“When you can’t kill, you are always subject to those who can, and nothing and no one will ever save you!”
Orson S Card
The Thick of It!
It is likely that we, and/or family member(s), will be injured via gunfire during a lethal-force incident within which we find ourselves (despite our best efforts to avoid such circumstances)
We thus need to plan on being our own “rescuer,” and our own “medic.” We must grant ourselves authority to act at the critical moment, upon our own summary command and judgement, when only we can!
Of course, we emphasize first incisively neutralizing threat(s) in order to stop the harm, yet we will nearly always be subsequently confronted with carnage that we were unable to prevent.
A compromised femoral artery will lead to death within just a few minutes, unless tourniquets/IBDs are applied immediately. A “sucking chest wound” will be similarly lethal, unless a chest-shield is applied without delay. It is unlikely EMS will arrive within that window. Even then, police will not allow EMS personnel to approach while the scene remains unsafe. This is precisely what happened at Columbine, CO in 1999 and Uvalde, TX in 2022.
In the interim, wounded are on their own, and as noted, delay is lethal! So, wounded must be expertly treated straightaway, at the scene, by themselves or by friends/family who are present, long before EMS arrives, even long before the scene is “secure.” In addition, wounded may have to be subsequently evacuated and transported to the ER, by themselves or by friends/family, in private vehicles, rather than waiting for ambulances. This was surely the case during the Las Vegas, NV mass-shooting event of 2017.
The time to think about the foregoing is now. Operators must always be in a position to look after themselves, and those in their care.
As noted above, we ever stress avoidance, but we have to be continuously prepared for those instances where, despite our most sincere efforts, we find ourselves in the thick of it. Even then, threat(s) can be quickly neutralized (by Operators who go armed), and most wounded can still be saved, but only when the dauntless are present and are trained, equipped, and unhesitant about doing what needs to be done!
/John
