Hello my friend and welcome back! In today’s post, were going to look at the Personal Tactical Trauma Kit and what you should have in it at all times. This was a question that was asked by one of my readers and one I think is worthy of discussion so sit back and grab a cup of coffee while we visit today.
The Personal Tactical Trauma Kit or PTTK, is something that every combat soldier carry’s into combat with him. It’s one of those items that you pray you will never need, but if you do, you will be glad to have. Most preppers that I know have one, but there seems to be some discussion about what should be in them. Granted, the last thing you want is another bulky bag hanging on the back of your belt. For that reason, you should be very careful what and how much you have in them. You will want to have what you need to stop bleeding or patch a hole in your chest until you can reach a medical professional, but that is about it. Today I am going to list the recommended contents for a few of these, however the final choice is up to you. Choose wisely my friend!
The first one is a basic bag and in my opinion is a minimalist bag and if you are just out hunting or scouting around your area then it would probably be fine. I wouldn’t want to go into battle with it though. It contains: 1) SOF Tactical Tourniquet, Wide, (1) Olaes Modular Bandage, 4”x8’, (1) Compressed Gauze and (1) Petroleum Gauze, 3”x9”. Like I said, it would be fine for hunting, but not combat.
The second bag is a little more advanced, while still keeping the items to a very minimum. This one contains: 2) Nitrile Glove, (1) Combat Application Tourniquet (C-A-T), (1) Compressed Gauze, (1) Israeli Emergency Bandage, 4”, (1) Nasopharyngeal Airway w/Lube, 28 Fr, (1) Cloth Tape, 2” x 10 yd., (1) Clotting sponges. It contains the basics for treating a gunshot wound as long as it hasn’t punctured a lung. To me it’s like having only half of what you actually could need. It is however still an option and is much better than having nothing at all.
The third choice we are going to look at is a more complete kit and is what I keep in my PTTK with my battle rattle. This one contains: 2) Nitrile Glove, (1) SOF Tactical Tourniquet, Wide, (1) Olaes Modular Bandage, 4″x8′, (2) Compressed Gauze, (1) Bolin Chest Seal, (1) HALO Chest Seal, (2/pk), (1) Nasopharyngeal Airway w/ Lube, 28 Fr, (2) Decompression Needle, 14Gx3.25″, (1) EMT Shears, 7.25″, (1) Permanent Marker, Extra Fine Point, (1) Tactical Combat Casualty Care Card, (1) Tactical Combat Casualty Reference Card, (1) Flat Duct Tape, 1.89″x2 yd., OD.,
(1) Clotting sponge As you can see, it is much more complete and contains all the items you need to have on you while nothing that you don’t.
Whatever you choose to keep in your PTTK is up to you, and you might want to add or remove a few items based on where you live and how high the possibility is of you getting in a gun battle. These are only designed to keep you alive until medical help can get to you. Just remember however that this is not a full blown Trauma Kit for more than one person and should be supported by a platoon size bag for your field medic.
You don’t need to follow any of these list when creating your own PTTK and they are only meant to show you what other people are putting their kits. You do however, need to carefully consider what you choose because in an SHTF world, the chances of there being a Doctor nearby will be a million to one. Hopefully for those of you who do not as of yet have one, this will give you a good idea of where to start when building your own. They are easy enough to put together yourself and a lot cheaper than if you buy the ones online. Whatever route you decide to take to get one is fine, just being sure you have one before it all hits the fan.
Well that’s it for today and I hope I have helped you prepare a little better in some small way. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong, and stay prepared. God bless America!
-The Sargent-
