First Aid course recommendations

mississaugagunnut

mississaugagunnut

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Hello,
I am interested in taking a first aid course. I did the St. John's Ambulance CPR course many moons ago and my certificate has expired. Online I can see many different courses but I am interested in something more tactical based that will deal with more than just CPR and Defib. I have no formal medical training. I am in the GTA but am willing to travel. What can you suggest?
 
Tactically based first aid civilian side. . . I really don't know if they teach anything like that. What exactly would you want to learn from it? Like examples of what your idea of tactically based FA is.
 
Are the week long or 2 week courses now recognized interprovincially?
Some talk of that several years ago when I did one.
 
I was thinking something that teaches one how to treat gun shot wounds or other major trauma. I know the usual courses do not touch upon these areas. Being involved in the action shooting sports I feel it would be good to know how to treat these injuries if they ever occur. I may just take the 2 day Red Cross course and see if they have any advice.
 
Well realistically that type of trauma is literally: Quickclot, gauze, tape her all down or in certain cases, tourniquet then hit an ER ASAP.

Anything more should and needs to be done in an OR.

If you want to do that type of stuff, you want to look at paramedic training, ambulance driver type courses.
 
First Aid is First Aid. If you know the basics then you can apply it to any situation

"Tactical First Aid" to me is really just First Aid practical for the environment (in this case, action shooting sports). In so far as you use what you have available. Much like a soldier in battlefield doesn't have a full kit, so they use what is provided or what they have brought along, like Quickclot noted above is good.

But at the end of the day I have helped at major car accidents with major lacerations or people with steering columns in the chest. I basically use whats available. I once stripped my t-shirt off in the winter to seal up a bad cut to buddies ankle when he ran his car into a bridge, his ankle was sliced open on the emergency brake peddle. When EMS arrived they said it was tight enough and looked clean enough to leave on to the ER, they didn't bother repatching him up.

So my recommendation would be to take a Standard First Aid Course (Red Cross / St.Johns are the best), then a Survival First Aid Course by a number of reputatable providers. The survival first aid course will teach you to apply dressings and other first aid concepts with minimal materials and utilizing things available in the bush....again you will be on a range, but the Standard First Aid Course will give you the refresher on the basics and concepts. Then the survival course will get you thinking outside of the box and in situations with a little more pressure. Compile a basic kit and become comfortable with it.
 
X2. GSW isn't any different than any other penetratig injury. Standard First Aid will do all a lay person can do until the red flashing lights appear, unless you are in back country. then you need to tweak Standard First Aid with Wilderness First Aid. the best one I have seen, (and I have not seen many) is the one offered by Wilderness Medical Association. Two day, four day, eight day, courses, they all look to keeping someone alive for longer than the standard ten minutes 'til the ambulance arrives! And, a good instructor emphasizes improvisation, like the T-sshirt pressure dressing - use the best you got in the time you have.
 
"Tactical" first aid is really about dealing with the threats first then helping buddy (who should have been treating himself in the meantime).

The rest is as per your first aid training. I hear wilderness first aid is a good course for what I think is what you are looking for.
 
M'nut,

I applaud your interest in getting more first aid, especially tactical TCCC, training. I wish more did.
Unfortunately, imho, opinions about training and preparations vary widely to the point of concern should a serious shooting accident occur.

As a minimum I believe you should always carry an IFAK on your holster belt/chest rig/etc, and prepare a CRK for hunting, ranges, etc.
Any training is better than none, so RC/StJ's Advanced FA is a good start as others mentioned.

Here is what I teach, when requested, over 2 days:
Tacmed - Basic:

•Preparation: planning, training, assembly of an effective Casualty Response Kit
•Pre-mission Medical Threat Assessment/Intelligence
•Triage and Care Under Fire [CUF]
•Wound assessment and hemorrhage control
•Shock recognition and treatment
•C-spine/skeletal injury evaluation, splinting and immobilization
•Tourniquet application techniques
•Airway management
•Treat and manage gun shot wounds
•Treat and manage stab wounds
•Treat and manage blast and burn injuries
•Treat penetrating/sucking chest wounds
•Recognize and treat serious injuries
•Recognize and treat minor injuries
•Hard Cover, Extraction and Evacuation under fire
•Overview of WMD/CBRNE/CS Gas/Less-Lethal, Medic Protection & Field Decontamination.

I'm not in Canada now, but I will be coming home next August for a month of summer holidays, so there is a possibility of providing a course then should there be interest. In the meantime, I recommend you research and put together an IFAK, carry it, do a FA course, look into any other training [Wilderness Medicine, etc] you can, watch online education videos, practice putting on a CAT [combat tourniquet] one handed,... basically input and practice as much as you can as your life, someone you care about or even a fellow range members's life could depend one day on this.

Best of luck.
 
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