>[!note] Thank You >Thank you for taking the time to learn life saving skills. Having a familiarity with these skills - even if you don't become an expert - may mean the difference between life and death after an accident for someone you love, a coworker, or a stranger. Proactive education is admirable, good job! So you've just completed a [[Stop The Bleed]] course with me or another instructor. Hooray! Now what? I've complied this document as a reference and post-class application guide for you to use. You've learned the skills, now it's time to maybe make a couple of tweaks to your backpack/purse/car and mindset to ensure that you'll be able to deploy them in the future. ## Mindset Part of our training is to also build the mindset, a willingness to help someone who is in distress when they need it most by deploying the skills we've learned and practiced. Statistically, you're going to use your first aid skills on a family member or coworker so from time to time you should reassess if you're willing to provide that aid. Taking it a step further, think about how you'd react to a stranger in need of aid - whether that's a car accident or fall. > [!danger] > Remember your safety comes first, do not put yourself in unnecessary danger and don't become another casualty that first responders will need to work with. ## Equipment ### Storage and Staging Your Stop the Bleed equipment will need to be readily available in order to be useful. Remember bleeding can be life threatening in as little as three minutes and the equipment you've left at home will not be useful. If you already cary a bag with you when you're "out in the world", start to include your stop the bleed kit in your bag, purse, backpack, sling back, etc. Nobody says you need to now cary _another_ bag which is bright red and has a first aid cross on it. That extra pack would be the first thing you leave at home when you're running late or have your hands full - but you'll always take your purse with you. Building the habit of carrying the equipment is the most important portion ### Shopping List When purchasing medical items, purchase them from reputable sources and not Amazon. The list below includes links to two vendors: Rescue Essentials and North American Rescue. You may also shop with [Stop the Bleed directly](https://www.stopthebleed.org/shop/). If you've taken a course with me, you should have received a basic Stop The Bleed kit which includes the following items. - A Stop the Bleed instruction book - refresh your knowledge with this periodically - C-A-T tourniquet (Orange) [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/combat-application-tourniquet-cat-tourniquet-gen-7/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/combat-application-tourniquet-c-a-t.html) - Wound Packing Gauze [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/compressed-gauze-z-folded/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/gauze-poly-rayon-3-x-4yd.html) - 4 inch flat dressing [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/nar-emergency-trauma-dressing/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/flat-emergency-trauma-dressing-etd.html) - One pair nitrile gloves - 7.25 inch Trauma Shears [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/north-american-rescue-trauma-shears/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/responder-shears.html) - Mini Sharpie [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/sharpie-mini-marker/) During the course we discussed hemostatic gauze. If you're able, it makes a good addition to your trauma kit. Below are listed options for hemostatic gauze, you *do not need to purchase all of them.* It's also worth noting that hemostatic gauze does have an expiration date. - QuikClot EMS Rolled Gauze - Kotlin based roll of hemostatic [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/quikclot-ems-rolled-gauze-3-x-48/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/quikclot-bleeding-control-dressings.html) - QuikClot Combat Gauze - Kotlin based compressed block of hemostatic gauze [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/quikclot-combat-gauze-le-z-folded/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/combat-gauze.html) - Celox Rapid - Chitosan based block of hemostatic gauze [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/celox-rapid-gauze-z-folded-od-green-packaging/) [NAR](https://www.narescue.com/hemostatic-dressing-celox-rapid.html) For building additional kits or augmenting existing kits, here are some alternative tourniquets that I would recommend: - SOF Tourniquet - effective and doesn't stick to clothing, although it's harder to pack [RE](https://rescue-essentials.com/sof-tourniquet/) - ETQ Gen 2 - easy to every-day-carry tourniquet **I suggest the Wide** [Snakestaff Systems](https://www.snakestaffsystems.com/buy-now/etq-gen-2) ## Practice From time to time revisit the Stop the Bleed skills to make sure you remember what to do. Once you make the decision to act we want those skills to be second nature - because it will be a lot harder with adrenaline pumping.