Trauma Kit for Severe Injures

We live in a world that consists of violent people who perpetrate violent acts. 
This is a reality that is confirmed daily on newscasts across the country and 
across the world. It is routine to hear about shootings, stabbings, assaults, 
active shooter incidents, terrorism, and accidents that cause traumatic injuries 
that can result in severe hemorrhaging. An untreated wound that is severely 
bleeding can lead to death in 3-5 minutes. This is not a lot of time to 
potentially save a life. This is one of those situations where you either need 
to be prepared or have the ability to effectively improvise supplies that can 
save a life. Failure to do so can have devastating results. Not long ago Boston 
experienced the Boston Marathon bombing that caused 14 people to lose all or 
part of their limbs. In such situations it is critical to stop the bleeding in 
an expedient manner. Time is of the essence in this situation. 
 
Ask yourself if you are prepared to treat a severe injury in a timely manner. If 
the answer is “no” then you need to re-evaluate your medical preparedness level. 
Preparing a medical kit is a critical aspect of one’s preparedness. Having a 
medical kit in your go bag is necessity. Too many kits are what I call “boo boo” 
kits that focus on minor injuries that are not life threatening. While there is 
nothing wrong with having components to treat minor injuries you should never 
forgo having the ability to treat major injuries. Normally, I am completely 
against buying prepackaged kits because they tend to have lower quality items 
and typically are not inclusive of all the items you may need. A few years ago I 
came across a prepackaged kit that while expensive and large it of excellent 
quality. Additionally, the kit has redundancy built into the kit. 

The Tactical Development Group Trauma Kit by Rescue Essentials

 (http://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Development-Trauma-Rescue-Essentials/dp/B003YM351W/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top) 

is an impressive and practical kit to handle major trauma. The contents of this 
kit are high quality and full of utility. This kit will effectively treat the 
following: 
 
- Severe hemorrhage: Utilizing Celox, CAT or SWAT-T tourniquet, trauma 
dressings, and compressed rolled gauze 
- Open chest wounds: Utilizing the Hyfin chest seal or the Bolin chest seal 
- Compromised airway: Utilizing the nasopharyngeal airway 

The contents of this kit include the following: 
 
1 - Maxpedition Fight Pouch 
1 - Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T) – In my opinion this is the best 
pre-hospital tourniquet available 
1 - SWAT-T Tourniquet 
1 - Celox 35gm Packet 
1 - Celox Trauma Gauze 
1 - Bolin Chest Seal 
1 - HyFin Chest Seal 
1 - Nasopharyngeal Airway (28 fr) w/lube 
1 - NAR Emergency Trauma Dressing, 6" 
1 - NAR Emergency Trauma Dressing, 12" (Abdominal/Stump Dressing) 
2 - NAR S-rolled Compressed Gauze 
1 - 7½" EMT Shears 
1 - 12 Hour Light Stick 
 
This kit is built upon the Maxpedition FIGHT pouch platform which securely holds 
all of the contents while being readily accessible with the tear away design. 
Maxpedition makes very high quality gear that is rugged, durable, and will stand 
up to abuse. One of the aspects that I really like with this trauma kit it that 
it has built in redundancy. There are two tourniquets, two chest seals, and 
multiple methods for handling severe bleeding. This is an excellent kit to treat 
an individual with multiple systemic trauma or multiple individuals. All of the 
contents are top quality except for the SWAT-T tourniquet which in my opinion is 
not as effective as the Combat Application Tourniquet. Some minor adjustments 
that I would make to this kit would be to include 2-3 pairs of Nitrile gloves, 
add 4 packets of Water Jel Burn Jel for pain relief, and add a small LED 
flashlight such as the Streamlight MicroStream flashlight. 
 
The two major downsides to this kit are that it is expensive at about $270.00 
and it is rather large. For many people this kit will be too large for a go bag. 
In this situation I recommend having an Individualized First Aid Kit (IFAK) as 
part of your go bag and leave the Tactical Development Group Trauma Kit by 
Rescue Essentials in your vehicle or as part of a more comprehensive kit that is 
stored at home or work. 
 
Overall Assessment 
  
I highly recommend The Tactical Development Group Trauma Kit as it is an 
effective trauma kit. Most kits have components that are cheap quality but not 
this kit. In fact, this is one of the best "pre-packaged" kits that I have seen 
on the market. Keep in mind that some of the components will have expiration 
dates and need to be replaced. Also, if you live in a hot climate do not leave 
this kit in your vehicle as the high temperature will degrade some of the kits 
components. 
 
//TC 
© 2013