Do You Even Blog?

Hello again! It’s been a while hasn’t it?

From time to time I sat down to write, but truly didn’t believe I had anything worth while to contribute. There are many reasons for that. Reasons I have tried to put into words a hundred times, but the words just didn’t come. Frustrated, eventually, I accepted that my writing days were over and put my blog to rest.

However, I have persistent friends who put on a full court press to get me back at it, so here I am putting fingers to keyboard.

When I first started blogging I had a story to tell. A journey to share. The writing came from sharing my life and experiences. The journey was sometimes difficult, but the writing was easy. Now, not so much.

Where would I start?

One afternoon as I was pondering what my first post back would be, I started to clean out my purse and realized how much has changed in how and what I carry and thought, “Huh, that might be a good place to.”

Sooooooo, here it goes…

These days my first aid kit is a lot more pedestrian than tactical. On the range, out and about town or on the ambulance, I have never used a tourniquet and only rarely a chest seal even though I have treated a fair amount of gun shot wounds and tended to serious car accidents.  I have used combat gauze more often when working, but not nearly as much direct pressure or a plain old band aid. On a range I still have a full kit, but no longer just about town.

When I put my first kit together, I relied a lot on what others were carrying and that was good because I didn’t have a starting point, but as the years have gone on and I have lived a more Shelby like life and less of an Agirl one, I reevaluated my needs.

A few years ago when I took a TCCC(Tactical Combat Casualty Care) course I was so excited to be treating blast wounds in the dark with smoke and “gun fire” all around. I loved it. I loved being dirty and covered in “blood” and saving the day. I loved being a part of something and I wanted to carry that feeling with me for as long as I could and I truly believed that a small(or large) IFAK type bag was needed, but after 2 years of carrying a really cool pack, I realized that mostly those things were heavy and in the way of the things I truly used daily.

Today I carry a purse not a backpack. My kids are older and no longer need me to carry things for them as they carry their own wallet, first aid kits and miscellaneous kid junk. The backpacks were starting to cause me back and shoulder pain and frankly I never found one that fit my style. I found some I liked and that worked well for being on an ambulance, but no longer for my day to day life.

I still always have a knife and a flashlight because I use them all the time. The knife is often used to open packages, cut string, prey open containers and sitting around a campfire or in the backyard whacking things with the kiddos. The flashlight is mostly used because my eyes are old and even with my glasses or contacts I still need some extra help actually seeing things. The bright light along with a head tilt usually does the job.

I am a paramedic, so I do have a fully stocked bag in my car, but on my person the only “trauma” thing I carry is a tourniquet. I carry one because even though I haven’t had the need for one, I realize that in a catastrophic event such as an arterial bleed a professional tourniquet is the fastest tool to effectively save a life. It is cheap and light.

In my purse I have things I use almost daily for myself, my friends, people in the grocery store, the kid at the park, and even other medics that have their combat gauze, but nothing for their hive break out.

These I have everyday, everywhere I go and have replenished time and time again: aspirin, Ibuprofen, Benadryl, band aids in various sizes, Benadryl cream, 2 epi-pens, small gauze pads, small roll of tape, small scissors, tweezers, and small antiseptic wipes.

There is nothing wrong with carrying 5 tourniquets and 24 rolls of combat gauze or any other item one wants to carry. There is also nothing wrong with not carrying this or that. This isn’t a “What you should carry” post. It is “Hey, this is what I carry now” post. As my life and needs change, I may very well write a new post with a whole new set of items. Who knows?

24 thoughts on “Do You Even Blog?

  1. I’m so happy to see you back!!!

    I’ve found that the more daily experience I have, the smaller my kit got. I now carry things that are very similar to yours. I don’t carry a purse, so I don’t generally have a first aid kit on-hand, but I trust that unless something really, really disastrous happens, I can improvise. Of course, now that I’ve said that, I’ll stop at an accident on the way home and need the tourniquet I’m not carrying.

    My EDC is very basic: my Glock 42, a spare mag, my tube of BalmShot, and a pen. There is a temptation to turn my CanCan holster into a Bat-belt, though, I won’t lie. It has so many pockets! 🙂

    I’m glad you’re back, A Girl 🙂

    • Thank you! Thank you! Your support and kindness, both as a blogger and as my friend, has meant so much to me! I sure hope that you did not encounter an accident on the way home:)

  2. Whew! I thought it was only me. I too have chilled a bit. Although I never carried to your level in terms of additional gear, I am a little alarmed at my current attitude. But I still shoot, carry and pay attention to my surroundings. I am just a less intense. I think your blogging–and lack thereof shows a normal balance. We still love to hear from you.?

  3. Welcome back a girl!
    I enjoyed very much you sharing your awakening to the reality of life. Not everyone has the courage to accept the fact that there are people out there who will do them harm. That they are the “first responder” if they run into one of those people. Or more accurately if one of those people run into them, It’s easy to think, “it will never happen to me” but it doesn’t always pay to believe that. I’m sure sharing your story has helped send others on the right path. Keep up the good work.

  4. Worthwhile explanation of a culling process designed to fit your life and style. Thank you for sharing this. Most folks are over-supplied (when they are supplied at all). You, OTOH, reached that point where practical knowledge is more valuable than gear, generally. And weighs far less. And adapted. Bravo Zulu.

  5. Welcome back. Hope it’s to stay or at least semi regular. Good information. I think the obvious question is whether you still carry the M&P and do you plan to upgrade to the 2.0 when it becomes available in the compact size?

    • Thank you!! I do still carry the M&P. I love both my full size and my Shield. I don’t see myself changing anytime soon, but I have learned never to say never:)

  6. Welcome back.

    A Soft-T tourniquet is one constant in my pocket, always. The rest of the IFAK stuff varies depending on situation.

  7. Welcome back!

    Right now, my IFAK consists of a stock “day-hiker” kit from REI. It doesn’t have a tourniquet or 27 rolls of Quik-Klot or a defibrilator or anything else, but for my experience level, it’ll do. Better than a shirt-tail, at any rate! What I would really like to find, however, is a small rectangular case, about the size of a .45 mag, that opens length-wise. I have two spare Springfield XD 9mm mags that reside in a nifty two-mag pouch I picked up at a local Army-Navy store, and works wonderfully for the purpose, but I’ve been toying with the idea of ditching one of the mags for a smaller IFAK that would fit in one of the pockets. Just toying, mind you, cuz my employer doesn’t allow carry at work, so usually only have them on me on weekends and after-hours, when I’m generally around other kits. But, its a fun thought-exercise, coming up with what would fit in there and what I would conceivably need (no, as much as I use Excedrin, an entire bottle is *not* necessary. Nor are extra filters for the coffee pot….)

    • Hi! Good to hear from you!!

      Have you check Maxpedition? They have some great small pouches that can be carried by themsleves or molled onto a backpack.

  8. So glad you are back! It’s good to simplify. I have a good kit at work since I’m on the office emergency response team, but I don’t carry much more than band-aids with me.

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