have their own trauma package, or what the
military often calls a “blowout kit”, so that their resident medical
expert does not have to bear the full burden of purchasing supplies, and
redundancy is maintained. Med gear runs out very quickly during social
collapse. Don’t assume others will have it for you when you need it…
The
point of this kit is to stop bleeding as swiftly as possible so that
the bullet or shrapnel can be removed and the wound sealed. There are
many premade blowout-style kits on the market today, but from my
research, the mark-up on most of them is too high, the items are often
substandard quality, and, they are always missing certain vital gear
that you will have to buy later anyway. Building your own is not
difficult; here is a list of essential items, all of which are used by
EMT’s and Military personnel, to get you started.
Medical Pouch:
A small medical pouch with molle straps allows you to keep your trauma
kit on the outside of your pack if you wish, clearly marked so that your
teammates can find it and use it.
Battle Dressing:
A large compression bandage usually found in surplus stores. It may be
wise to supplement this battle dressing with a large surgical dressing
to ensure heavy bleeding is controlled. The more blood lost, the more
likely the wound will result in shock, and fatality.
Roll Of Gauze: For wrapping the wound and aiding in compression.
Medical Tape:
Most veteran medics I have discussed gunshot response with have told me
that medical tape is the first item to disappear during crisis. Stock
extra, and make sure all the people you work with have some in their
kit.
Nitril Gloves: These emergency gloves
are thicker and stronger than standard latex gloves, and do not cause
reactions in people allergic to latex.
Trauma Shears: Very important. Used to strip away clothing around a wound, cut tape and gauze, cut makeshift bandages, etc.
Extra Long Tweezers:
All foreign materials and shrapnel must be removed from the wound in
order to avoid infection later. Sometimes, a bullet impact will carry
bits of material from clothing deep into the wound channel, and long
tweezers will be essential in their removal.
Combat Tourniquet:
Cuts off blood flow to a heavily damaged extremity. I highly recommend
the C-A-T Combat Application Tourniquet widely used by military medics.
Hemostat Forceps: Used to clamp off damaged arteries in order to stop bleeding while repairing a wound.
Sterile Scalpel: Used to open the wound channel to allow easier removal of foreign materials.
Celox Blood Stopper:
A coagulating agent that can be poured into the wound to quickly stop
bleeding. Does not need to be cleaned out before the wound is closed.
Celox Granule Applicator:
An injector with plunger used specifically for combat wounds. Insert
the applicator as far into the wound channel as possible, then push in
the plunger and slowly back the applicator out. Celox blood stopper is
injected into the core of the wound.
Irrigation Plunger: Wounds should be irrigated with a non-abrasive sterile solution, such as saline, in order to help avoid infection.
Small Bottle Of Hydrogen Peroxide: Use to sterilize your hands and tools. Do not use on the inside of wounds.
Halo Chest Seal: The
best seal for chest wounds on the market. Glue on the seal works even
when damaged area is bloody or unclean. Stops all air loss through the
chest when a lung is punctured. Contains two seals per package for a
through-and-through gunshot.
Nasopharyngeal Airway:
Allows for breathing in the advent of airway closure; also keeps ample
oxygen flowing into the lungs which aids in preventing shock.
Sutures:
There are many different sutures on the market, though the needle and
thread versions are most common. Make sure your thread is silk, or any
other material that will not cause an allergic reaction or infection. I
also recommend storing Steri-Strip style sutures which can be used in
instances where there is no time to sew up the wound. Your medical
expert should also have a Surgical Skin Stapler on hand, which is much
faster and less painful than thread sutures.
Large Instant Heat Packs:
One of the primary concerns with traumatic wounds is “shock” caused by
blood loss to internal organs and the brain. Once a wound is cleaned
and closed, there is still a danger of shock, and the patient must be
kept as warm and comfortable as possible in order to promote free blood
flow. Standard procedure is to wrap the wounded in a blanket and
elevate his legs, however, I would note that a blanket only retains the
heat already being produced by the body, which, after trauma, may be
reduced. I recommend storing at least two large instant heat packs in
your kit; one to be taped to the chest area, and one taped to the thigh
near the femoral artery. This will add hours of extra heat to the
patient’s circulation along with the blanket and may make the difference
between life and death.
Though this list might appear
long, all of the items above are small, with little to no weight added
to your pack. I have each of them in my own trauma kit, with space to
spare. Total cost for this kit is around $120 or less, depending on
your supplier. Other items you or your medic should have on hand for
post-op on a combat wound are:
Antibiotics: Open
wounds are also open doors to massive infection. Shock is caused
usually by blood loss, but it can also be caused by expedient infection
that damages internal organs. Antibiotics are usually needed to prevent
this outcome after blood loss is stopped.
Isotonic Saline IV: An IV with isotonic saline can be administered to help replace fluids in the body and increase circulation.
Blood Plasma IV:
Some preppers have their own blood or blood-type stored and ready to be
administered by IV in case of a combat related injury. The process for
such storage is beyond the scope of this article and I recommend
further research with your resident medical expert.
It’s a sad
thing that average Americans are being forced to plan for violent trauma
to themselves, their families, and their friends, but this is the
reality we will soon be living in. In Argentina, a moderate economic
collapse resulted in social breakdown, rioting, looting, as well as
organized pillaging in rural areas. Combat-related injury and death
were common. In Bosnia, after a full-fledged collapse, snipers infested
cities like fleas, and gunshot wounds were the norm. The U.S. has been
sitting on the very edge of a full spectrum collapse since 2008, and
regardless of what you might have heard from the mainstream media,
nothing has changed since. The potential for a violent event in your
personal life in the near future is very real. Accept this fact,
prepare, and continue to live confidently in the knowledge that if the
worst happens, you did everything you could to be ready for it.
