TX2Guns: The Civilian Operator ‘Blowout’ Kit

Originally posted on The Tactical Hermit. It might be an important note that this thing, once it goes kinetic, has serious potential to get very bloody in a hurry. If you’re training to put rounds down range you sure as hell need training for when they come back your way, especially for you folks who live in urban areas where close range fights that turn seconds into hours typically assure at least a 50% casualty rate. And that’s optimistic, assuming you saw the threat before they got the drop. Got a TC3 course coming up in November. I’ll see you there.

From the Archives, 2013


FA1

For the CO to be prepared to survive in the battlefield we call everyday life, he must be ready to administer life saving first aid quickly and at any time, either to himself or others.

To meet that need, the CO needs to have one or more “Blowout” Kits prepared. Simply put, a “Blowout” kit is a bare bones trauma pack. It primarily addresses the “B” of the “A-B-C’s” of Trauma First Aid:  Airway, BLEEDING and Circulation.

A typical Blow-Out Kit will include:

One of the first fundamentals of “life saving” is to STOP or SLOW Bleeding. The first and best choice(s) are applying pressure or applying a tourniquet (especially if it is an arterial bleed). If this does not work or the wound is in a awkward location or position (pelvis, groin, armpit, neck etc.) the only other option for the CO is to apply a coagulant agent such as Quick-Clot or Celox. A word about each of these “formulations”.  If you browse through Amazon, you will find that Quick-Clot can be bought in 2 forms: Granule and Sponge. The granule form is simply the kind you pour directly in the wound while the sponge form is a clotting sponge impregnated with the solution and an X-Ray strip you stuff directly in the wound. Keep in mind however, that medical attention needs to be sought ASAP after applying QC as the clot and damage will have to be repaired poste haste by medical pro’s.  Celox is a granule forumlation only and is made of chitosan, a natural polysaccharide (polymer made of sugars) and has been shown to be broken down to basic sugars (glucosamine & n-acetyl glucosamine) by lysozyme, one of the body’s normal enzymes. Celox™ (unlike QC) does NOT use non degrading procoagulant minerals or nano particles such as kaolin, smectite or zeolite, which will remain in the body indefinitely unless completely removed.

For the CO to be adequately prepared for medical emergencies, it is not enough just to have the knowledge, you must also have the forward thinking to STAGE the Blowout kit(s) in the MOST LIKELY places you might need them, BEFORE you need them!

Some examples are:

  • GO-Bag

  • Range Bag or Training Bag

  • Vehicle(s) (or VBOB)

  • Work

  • Hunting Bag

  • Deer Stand/Duck Blind

photo 1 photo 2

Above are pictures of a homemade PTK Blowout kit I put together that will fit in a cargo pants pocket easily. Total investment $30.

OK, so now we have our Blowout kit built and adequately deployed, now what? Well, the only thing remaining is to actually get some REALISTIC MEDICAL TRAUMA TRAINING. 

For the CO to be adequately prepared for REAL-WORLD, REALISTIC scenarios (gunshot and knife wounds, traumatic injuries from a car crash, etc.) You cant expect to be prepared by Reading the Survivalist Boards (forums) or watching that series of You-Tube Vids by some so called “medical expert”. Even that $20 First Aid class at your local YMCA just will not cut it. As in buying quality trash bags, this is one item in your toolbox it PAYS not to skimp on!

For those of you in Texas, check out Caleb Causey and his team of pro’s at Lone Star Medics. Caleb and his team bring over a century of experience to the table dealing with real-world medical emergencies in the field. They are a great bunch of guys and the real deal.

For stocking up on quality med supplies and trauma gear, check out Chinook Medical Gear. If you want to build a complete GO-BAG or MED-KIT on the cheap (Plus find some other really cool stuff) check out County-Comm.

Stay Alert, Armed and DANGEROUS!

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About the Author: NC Scout

NC Scout is the nom de guerre of a former Infantry Scout and Sergeant in one of the Army’s best Reconnaissance Units. He has combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He teaches a series of courses focusing on small unit skills rarely if ever taught anywhere else in the prepping and survival field, including his RTO Course which focuses on small unit communications. In his free time he is an avid hunter, bushcrafter, writer, long range shooter, prepper, amateur radio operator and Libertarian activist. He can be contacted at brushbeater@tutanota.com or via his blog at brushbeater.wordpress.com .

17 Comments

  1. James October 23, 2020 at 16:37

    As a carpenter with many folks on site along with saws/nail guns ect. always have me blowout bag from vehicle set up at me cut table first thing every morning.I have caught a little good natured flack about it but also in one day did two boo-boo repairs on folks who didn’t even have a clean rag(I used to be one of those younger know it all guys!).

    I really wanted to take a WEMT course in me area on my own dime and was never going to do it as a profession but they wanted 13-14 vaccs to do it,thus passed.

  2. Reece October 23, 2020 at 17:47

    If you are ordering up a kit for yourself off of Amazon I recommend you do it now as items for the kit are disappearing really fast.

    • Matt Bracken October 25, 2020 at 18:49

      Amen. No time like the present. Ammo shortages point the way to the next priorities on the list.

  3. DJ October 23, 2020 at 20:48

    Dark Angel Medical. Owner Kerry Davis. He has outstanding kits and training. https://darkangelmedical.com

    • Reluctant Millennial October 26, 2020 at 10:03

      +1 on these guys. They’re local to me and have top notch products. Check out their HEDR and VISR vehicle trauma kits.

      As Reece mentioned in his comment below, individual components are getting scarce. Compressed gauze in particular is hard to find. I bought some med supplies last week and had to use two different suppliers since I couldn’t find one with everything I wanted in stock. Don’t wait to load up- with guns and ammo scarce looks like med supplies are next.

  4. That dude October 24, 2020 at 19:03

    Those sponges are not that great. Spend the extra money and get the gauze and the plunger.

  5. Matt Bracken October 25, 2020 at 18:46

    So many folks have 10X more fantastic carbines than they can carry, but they don’t carry a simlpe tourniquet…

    And they don’t have the ability to communicate with their best/most likely allies when the cell phones all go dead…Etc Etc.

    >>>Misplaced priorities<<<

    IMHO, this "blowout kit" article is 100X more valuable than, "What is the best scope for your battle rifle."

    Kenosha Kyle R. effectively defended himself with a cheap AR, and instinct/training.

    The commie he shot in the bicep (tangerine-size wound cavity/gone meat) would have bled out in 2 minutes without a tourniquet.

    Post SHTF, don't count on any EMT/hospital/ER/trauma team saving your ass with advanced medical tech.
    IOW, even with a tourniquet, the Kenosha Antifa commie would be dead. If not in minutes, in hours.

    What does this mean? A lot of wounds that are survivable with the best modern advanced medical tech won't be survivable post SHTF, when "casualty receiving" is your back yard or kitchen, and the "doc" is non existent.

    BUT, this also means, a lot of likely GS wounds that might kill you with no tourniquet and no quick-clot will be survivable if you have the basics, and know what to do with them.

    What is point of all this? Be ready with tourniquets and quick clot bandages/packing. If there is no quick clot, use all the packing you can find, and full-weight pressure on the wound. Even somebody's t-shirt.

    Stop the bleeding, save a life!

    Post SHTF, please folks, let's face it, there won't be an ambulance, EMTs, ER nurses and docs, or trauma surgeons waiting to save your ass. That modern reality will be gone, like a mirage. It'll be back to cowboys and Indians, 19th-century style.

    But if you understand and can cover the basics, you can still save a LOT of lives.

    And that will be way more important than your latest carbine made of pure unobtanium, with the + thousand-dollar scope that shoots minute of gnat's ass at 1,000 yards.

    Please know this: people you need and love will get shot, post SHTF. Ambulances and hospitals will not be an option. Know how to keep them alive if it's at all possible.

    It ain't rocket surgery. It's much more important than that.

  6. Dirt= Dirk October 26, 2020 at 12:34

    Concur, outstanding article, well done NC. Med stuff, etcetc, is the ” nuts and bolts” of what’s to come. NC,would you consider doing a write up on Tourniquets. Another life saver. We’ve convinced our crew to carry The above and tourniquets in their vehicles, in small blow out kits. Included two examples below.

    friend of mine, who I went to pre school and thru high school with 300 years ago, was alone cutting fire wood on Saturday, the saw kicked back, caught him above the left knee? Doing significant damage, Was on his ranch. He told me it’s bad. Anyway he had heeded our advice, had been carrying two tourniquets and some form of quick clot in the ranch truck.

    Applied both, was able to stifle the deep bleeding, and get to the sheriffs sub station in Penryn Ca, where EMS was summoned, he was transported to Auburn Hospital where he’s still under care. He’s alive, and he’s pleased that he excepted solid advice about carrying the bare basic med gear. Monte told me on the phone last night it saved his life.

    Monte’s 64 on nov 6th. Been cutting firewood multiple times a year for at least the past 45 years, Incident free. Use’s a chainsaw weekly around the ranch. He is my oldest friend, who’s still alive. I’m pleased he saw the common sense in having safeguards present just in case. I appreciate the fact that he’s now starting to,work ” smarter” rather then just work.

    These tools are easily available, costs are reasonable, and the benefits of having a dozen of each are endless. While I didn’t carry one on the job, all, my old road dog partners are now carrying both in their war bags.

    One was in a rolling shootout with a guy armed with an m4, four months ago, got hit thru the front window, was able to apply a Tourniquet and stay in the fight. The suspect eventually crashed and exited the car with the m4, Mark was able to defend himself, until a second unit arrived. The bad guy didn’t make it. The bad guy also had his 5 year old son laying on the floor in the back seat. Unknown to anybody but the douchebag,

    Dirt

  7. Berglander October 26, 2020 at 15:36

    Each of my trucks has a bleeder kit, each ruck has one, all of my fighting rigs have one, and I have extra supplies in a couple .50 ammo cans. One cannot have too much of this stuff-hopefully you’ll never use it. You will have friends that have none, and hooking them up is great for both of you. I recently started making fighting/resupply rigs from the six magazine USGI bandoleers. I put four AR mags in it, and a bleeder kit in the last double mag pouch. Very convenient to give to folks with no kit.
    My kits have the following:

    TQ
    Israeli bandage
    Quick Clot
    Nitrile gloves
    Nasopharyngeal airway-and yeah, you need to practice. It sucks. It sucks more to not know how to use it, and it sucks EVEN MORE to have someone else try to figure it out on you in the heat of the moment.
    Lube for the NPA
    Chest seals
    Skizzers
    Emergency blanket
    Burn Gel

    All of this gets crammed into the HSGI bleeder pouch or one of the Dark Angel pouches (not sure which ones, a friend got me several at last year’s Tactical Tailor garage sale in WA.)

    The trucks and rucks also have SAM splints.

    As Mr. Bracken said above, ammo isn’t on the shelves, so square something else away. And buy spares!

  8. Ray October 26, 2020 at 17:22

    Seven year old article — need to be updated to reflect current TCCC.

    • NC Scout October 26, 2020 at 19:35

      I suppose that makes none of it valid?

      • rayy October 26, 2020 at 21:25

        No, it just means it would have been a better more useful post if the information was up to date.

      • Aesop October 31, 2020 at 23:13

        Nothing in any version of TCCC makes anything in this article invalid.

        This was a bare-bones medical advice article.
        It’s perfect for that, and gets a *****-star rating, even in 2020.

        In fact, the entire focus of Tactical Combat Casualty Care, as the name should make obvious, is for Tactical Combat.

        And people who think they know everything should listen to people who do.

  9. Anonymous October 26, 2020 at 21:25

    5

  10. Dan October 27, 2020 at 05:01

    Have the equipment. It’s necessary. But just as important is knowledge. Take a first aid class. Take an EMT class. LEARN what to do and HOW TO DO IT…..quickly. When the bleeding starts there isn’t time to read the instructions. And you’d be amazed at how many big tough manly men
    PASS OUT at the sight of blood, their blood or someone elses blood. Nothing like actually SEEING trauma first hand. Many people freeze up the first time…..or the first few times. Some NEVER get over it.

  11. lil timmy October 30, 2020 at 09:31

    FWIW Celox is available in gauze form now. It must not have been when the article was originally written.

    • NC Scout October 30, 2020 at 09:45

      Yes it was and it says so.

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