Armed Citizen Tactical Medicine

What were your reasons for taking this course?

Because this course was combining firearm training and tactical scenarios with how to stabilize the wounded while staying in the fight, I thought this would be a good course for my husband and I to attend.

Do you have any medical background?

My husband is a practicing physician.

Where was the course held, and was there any shooting in the class?

No, there wasn't; and that was the main reason that I wanted to attend with my husband. The course's location was moved from Front Sight to the Nevada Treasure RV Resort last minute, making us unable to use our firearms. We used the conference area for all of the lectures and went outside for a couple of drills in the gravel lot next to the main area. There were also some demonstrations in the conference room with a volunteer from the class to help explain the lecture.

What kind of tricks did the instructor teach the class?

He taught us how to make tourniquets with whatever we had on hand, like a scarf or a ripped t-shirt, and then tightening it with any long, thin object on hand, like a pen. He also taught us how to use a credit card or a driver's license to create a seal, in case of damage to the lungs to keep it inflated.

One interesting thing that I learned was that if you are in a gun fight and someone gets shot, your first priority is not to stabilize their condition. You are supposed to run for cover and win the fight first, and then tend to the wounded. My natural instinct probably would have been to get my loved one to safety and stop their bleeding, even though it really makes sense to do it the other way around.

In a civilian situation, you would tend to the most critically wounded first but in a combat situation, the military tends to the least wounded first. That way, they can have more men able bodied to help win the fight

General Comments

I felt that it wasn't entirely necessary that we be there in person for this course, without the shooting. I think that we could have done it online with a webinar or something like that.

This course would be okay for someone without any medical background to attend. I was disappointed with the course, because I felt it wasn't as advertised in the course description. I thought it would be more interactive than it was.

However, during the course, the staff was very courteous. In general, they seemed unorganized, but I suppose every new school has kinks to work out. Also, when the use of Front Sight's facilities fell through last minute, the option of either a refund or deferment of payments made should have been allowed so students could have chosen to take the same course at a later date when firearms could be used or apply those funds to a different course.

Our instructor was a member of the medical team of Delta Force, and he had served many tours. His degree was basically the equivalent to being two or three courses away from being a Physician's Assistant, but he had a lot of field experience. There were a few minor factual errors that my husband and I caught, for instance, how many pints of blood are in the human body.

How would you improve the course?

Again, I don't feel like I can accurately gauge the course, because we weren't able to do the shooting portion of it. I mainly would just add that back in.

Approximately how many people attended this course?

About 20

Do you carry a trauma kit? If, so what would you add to your kit?

On a daily basis, I don't carry a trauma kit with me. The instructor suggested that your trauma kit contain the most essential things and be able to fit inside whatever you carry with you everyday. He demonstrated the use of a SAM splint II in the class, and I plan on purchasing one myself. This splint is extremely portable and folds up kind of like a piece of paper. When unfolded, you can mold it to whatever you are trying to splint. In class, he explained that it was important to mold it with a wounded man's good arm, as it would be painful to mold it with the wounded arm.

What equipment was required for the course?

Dave sent out a list the week of the course with a lot of things on it. However, it was mostly just equipment that you could bring with you, so that the instructor could explain how it works to you and demonstrate with it. There wasn't any required equipment. The instructor brought his own trauma kit and passed it around for all of us to look at.

How do you rate this class?

6 out of 10

Do you have any tips for first-time students of this course?

Take notes!

Would you suggest this course to others?

I wouldn't suggest this course at this price, unless Dave was able to find another facility in which he could add the shooting back in.

How did you get there?

My husband and I flew to Las Vegas.

Where did you stay?

I stayed at the Best Western.

How did you handle the lunch situation?

Dave Champion arranged for the Café to make lunches for us at the RV Park. They brought out menus in the morning for us to order what we wanted, and then they had it ready for us at lunchtime.

Do you have any dinner suggestions?

My husband and I drove an hour to Bonnie Springs, because I loved the Bison burgers there from my last visit

What other courses do you plan on taking in the future?

I am already signed up for the 2-Day Handgun Skill Builder, 2-Day Select Fire M-16, 2- Day Empty Hand Defense, 2-Day Edged Weapons, and 2-Day Uzi Submachine Gun courses offered by Front Sight.