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Posted: 1/30/2011 7:56:34 PM EDT
| Looking for a Medic bag/pack. I am a Paramedic full time. Its what i do as my profession. I have a chance to become part of the SWAT team, have to pass all the requirements first. I was wondering what everyone has or recomends as a good pack for medical use. I have bee looking and found the BDS but very expensive. It that is what they run then that is what I will have to pay but just need some input on the matter. Thanks. |
| I use my everyday first in bag, drug bag and monitor. This is a new concept for my city as a whole. I don't know if they are going to issue anything but want something for the house and car. Having the knolage but not the tools when the situation comes alot makes you feel helpless. |
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I have the Mystery Ranch RATS, it is awesome but it is pricey. Most dedicated med bags are. There are a few bags that do a good job tailoring to the tac medic, and each has their good and bad.
Also look at LBT, Blackhawk, CTOMS, North American rescue, chinook medical, etc... |
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Here is a review of the London Bridge Trading Co. [Tactical Field Care Medical Bag]..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LwBSMDfsI (It looks like a really nice bag, but it's not cheap...) |
| Perhaps this might serve:https://www.entrygear.com/product.asp?id=4155 |
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There are a lot of good packs but are you talking an aid bag or a full size medical ruck? Is this an existing program to have civilain medics with the SWAT team (I'm assuming you are not already a peace officer and therefore not going to be armed and used as part of the actual entry team) or is this a new program where you are wring the SOP's.
Going off the premise you will enter building / or structures after the entry team has secured it; look at what you will be doing in your roll. First a large medical ruck is a pain to carry around, I've not weighed mine but I leave that bitch in my ride or if I do carry it, I'm not carring it far (think mass cas. type situation). If I need something from it it's not too far away. So depending upon your SOP's my sugestion is if you carry a medical pack is drop that thing close to your breach point or leave it near the location close but do keep your it at least somewhat close by as it will have your large load out in case the whole mess turns really bad or you need those less common items like a c-collar or some SAMS Splint. You want to carry a working aid bag, something you can move around structures in and be fast with. Think about what you will be treating. GSW, knife wounds or other penitrating traumas. All you need to carry is those basic IFAK items, only in larger numbers to support your team and a civilian or two if needed. You don't need a SpO2 monitor, BP cuff and portable ventilator. Leave all that shit in your ruck. Same with the intubation kit. You need things like Pressure dressings, TQ's, NPA's and a crich kit (if you are checked off on this skill and ok'ed by your medical control). Think something like this NAR High Risk Warrent bag This one is stocked but you can get something like this and stock it yourself for a lot less. There are lot of other makers of these. This is the one I carry Recon Mountaineer TC3-V1. Recon Mountaineer It's ok for the job, it holds a lot of the basics (kirlex x 4, combat gauze 2, pressure dressings x 4, Hemcon 4x4 x 1, couple of extra TQ's, 14g x 3.5 Angiocaths x 2, NPA's x 4, chest seals x 2, H&H Crich kit and finally my casevac supplies). Another good aid bag option is the So Tech Mission go bag. It's not a purpose build medical bag but it's one of the most versatile and best pieces of kit I have ever bought. I've used it as an aid bag and the only down side is it does not have an cute little elastic loops inside to hold some small items like NPA's or chem lights. One of your big jobs will be training your SWAT shooters. Make sure EVERY one of them have an IFAK on them, properly stocked with the basics and in a location they can get to it and they know how to use everything in it. If you end up going to a tactical medic role and if you have not had Tactical Medic training get some by a reputable trainer. I'm guesisng you have done your homework, as a professional, and know the enviroment is different that the normal EMS. It will be eye opening and you will get to do some cool stuff. You will also find out what things you really need and what you don't. |
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Thanks you for all the great advice and bags. Nothing is written in stone and the role realy has not been layed out. So posibley a good 2 way input would be nice and combine the good ideas from both sides. Another use for this bad is for my personal use just in the house/tuck and go every were with me so that is why I was looking for something with a decent size but not huge.
I was one of the medics involved in the 3 officer killing in april in pittsburgh and kind of stemed from that. Everyone talking about it but realy say the need for it after. |
Best of luck getting up and running. A few of our guys were at a seminar in your state a few years ago and met a bunch of good folks. 
I don't know what your experience/training is... this is just my $0.02 - and a bit scattered, so I apologize in advance. Review the concepts of TC3 and live by them - at least for what you carry as your entry gear. There are a number of sites with great info - I'll see what I can find. You can pack the world and a kitchen sink into a bag, but it you routinely dump it at your entry point (or leave it in the truck) then it's useless to be conisidered as "entry gear". And if you never use it, is it worth lugging around? Make sure every member of the team has been trained in SABA (Self Aid, Buddy Aid) and has the tools to do so (chest needle, tourniquet (CAT or SOF-T) and a nasal airway). Get two of the TK's. For $60 in gear for every team member you can save a $100,000 officer - or at least stand a helluva lot better chance of doing so. You'll probably wind up with IFAKS (which in reality will probably be BOK/VOK/WTF acronym) which will have the above plus an OALES dressing and a few other goodies you'll determine you need) on every team member, your entry bag (more of the same, plus more dressings, maybe a soft litter and some pain meds) and a bigger bag that gets left at the door A cardiac monitor is well outside the scope of CUF or TFC... and will they expect you to work a code solo if you're the only medic, or steal a guy from the entry team to push or blow?  I'd make sure there's one somewhere outside the building and nearer than the ambulance parked by the CP, but I don't think I'd make it a priority. Likewise for a lot of your meds. The tactical AO is very different from the regular EMS arena.
Consider talking to your PMD and getting an XSOP (expanded scope of practice) for use at tactical incidents, including the ability for you to dispense things like immodium, tylenol, zantac and sudafed. As a team "doc" you're responsible for keeping the team operational before, during and after the incident, which can include guys getting indigestion or the runs. After all, we're dealing with incidents that can be measured in hours, not fractions thereof... another example demonstrating the difference between normal EMS and TEMS. Two alternative options if your PMD is like ours (a cardiac MD who never progressed past the concept of EMT-P as heart attack responder): the first, consider seeing if the team would consider "adopting" an MD. Despite the propaganda from the pediatricians, there are a number of docs who would love to be the "team MD" and in return for going out on the range once a month would gladly issue and Rx for those OTC meds to be dispensed by a medic. The second? Keep the OTC's in their original packs in a big ziplock, and simply tell the folks that need them to feel free to self medicate. Just keep tabs on who takes how much of what and when. Consider getting some more specialized training. The better courses will provide info on team health, support and prevention during training and post incident as well as being able to function in the CUF/TFC modes. CONTOMS was the original - at least from the .Gov's point of view - and is still seen as the standard by which other courses are judged. From what I understand there is no weapons handling or training at CONTOMS outside of the FTX at the end of the class. Since most of their client base comes from .Gov or .Mil they focus mostly on teaching the medical side, and leave the tactical to the student's home unit. The EMT-Tactical course from RTI is a good course, and an example of the ones that cropped up when CONTOMS lost its funding source and disappeared a few years ago. It was deemed a good enough replacement to become an authorized course for .Mil guys from all the different branches. It got written up in SWAT magazine a few years ago, and provides a good overall program, combining a focus on CUF/TFC with some basic SWAT tactics, although I'll admit to a mild bias - I took it last year. The International School of Tactical Medicine - AKA the "Old H&K school) - is reported to provide a similarly good focus on CUF and TFC, but with much more hands-on gun time than the RTI one. I heard it described as "the course where you send your docs to learn to shoot". 
This just scratches the surface. There's a ton of info out there, but like anything else, the hard part is separating the wheat from the chaff and then deciding what fits your situation, skills and surroundings. I'll be happy to share more, once I'm on a computer where I can actually see what I'm typing and have all my bookmarks from our brief stint with TEMS here in the City. http://www.health.mil/Libraries/Presentations_Course_Materials/TCCC_2_care_under_fire_with_notes_2-17-09.pdf North American Rescue's TC3 presentation The Maryland EMS Protocol (PDF) - check out page 347 for their TEMS protocol. |
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