Saturday, June 28, 2014

Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)

Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK):
Find it HERE (~$160.00)
When Dark Angel Medical came out with their Generation 3 D.A.R.K. Complete Kit (Direct Action Response Kit) I knew it was the right IFAK kit for my needs. I have carried a wide variety of first aid kits on my person, vehicle etc. but most were much more cumbersome (Full of equipment and medications equivalent to an ambulance minus the cardiac monitor and a few other odds and ends). Those days are behind me for the most part as my main kit stays at home and I only take with me that which I would need to save my life or someone I care about. To do so I merely had to remedy the ABC's until I could get access to an advanced kit or EMS arrived to provide assistance.

The DARK kit is an extremely streamlined and compact kit which should be on the belt of any firefighter/EMT, on the vest of every active duty police officer or Military member and on the hip of anyone who carries a concealed weapon. This kit will save a life, PERIOD! Everything I need to remedy ABC's under fire is in this kit which I will describe with each picture below:

1) DARK kit as it comes in the package with the RIP Shears affixed to the side of the kit. Easy access to the CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet) via the front flap and then the meat and potatoes of the kit you simply pull the top tab forward to reveal a piece of webbing which you pull on to pop out your entire medical kit.
 2) For a quick size indicator you can see the medical kit attached to my water bottle bag (More info on that bag/kit HERE)
3) Kit contents that come in the box: shears or rip shears as pictured (get the rip shears they are well worth the extra money I have already used them twice this week on trauma patients and they slice through everything like a hot knife through butter), CAT and the main medical kit in shrink wrap.
 
4) Main Medical Kit includes: 1 Celox Rapid, 2 Halo Seals, 1 4" Israeli Bandage, 1 compress gauze, 1 28 fr Nasopharyngeal airway, 1 set of nitrile gloves, 1 mylar space blanket.
 5) Contents of the main kit out of the package
6) Items I added to the kit: three packages of Steri-Strips, forceps, sharpie, Quick Clot, Epi Pen and a decompression needle. 
I believe it is a very good trauma response kit in a compact package that is capable of finding a home on anyone's belt. Best thing is contents can be trained on in less than a day at several schools across the country or go meet Pocket Doc himself and take one of Dark Angel Medicals classes (I hear they are well worth the time and expense). On a personal note, I must say this company is great to work will and they respond to email very quickly if you have any questions about the kit you are ordering or shipping, Great Small Business to support!
As always I look forward to your questions and comments!




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