At some point in your life, you will be someplace where you simply won’t have dedicated equipment available. In Army Special Forces, there is a PACE mnemonic used in planning: What’s the Primary plan? The Alternate plan? The Contingency plan? The Emergency plan? The Emergency Plan is sometimes referred to as the “Everything went to shit plan.”
If you have a fire in your house, it’s best to use a fire extinguisher to attempt to put it out while waiting for the fire department. However, you’ll settle for a bucket of water if you have to, rather than standing back watching the fire get out of control and potentially burn down your house.
Improvised techniques can save lives. The more you begin to see improvised equipment in your everyday surroundings, the quicker you’ll be able to respond and save a life without dedicated equipment.
The techniques posted here have some evidence and proof of concept to support their use in an emergency when better materials simply aren’t available.
🕖 Reading Time, 3 minutes Manual inguinal compression of the vasculature can work to occlude distal arterial blood flow. It may not constantly occlude during the entire time the rescuer is applying pressure and might require “readjustment” of the rescuer’s …
🕖 Reading Time, 4 minutes Creatively free-thinking under stress is extremely difficult. Learn to see improvised techniques in your every day environment and they will occur to you when you need them. Construction Barrier A very lightweight construction barrier is …
In this social media post, the driver shot himself accidentally in the thigh while seated in a vehicle. He was unresponsive from blood loss within four minutes. He survived after tourniquet application by responding law enforcement. Though we always prefer …
🕖 Reading Time, 3 minutes A few months ago I was shown a new technique for an improvised tourniquet. Unlike the traditional military cravat improvised tourniquet that requires two cravats, this new technique only requires one. However, we have some …
April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon Bombing At the Boston Marathon in 2013, two pressure cooker IEDs were detonated resulting in three fatalities, 264 casualties, and three triple amputees. Although 27 “improvised tourniquets” were placed at the point of injury, none …
So easy even your teenager can do it. . . This improvised inguinal junctional tourniquet from the Special Operations Combat Medical Sustainment Course is presented in JSOM Vol. 19, Ed. 2 Summer, 2019, unconventional medicine section We demonstrate its effectiveness …