Armed Citizen Casualty Care class

[RobertJ]

Took a class yesterday on how to care for trauma patients when there is no modern functioning medical care system (read as WROL, Teotwaki,Societal breakdown,etc):cool:.

As with all classes my eyes were opened, what you think you know vs what you know are two differen animals.
First, other then basic Red Cross first aid classes and lifeguard classes I have taken through life... the last being almost 20 years ago, I have no medical training. GET SOME MEDICAL TRAINING PEOPLE!!! the LIFE you save may be YOUR OWN!!!

Even more important... PT,PT,PT!!!! I'm a fatty at 218# 5" 10" losing weight at a slow pace. my heaviest 4 years ago was 278# MY cardio sucks. In class we ran (without gear) for about 2 minutes to get our heart rate up,etc. I WAS WINDED. Fellow fatties if it goes down today were screwed, heart attack etc. from exertion. I was in a air conditioned building for this class sweating my but off. How far will you be able to pull a downed person under cover without exposing yourself to fire? a mile? 50 yards? 25'? same question with two people. Get in physical shape now.. not tomorrow or next year, not only for this kind of stuff but for your own good and long life with loved ones. PT, PT, PT people! I'm aching and paining today from just a class I would be about usless in the teotwaki today if work needed doing. which it would. Streatch and a run this afternoon starts my PT today.

I posted about changing my raingear in another post and now I definitely will. Very eye opening on that.

Test and use your gear... That wizz bang gun and support gear gets practiced with (dosent it?!) well even more so with medical gear. The life you save just may be your own (you do have a TQ, BOK and IFAK dont you?) MED. may not be sexy and glamorous as guns and webbing but just as and even more so important. So if you die/get evacuated on patrol all that gear may/will be left behind minus your weapons/radio/intell. Ever thought of that?

We had a 10 hour class and barely scratched the surface, I will be taking more. The scenarios were infinite. I am a visual hand on learner and I screwed up several times. Once I had just finished being the patient and now was the care giver, He had the same wound I had as patient but the scenario changed and I screwed up under pressure with a bit of equipment malfunction, learned a big lesson on that one and thats why you practice.

Towards the end of class we turned the lights out for a night time Patrol.Dont know why I did it but I put my headlamp on (green light) like I was a camper in the woods... I have never done that on "patrol training" befor in my life. One other students had a red lamp on. No one said anything but I caught it just as TSHTF, oops... wish someone would have chided me.

Lastly I learned if you are ever out in the woods and happen upon a barbed wire fence line... run away, for all your worth run away;) No matter if teotwaki or a nice day hike in the woods, its bad juju i tell ya...:p

Met a nice group of people (5 of us) I was a stranger to almost all and hope fit in. I usually do classes with buddies. We ranged from well trained, to moderate like my self, to a noobie.

The instructor was professional and knew his stuff. Curriculum was vast and presented well, but the AV guy needed some more training ;) . I walked away knowing my limitations and knowing its a diminishing skill set that needs to be practiced, Though I dont think one of the students will let me or the instructor do a Femoral pressure point to control bleeding on him again, he tapped out.

As with all classes I brought wayyy to much gear and Learned from my mistakes as well as others. I find myself wishing I would have listened more to my sisters and Mother growing up, all were RNs with lots of other acronyms afterwards... Im the only one in the family not in the medical field.

Get out there and train people its no joke... and PT,PT,PT
Off to take some tylenol

[Dennis W]

Do these trainers have a web site or contact info, schedule? Thanks Dennis

[RobertJ]

Dennis W
This was a private class, so for OPSEC I will not be giving that information out. Sorry not trying to be rude.

With that said there are several good schools out there that teach this style class.
James Yeager's "Tactical Response" teaches a couple different versions.

https://tacticalresponse.com/collections/training/products/immediate-action-medical

And also a more cost prohibitive "High Risk Civilian Contractor-Medical Package"

"Thunder Ranch" Offers a Home,vehicle defense- Trauma Block.
http://www.thunderranchinc.com/courses.html (look towards bottom of page)

These are the big names, you can probably find smaller ones as well. Its out there and being offered, its just not as cool as shooting training classes.



In the real world the gun fights are going to be 2 way, and unlike most PAW fiction or the movies your team/family is going to take casualties either from gunfire, knife wounds, or broken bones or sprains from stupid accidents.

[EX121]

Thanks for the report. Good advice.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I will break OPSEC. I appreciate the kind words RobertJ said. It was a long class, but I feel (and hope) the guys got some useful information from it. I really like hands on type training and try to design my classes (when able) to do just that. I can tell you that this class had some TQ training that "others" that carry a TQ have never done. To let you know what I did, and would suggest everyone does as its not hard to do and doesn't cost you $$$, is to practice putting it on each arm and then legs. I then took them to an area where they had different heights of cover. They each were randomly given one cover area. Then I would say which extremity to place the TQ on. They are not supposed to move that extremity as it has been wounded, but you will find that hard to do. We would complete that extremity and then rotate cover areas and I would call out another extremity. This would continue until all extremities were done at least once. When the students were comfortable with this skill, I then turned out the lights. Now, this is a 12,000 sq ft facility and it gets really dark. I would then tell them which extremity and we would practice in the dark. Then we donned their gear and we practiced more.

The skills I focused on this class were:
Patient Assessment (if you can't find it, you don't treat it)
TQ
Hemorrhage Control
Fracture Care
EVAC

The AC3 (Armed Citizen Casualty Care) Course was something I have been working on over the last couple years. I realize the mil has the TC3 course, and I piggybacked upon that, knowing we as AC will not have the resources that our mil has. Therefor, the AC3 course was formed.

This class started at 0800 and lasted until 1830 with lunch eaten during one of my lectures. The guys performed well and yes, mistakes were made but that is how things are when you are learning. I have ways of "turning up the pressure" during scenarios when/if needed. This is not a tactical movement class, but we did have to move under simulated fire a few times. The guys have never worked together as a team, but did get the job done. Most times they only had to move the patient 10-20 yards, but they realized how hard it would be if they had to go 3 miles back to a retreat while caring for a patient.

There are so many things that are left to learn, but as with most things its the fundamentals that are key.

I held it (this time) in an A/C warehouse and this was done on purpose. By allowing me to control the environment, the students could focus on what they were there to learn. Sure, I could find a place in the woods that I could do the same thing, but if they are worrying about bugs, ant piles, yellow jackets, snakes, etc then they may not be focused on what they need to be learning. Some would say, but that is reality and I agree, but when the patient, for no fault of his own, is dragged and dropped in a fire ant pile, he's not learning much the rest of the day. There is a time for the woods, but not on this particular class. There were no moulages, or fake blood but the students were still put through the paces for what we were learning. I already have more advanced classes that will build on this one. Those classes are coming.

As for this being a "Private Class" that was done for a reason. I have given this class a couple times and am tweaking it each time. Will I be giving more of these, maybe? probably? I have a day job, wife and family like the rest of us, but I do feel a sense of obligation to give some of my 40 years (YIKES! its been that long?) of knowledge of treating patients to others while I am still able.

I live in the Central Florida area. If you are interested in future classes PM me and when/if I get ready to give another one I will let you know. I like to keep my classes small, like 4-8 students so I can offer personal assistance while learning/practicing a skill if needed.

PSD

[Dennis W]

PSD, thanks for the reply, and Robert I understand your response. We just had a training day up here in North Florida on patrolling, navigation and reconnaissance, and my daughter who has been with me up to WV at MVT, asked me if I knew of any medical training going on, and I saw Roberts post. We have both done TC3 training up in WV and I have done some of the Doc Cindy classes from Armageddon medicine. This sounds like a good class and I am definitely interested. I will PM you my contact information.

[Lowdown3]

If you need a referral- Dennis and "Facebook" are both good to go.

[RobertJ]

MODs if you want to pull my response to Dennis so PSD can get more attention please do so. If not im good with it there, in case someone is closer to Tennessee.

[protus]

Thanks psd. As always learned a bunch a good shake down of previously learnt skills. Great time!.
I brought along a newb. Same cat thats done hikes etc with us at campouts. It was an eye opener for sure.
He now knows why i pack what i do. He was very very impressed PSD...and was info over dosed. But he had a great time from what he said on our drive.
You gave him a good wake up.

The other guys were great. As said..wide range of skill levels on all ends. The hands on is where i learn...hopefully next time i wont need a pegleg lol .
And yes avoid any old fence at all cost. No one needs belt feds or area patrols..just a few hundred yards of old hog fence should do lol.

It was great to see guys pull together by the end on our scenerios..taking lead when it needed to be done and assiting two seconds later.

I think the TQ practice is something everyone needs to do. Over and over...and over. That and pt. :)


And yes PSD has a way of applying direct pressure in the dark that makes a guy take notice....but i think he just likes to pick on me ;p


Great learning experiance and imho must have skill set for ANYONE who is into preparedness.
Thanks again PSD.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

And yes PSD has a way of applying direct pressure in the dark that makes a guy take notice....but i think he just likes to pick on me ;p


Great learning experiance and imho must have skill set for ANYONE who is into preparedness.
Thanks again PSD.

Suck It Up, Buttercup ;)

[RobertJ]

Suck It Up, Buttercup ;)

Need a morale patch with that

[protus]

Type
Buttercup neg.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Type
Buttercup neg.

That'll be good....
Buttercup -

[protus]

Someones gotta be that guy. May as well be me.
Ill wear it with pride....
:)