Lessons Learned in Blood

I learned in Army Special Forces that all lessons are learned in blood.  

Someone’s injury was made worse, or someone lost their life because we didn’t know how to properly treat them. It’s one reason we use so many pictures and videos of actual wounds in class. The first time you see massive hemorrhage shouldn’t be when your loved one is dying. The first time you see someone shot or blown up shouldn’t be when it’s your partner or someone relying on you to save their life.

We can learn to stand on the shoulders of those who came before us in order to make better tactical and medical management decisions. Both to keep ourselves safe in a tactical environment and to prevent casualties from dying a preventable death.

The Samurai is also a reminder that our bodies are remarkably able to deal with trauma. In a tactical environment, you can keep fighting, you can stop the aggressor, even if you are bleeding, have nine arrows sticking out of you, and your sword is broken and bloodied.