Written by : Greg Ellifritz
Take a look at this picture from the firing line at a recent Sentinel Concepts carbine class I took. It was the final run during a man-on-man shooting competition in Steve Fisher’s class. What do you see?
Take note of the belt pouches. Both Steve and I are carrying materials to treat gunshot wounds on our person at the firing line. The other shooter had med gear too (in an ankle kit).
When you are training with guns, occasionally people get shot. You are crazy if you are shooting and don’t have the right medical gear and training to save an accidental gunshot victim’s life. You need at bare minimum a tourniquet ON YOUR PERSON whenever you are shooting guns. You may not have time to get to the “big kit” you carry in your car.
By training with a defensive firearm, you are practicing becoming more self-reliant and less dependent on the nanny state to care for you when something bad happens. Consider this logical inconsistency. You train regularly with your weapons to become more self sufficient but then you have “call 911” as your only contingency medical plan? That’s the equivalent of having “I’ll just call the police” as your only plan for defending against criminal violence. Cognitive dissonance anyone?
If your med plan in the event of an accidental shooting on your range is “I’ll call an ambulance,” you don’t get it. Being able to effectively manage a shooting range calls for a far more robust skill set and knowledge base than just being able to “run your gun.”
Guns shoot bullets. Sometimes those bullets hit people that you really don’t want to shoot. You all need to understand how to patch the holes and stop the leaks so your patient doesn’t die before the medics arrive.
If you are taking a gun class and your instructor isn’t packing med gear, that instructor is ill prepared to handle emergencies on his range. If you aren’t given a short medical briefing before the shooting starts, your instructor is being negligent and hasn’t thoroughly examined all the issues that one needs to consider before teaching a gun class.
If your instructor has overlooked this critical issue, there are probably hundreds of other issues he is ill-informed about as well. Why would you trust him with the information he is providing about shooting the gun?
A good instructor needs to do more than just shoot fast and accurately. He or she has to manage all the other aspects involved in teaching a class, including what to do if one of his students gets shot.
If your instructor is haphazard about medical preparedness on the range, you need to find a new instructor. You deserve better. That’s why Steve Fisher charges $425 a weekend for his classes and the local NRA instructor struggles to fill his $50/a day basic concealed carry course. The extra money you pay to train with a top-tier instructor provides you access to the kind of priceless knowledge and security that the local McCCW instructor will never obtain.
Choose your gurus wisely and carry med gear when you shoot.
