I was out on a hiking trail in California earlier in the day. Yes, I am on vacation. It occurred to me that there was something noticeably different about my fellow hikers and me. Could it have to do with the large backpack that was absent on all but myself? I had about six more miles to ponder this.
As law enforcement officers, we are trained in first responder medicine, which nowadays means we also learn about tactical combat casualty care or TCCC. When I was preparing for this trip of day-long hikes, I included medical gear. Not just for myself and my spouse, but in the event we ran across anyone else who might need assistance out where there are unpaved trails and no cell coverage.
My department ran our annual in-service training last month. It included several hours of practical TCCC. We had to put on tourniquets, Israeli bandages, and chest seals during both classroom and practical scenarios, among other things. The training was instructed by one of our officers, who is a U.S. Army medic. I thought it was a great learning experience.
So as I loaded for the vacation, I packed much in the way of self-rescue gear. This included a nylon pouch with CAT tourniquet, Quik Clot combat gauze, dressings, bandages, a two-person first aid kit with small essentials, a flashlight, firestarter, whistle, lensatic compass, multitool, a few knives, an emergency poncho, and about thirty yards of 550 Continue reading
