TQ use in Atlanta, GA
I've been asked by several LSM alumni and others for my thoughts on this video. Obviously I can only go off of what is in the video. I will add some points for you to consider as they relate to this video. Hopefully those injured during this event in the video are well and can return back to their lives soon. I say that as an advocate for peace and patriotism. The views and opinions expressed below do not represent any of the persons or companies mentioned or linked below. These are my own thoughts and opinions.
From what I can tell, it looks as though there was some sort of protest or rally that turned violent. An unknown number of people began shooting. The precise location the shots originated from nor the direction of fire are known to me at this time. After a few rounds are fired, a young adult while female with dark hair and dark colored clothing appears to have sustained a single gunshot wound to her left upper leg. Due to the limitations of the video, I cannot identify an exit wound. The injured woman does not seem in much distress and is seen sitting upright and texting on a cell phone after the CAT tourniquet is applied, incorrectly. The shooting does continue well into the second video. A few other protesters in the immediate area rush to her aid, unfortunately they are unable to render appropriate medical assistance. There are several people standing around shouting, filming on their cell phones, or talking to someone on their phones. I am unable to determine if any of those people are on the phone with a 911 operator.
Here is the link to the two videos. Please note, I could only find these videos through Twitter and have no affiliation with the persons or accounts who posted the video or shared it.
Warning, both videos have vulgar language.
Video #1
https://tinyurl.com/y8jl2coa
Video #2
https://tinyurl.com/ydbbmh4z
1. Violence is currently happening across American cities right now... a little bit more than usual. It doesn't matter if you are prepared or not for it; "violence" just don't give a darn. Violence doesn't care about location, race, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, species, wealth, political affiliation, or eye color. THERE IS NOTHING WE CAN DO TO PREVENT EVIL OR VIOLENCE FROM EXISTING! If you do not accept that fact, then stop reading; there is nothing further for you to gain from this post. However, if we can agree on that fact, please continue reading. There are plenty of things we can do to restrict the amount of carnage during or following an act of violence. If you’re interested in some of those options simply ask us in the comments, give us a call, or shoot me an email. I’ll point you in the right direction.
2. If you have not taken a FREE (yes, a FREE gosh darn class!) Stop The Bleed class; you should. This short and sweet course will teach you how to apply a tourniquet, wound packing techniques, and how to apply a pressure bandage. It’ll even show you how to control major bleeding even if you don’t have a TQ, wound packing material, or a pressure bandage.
The STB class is a great start on your road to learning life-saving skills. Better yet, drag a buddy to the class with you when you go. https://www.stopthebleed.org/
Take two hours out of your busy schedule and make learning how to save your life or someone else’s a priority! There are literally classes being held all over the planet. Obviously due to COVID-19 there have been some classes rescheduled, but there are plenty of online resources available.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for everyone to come take a Lone Star Medics course. On average I visit a dozen or more states each year throughout the US. If you don’t see us coming to your part of the world, let us know, we’re always looking for hosts and facilitators. But I really don’t care if you take a class with me or not; just please, pretty please with a cherry on top; go take a class from a reputable instructor teaching applicable skills that meet your specific needs.
3. It ain't the odds of something bad happening to you... it's what's at stake! Meaning that, even though the odds of being the victim of a violent attack may be fairly low for you. What should get your attention are the stakes; i.e. your life or those lives you're immediately responsible for. I'm paraphrasing what a buddy of mine taught me a few years ago while listening to his lecture at Rangemaster's Tactical Conference. Which is another phenomenal, inexpensive resource for gaining vast amounts of knowledge on protecting yourself and loved ones. https://taccon.info/
4. Kudos to this woman for having some medical gear with her. I'll give her that much credit. However, of those 10 points I'll give her for having the TQ in her bag; I'll deduct nine points for not having a darn clue how to use it correctly. Having the gear or the tools is only one third of the solution to being successful. I firmly believe that it takes three things to be successful in anything. You must have the right Mindset, Education, and Tools. This woman had the right Tool; but not the correct Mindset or Education. Neither did any of the bystanders who desperately wanted to help.
The tourniquet in the video is a CAT and it looks like it is a legitimate model; purchased from an authorized retailer and not some counterfeit tourniquet. It was in fact applied incorrectly. Since we don’t know the full outcome of the woman nor have access to a patient report from a healthcare provider who treated her; there is really no way for us to know the extent of her injuries. Nor can we conclude whether or not the tourniquet, even applied as such, was effective at reducing or stopping any amount of hemorrhaging. Was a TQ an appropriate choice? Keep reading and pay attention to number nine.
Side note: Notice no one had a handheld flashlight or headlamp. They had to use the little dim light on their cell phones in order to render aid. SMH… I can’t get people to stay properly hydrated; why would I expect people to carry a small pocket sized quality flashlight in their pockets. LOL
5. If you're the type that still relies on other people to save you; i.e. "I'll wait for EMS/Police/Fire/bystanders to come to my rescue." You need a serious reality check! Now, I'm not knocking public safety officials here, I'm just saying they can't always get there fast enough. That woman in the video had all sorts of people running over to help her; yet not one of them really knew what to do to help. Meaning, everyone there was worthless and helpless, including the injured woman. She had absolutely zero ability to save herself, let alone anyone else had the situation been reversed. She and all the bystanders present in the video absolutely have the capability to save lives though.
Another reality check for most folks is that Fire/EMS are going to have an extended response time to this medical emergency. They are going to stage far away from this event to keep themselves safe. Sure, some police officers MIGHT have some recent medical training and MIGHT have some medical gear with them. Just keep in mind that most officers (not all) may not be in the biggest rush to help someone that was just throwing bottles filled with urine or gasoline at them. Did we mention there is a global pandemic going on, again, Fire/EMS/Police may not be in such a huge rush to come to your aid.
You are responsible for your own life! What makes you think someone else cares more about your life than you do?
Take these two videos for example… plenty of capable people present, yet not one person was able to render appropriate medical aid.
6. Not all of the curriculum from the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) program applies to everyone. That program was originally designed for military medics/corpsmen working in combat environments with military assets readily available. So if you’re not a combat medic responsible for the treatment of soldiers on the battlefield; then don’t waste everyone’s time taking that course. Instead, take a course that provides applicable skills and contextual knowledge specific to your needs or risk assessment. Yes, there are plenty of tidbits that the TCCC program can be applied to activities or missions outside of a combat zone. Just keep things in perspective when searching for a class or instructor. Key words are “applicable” and “context” when searching for who to take a class from.
7. Upon receiving her injury, the woman simply stayed put. She made no effort to move to cover or concealment at any time. Again, her Mindset, Education, Tools were not up to par for a violent attack. No matter if the bullet caused a physiological stop or a psychological stop; she stopped. The first treatment plan in a situation like that is to move from that immediate location. In the military we refer to that principle as “Getting off the X.” “X” marks the spot where you or your team where located when the enemy initiated the attack. That just happens to be the location of where casualties are born. Even in all the chaos there is one definitive… standing in that spot sucks; so it would be a good idea to move off that “X” or spot before rendering aid or doing much of anything else. In the second video posted above, you can hear bullets continue to zip by even after the TQ was applied and everyone was on the phone. (Calling for help from the very people they were just two seconds earlier chanting obscenities at.)
Every man, woman, and child in America should know what cover vs. concealment is and how to identify and utilize either of those two. And yes… we already live in that kind of world where this is needed. We have been for some time now.
This woman stayed out in the open after being injured. She should have moved or been moved to either cover or concealment immediately. By doing so, she would have limited being shot again or even possibly ran over by a vehicle trying to rapidly leave the area. In other videos, we’ve all seen where once one person is “taken to the ground” several other violent attackers suddenly appear and join in on the beat down. This is why I push my students so hard to learn different manual drag and carry techniques in my classes. I could go off on an impressively long and thorough rant about the need for learning different patient movement techniques. I could also use plenty of recent events (just in the past 10 years) as examples of why drags and carries are important. Unfortunately moving a patient from point A to point B using any technique is not any fun at all.
8. “Street Medics” as they’re being referred to are… interesting. After doing a bit of homework on who these folks are, their credentials, objectives, etc. I’ve come to the conclusion that they are using the term “Medic” rather loosely. Not everyone running around these violent events claiming to be “Street Medics” are not actual healthcare professionals. Some are nurses, doctors, EMT/Paramedics; but most (at least from the limited research I’ve been able to find) are laypersons who have attended some sort of “hip pocket” training from a like-minded friend who happens to be a healthcare professional. From a purely intelligence gathering perspective, it should be noted that the fact the members of these violent outbursts are organized enough to have medical support. They also are prepared enough and organized enough for a level of violence to need their own medical support. These violent attackers are not to be taken lightly and should be considered dangerous.
In another video of the same incident, you can see what looks like a generic “first aid” white box kit with bold hand painted letters saying “Street Med Kit” on it. Should you decide to assist someone who is injured during a peaceful protest turned riot; I would advise against grabbing any type of container (little plastic box, ifak pouch, backpack, homemade looking first aid kit, etc.) with the words “Street Medic” on it. If it ain’t yours, don’t touch it. The volatile state of some of these violent groups puts them into the dangerous category and may very well use deceitful tactics to spread their chaotic violence.
9. Did the injury require the use of tourniquet? There is no way to know by watching the video alone. In order to make that decision there are several variables that come into play. That being said, after watching the video several times I would recommend her using a TQ in that particular instance. I would also recommend that she seek cover or concealment first, if possible, prior to rendering aid. Who said the rule was that you had to visualize copious amounts of blood squirting out of a limb in order to use a tourniquet? It is a good guideline, but not the only requirement. Some traumatic amputations produce very little blood (in perspective) by the time someone with some medical training shows up to help. Just because you don’t ‘see’ it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Clothing can conceal external bleeding; so having a rescue cutter in your med kit might not be such a bad idea. Science and medicine is a smorgasbord of variables; variables that may seem tiny and insignificant but in fact can be huge deals.
It is not possible to accurately calculate blood loss by visually assessing blood on the ground or on clothing. The good news is that a well-trained medic/EMT/Paramedic can downgrade the TQ should the patient and environment meet certain parameters. For now, most of us should just apply it correctly as quickly as we can and leave it on.
10. Know your location! Right this second, if you had to call 911, could you tell the 911 operator your physical address or nearby cross intersection? Now imagine trying to do so under extreme stress, at night with limited visibility, maybe in a part of town you’re not familiar with, cars speeding past you, shots still ringing out, bullets zipping by, and a mob of angry violent people running around you. You know, like in that video. Here is an article that may help: https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/location-location-location/
Hopefully this helps some of y’all out and answers a few questions. Please remain vigilant out there. Listen as much as you speak. Take care of each other out there and for goodness sake… drink water!
- Caleb Causey, Lone Star Medics
If you still have questions or comments, put them in the comments section of the LSM Facebook page that has this article posted. Sometimes the blog’s settings don’t always share all the comments, but I track comments on our Facebook and Instagram pages pretty regularly.