Belt Mounted Medical - Yes Please?
I'm by no means a medical expert, don't think that for a second - I have taken a few TC3 classes, gone through combat lifesaver school twice, and attended a lot of impromptu field medicine classes, but am by no means an expert in medicine, or anything of the sort. I've got the basics, I can do MARCH, and I can probably keep you alive until a professional comes, but no promises. Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk gear.
So, belt mounted medical - where should you run it, what should you run, what should be in it? Well, my answers would be as follows: it depends, it depends, and it depends. Like many things in the "tactical community", everything is individual dependent, mission dependent, environmentally dependent, etc. I can tell you what I personally run, what's worked for me in the past, and what's the bare bones basics you should run in your belt mounted medical just for starters.
For the trauma kit itself, my recommendations (in this order) would be:
- Blue Force Gear Micro Trauma Kit
- The Ferro Concepts Roll 1
- NA Rescue actually makes a solid one
- STOMP
This may be a debated topic, as everyone has their favorite piece of gear, I'm just recommending the good stuff that I've had hands on and would recommend to someone for the varying levels that my viewers/readers are, which is anyone from the normal range-goers/enthusiasts, to law enforcement and military. Each one has a slightly different form factor, may be better/worse for long stints of riding in a vehicle, take up too much space on a belt for you, or whatever - which is why I'm giving a variety of recommendations. I would behoove you to take a look at each of them and see which one fits your individual needs. If you're a dude going to the range and wants a little medical on your belt, you might be perfect with the NAR or BFG recommendation. If you're a police officer and want to upgrade your medical loadout above what your department is giving you, I'd probably rock the Roll1, Stomp, or the BFG, along with my chest mounted stuff and larger vehicle aid bag.
So next topic, what goes inside? I would say the absolute essentials that you'll want to fit inside are a TQ (ideally dangling/wrapped on the outside for quick deployment), rolled gauze, a compact chest seal, a pair or two of nitrile gloves, and a trauma dressing. That's the bare minimum, if you can scale it up to include more, such as a nasopharyngeal airway, more stop the bleed contents, etc. then by all means please do so. Your belt mounted IFAK is not going to be a fully functional medical bag, it's going to be "can I grab this off my belt in two seconds and get a TQ on me, get bleeding stopped immediately", or whatever scenario you're in, for IMMEDIATE deployment.
I talked about my recommendation on what kit to run, and what should be inside of it, but now, where does it go? Almost everyone I've ever met, and me included, mount their belt-mounted IFAK at the direct 6 o'clock, right on the back of their belt. Why? Well, that's where most people have space. Your holster is always at your 3 o'clock (or 9 o'clock if you're a devil child leftie), your pouches are usually along the opposite side, and then some folks run radios, belt knives, small admin pouches, etc. - leaving the only spot open their direct backside. Make sure it's reachable and you can pull it out no matter where it is, and then get the reps in of actually pulling it out and seeing how fast you can deploy it.
As always, I hope this little blog was helpful. I didn't go into my relationship with these companies like I usually do, but the skinny of it is that: I wasn't paid to list any of these, and I have no affiliation with any of these companies. I currently use the BlueForceGear Micro Trauma Kit, and have been for maybe three or four years. Not only do I use it, but I sell it on my website. Is that an incentive enough to rank is #1 on my list? I don't think so, it fits my needs the best as a civilian, I think it's easy to deploy, and it has served me well. I recommend you look at all of them on my list, and do your own individual research to see if I missed any gems that might fit your needs even better! Stay safe out there, and get the training to use this medical gear.