# Do you have a tourniquet in your EDC?



## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

I carry one on my person, have two in every bag I own, a couple in each car and one in my wife's purse. Multiple tourniquets are also part of our duty issue gear for every officer. Of course for on and off duty they are still just part of a well packaged trauma kit and not a replacement for one.












> Tourniquets, once out of favor, helped save lives in Vegas shootings
> Lisa Girion
> 
> LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - When the sniper's bullet shattered Paola Bautista's arm, her sister and a stranger in the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest Festival got her to cover. Then they focused on the bleeding.
> ...


http://www.reuters.com/article/us-l...d-save-lives-in-vegas-shootings-idUSKBN1CI16I


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

I always have two on me, and access to at least 3 more depending on which vehicle I'm in. My two EDC's are a SOFFT-W and a SWAT-T. Sometimes I will throw a RATS tourniquet in my pocket if I'm going somewhere there are a lot of people. I always have access to Blowout kits in addition to what I'm carrying on me because of my line of work.

My wife carries a CAT and SWAT-T since she has a purse, my daughter only carries the SWAT-T because she's a skinny little thing that likes fashionable clothing.

Here's how we carry the SWAT-T's. Take the SWAT-T, which is about the size of a wallet, add a credit card with about 2 feet of wide and narrow Gorilla tape and two Quikclot clotting gauze and either rubber band it all together or put it in an Aloksac. Makes a nice small blowout package that looks like a wallet in your pants or is easy to stick in a pocket or purse if you're a woman. (Edited for clarity, the Quikclot is the civilian version that has two packs of 4x24" gauze, runs about 20 dollars from Adventure Medical Kits)

I know SWAT-T's are not the best tourniquet, but they will work well if you are putting them on someone else and can be used as a pressure bandage with the Quikclot. They are hard to put on one handed. That's why we carry a SOFTT-W or a CAT as our primary. All of the other TQ's in the kits are the same.


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## backlash (Nov 11, 2008)

I have one in my BOB and one in my FAK.
Probably should add a couple more.
Sentry what do you use?
I have a CAT and an Israeli battle bandage.
I also have a clotting bandage.


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## fteter (May 23, 2014)

Yup. House FAK. 72 hr. FAKs in Emergency Packs too. And one in each vehicle's FAK. Never had to use one, thank goodness, but still see them as an important component in any kit.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

I figured i wear a belt so im covered, mind you my belt is a cow collar. Plus i almost always have rope of some sort or fence wire with in arms reach. Also figured can take wiring out of any car in seconds. Am i wrong to think that way? Should i maybe get some medical grade ones like you guys?


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

backlash said:


> Sentry what do you use?


In my bags, duty belt and my kits I tend use to the CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet). The CAT has the added advantage of being able to be applied one handed. The SOF-T can be self-applied too and is probably just as good, but in the Tac-Med trainings we always used to the CAT so I stuck with it. The kits I use are all DOK (Downed Officer Kits) which include a CAT, Celox gauze, nitrile gloves, trauma dressings, face shield, surgical tape, shears, etc.

The tourniquet I carry when I am out of uniform, off duty, etc. is the RATS (Rapid Application Tourniquet System). It's sort of like a black surgical tube with a metal cleat. It's pretty small and light and could also have 100 other uses if need be. I like SWAT as well (which is really just a wide flat piece of rubber) but it's harder to use on yourself than the RATS.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

RedBeard said:


> I figured i wear a belt so im covered plus i almost always have rope of some sort or fence wire with in arms reach. Also figured can take wiring out of any car in seconds. Am i wrong to think that way? Should i maybe get some medical grade ones like you guys?


A makeshift tourniquet is better than no tourniquet, but there is something to be said about battle tested tourniquets that have saved numerous lives. I would add that makeshift or store bought, without training and practice they might be too little too late. I am not an EMT or anything like that, but I have been to Tac-Med school 2-3 times. Each time I learned more about the basics of trauma and how to survive it (alone or for others) than I did in the military or the police academy. Much has changed and developed over the years. Decades of war in the Middle East and active threat events have enhanced life saving techniques.


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

Every car has a "cat" tourniquet, Israeli bandage, quick clot pad, scissors and a generic first aid kid. 2 tourniquets, 3 bandages and tons of other things at home in the disaster kit.

On my person, no, I have shoelaces and other field expedient resources, the firehouse is less than a mile. If they can't respond, it's catch as catch can.


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

I keep one in each range bag, my chainsaw bag, Get home bags. Along with isreali bandages and a Quick clot gauze.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

Sentry18 said:


> A makeshift tourniquet is better than no tourniquet, but there is something to be said about battle tested tourniquets that have saved numerous lives. I would add that makeshift or store bought, without training and practice they might be too little too late. I am not an EMT or anything like that, but I have been to Tac-Med school 2-3 times. Each time I learned more about the basics of trauma and how to survive it (alone or for others) than I did in the military or the police academy. Much has changed and developed over the years. Decades of war in the Middle East and active threat events have enhanced life saving techniques.


Thanks! When you say it that way i realize it's probably worth having the best when it comes to keeping yourself or others from dropping dead. Looking for a few on the web now.


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

Earlier this year we had a "stop the Bleed" presentation: https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed at our area's annual training seminars.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

If anyone wants to put the video on here please do so, my phone can't, but im convinced.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

And because we all like to learn:
Sof-t vs CAT


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

And swat t.


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## sewingcreations15 (Aug 19, 2017)

Yes we carry one in our take everywhere med kit for all of these reasons.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

When buying a TQ, please make sure that you are buying from a reputable source, not Amazon or Ebay. There is a ton of Chinese copies on the market that may or may not work when it counts the most. I'll be happy to list some this evening when I get back home if anyone wants, but a TQ is not something to cheap out on.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

Belt.
Shoe laces utilizing padding.
Para-cord also utilizing padding.
Bra or any other clothing torn/cut into strips.
Plastic bags.


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## SheepdogPRS (Oct 8, 2017)

Doesn't anyone use triangular bandages anymore? The triangular bandage can be used as a tourniquet, for splints, head- arm or leg bandage and even to immobilize in a sling form. I have five in my first aid kit and four more in my trauma kit.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

SheepdogPRS said:


> Doesn't anyone use triangular bandages anymore? ...


Called a handkerchief and as in my Avatar worn around the neck.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I think having tourniquets is a great idea. Recently, there was a training at a local hospital about responding to a situations, such as a mass shooting. Tourniquet use was one of the pieces. I was unable to attend, but thought it was a really good thing.

A young man I know, who attended the school I taught at, was driving a wine delivery truck somewhere north of Denver about 3 years ago. He was headed south. A truck that was headed north somehow crossed the median and ran straight into his trick. The wine delivery truck had a flat front end. The windshield fell out of the truck, in on his legs and they were both cut off a little above the knees. He went into shock immediately, and didn't even realize that he no longer had legs below his knees. He got out of his truck. Two men who were now caught up in that traffic mess jumped out of their vehicles. They both removed their belts and used them as tourniquets.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Ok, here are links to known good (to me or others that are in the combat med field) suppliers of TQ's and other first aid supplies. They generally aren't cheap, but hey, I don't consider my family's lives or mine cheap either.

Listed in no particular order:
http://www.chinookmed.com/
http://www.tacmedsolutions.com/
http://darkangelmedical.com/
http://www.shop.thetacticalmedic.com/

I am sure that there are more sources out there, I would just use some due diligence when ordering. If the price seems to be too good to be true for an item, chances are it's either a fake or expired.

Hope this helps someone!


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