First Aid

[Deek]

OK - a subject close to my heart and just curious to other people's thoughts on this subject when it comes to airsoft.

 

What are people's thoughts when it comes to first aid at airsoft events? Is it something that really bothers you or have you never really paid it any attention? Are you the kind of player who makes sure they have some first aid training and carry your own first aid kit 'just in case' or do you rely on the site proving first aid facilities?

 

Just curious - you don't have to answer any of this if you don't want to, but just wanted to know what people think

[cavninja]

Interesting subject Deek, I'm sure sites have to provide a bare minimum of cover under health and safety legislation and as part of their public liability insurance. I would wager the quality of what you may actually get will vary greatly.

I actually carry a small amount of medical equipment in my kit, just in case.

We play a physical game in a challenging environment and accidents will happen, be it a minor bump or scrape or something a little more serious. As with any activity of this kind, some basic first aid skills for all are never a bad thing. There are some pretty good videos on you tube showing accidents and injuries in airsoft, that should make sobering viewing for us all.

[Guest PT247]

When I popped my shoulder out I had a paramedic on scene within 1min, he was playing with us! Our site organisers are first aid trained tho as are many of our players so it never really concerns me and the local hospital is pretty close too.

[Happy]

I have a kit in the car, but thankfully never needed to use it. Like cav said - sites need a minimum number of first aiders on site to meet insurance requirements. Most I've been to had two or three.

[skarra333]

I like to be as self reliant as possible...

 

I think while most sites will have a First Aider by necessity to tick the H&S and Insurance box, (apart from the few sites that have medical professionals on their day off) they will generally be no better qualified than the average office or factory first aider, and that's hit and miss quality wise.

 

And while they can maybe do the whole CPR thing (I've never seen need for this - thankfully), in my humble opinion, while they may love stocking their first aid box with all the gauze, eye wash and burn dressings they can, maybe with a defibrillator (for which, they aren't trained) tucked under the sling and surgical scissors, when it comes to most typical skirmish injuries - bumps, scratches, nettle stings, welts, hi-cap finger, ankle twists, and assorted boo-boos etc, they just don't make things better the way my mother can, so I'd rather try to do it myself.

 

If it's something more serious than a bit of a boo-boo, site First Aiders tend to be unable to really help anyway, and refer you on to A&E, your GP or local GUM clinic as necessary.

 

And I'm always mindful of announcing my injuries too loudly, lest the resident survivalist come up offering his KFC wet wipe, needle and thread all pulled from the handle of a Bowie knife.

[Dutch]

Good point mate. I'm first aid trained but never even thought about carrying on my person, which i do when doing other physical activities (Kyaking/mountain climbing etc.).

I guess I subconciously trust the marshalls to be switched on an trained and to be fair, I've only seen one incident that needed medical attention. I may put my firt aid kit in my kit bag in the safe zone from now on.

Good post!!

[airsoftwarrior147]

Both I and my dad are first aid trained, but neither of us carry first aid kits, this is mainly down to the fact that we've got no spare pouches on our PC.

 

However I know that from his past experiences ( heart attacks,dislocated knee, serious bleeding) that he can treat all of these, within minutes he will always be on scene and helping ( he knows all the injuries through his work and football

[BrightCandle]

I don't carry a first aid kit on my gear nor do I take one to the game. I can see why some people would but I just don't want to carry the weight and waste gear space on it when the site will almost certainly have more gear than I would bring.

[Ian_Gere]

I trust the site to have what's required for most bumps, grazes, etc. but I take a kit anyway. TBH I really should get trained again because it was soooooooo long ago. My kit is pretty specific though - apart from a few bits and bobs for the average outdoors type injury it is geared up to perform minor surgery. The reason is because I knew someone whose brother died by bleeding out through a severed femoral artery even though the ambulance crew were on scene in less than 5mins (it was in a night club and the ambulance was on standby in the town centre). My kit has the sterile field, shears, dissection scissors, scalpel, forceps, tweezers, and sutures so that if someone falls on something sharp and arterial blood sprays out, if pressure and/or tourniquet doesn't do the trick, i will be able to cut down to it and ligate that artery. I even have a spray bottle of xylocaine so i could stop it hurting, so that it would be easier to keep the victim still. The only thing I haven't got which would be very handy is a wound spreader, but it's on the to-do list...

 

Oh yeah, i also have 1.5x magnification head mounted loupe with built in LED light.

Edited August 23, 2014 by Ian_Gere
forgot

[AirsoftTed]

Had heavy flash backs of the Black hawk down scene there Ian. I should really get down to a first aid course.

Edited March 23, 2022 by AirsoftTed
cringed at my teenage self.

[Deek]

Interesting responses, thank you.

 

First Aid is a tricky subject, especially as the HSE have deregulated first aid training so there are less hoops for a training company to jump through before they can offer training, and the content of the courses can vary to cover just the basic recommended syllabus to whatever the course provider wants to throw in.

 

The HSE recommendations for first aid cover actually states that a company is under no legal obligation to provide first aid for non-employees. Not sure if insurance companies stipulate minimum levels of first aid cover either - it would be nice if they did though.

 

Personally, I have three 'kits' with me when I go out skirmishing - I have a small kit with a few wipes, some plasters and a small ambulance dressing and a Celox bandage. A larger first aid bag with lots of dressings, SAM splints, a few airways and some other bits, and then in my car I have my bigger kit with other bits and pieces in that I might need (assessment kit, more dressing, advance airway management, access kit and major haemorrhage control items).

 

Ian - I can understand your concern about life threatening arterial bleeds, but they are very rare these days. That said, if you are really concerned have you considered the new haemostatic dressings such as Celox, Hemcon or QuickClot? They are expensive but a lot safer and easier to use than a cut down and ligature, and you will probably get less skill fade with using something like this

[Ian_Gere]

TBH I'm way out of the loop, Deek. Got links?

[Deek]

TBH I'm way out of the loop, Deek. Got links?

 

Of course

 

If you want to see the real benefits of Celox then have a quick look at this video showing how quick this works... it is a promo video for the company, but it is a real-life demonstration of how effective the stuff is. I have used the stuff in anger and it really does work. Video (Warning: Graphic images - you have been warned!)

 

 

The best place to buy haemostatic agents is one of the big two ambulance suppliers; SPServices and Bound Tree Medical;

 

SPServices: http://www.spservices.co.uk/browse/MilitaryDressings_23_0_0_de_12.html

Bound Tree: http://boundtree.co.uk/first-aid/haemorrhage-control/haemostats

[jcheeseright]

I have a HSGI 'bleeder' pouch on my plate carrier with a fully stocked first aid kit... Not quite as comprehensive as Ian's but it's got bandages, ZOT, gauze, first field dressing, normasol, shears, haemostatic agent, sticky plasters, paracetamol, ibuprofen, and some antihistamines.

 

Covers me for everything from a boo-boo on a finger to a pretty heavy duty laceration.

[airsoftwarrior147]

I will be putting one together today, nothing major but small time things like bandages swaps clean sterile water (my mums a nurse so she can provide me with a list)

[Ian_Gere]

Wow that Celox is the shit! Bought an applicator of it - £23.94 delivered so yeah, not cheap by a long chalk, but it's a fat syringe so you can poke it into a penetrating injury and squeeze the powder in without having to cut the wound wider to get a clear way down to the bleeder. I suspect that you don't need more than the 6g of it when you can put it right into where it's needed and apply pressure as usual - you'd only need a big sachet if you had a huge gaping wound, but in that case i could ligate easily* enough anyway (*being a relative term... i mean not as easily as i could make a brew, but easier than i could fix a blown head gasket). I would like to buy one of the Celox gauze dressings also, but another 30-odd quid right now is more than my wallet can stand for something which will probably go out of date without ever being used.**

 

 

 

 

**With any luck

[Samurai]

For us it was mandatory to make a first aid course for the driving license, and I think that's a very good thing.

 

I carry a M67 style (vietnam) small first aid pouch. It's about 3x4 so I just carry it on me in a pouch. It has one or two sterile gauze dressings, two rolls of bandages, some plasters and a small antiseptic liquid.

 

I used it twice. Both were head injuries. Once a guy hit his head climbing through a hole in a wall, and once it was a headshot from a 600 fps sniper from quite close. Both were bleeding quite heavily and since these were milsim games, real first aid was quite a walk away. The first one needed some stitches later.

There was an other guy with broken ankle but that didn't need bandaging or anything. These were the ones that I personally had to take care of in about 7 years.

 

If you only go to skirmishes with the safe zone and first aid only 2 minutes away, then don't bother carrying a kit, by the time you get everything out, someone could run to the safe zone for help. Just keep a finger on it to stop the bleeding.

If you go to games where the safe zone or help can be further away, keep a small first aid kit on you and read about how to use it.

[Deek]

I have used my kit on a couple of occasions at skirmishes - it is handy just to deal with the quick and easy stuff in the field if it means keeping a player 'in play', and then get them sorted out in the safe zone afterwards.

 

Since the deregulation of first aid training there has been an influx of people offering various first aid courses, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one if you need one.

 

Just a quick disclaimer on kit - just remember, you should only be using stuff you have been trained to use (sorry - had to slip that in there... you know, just to make sure )

[Ian_Gere]

My mum taught me to do sutures by practising on orange peel (she was a senior nurse before she retired)!

[Deek]

I thought you may have been trained Ian, just by the way you worded things

[Ian_Gere]

I did some 1st aid training back in the 80's and 90's too. Both were courses supervised by SJA. There was a certificate for the 2nd one but I'm fooked if i know where it is, or even if i still have it. I can't remember enough of the training to warrant producing paper anyway. Like I said, I should get retrained, but yeah "ligate" gives it away...

[Deek]

The problem with a lot of first aid courses is they don't really cover the injuries you would expect to find whilst airsofting, and the average cost of the 1 day course is about £80 as well...

 

Many years ago I wrote an article for a website on first aid, also had some bits printed in the now defunct Safe Zone magazine about first aid as well, but when it all comes down to it you are better off attending a course than reading about it

[NickM]

In a small grenade pouch I carry a small ziplock bag that contains a little bit of everything from my main first aid kit. The main first aid kit lives in my car unless I am going kayaking/Canoeing/Skiing/walking when it will move to the pack or drybag I use for the particular activity. I have had first aid training, plenty of it and even competed in cadet first aid competitions and taught bits years ago, infact when I did the 4day first aid at work qualification ( now 3 day as far as I was aware) I even had to teach the woman leading it how to apply some of the dressings she was asking us to apply because she didn't have a clue. On my last one, a simple 1 day course I showed the guy teaching us about using the inside of sterile dressing pouches as an improvised one way valve to apply to lung puncture wounds.

 

I would never rely on a site having a first aid kit near me. I play some pretty big sites and you cant guarantee the marshal is either trained or is actually carrying the first aid kit with them. In one case I know the site keeps the kit in the safe zone which is a good 10mins round trip from the back end of the play area.

 

I can deal with minor stuff, cuts and grazes right up to lacerations but this kit is only stocked to temporarily stabilise until someone else gets there with the a full kit, like a paramedic or the site team with their uber kit. I really ought to weigh it but I know its far less than a fully loaded high cap so I barely notice it. I've not been trained to use a tourniquet in a while and its not something I'm totally familiar with using so its not carried and I was under the impression they had fallen out of fashion for every day first aid anyway, but I have the bits to make one on my kit with some bodging if the situation called for it. But one addition to my mini first aid kit is a small tube of eye wash, for those times people get crap in their eyes.

 

As for defibrillators, most first aid courses as far as I was aware go through their use, and the ones people can access out and about nowadays actually do all the work for you, its a case of following the stupidly easy picture instructions and doing what the voice tells you, it makes the decision of when to shock and how much so you actually don't need any training.

[Deek]

Tourniquets are 'back in' following some quite interesting data and research to come out of Iraq and Afghanistan. That said, you do need to have some training to be able to apply one properly, but this doesn't take much time at all.

 

Defibs are very easy to use these days as well, and you are right in saying that the machine tells you exactly what to do. The recommendation of their use now suggests that if you are competent at CPR then you don't need specific training on their use. Sadly, I doubt any airsoft site will have one as a decent second hand machine will cost in excess of £1000.

[NickM]

I noticed a load of people carrying tourniquets on kit but I had thought it was more part of their "load out" or impression eg people doing US PJ's. I did have a brief look at them a while back but couldn't really tell if there was a difference between the ones for sale. You seem to know your stuff Deek any recommendations?

 

If I could upload a picture to here which I might try in a bit I'll take a couple of the packed kit and the contents, my main thinking putting it together was personal use and I would suggest people go with that as the thinking, basically similar to use in the forces, you use your supplies on yourself, or you use the casualties supplies on them. Just to show how small it is but can still be effective therefore most people should be able to educate and equip themselves appropriately. And if you have some suggestions we can build up a resource for here once you have done a few skirmishes the kind of thing you might think about carrying.