You’re probably getting tired of us telling you that you need to have a medkit.
Well too bad. You need to. In your car, your go bag, in your office, and probably even on your person, you need to have the ability to patch holes, control bleeds, and save life. We’re not just talking about the context of a gun fight or back alley knife duel, but car accidents, workplace accidents, and everyday mishaps require you to stop bleeds, open airways, and save lives.
Enter, Rescue Essentials. You may remember the Rescue Essentials 5.11 UCR IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) review we did a while back. We loved that kit, and we love this one just as much.
The Rescue Essentials EMT Lite rip away kit – does just that as you’d imagine. It can be work on a belt, pack, or strapped to gear and be ripped off when you need it. Before you even rip it off, you can access a wound, cut off clothing, or cut through a penny with the EMT shears included. Once you rip it off, the hearty zipper glides open and you can access all the life saving accouterments that live inside. In fact, I’m still floored by how well thought out the internal compartments are, and how space efficient it is. In a kit that’s only 6x4x4 inches, you have the ability to TQ a bleed, deal with a thorax puncture wound, decompress a tension pnuemothorax, pack a wound, and more. You get a twin pack of Hyfins, a CAT Tourniquet (one of my favorites), a 28 french NPA, 2 NAR compressed gauze packs, double pair of gloves, modular bandages, and of course shears. All of this tucks neatly away.
One of the most complete and yet space saving kits we’ve reviewed, I especially like this once because it can treat pretty much all your bang-bang, stab-stab injuries as I refer to them, and then some. This is NOT a boo boo kit, this is a trauma kit, and should be loaded out as such. It differs from the 5.11 UCR we’ve reviewed in some minor ways, the most apparent is this one includes a decompression needle (which you NEED training to use!).
Pros, what we like: The efficiency of space used on this is outstanding, and you get a full trauma kit to deal with bleeds, sucking chest wounds, airway collapses, and more in a 6x4x4 package. What’s more is you get a CAT TQ, one of the TCCC rated ways to stop a bleed, in addition to several pairs of gloves. It’s well put together, and good to go.
Cons, what we don’t like: The only thing it’s missing is a SAM Splint, but for the size and the money, this is one of the best IFAKs out there. Get one.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Gear Review: My Medic Shield IFAK
Gear Review: Rescue Essentials 5.11 UCR IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit)
SGPT Gear Review: First Edge 5050 Survival Knife
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alex Castiglione lives in Atlanta, and is an avid outdoorsman and competitive shooter.
Where-abouts include getting after it in his garage gym, practicing martial arts, hitting the trails, or running CrossFit and Strongman competitions for his non-profit which holds fundraiser fitness competitions dedicated to aiding Bully breed rescues, dog rescues, or other non-profits with similar missions.
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