Written by: Greg Ellifritz
Dann from the God, Gals, Guns, and Grub blog hosted me two weeks ago for my Tactical First Aid and System Collapse Medicine class. Dann has a great facility and he filled it up with 21 eager and insightful students. I had a great time teaching all day.
Yesterday, Dann posted a review of the class on his blog. Some of his thoughts are below:
“While there are a lot of people interested in treating gun shot wounds and suturing severed limbs back into place… the content that Greg presents is applicable and adaptable to just about everyone from those concerned with preparedness, to those gearing up for tactical encounters, and to those just wanting to further their knowledge and training to deal with severe injuries and bleeding… like the kind that comes from gunshot wounds. Truthfully, in the rural area where we live… a severe injury or laceration is not that uncommon and on a good day we’re at least twenty minutes or more for a volunteer or paid first responder to show up on scene…. therefore, always reminding us that we are our own first responders.
Additionally, Greg and his terrific assistant instructor Lauren, demonstrated many common methods of assessing and treating injuries based on the most recent Tactical Combat Casualty Care protocols and provided opportunities for everyone in the class to practice the appropriate application of bandages, pressure dressings, clotting agents, tourniquets, and even suturing and stapling of lacerations… with willing patients from the poultry section of the grocery store.
Greg also spent time imparting knowledge and wisdom about what is acceptable to do and what is not, like when you’re crossing the line into practicing medicine, which is illegal. He also offered extensive information and examples about various types of tourniquets, first aid supplies, medications, and resources to build your preparations in these areas. The old adage, “like drinking from a fire hose” aptly applies here, and fortunately Greg provides a CD-ROM to each student packed with thousands of pages of information and resources that I’ve been diving into this past week and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the knowledge available.
Beyond being an excellent instructor who is engaging and interactive, Greg backs up all of his content with statistics, references, comparisons, examples, and demonstrations of actual items so that each student can come to their own conclusions… but usually, Greg’s conclusions are already right on track. He also provides some graphic, but real images and situations that he uses to teach and also assess his students in their progress of understanding and applying the protocols, techniques, and supplies he’s discussed and demonstrated in class.”
Read the rest of Dann’s excellent review at Tactical First Aid and System Collapse Medicine instructed by Greg Ellifritz.
While you are their, check out the other writing on Dann’s blog. He puts out some very insightful articles for anyone interested in home and family protection.
Thanks to Dann for hosting me and for the great write up! If you are interested, my next local medical class will be held at Blackwing Shooting Center in November. I hope to see some of you there! You can also contact me if you want to host a similar class. Class hosts get free seats and a percentage of the total class tuition. You can make some serious cash if you can arrange a facility and have a group of 15-20 students I can teach.
If you would like to read more articles like this, please sign up for my email updates.
