New first aid kit includes eye protection, strap cutter
The Army is now issuing to Soldiers the more robust, more streamlined "Individual First Aid Kit II" as replacement for the older kit which was built inside an ammunition pouch for a Squad Automatic Weapon.To get more news about
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The IFAK II contains all the supplies of the old kit, with the addition of a second tourniquet, a tactical combat casualty card to annotate what kind of first aid was applied to a wounded Soldier, a marker, an eye shield, a rubber seal with a valve for sucking chest wounds, and a strap cutter.
The kit fits inside a custom pouch that can be mounted out-of-the-way on the back of a Soldier's Improved Outer Tactical Vest.
"That's typically low-rent real estate there," said Maj. Peter Stambersky, assistant product manager of Soldier clothing and individual equipment at Program Executive Office Soldier, Fort Belvoir, Va. "Guys don't use it too much."
The pouch has "US IFAK" printed on its rear, so Soldiers may easily identify its contents, Stambersky said. The individual tourniquet pouches also contain customizable, removable tabs that allow Soldiers to hand write their blood type or unit on the kit.
While the new first aid kit can be mounted on a Soldier's back, it is designed to be easily accessible when needed for both right-handed and left-handed Soldiers.
The IFAK II can be removed from its container pouch from either side by pulling on one of two tabs and slipping it out of its case. The tabs also have small "flaps" on them, so that when a Soldier is reaching for the kit, he can get some tactile feedback that lets him know he is pulling on the right tab, Stambersky said. When removed, the foldable kit remains attached to the pouch by an elastic tether.
The kit also comes with two removable tourniquet pouches that can be mounted to the kit, or to other parts of a Soldier's gear. Stambersky said Soldiers might even remove one of the tourniquets from its separate pouch and store it in a cargo pocket on their uniform pants, or in a sleeve pocket.
"You can take this out and walk around with them in your pocket, which a lot of guys are doing in-country now," he said, while waving the un-pouched tourniquet in the air.
The kit is already in Afghanistan in small numbers, as part of a previously initiated limited user evaluation involving 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, out of Fort Polk, La. In September, units at Fort Bragg, N.C., received the kits through the Rapid Fielding Initiative in advance of their own deployment.
Stambersky said the Army added the Tactical Combat Casualty Care card and a small Sharpie marker to the kit as a way for Soldiers who have administered first aid to a fellow Soldier to indicate to follow-on medical professionals the kind of assistance that was rendered. The card, once marked, is meant to be attached to the uniform of the afflicted Soldier. The new method, he said, is better than the old way.
"What you would do if you found me on the battlefield and you applied a tourniquet to me is you would write that on this card and attach this to my body," Stambersky said. "In the old days, the technique was to take blood and write 'T' on your forehead. But that will get smudged with sweat or water; it'll rub off."
Also included in the new kit is a rubber seal that looks much like a stopper to put over a sink drain, but with a valve in it to let out blood. The seal is meant for Soldiers who are suffering a sucking chest wound. That happens when a bullet, for instance, has pierced their chest and lung, and as a result of the new hole they are unable to properly draw air into their lungs. In the past, Soldiers might have been directed to bandage a Soldier's ID card or other piece of flexible plastic over the wound to cover the hole. The new seal now fills that role.
