“Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round. Any
variation on the theme is a problem.”
About a month before NRA Annual Meetings kicked off in
Indianapolis this year, Ambulance Driver put out a call for students. In real
life, AD is Kelly Grayson, emergency medicine subject matter expert and gadfly
extraordinaire, and when he’s not running critical care transfers for the
voracious and merciless EMS collective known as “The Borg” or writing books, he
does a lot of teaching. This time, Kelly and friends had decided to create a
class for the average gun owner on what to do about a medical emergency at the
range or in the field (including, but not limited to, first aid for gunshot
wounds.) Why’s that matter to you?
Well, it might not, but this is my blog, and you’ve got some nerve coming in
firing questions. Besides, I think there’s a good chance that this class could
be added to Kelly’s offerings, and that means it might come to your town one of
these days.
Bro, do you even tourniquet?
|
Let me cut to the chase: if you aren’t at least an
experienced first responder with
experience with gunshot wounds, I think you’ll benefit from this class. Kelly
brought three friends in as instructors, including the author of Too Old toWork, Too Young to Retire and two other experienced medics, one with extensive
experience in Detroit. Any one of the four have probably treated more GSW than
I have car accident injuries, and their experience showed. Bringing help also meant that the
instructors had the manpower to break the class into four sections for
small-group hands-on instruction in CPR, use of AED’s, and application of
bandages and tourniquets. That time was valuable, and it looked to me like the
instructors were consistent and efficient in running their individual groups. I was not expecting OldNFO to stand up deliver a history of hemostatic bandaging (products like Quik-Clot) but it was fascinating.
Aw, snap. Knowledge is about to drop on you like the other shoe, son.
|
The agenda was intelligently basic and can be summarized as
three big questions:
·
What can we do about acute cardiac or respiratory
problems at the range? (What if Joe has a heart attack at a remote range?)
·
What can we do about gunshot wounds to the
extremities?
(What if Joe shoots himself in the leg at a remote range?)
(What if Joe shoots himself in the leg at a remote range?)
·
What can we do about thoracic gunshot wounds?
(What if Joe gets shot in the belly or the chest at a remote range?)
(What if Joe gets shot in the belly or the chest at a remote range?)
What if there's inappropriate touching? |
Negatives? Well, obviously, a four-hour course is not going
to turn anyone into a medical superhero, so if anyone was hoping to learn to
repair wounds surgically in the field with a fishhook and line, they would have
gone home disappointed. The course could go longer easily; I believe Kelly
mentioned that it may be extended in future versions, and I think that makes
sense.
Positives? Brisk pacing, not a lot of superfluous discussion
or information, good balance of lecture and participation, well-considered
agenda of basic information, and a good job of addressing varying skill levels
from medical laymen who’ve never really thought about medical emergencies at
the range before to practicing nurses and doctors.
Now you're cookin' with gas, ya big lug! But seriously, you should probably take that thing off at some point. |
In the end, I walked out with knowledge and confidence I
hadn’t brought in with me, and that’s a win. In particular, I picked up new
knowledge and much firmer confidence in my knowledge of thoracic wounds,
especially sucking chest wounds, and I no longer fear the tourniquet. I also
walked away with a compact emergency kit stocked with a good field tourniquet
and appropriate bandages, gloves and cleaning supplies, plus an occlusive chest
seal for sucking chest wounds (which has helpfully been covered in notes with a
Sharpie™ because I walked in late without a pencil or paper on my person.)
Be prepared! But if you can't manage to be prepared, at least be prepared to be weird. |
It must be noted that the use of St. Francis Hospital’s excellent conference room and the food and drink supplied by Brownells out of
the goodness of their hearts added to the experience for most of the
attendees. Personally, I haughtily
refused to partake of the delicious breakfast pastries or drink the soda and
juice provided, because I am an arrogant monster. But if you’re into that sort
of thing, you can see how having one of the giants of the industry step up to
support a small class like this one—a class with, it must be admitted, zero
application to either Crossfit™ or shooting terrorists in their faces—makes a
difference.
My thanks to Brownells, to St. Francis Hospitals in
Indianapolis, to Kelly Grayson and TOTW and their fellow instructors. Going
forward, I’m going to be sharing a version of what I’ve learned out to members
of the Sangamon County Rifle Association. The SCRA met two nights ago, and
between my account and the praise delivered by Snooze Button Ronin, I think we
have some interest in hosting Kelly for a similar class in the future. I’ll be
watching with interest to see if it becomes available!
4 comments:
Many moons ago, I used to shoot at the Silver Bullet range in Sangamon County.
Great synopsis of the class!
That might be Bullet Express now . . . which has moved to Auburn, right on the southern edge of the county. It was probably in Springfield back then, but I've always known it as Bullet Express.
Or there's just a lost legendary range out there, like a temple in a Lucasfilm jungle. . .
The Silver Bullet was located in Curran. Not sure when they closed but I think it was mid '90s
Ohhh . . . nope, never got there. That must be the place people confuse with Lefthanders Gun Club sometimes.
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