Save lives with your Individual First Aid Kit or IFAK

AN EMERGENCY SITUATION AND NO EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE PRESENT

You're involved in a serious car accident. You're shaken up, but luckily you don't sustain any serious injuries. But the person who caused the accident is seriously injured. You arrive at his car and immediately see a deep gash in his right forearm. Blood spurts out, and the victim's face becomes increasingly pale. Do you know what to do in the event of a catastrophic hemorrhage?

AN EMERGENCY SITUATION AND NO EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE PRESENT

The Dutch military has transitioned from the BATLS C-ABCDE protocol to the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) MARCH protocol. Both protocols provide a medical step-by-step plan for saving lives in emergency situations:

M – Massive Bleeding – Catastrophic bleeding
A – Airway – Airway
R – Respiration – Breathing
C – Circulation – Circulation
H – Hypothermia – Hypothermia

In both the C-ABCDE and MARCH protocols, resolving a life-threatening hemorrhage is the first priority. This is the leading cause of death in most cases.

Did you know that a victim can bleed to death within minutes? If you see severe bleeding in a car accident victim, it's important to know exactly what to do to save their life. Military personnel, such as first responders and medics, are uniquely trained to respond proactively in these types of emergencies. Therefore, this article briefly explains what you can learn from this to save another person's life.

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF MEDICAL CARE

All military personnel receive Self-Help Comrades Assistance (ZHKH) training during their initial training. This provides the foundation for helping yourself or your comrade with injuries ranging from life-threatening situations to other injuries. You can also further develop your skills as a first responder. Within the Dutch Defence Force, the following levels are designated:

• Wound care worker

• Injury care provider

• Medic

• General Military Nurse (AMV)

Different levels of medical care exist, and they all start with the same protocol for catastrophic bleeding. Therefore, it's important to understand the procedures and theory involved.

EFFECTIVELY TREAT MASSIVE BLEEDING

For now we will only discuss the M, what is it, what can you do about it and what can you treat it with.

When do we speak of a Massive Bleeding?

• when we lose more than 1 times our total blood volume in 24 hours

• if the victim loses more than 50% of the total blood volume in 3 hours

• if your victim loses more than 150 ml of blood in 1 minute

What can you do about it?

• Act quickly and correctly according to the MARCH protocol

What do you treat Massive Hemorrhage with?

• By means of a tourniquet also called CAT

• By means of a wound packing with a hemostatic bandage

Different levels of medical care exist, and they all start with the same protocol for catastrophic bleeding. Therefore, it's important to understand the procedures and theory involved.

THE MATERIAL THAT IS IN YOUR IFAK

As a first responder or combat medic, you want to pack your medical equipment so you're always well-prepared for a potential deployment. This significantly increases a casualty's chance of survival. A tip to speed up your response is to remove the outer packaging, if necessary, and ensure your CAT is ready for quick deployment by removing it from the plastic. This way, it's ready for immediate use.

Your Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) is, of course, packed according to the described standard. Essential items included in the IFAK include:

1. The carrying bag / Medic combat pouch / Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)

2. Gloves

3. Pair of scissors

4. Pen

5. Tourniquet

6. Combat Gauze – hemostatic bandage

7. Emergency bandage / Israeli bandage

8. Chest Seal

9. Aluminum blanket