Very interesting. I'm glad to hear the response was positive and effective. So this wasn't during a course? How experienced was the shooter?
Yes that did happened at an event that a couple of our guys attended, lol and no it was not an Adler course.
However, it would not have made a difference if it was an Adler course, all of the safety and range issues were determined long before anyone even stepped onto the line. We never mentioned the incident out of respect for the person that caused the accidental discharge to himself. If he wants to tell people about it, great, go nuts, but we would not ridicule him for safety violations when this did not even come close to endangering anyone else. He was definitely not happy that 1: the incident took place, 2: that he was the instrument of it and 3: that he had to explain to the RCMP how he managed to touch one off into his leg while holstering.
He was an experienced shooter and had been for some time, so it can happen to anyone.
This is a good time to mention situational awareness.
This doesn't change the safety protocols that were enacted before or after the event and we at Adler do the same at all of our courses. Everyone knows where the med kits are, who is in charge if an incident happens and how we will deal with it.
Everyone out there who conducts firearms courses has similar protocols in place for incident management. (or should do, at the very least)
Yes, firearms are dangerous, but driving a car is more so (and more often catastrophic in equations), but I'll bet that many people don't have a med kit in their car. We would be foolish to believe that something like this "would never happen to us" so it behooves us to have something on the range to deal with a worst case incident.
There are some great personal med kits available online from some of the supporting dealers here on CGN and they should be a part of everyone's range bag regardless of the caliber, type, flavor, color, etc. I carry one on my kit and one in my bag. Nice, compact and less than $50 each. Well worth the investment.
Cheers,
-Max