“Our MD Steve Bray says “”Given the amount of time I spend visiting various capital cities around the world especially London and Europe; I thought it was about time I started to carry a personal med kit with me at all times””.
Following the recent and terrible terrorist attacks in Paris Brussels Nice Munich Istanbul and New York I have become concerned that if I got caught up in such an attack that I wouldn’t have any kit with me to help the injured. I also had a slightly selfish motive as I might also need some med kit to look after myself if I was one of the injured; after all the military have taught us that ‘self-aid’ is often required in these situations. If I was travelling in my car in the UK then I would almost always have a boot load of equipment to cope with most disasters but if I was travelling on the tube or using an airport then I often have absolutely nothing with me.
Today I decided to address that and come up with this small med kit that I would be happy to wear on my belt whilst travelling around London whether that was while wearing my business suit going to a meeting or in my jeans and a t-shirt on a day off. I also wanted a small unassuming kit that airport security would be happy for me to carry on to an aeroplane as a passenger without all the alarm bells ringing.

So I sat down to work out what kit I wanted to carry without it ending up the size of a backpack. I thought I would also try and restrict myself to 10-12 essential items that was a lot harder than I imagined. Well I certainly wanted a few bits of kit to control severe bleeding such as a good heavy duty trauma dressing a tourniquet a haemostatic dressing and something for facial burns. I also thought about a Pocket Mask but decided against one as CPR was probably going to be out of the question in a mass casualty incident. But then I thought about it again and added a simple face shield as I was more likely to come across a cardiac arrest than a terrorist attack. I also thought about some eye wash but left it out for now given the problems that airline security has with liquids. Having said that straight away I’ve run into more ‘airline problems’ as my kit now includes shears a liquid burn dressing and a chemical lightstick. No one said this kit was going to be easy; I guess some items are just going to have to go into my hold luggage if I’m going on an aeroplane but at least I’d still be left with some useful basics on my person.

I’ve tried desperately to NOT come up with just another small ‘first aid kit’ so no plasters or antiseptic wipes on my list. This kit is purely a few life saving items in order for you to deal with finding yourself involved in a terrorist attack or a mass casualty incident or what the Americans often refer to as an ‘Active Shooter’.

Here is the list of contents for my suggested kit:

1 x DR/826 – T6 Trauma Dressing
1 x IN/921 – CAT Tourniquet – Black
1 x DR/658 – Celox Rapid Haemostatic Gauze
1 x BU/023 – Water-Jel Burn Dressing – 10x40cm
1 x SI/142 – Piranha Tuf Cut Shears
1 x RE/004 – Size 2 Guedel OP Airway
1 x RE/011 – CPR Face Shield (Vent Aid)
2 x DP/138P – Pairs of Non Sterile Nitrile Gloves
1 x DR/163 – Roll of Transpore Waterproof Tape
1 x AR/170 – White Chemical LightStick – 8 Hour
1 x BL/001 – Foil Blanket – Adult Size
1 x DP/801S – BioMask Face Mask (PPE)
1 x PE/037 – Safety Specs/Goggles (PPE)
1 x FA/646TB – Parabag IFAK Belt Pouch in Black

Once I had decided on my final list of individual items that I wanted to carry I then had to choose a pouch or bag to keep them in. Well as we all know the choice of bags pouches colours shapes and sizes is endless in the SP range. First of all I thought about using one of our bum bags but then decided that this was probably a little too big and not really low-key; although for customers who decide they want to add extra items and need something a little bigger then I would recommend looking at our Parabag Bum Bags. The pouch I chose in the end was our Parabag IFAK Pouch in Black. It can be belt mounted but also easily removed in an emergency. Its black colour is relatively inconspicuous and it doesn’t have any of our usual silver reflective or neon yellow fluorescent markings. It also has some great little pockets and elastic loops inside to help organise and keep everything tidy and secure.”