© ITS Tactical
One piece of kit everyone should have while going downrange, hiking, climbing or pretty much any activity today with current state of things, is a good trauma kit.
A trauma kit is not your standard first aid kit. A trauma kit has one function: to begin the treatment of the three leading preventable causes of death in the field: hemorrhage, tension pneumothorax and airway obstruction.
For the past few years, we've all been carrying one trauma kit: the ITS Tactical ETA Trauma Kit.
This is a simple, well thought-out trauma kit. And while you need training to properly use this kit, its packability, adaptability and the extremely versatile pouch you can get from ITS Tactical, makes this kit stand-out over many we have tried.
I carry one with me in the car (FatBoy), and one with me on the field (TallBoy). I carry them inside my ruck on urban projects, and attached to either the plate carrier or the belt when I'm on the field with the Mil or LE.
What I really like from the pouch is that you can attach it horizontally or vertically, and the one feature I can't stress enough is the fact that you can open it, one-handed, while it is attached. A couple of years ago I had to use it on the field, I reached out my buddy's ETA Kit and opened it with one hand, while I was dragging him with my other hand.
We all carry it in the same location, and we all add a SOF-T Tourniquet and shears.
Having all the guys in the team carrying the same personal trauma kit, on the same place, and the same setup, helps a ton if you have to use theit kit to render trauma care under fire or stress. You practice with yours and you are ready for them too. It works for all the team members.
The pouch comes with two Long and two short MALICE Clips for Mounting the pocuh on MOLLE (horizontally or vertically). I don't particularly like them, but they hace their uses if you want a safe attachment on your plate carrier, ruck or vest.
On the car I chose the FatBox since it's shorter and easy to store in the glove compartment or the arm rest in the middle. I had to use it last year when a motorcycle crashed into a car near an intersection I was driving. I exited the car, with my kit, and used the QuikClot and and the bandage to stop a serious gush on the driver's leg. When the EMS arrived I was applying pressure and together with the QuikClot managed to stop the serious bleeding.
Overall, we've been using the ETA Kit since ITS Tactical introduced it a few years back, and we are going to continue to use it.
Highly recommended.