Recommendations for a trauma kit bag

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John iowa

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As the title explains I am looking to replace the bag that holds my trauma kit. My current kit started life as an adventure medical kit, but that was close to 20 years ago.

I’m looking for a bag that will serve as my vehicle trauma kit, but it needs to be small enough to throw into a back pack and carry it on scout outings.

What do you suggest?

I’m willing to spend some money to make sure this next bag lasts me a while
 

El Solis

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Hi!
There are tons of great options but depending on your specific needs not all will work. Can you answer a few questions to help narrow the choices?

How many people do you need to care for?

Will this be a dedicated trauma bag or a mixed trauma and basecamp first aid bag?

What weight and/or size are you limited to?

Chris
 
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John iowa

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Chris,

This bag serves dual purpose as a vehicle trauma bag and a crew first aid bag for hikes and day trips. My base camp bag is separate. This bag was assembled to support teams of 2-10 people for short duration 2 hrs- 48 hours.

Some of the contents include

Tourniquets x 2
Pressure dressing x 2
Sam splint
Ace wrap or Coban or horse wrap
Triangular bandage x 2
Assorted bandaids, steel strips, and posits,
Basic first aid supplies
Foot care supplies
 

martin_j001

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Dark Angel Medical is my personal go-to, and having used one of their kits and experienced their "Kit for life" program first hand, I'm happy to recommend them to others. That said, there's other good options out there too, like ITS Tactical and more. I have a kit I put together myself in a pouch on the back of a headrest, too.
 

martin_j001

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I have mad respect for the Dark Angel medical stuff. My question is, do they have a bag that’s comparable to the one in the post above?
Like the one you posted? They have a couple that contain some more general supplies, maybe not the exact same things though--their Adventure Medical Bag might be worth a look to store the same amount of supplies. I'm personally a fan of their visor setup, but don't have one yet...having the trauma gear right there would be nice IMO. I see they also have a hard sided kit that appears to be a in a Pelican-like case, too...not sure if that'd be big enough for what you've got. I think ITS Tactical and a few others may have bags more like what you're looking for...I'd definitely be interested to see what you come up with. I currently have multiple little kits for different things...blowout/trauma for the cars and range, booboo kits in the munckin's bag-o-stuff, and hiking specific kits for outdoors and more remote things. It'd be nice to combine these/their contents, at least for travel and going off the beaten path--so I'll be curious as to what you find. On another note, any experience with the Leatherman Raptor shears? I have a few friends that love them, but I haven't bitten the bullet yet...

On the topic of kits in general, for others reading or wondering about what to put in them, etc, etc...

The Adventure Medical Kits are a great base for sure...I've personally found that I add to my own kits as needed...I have several hiking/outdoors based kits that contain less trauma supplies, for instance, and more "booboo" stuff. One might argue your needs/wants in a kit, as a paramedic, could differ quite significantly from that of some of the rest of us too...something that I think is worth considering for everyone reading. If you are the first responder but not in your EMS vehicle, you have more capabilities (and the training to go with it) than the rest of us...so the splint for instance is helpful, and a stethoscope. For our purposes, maybe the broken ankle is a relatively minor concern and can wait to be dealt with until EMS arrives (assuming one isn't remote...in which case the kit needs would/should differ). There's a lot of fine tuning one should do, IMO, to almost any kit based on the situation. It was funny to see in action...at one time out on the shooting range, 3 of my friends all had trauma kits, but not a single band aid between any of their kits or vehicles, other than me. For those without kids, maybe not a huge deal, but I found it surprising that it was others with kids too... :)

I'm just a Dark Angel Medical fan cause that's the kit I had on me when I needed it, and they stood by their Kit for Life program, and several from the company reached out to me personally to thank me for what I did, which I didn't feel was necessary at all (while I'm proud of what I did, and happy I was there to help with the right mindset, training and tools, I'd like to think others given the same would have done no different), but they made it clear that it was a big deal to them and should be considered as much.... There are plenty of other companies out there making good trauma kits and general first aid kits.
 
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We use Statpaks on all our ambulances. They stand up to heavy use, are very modular, and the interior compartment barriers can be customized and moved to fit your gear. They’re held in place by heavy duty Velcro which doesn’t move without a lot of force.
 
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martin_j001

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I've really been tempted by one of BROG's molle seatback panels with a couple pouches on it for general irst aid and all, plus a visor mount panel for the immediate trauma gear. The removable molle pouches on the seat back would be good to "grab and go" if going hiking, etc away from the car too.
 
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rujero

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I'm a big fan of DYNAMED bags. I have used them since 2013. Fits everything with good modular options.
 
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mark62933

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I love the My Medic bags, they have several that are premade or you can build your own. (The only thing I do not like about them is that they use a RATS instead of CATS for their tourniquets) Other than that their equipment is top notch and the bags are very well made.
 

64Trvlr

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Here's the 3 bags I use. The big one is my old bag from my days as an Engineer/medic for our VFD, the smaller ones are the ones that always live in my vehicles.

I like bright colors because they're easy to find when you really need them. As the red bags wear out I'm switching over to the lime green ones.

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And my big bag that I take when I'll be out for a while or we're out searching for lost people.

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GXnGS

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Springtail Solutions makes the bag BUT everyone should hold off for a bit as we have something in the works. Check out Michael’s latest video for a sneak peak.


Any updates on this? I’m ready to pull the trigger and would be thrilled to pick up a kit designed by you Chris.
 
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GreyMudder

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I hope that my comment is not perceived as negative. I have the utmost respect for all medical personnel. Being a parent of 4 I have often though that my house was a trauma center on its own. However even with basic training I soon found that I do not have the skills of a trained professional. I have seen many injuries in the woods and while most cuts and scraps I can handle, other injuries all I can do is make sure the patient does not go into shock, minimize blood loss with pressure but I do need to get medical attention for the patient and quickly. I have a SAT phone and a subscription to a field ambulance helicopter, while this may sound very silly, it saved one of my friends, when a high lift jack gave way caught him square in the face.

I agree with proper trauma bag, but also have a backup plan for evacuation. Very interesting read, and thank you