AAR: The class

So I got to not only meet the Great and Mighty Ambulance Driver , but was able to go to his class and (hopefully) learn something from him.

Now, being as he is, after all, and ambulance driver, he is somewhat blase' about the whole blood guts and dismemberment thing. But he did keep the class entertained with stories and anecdotes along with his very competent and pointed instruction on what TO do what NOT TO do and what to look for.

I hadn't taken a class for about 5 years, and was surprised about how much had changed....I remember about 25 years ago bringing a guy into the emergency room with an improvised  tourniquet on his leg because of persistent spurting from the wound that Direct Pressure just wasn't gonna stop (I tried) and being lectured by a doctor that he was likely going to lose his leg because of the tourniquet.(Hey, Doc, I got him here ALIVE and not all bled out, what would you rather I had done? Let him bleed for 25 minutes??)...and here I got a tourniquet in class!?! and discovered that in today's world of EMS, it is, if not the first choice, certainly not the last choice of first aid options.

We did the standard resuscitation with compression only CPR (had that class 4 years ago) and then we were presented with a trauma first aid kit...and taught HOW to use the items in the kit.

BTW, I'd like to thank the folks who donated materials and such to make this class possible.....Bound Tree Medical, who provided the kits at cost, and who will certainly get my business when I build another kit or 4....and a special thanks to Larry Weeks from Brownells, who basically gave Kelly anything he asked for for the class....Now, I am already a customer of Brownells, but their sponsorship and support has made me decide to make them my first choice for my shooting supplies rather than just one of many when I am buying.....

The class was fun, informative and entertaining. Yeah, some of the slides and videos were not pretty, but WE ARE TALKING ABOUT TRAUMA HERE. It ain't cupcakes.

If you get a chance, next time you have one, to take an updated course, it ain't a bad idea to refresh your training.

Remember, under stress we don't rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training. Make sure that training isn't 20 years old.