Safety heads-up (not Grendel)

[LRRPF52]

In Oregon, this is how LEOs were trained. Never take your eyes off the threat, re-holster by muscle memory. I could see both sides of this argument. My favorite Thomas Sowell saying; "There are no solutions, only trade-offs."

If an LEO is re-holstering while within effective harm/kill range of a threat, it should probably only be done while his partner(s) are covering the threat with their weapon(s) before he goes in to handcuff/restrain.

The thing I like to avoid is feeling rushed to jam the pistol back into the holster like I’m still on a shot timer, placing safety over speed in that small moment in time, get a good confirmation that something isn’t going to be an obstruction, then securing back into the holster while maintaining finger outside of the trigger guard.

There was a recent video where a female officer shot a compliant motorist with his own CCW Glock, just because another officer had made the decision to administratively disarm the motorist while the ran his info. The guy was totally-compliant, notified officers that he was armed, exited the vehicle to help them go about removing the firearm with his arms up, then the female officer snatched the trigger while it was pointed at his leg.

He had it in an IWB clip holster that they for some reason were unable to remove while still in the holster. It was a demonstration in abject incompetence around firearms, resulting in a totally-unavoidable ND and serious injury into an innocent motorist who presented no threat to them.

I get very uneasy when I see incompetence around firearms, because I have 4 extra holes in me from an uncommanded discharge from a Smith & Wesson 659 my buddy had.

That particular 2nd Gen Smith had a tendency to de-cock in the firing mode, which warranted a recall of them. It went through-and-through my right knee and left leg, just below the knee, resulting in 4 drinking fountain-like heavy venous bleeders. Looked like a cartoon. No bueno.

[lazyengineer]

The main thing that sticks out to me is that after-market trigger. How light is it?

Light enough that when it was dropped back into his pocket, it was easily-activated, regardless of what it hit.

Better to learn from other people’s experiences than yourself.

That picture was horrifying.

I only carry factory condition trigger guns. Usually a P99 in double-action mode, or an LCP (where the trigger pulls back the hammer prior to release). I'm of the opinion people apply "range-sweetness trigger" specifications to CHL pocket-carry pistols - in error.

On another note, I'm starting to question the whole: "modern 9mm JHP = .45ACP" because I don't think there's a 9mm round out there that would have done that.

As an aside, I was expecting this to a be a P320 thread.

[Klem]

Lazy,

Looks like they've cut down the leg and debrided the bruised tissue along the crush trail. There's clear gauze over the bone area so this photo must be post op. At the time it's likely to have been an entry and exit hole. Only a guess but it might be a while before they fully close it, to prevent infection. Lucky it wasn't a rifle round.

Seeing we're talking safety, we carry Blow-out kits when shooting on a range, not just in the field. I carry an IBD in a trouser pocket (Israeli Battle Dressing) and have the main kit in the Range Bag. Normal first aid kits are not much chop so it needs to be dedicated to gunshots.

Contains:

2 x 1.5" CATs (windlass tourniquets).
2 OLAES sterile vacuum dressings.
Wound packing with hemostat (Quick Clot).
Plastic seal for sucking chest wounds.
Tegaderm
Steri strips.
Scissors
Elastic bandage
Swiss Army knife
clean wipes and gloves

The OLAES is the US equivalent to the IBD. I prefer them because they include wound packing material, whereas the IBD doesn't. But as you can see the IBD is a little more compact. They're both good and purpose-built - sterile and vacuum packed. Priority of a Blow-out is stemming the bleeding by packing or dressing, and off to the hospital.

Each to their own but when it happens you won't have much time to improvise or go looking for one.

Contents - Copy.jpg Blow out - Copy.jpg

[LRRPF52]

That’s a great point to bring up med kit for range work. I carry a medic bag in my vehicle with lots of ABCs.

I have a vest I made where I carry an IFAK I designed and made. Mine are padded with Cordura on the outside, closed-cell padding, then 400D packcloth on the inside.

I made a mid-wall that doubles the mounting space for med kit, so an IFAK is like a mini blow-out Aid bag with full retention for every component.

I spent 18 months at the JSOMC at Bragg, so that drives my approach to how I want my med kit packed and staged.

[Klem]

Nice one.

No pre-hospital pain control as our Government strictly controls Schedule 8 drugs - so no photos of a syrette. Our ambulances are pretty quick to attend and have this, unless you are out bush.

Speaking to a US operator recently who was taking about their use of Ketamine. Said it beat opioids hands down for pain relief without the addiction.

[LRRPF52]

I don’t do well with opioids in a pre-hospital or clinical setting.

I’m fine on a fentanyl drip, which is a synthetic opioid.

We used to use ketamine at JSOMC but we don’t talk about the context. IYKYK

Another topic that comes up with this is to have a medical evac plan for your shooting events, in addition to first aid supplies.

Knowing how to stop bleeders is important. If you learn just the major vessels, it sets you up to be able to know how to stop bleeders better.

BTW, those vessels are actually as large as they are depicted in this diagram:



Heavy venous bleeders can be stopped with a pressure-dressing, even though most people are teaching to just go to TQ nowadays.

The color of the blood is noticeably-different between arterial and venous. Arterial is bright and pinkish with pulsating pressure, whereas venous is dark-red like everyone is already used to seeing.

I didn’t even go into shock when I was shot, and I had 4 drinking fountain heavy venous fountains pouring out of my R knee and L leg just below the knee, with the floor looking like a Godfather execution scene.

When I snapped my achilles tendon in 2017, I definitely went into shock. That was way worse than my 4 GSWs, so brutal of an injury.

This is a good time to consider taking some TCCC-like courses for those who haven’t.