What do you really need in your IFAK?
Let’s be honest; there are some ridiculous first aid kits out there with everything from a single piece of combat gauze to almost anything you might find in an operating room. But what do you actually need in there? There are a lot of pre-packed kits on the market that I think fall short, mainly because the purposefully omit life-saving products in order to reach a certain price point.
Before we go much further, let me make the statement “IFAK kits will be expensive.” Expect to pay at least $200 for your IFAK and accompanied medical items. I know this may sound like a lot, but if something dire happens to you, you will spend the rest of your short life wishing you had splurged on the good stuff.
The below-recommended contents are based on years of real-world experience, actually seeing what does and doesn’t work. These items will fit in a small IFAK and will provide necessary life-saving options. I will expand on this and say that none of the below medical equipment will do you any good if you don’t know how to use them. I’d argue that knowing how to use these items is more important than actually having the items themselves. While I could go into all the recommended courses available, I will save that for a later post.
I will make my IFAK list based on the MARCH algorithm. The military’s MARCH algorithm varies from the traditional ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) used by civilians. MARCH stands for:
Massive Hemorrhage- The military puts Massive Hemorrhage at the top of the treatment list. This means that if you arrive at a patient, you’d want to treat a massive hemorrhage first before moving on to any other injuries. Now, it’s important to note that a massive hemorrhage means a sizeable arterial bleed is dumping copious amounts of blood onto the ground. This isn’t a cut that is dripping on the ground; it is large volumes of blood loss that could lead to death in less than a minute or two.
Airway- This pertains to being able to draw air into the lungs. Airway would be something like an obstructed airway due to debris, a tongue of an unconscious patient or mouth and throat burns.
Respiration- This pertains to the actual breathing process. Standard treatment for respiratory ailments would include something like a collapsed lung or a sucking chest wound.
Circulation- At this stage of the algorithm we go back to general bleeding and lacerations to keep lots of cuts from leaking precious blood out of the body.
Hypothermia/Head Injury- This last piece of the algorithm is a little bit contentious in that many healthcare providers believe you should treat hypothermia throughout the MARCH treatment process. I agree with this method of thinking, but it is always wise to reassess for hypothermia after all the holes have been plugged.
With the above algorithm in mind lets look at what items are going to treat those issues. Keep in mind this doesn’t address things like spinal cord injuries, burns, smoke inhalation or other possible non-visible injuries that you as a civilian might encounter. However, those are injuries that you as an everyday civilian wouldn’t be able to treat with anything out of your IFAK anyways. So these items cover things that you can personally manage and potentially use to save someone’s life.
Massive Hemorrhage:
Compact Gauze- I’d say this is probably the most critical piece of medical kit you can carry. It’s cheap, small and has a ton of different applications. If you have a sizeable massive bleed gauze is the only thing that can fill a large cavity and provide the pressure needed to stop the bleed. You can wrap gauze, stuff gauze, use it as a sling, use it to splint and a multitude of other applications. I would suggest carrying at least two packages of compact gauze.
