Medical Equipment

[starlight_745]

Thought I would start a post on something that nobody ever really discusses. What medical equipment do you need/want to fulfill the medical mission. I am looking for new ideas to outfit my medical section platoon. If armymedic or any other experienced medical NCO‘s are out there let‘s get you opinion on equipment in particular at the UMS/BMS level. If you could have anything, what would you get?

 

[combat_medic]

1. Something like the Kendrick Traction Device is a godsend in a jump bag (link here). It‘s made by the same manufacturer as the KED. It‘s a small, lightweight traction splint that‘s far easier to use than the conventional traction splints, and can be carried easily in a jump bag.
2. An adjustable C-collar
3. Head lamps (a simple, LED head light makes foot parades at night far simpler)
4. Emergency solar blankets (the small, fold-up aluminium kind)
5. A small, lightweight, folding collapsible stretcher is very nice to have on exes where weight is a big consideration
6. A jumpbag that has lots of pouches, is waterproof, and has shoulder straps that don‘t tear or break at the first sign of use
7. Emergency SAS rations (the uber-powerbars - a meal worth of protein carbs and nutrition in a single bar). Great for the kids who don‘t eat and drink and thunder in.
8. Feminine hygeine products... they always seem to come in handy.
9. Waterless hand sanitizer

That‘s about the best I can think of, for now.

 

[Armymedic]

Medical kits, and equipment are issued as an entitlement as determined by CMED and CFMG. The items as issued are the ones you allowed to use. We really don‘t get much choice in wht high price (A+B classes) items we have such as defibilators and oxygen delivery systems. Disposible, and accountable disposable items (C + D class) equipment we have more flexibilty for personal choice, but still must follow the entitlements laid down to the UMS by CMED.
In ref to Cbt medic‘s post, the only items avail theough the medical (as opposed by the standard supply) system is the C-collar, jumpbag, and occasionally the waterless hand sterilizer.
The collapsable stretcher (and all the other items she mentioned) are used in the service but only because of local purchasing rules, and uniquely by the people who bought them.

 

[Infanteer]

Just a question for you medics. I remember the CF goofball medics we had giving us first aid who where going on and on about the Asherman‘s seal. They seemed pretty sold with it.

Went and got trained by a Brit combat medic who‘s worked on real bulletwounds and he said the Ashermans seal is junk, not suitable for the dirty and messy environment of combat medicine. He prefers the old Field Dressing technique.

Do you guys agree? I figured his combat experience to be pretty ****ing evidence.

 

[Armymedic]

The Asherman Chest seal (ACS) in theory works well, but it does not stick well to messy (read bloody)skin. It does work exteremly well over needle decompression, and moderatly well over a wound that is not actively bleeding.

So your British taught you well, its always better to know a couple of ways to deal with any given situation. And the cool kit isn‘t always the best.

 

[combat_medic]

Infanteer: Considering the closest I‘ve ever been to an Asherman‘s seal is a 2 minute demo once on a BTLS course, it‘s probably a good thing that I learned the other way.

Heck, through my medical supply, I have a hard time getting field dressings. If I got an asherman‘s chest seal, I‘d probably die of shock!

 

[Armymedic]

How about I mail one or two...


Boxes.

With our FMED closing we got all sorts of this trauma stuff that we are totally unlikely to use. Got a couple boxes of Combitubes, ACS, CO2 detectors, all sorts of ET tubes, Pentaspan volume expanders, etc. Mostly cause of the scale down of kit from camp closures (you don‘t ship back C class stuff).

I bet when you work at your Fd Amb, you‘ll get medical kit a bit easier...

Oh, yeah, BTW, its not about the kit, it is ultimately the knowledge of how to use everything you got in whatever situation you find yourself in, that will make you a good medic.

Right, infanteer?

 

[combat_medic]

If you can mail that stuff to me C/O the Seaforths, I would love it! You have my name and rank through the Mess if you‘re serious about sending it.

And the Fd Amb are the ones being stingy and useless about giving out kit. They have a dozen O2 bottles, but the medics who are in the field aren‘t entitled to any... figure that one out for me. It‘s taken me 3 months to get alcohol swabs out of them.

 

[-rb]

Some of you medics might be interested in these guys, they are invloved with the US Army doing research on battlefield wound dressings, super-absorbant, fast clotting bandages etc. as well as research on chem warfare and other applications for their products.

http://www.quickmedtech.com/technologies.shtml

They have a few interesting downloads as well, powerpoint presentations or pdfs.
Also seem to have a pretty qualified list of directors regarding Military Affairs.

cheers.

 

[Armymedic]

Heard good things about those dressings, but as of yet they are price-prohibitve for the CF.

 

[starlight_745]

I agree on the ACS. I have tried using it on stab and gunshot wounds in my civilian EMS job and it is really not that useful. I prefer something occlusive with plenty of 2" tape on the edges. Gun/duct tape is even better. You can never go wrong with good BLS. I try to drive that home to the infantry types I know but all they want to do is learn how to stick IV‘s into people

 

[Armymedic]

IV‘s cause they are cool to do...Too bad they take lots of practice and too much time.

So what is it your actually looking for, advice on your own pers med kit you carry or your UMS/Med Coy det kit, or whatever?

 

[Brad Sallows]

How many O2 bottles do you figure you can carry to go along with your Flynn and your jump bag?

 

[combat_medic]

A single O2 bottle and flynn would be nice for a safety vehicle along with the stretchers and spine board. I wouldn‘t carry it with me, obviously, but to have so many in a Med Coy that can never go out on ex makes very little sense.

 

[vr]

Hi here‘s my first of what may be many 2 cent pieces:

O2 cylinders are heavy, bulky, and relatively delicate pieces of equipment. So are the Flynns and are not designed to be used by untrained personnel.

According to the LFWA med support guidelines anytime you only have a safety vehicle on site you do not need to have a trained Med-A only a St John‘s qualified first-aider. These personnel are not trained in the use of O2 so it is of a dubious benefit and likely hazardous to a scarce and expensive piece of kit. Any situation where O2 would be useful an ambulance with med-As from the supporting Field Amb will be on site.

That being said in any situation involving trauma the prompt effective use of basic 1st Aid, especially the Asherman Seal/ Field dressing method is as effective as O2 in stabilizing the casualty. Oxygen will not save someone‘s life. keeping the pt breathing and stopping the bleeding will save their life.

As far as Field Ambs being stingy with equipment: if you don‘t need it you don‘t get it. The days of non-medical units having their own integral UMS‘ are,in the reg and reserve world, gone. It was found in the reserve world that neither the Med-A nor the unit was well-served by this arrangement. Any Med A in a non-medical unit is attach posted to that unit as a courtesy to the member. As such they are not entitled to very much kit. If any of the high-speed kit is required the supporting field amb will provide it and the personnel to use it.

If any of you followed the discussion forum on the DND/Forces website there was rather a lively exchange on the subject of just what level of medical support was needed at the pointy end.

 

[corporal-cam]

Originally posted by Usul:
[qb] Hi here‘s my first of what may be many 2 cent pieces:

O2 cylinders are heavy, bulky, and relatively delicate pieces of equipment. So are the Flynns and are not designed to be used by untrained personnel.

According to the LFWA med support guidelines anytime you only have a safety vehicle on site you do not need to have a trained Med-A only a St John‘s qualified first-aider. These personnel are not trained in the use of O2 so it is of a dubious benefit and likely hazardous to a scarce and expensive piece of kit. Any situation where O2 would be useful an ambulance with med-As from the supporting Field Amb will be on site.

That being said in any situation involving trauma the prompt effective use of basic 1st Aid, especially the Asherman Seal/ Field dressing method is as effective as O2 in stabilizing the casualty. Oxygen will not save someone‘s life. keeping the pt breathing and stopping the bleeding will save their life.

As far as Field Ambs being stingy with equipment: if you don‘t need it you don‘t get it. The days of non-medical units having their own integral UMS‘ are,in the reg and reserve world, gone. It was found in the reserve world that neither the Med-A nor the unit was well-served by this arrangement. Any Med A in a non-medical unit is attach posted to that unit as a courtesy to the member. As such they are not entitled to very much kit. If any of the high-speed kit is required the supporting field amb will provide it and the personnel to use it.

If any of you followed the discussion forum on the DND/Forces website there was rather a lively exchange on the subject of just what level of medical support was needed at the pointy end. [/qb]

I just thought I‘d support you‘re argument that most st. john aiders cant use 02 bottles. I am certified by st john ambulance and it‘s really really basic, infact they were handing thm out at school like cookies (probally the only reason I managed to get one) so to trust the averge st. john‘s fist aider with a 02 bottle isn‘t the best idea. (I wouldn‘t trust me)

 

[combat_medic]

It was found in the reserve world that neither the Med-A nor the unit was well-served by this arrangement.

I‘m in absolute and complete disagreement with this statement. The pathetic attempts that CFMS has made at this restructure is laughable at best, and outright destructive at worst. I have nothing positive to say about the questionable decision to remove all medics from the pointy end.

I‘ve spoken to about a half dozen UMS medics who are all in agreement with me that the restructure has been nothing but entirely negative for them. I haven‘t met one who had anything good to say about it, or who doesn‘t think it was one of the worst decisions the CF could have made.

Of course, the reserve Med Coys who now get to look special by booting their numbers think it‘s fabulous, but they‘re hardly the ones to be asking about the impact it‘s having. Why don‘t you ask the General who planned this whole thing. I‘m sure he/she also thinks it‘s a marvelous idea, but he‘s not the one facing the brunt of it. It‘s one thing to plan something out and then pat yourself on the back for the great job you‘re doing, but it‘s entirely another to go down to ground level and find out the REAL impact of your decisions.

 

[starlight_745]

Sorry, I‘ll just try and get this thread a little more on track with my original question here. To answer armymedic‘s post above, how about UMS entitlement. Is there a link to the CMED entitlement for a UMS? I have looked but so far have come up empty.

 

[Brad Sallows]

If memory serves, the Mutual Support Agreement specifies that the Reg F UMSs (less the medical personnel) belong to the units. I doubt you will find scales of issue on the public internet.

On the reserve side, over the past two decades I have watched kit go out of the med unit pharmacy, and eventually come back in due to the indifference of units toward integral medics. It has been, frankly, a mild pain in the *** for the people managing the pharmacy (ie. medical equipment and resupply).

Entitlement is determined by what a medic is authorized to do, and that authorization is a completely separate issue from organizational reshuffling. Check B-GL-381-001/TS-000 "Training Safety", Fig 1-5 (pg 1-91). (There may be additional requirements imposed depending on risk assessments.) In general, the requirement step up from first aider is all the way to a Reg QL5, or Res QL5A with _civilian qualification_. If a non-medical reserve unit doesn‘t have at least a Reg 5 or Res 5A (civilian paramedic), I suppose its entitlement is "first aid kit".

 

[Armymedic]

Starlight745, do you have access to the DIN?

Usul, what is your experience? I wonder so that I can determine from where you provide your insightful comments?