What Medical Info Should you Keep on Your Kit?
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- Blood type patches are huge in the 2a and tactical community, but reality is that, unless you are in the military, they are almost completely useless. So in this week's video I discuss what information is actually helpful to keep on your kit.
I’m O-. This explains why I was “highly encouraged” to go to every single F’ing blood drive on post. I did get donuts, Coca Cola and got to see hot nurses each time and I got out of PT. Good trade.
Same here. I have a buddy who’s wife worked at a blood bank, once she found out I was O neg, she called me everytime I was eligible
Hot nurses? Damn, wish I was O neg. 😂
I'm opos and was also "highly encouraged" and gave blood every other month since boot. Never got soda for it though, just little juice boxes
im O- as well, however after i got documented hart problems and started taking meds all i had to do was tell the person on the phone that people will die if i donate blood, only took a few months and no more calls. I went that route because telling them "i have a documented heart issue and I'm taking meds, i can not donate" just didn't seem to get through their thick skulls
Lol yup
You're getting type O, you're getting type O, and you're getting type O.
Type O is very rare. If anyone has type O blood they should definitely donate.
Omw to juice some typ O POWs and feed them iron supplements and sugar cubes.
Yessir. I donate ~6x a year since 2001. Minus 2 deployments and almost a whole year during covid quarantine. @@notnog
@@notnog I am type O, never donated willingly. Only when I was a POW 😂
I hope so because I'm O-. And I have an O- patch on my vest 😂
I'm O+, the most common blood type at ⅓ of the population. I'm up to 15 pints donated, almost 2 gallons.
Go do your part people, give a couple of pints over your lifetime. There's nothing more amazing then the full realization that you gave your literal life blood to save a stranger dying on a table somewhere. Humans may do horrible things, but nothing in nature can compare to the wholesomeness of donating blood.
im O- so I wanted to donate. I have overall very good health, but very low blood pressure. I passed out while getting a blood drawn for a blood test, I don't think I can manage getting a pint drawn
I’m O- but the red cross doesn’t want my blood because I kiss men.
Does plasma count? I sold plasma to make rent a few times
@@LocalDiscordCatgirlThat still makes no sense.
Literally anyone can havr an STD, not just boykissers.
@@AverageHistoryEnjoyer1914 it's a remnant from a more homophobic time. You're very likely going to live to see that disqualification be taken away.
ER doc here, the number of non trained people bashing you in the comments is astonishing 😅 for the record everything you said is 100% correct
keep up your good work !
The part about pregnancy was not.
Yes, it was.
@@pipp972 What exactly do you consider wrong?
Because rh+ (as in O+, or A+ etc...) in a woman of childbearing age will not be an immediate issue. It puts one at risk during a following pregnancy and only if the partner is rh+ causing an immune response against the foetus
So...?
Agreed 💯 and welcome to UA-cam where Monday morning quarterbacks, keyboard warriors, and armchair psychologists express their arrogant obstinate stubborn incompetence and gatekeeping in abundance 24/7/365.😉👍
I work in a level 3 trauma ER. Within literally minutes of you coming into a room, labs have been drawn to include type and screen if it is even suspected you may need blood products. Totally agree with the allergy patches and alerts as well
Oh so you don't just give everyone type O blood?
@@Rex_Starborne Emergency release is performed for all patients regardless of type if we don't have a valid type and screen. In an emergency release you give O pos or O neg, uncrossmatched which means we skip the clerical and potentially manual crossmatching process. Assign it to them, dispense it, give the blood usually as quick as possible. We get a type and screen after, and use the patient's plasma to manually crossmatch it with a small amount of the unit of blood we saved. If there's no reaction then great, the person is not going to potentially die. If so, that was an accepted risk of emergency blood to be honest.
If we need to give someone a unit for standard anemia we first get a type and screen, then crossmatch and assign them the unit and the nurse comes and picks it up at their leisure (usually hours later lmao). In my lab we keep O, A, and B, and usually more pos of each than neg since Rh-negative is a recessive gene. If either of your parents have pos, you will have a positive blood type. Both have to have a negative blood type for you to be negative. If you're AB, you can get A or B or O blood, and AB negative is a universal recipient.
@@jupitersscourge Hey, just wanted to thank you for confirming O+ can go to most folk. Used to donate all the time, my favorite lunch place had a blood donation center next door. Kind of fell out of the habit when I stopped having money, and figured O+, while popular, wasn't as handy as O-.
Now that I know better, I'll try to get back into the swing of things. On the off chance my blood saves a life, you and this channel deserve the credit. ^.^
(As a gimpy creature, I assure you, flopping down and chilling for a spell is most of my experienced, and needles aren't anything to fear. It's transport that's a snag.)
If you have the time and inclination, if O+ can go to most folk, who can't it go to?
@@dracodraco1982
People you would prefer not to give O pos to: Anyone with a negative blood type. The first time a negative blood type is exposed to positive, it will develop antibodies for the next exposure, so it works without complication ONCE. If, say, a mother with a negative blood type has a baby with a positive blood type (father being positive for instance) then she'll develop antibodies to the next baby's D antigen.
That second child can straight up die because mother and child share blood. Her antibodies will cross the placenta and just go to town on the baby's red blood cells, causing massive hemolysis. This is way more severe for the baby than it would be if we accidentally transfused her with positive blood, since ALL of the baby's blood cells will be attacked.
@jupitersscourge yes, but that complication is easily and safely mitigated with rhogam. If a patient has developed antibodies from a previous exposure they still probably won’t experience a hemolytic reaction in the presence of severe trauma simply because their immune system is so depressed. We only carry O+ on the helicopter and give it regardless of demographic.
As an emergency doctor I can't emphasis enough how important the things PrepMedic said in this video are. Appropriate treatment gets delayed way to often because someone is brought into the ER and we don't have any information on the medication that is taken on a regular basis and the chronic diseases a person has.
Also having those informations stowed in your bug out bag is paramount. If you bug out and get sick/ill and there is a doctor, this will help him treat you.
Great video!
Hey if you don't mind me asking ik he said blood patches are not helpful but I got a card from a blood drive that's says my blood type would this be anymore helpful or would I still get o+
@@troysasser1517
One problem with the patches is, they are not personal. If you borrow a vest/jacket from a friend and he has his blood patch on the vest but now you are wearing it, you would get the wrong blood.
When you have an official blood donor cart (with your name on it) it's different. But it has to come from a certified laboratory.
In my hospital, if it is an official blood donor cart (not older than 2 years) we can use it. Normally we have to do two separate checks in order to give specific blood, but with the card we would only do 1 and use the info of the card as the second. So if you really need blood fast (in an emergency) you still will get 0- or 0+
The laminated 'kill' or 'casualty' card was the standard for USMC recruit training.
I didn't understand why it was uncommon amongst fleet units. The only other time we did them was during one training 'deployment', they also had to be in the left brest pocket on everyone.
We got cheaked for them a few times and there was always someone who lost thiers....
We do it in the fleet and is often a requirement
I am O+ so checkmate, patch installed. Oh and feel free to use my blood if I don't need it anymore.
Actually can’t use a corpse for blood
@@robertschultz6922 it's the Internet bruh. Don't take it so seriously.
Is being a posthumous blood donor even a thing?
@@Orphican is being alive but in a coma even a thing... Dunno, but it's the Internet so try not to think too hard, don't want you to hurt yourself.
@@user-zn7nf5rk2syour original reply was dumb, your reply to people calling you out was even dumber. The internet doesn’t need more dumb people. Behave pls
Ohhhh this is going to ruffle some feathers of those “tacticool operators” out there 😂
As Jocko would say, “Good.”
Exactly my thought. lol Bunch of wannabes...
Your tone is super special. What did you hope to accomplish?
Males get unmatched O POS, females get O NEG. Cross matched if time. (Gave 10 units today)
@@mrmicro22 I was trying to accomplish nothing honestly 😂
I’m O neg and have been told I should only accept O neg blood. But I think the point here is that the medical personnel treating my trauma will be the decision makes for saving my life and I’d rather deal with a mild reaction than deal with being dead if there is no other choice. Keep up the great work. Love your channel.
Yup that’s why all hospitals in the us carry ample supplies of O- and O+ blood
Absolutely, you should only receive O negative blood, ideally cross matched because there are multiple other typing proteins other than ABO
Thanks Doc. I'm no mecical professional but I didn't even know O+ was a type of universal donar. Only that O- is helpful and that's why I've given close to 30 gallons donated in my life time. And honestly, I keep my patch on my gear and gun bag not for someone to trust the blood type, but just to give them a hint that they may want to be cautious about the blood type I may have. I have been typed in a hospital for on hand donor blood for a friends open heart surgery because they were O- also. So I know the O- is accurate. I also wear a RoadID bracelet identifying a phone number or web site that you can get all my med stats in a matter of about 2 minutes. I understant that first responders are pretty familiar with road ID at this point. @@doctordaveairborne5476
“minor reaction” bro that’s gonna kill you
@@UnstoppableForces Not in all cases.
The antibodies associated with the D antigen (the main antigen of the rh group) aren't inherently present in D-negative patients.
Also, there is far less risk with receiving the wrong blood type if you're actively bleeding out, since that tends to weaken the immune system.
It's common for trauma centres to administer O-positive blood without knowing the patient's blood types. Do you believe that they are all guilty of murder?
solid, vital info that is overlooked by 99% of people. Thanks for the info
I’m a medical student with military history for more than then 3 years, and I really agree with him.
Even in the army you are given only plasma or universal donor blood, because of the severity of a mismatch blood perfusion!
Why is a patch telling you to be positive a bad thing?
I was a combat medic in the 75th Ranger Regiment. We had a program called "Ranger O" and I believe the full name was Regimental O Donor Low Titer Combat Blood Program or something along those lines.
We were authorized to directly transfuse fresh whole blood from a non wounded Ranger into the Ranger who needs it, right there on the spot, in the middle of nowhere, in the yhe middle of a fight. There was no lab to confirm type, just whoever was O- come forward, if we had no O- Rangers on the mission, you check the blood type patches of the Rangers who were there. "I need everyone with a B+ patch to roll their sleeve up because the guy bleeding is B+ and dust off aint coming yet because we are still taking fire."
That was why we wore them in A Co. 1/75th during the GWOT.
Anything else is just decoration, especially if youre a civilian in the USA.
Doctor here: One minor addition, please tell us your food allergies as well. Some medications are soy based or have things similar to nuts inside.
Excellent info, to say the least! Wow. I just discovered this channel a few days ago and so far I am impresses with the amount, quality and way of delivering valuable info the host presents on each video. Well done sir, kudos and keep up with the superb work you are doing.
I'm a licensed security officer G in Florida FDACS.gov since 2000. I disagree with some of this content but a few points are valid. If you are a sworn LE officer or armed professional, you can learn or be aware of basic first aid, trauma care 🚑. You can wear a blood type patch if you choose. Or carry a tourniquet, IFAK 🏥. Not everyone is slobbering moron or mall ninja.
@DavidLLambertmobile but what’s the blood patch getting for you. A med pouch and bleeding control items are actually effective and can be implemented with very small amounts of training. A blood patch? It doesn’t do anything for you.
@@PrepMedicYou are operating under the assumption that no medical personnel are going to take a blood type patch seriously.
Why do you assume this as a fact?
This is great information since I personally have been tempted with wanting to display a blood type patch (civilian here, not an official of any kind). Also with the medical history...it would be much easier to have things written down. Thanks again for the info!
This is so detailed, yet so quick and to the point. I really liked this video and you are a great speaker! Have a good day.
One thing I would definitely add is any medication you take on a regular basis, especially any blood thinners. Also, if you have an Advance Directive, have that listed and either a location that will have it and will be accessible (if it's on file with your local hospital, and they have an ER, that's an option or having it available with a very solid emergency contact or two is another option) or even having a copy of it.
Also, as a trauma ER registrar, I can often find your social with just your name, approximate age, and state you live in. There is absolutely no need to carry that.
Great info and well said! One thing I would suggest adding to the card is info on any advanced directives or DNR if you have one. The ambulance/hospital won't be able to honor it until they see the signed paper but if you put it on the card they'll know to ask your emergency contacts for it. (Just make sure your emergency contacts have access to it)
My family experience is that advanced directives simply aren't looked for and ignored if staff are made aware of them. This has also happened to someone with DNR tattooed on their sternum who had an observed arrest whilst an inpatient. He had been extremely explicit on admission about his wishes too.
The only exception seems to be late on in palliative care and not always then. I suppose it has to be this way just in case but it's frustrating when people take the effort to do an advance directive
Legal advanced directives must be adhered to. In most states this is a signed document by the patient and a physician. Unfortunately just tattooing “DNR” on your chest does not constitute a legal directive and the medical team is required to treat the patient, even if the patient verbally states they want nothing done prior to requiring resuscitation.
@@PrepMedic I should have stated that my experience is in the UK. It's not easy to get a legal advanced directive and not infrequently ignored. Good to know that the US is more consistent
The reality is if you get a bad enough hole in in you that you're being carted off to the emergency room the first responders aren't taking off your plate carrier gently and retaining it, they're cutting that shit off with strap cutters or shears and leaving it there, likely even if you have QD's on the shoulders and cummerbund. Your patch is never making it with you to the hospital and likely neither is that card if it's stored behind your plates or in a pouch or pocket. Keep that card on you in a way that's obvious if you want it to matter
Religious affiliation patches can be very helpful. For example, if you have a JW patch they not only know what to read to you, they also know which blood type you want
JW patch? That would just mean no blood. Or does JW mean something other than Jehovas Witness?
@@rivenarchon333 That's the joke.
As a lab tech that's worked in Blood Bank for both military and civilian hospitals, I'm going to correct you on one thing about your statement of O Pos being universal. It's not. However, if you are an Rh Neg you can get it one time (the whole incident not a single unit) before you develop antibodies and will have a transfusion reaction in the future.
However, another caveat to that, if you are bleeding out that fast, the transfusion reaction isn't that big of a concern anymore since you are bleeding it out faster than the reaction will occur. Also, the first few units will give Blood Bank time to perform a Type Screen to determine exactly what blood type you are, and from that point you'd be given O Neg, or depending on your blood type, A or B Neg, units as possible. The type and cross will be occurring even if it's after the fact for emergency release blood units. There's just a whole paperwork thing telling the doctor that we haven't done them yet and any reactions are solely the fault of the provider giving blood so that the lab cannot be punished by our certifying groups.
As someone with a blood type patch on my jacket, I don't care, it just looks cool
but thanks for the video, really informative
EDIT: Addendum to the last part of the vid, at least I'm 100% sure about my blood type, never though some people might put on an almost random one
It's alright. It let's me know from a distance that you're a phony idiot.
In this life one should never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
It doesn't.
It makes you look like a military wannabe.
@@GuitarGuy057 can make me look like a Tyler Durden for all I care, still gonna wear it
Hi.
My opinion from a German prospective.
Here these patches are not so common. The military used to have the bloodtype on the dogtag but I’m not sure if it’s similar today.
But sometimes someone has it on the west/platecarrier, I used to see this in person only one time. The person was a, you would call them a SWAT like unit.
Normally they all will get type O, it’s my experience too.
I think one of the best ways is the iPhone emergency document. (Or similar things)
It’s not really for a military environment but in the normal live it could be very useful.
My experience is, the security and healthcare agencies(in Germany called BOS for Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben) actively look for it when they see an iPhone.
I have done it myself a few times but in my „active years“ similar things aren’t as common as now.
Thanks for the video. Best wishes from Germany to all of you and always come home safely.
I keep a similar card in my IFAKs as well as my wallet (because not every medical emergency happens while kitted up). Of course it has my name, DOB, allergies, preexisting conditions, and emergency contacts, but also the medications I take daily for my condition and its major drug interactions. One medication I was on previously could cause life threatening side effects when taken with opiods, which is definitely something I'd want my care team to be aware of after a traumatic injury.
I have an ICE app with all that info on my phone and then some. It's accessible from the lock screen. I am a hiker, and I also have a RoadID on my watch band. It has my name, DOB, spouse's & adult offspring's names & phone #, major diagnoses, NKDA, and a contact #for the rest of my info AND copies of my advance directive
I have blood type patches. The blood type info on it I assume to be correct because it was done by the Red Cross blood bank where I donate blood. It is also written on your donor card. Why I don’t wear them anymore? I grew out of that „tactical everything“ phase. Also, having spoken with a lot if medics and now being involved with the local VFD, I now know that nobody outside the military cares about those patches. Friends of mine with medical conditions wear a „dog tag“ type necklace with their name, the condition as well as drug allergies on one side, and the „Star of Life“ on the other side.
O+ is also a universal donor (and not just O-)? Is there a study/reference that shows this? Couldn’t find anything online and would love to learn more about it. I get that Rh+ is much more common but it sounded like you’re saying that pts with Rh- blood can also receive O+. Is that the case? 1:19
rh- cannot get + blood, but rh+ can have both.
Fat Cat, while that is traditional teaching O+ blood is used very regularly for emergency uncross matched transfusion. We only carry O+ on our helicopter. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37698202/
@@PrepMedic oh, thank you
Blood types are on the dog tags or on you kit aren’t taken as gospel in the military healthcare setting. What it does do is act like another piece of information to verify you got the right patient. You have a super common name like mine you can get confused for someone else. Wrong charts do get pulled. That’s why you have several lines of info on your dog tags. Additional information is never a bad thing when it comes to identifying your patient.
They can receive it once without complication. You aren't born with antibodies to the Rh antigen.
As a RN who is A&E and ICU and former military, this is solid information. If I see someone on the range with a NKA or NKDA patch, then this guy knows his/her stuff - period.
I go with having a Medic Alert bracelet on my right wrist, this links to a searchable database that holds my specific medical information that you listed and most first responders in the Western World are trained to spot and act on the logo of the bracelet.
I also have this info listed on an ICE (In Case of Emergency) app made by the St John's Ambulance on my mobile phone that's accessable from the lockscreen without a passcode!
Even in the military that blood type tag is useless.
Only acceptable way is lab testing. Anything else is a transfusion related incidiendo waiting to happen lmao
Yet units still require it in their SOP's
Eh I think it’s just one of those things where it doesn’t hurt to have and it could hypothetically save a life
@@henryschmidt485 oh I agree with you. I’m saying that units still require it as a counter argument to mikes useless comment.
@@henryschmidt485, it's not going to save a life. If your medic is carrying blood it's group O low titer. If you're in a SOF unit that does walking blood banks, the ROLO/ SOLO protocol is for a member with group O low titer to start their vampire bag.
The hospital will not give you anything else until you're cross typed and matched. Even having it on the dog tags is pointless, and a military study showed that a significant amount of blood types on the dog tags were incorrect.
I don't know about other branches, but the army definitely gets your blood type because it's on your dog tags! That's what I go off of. And of course being a Red Cross donor I know as well. My point is, a lot of the people who are putting blood type patches on their kit may actually know what their blood type is!
However, a lot of the civilians that do it do it because they saw it on the military uniform and thought it looked cool. Back in the day, they made us write it in sharpie on our boots!
Funny story, a study found a lot of dog tags in the military actually listed the wrong blood type. But yeah, I think you are right about civilians doing it for the cool factor
We also run blood typing in the hospital because if youve had a blood transfusion in the past you can actually have really weird antigens in your blood. So if were going to give you something other than o+/- it has to be right on the money.
In the EU in med school they tell us not to give Rh+, since it will still cause a reaction. Might just be a difference in region, but somehow I doubt it.
As for pregnant women - we have an additional two groups tested due to reactions they can cause, not just Rhesus.
I think the patch is useful if there are no universal blood packs left and you need someone with a specific blood type.
Got a blood type patch on one of my jackets, rather a decorative element covering some velcro. Having some background I know it’s useless but many don’t so thanks for bringing this up!
Pretty useless in a hospital but not so useless if SHTF and you need a transfusion and someone has the needles & tubing to do it and there is potential someone with your blood type that you could be connected to.
In the military they might do something called a walk blood bag, universe donors on standby to conduct a blood transfusion. For field transfusion you might end up relying someone with the same blood type depending on who's available within the team. Dog tags, zap cards and patches are good additionally medics also carry field expedient blood type testers.
Just curious, why was it important to have our blood type in the military and it isn’t important as a civilian? Great video tho!
Walking Bloodbank strategy. All soldiers in the unit are type-tested and issued blood type patches. Then, in case of need for immediate transfusion, they line up or radio in for all specific blood type to report to medical. There, they test the volunteers again to confirm and send them off to transfuse blood from them to casualty.
Removes the need to test the entire unit when bad things happen and hope you get the appropriate blood type within the first 20 people.
Testing strips would not be available, so no way to intro people into the system and no way to ensure they didn't trade patches because they matched one guy's initials or something.@@Callsign_Sturm
@@Callsign_Sturm With testing strips running out it becomes unfeasible.
Civilian medical procedure is to just give type O neg until the patient's blood type is known. I assume military docs operate differently.
@@coolidgp It's the same. This is just a contigency in case you cant get the blood over fast enough or there's a shortage. Helicopter medical teams obviously have no time to look for donors among the birds, so they store type O on the craft.
Even IF you put an Eldoncard on your kit I highly doubt any civilian side hospital is going to believe it’s accurate. Got into the discussion with someone that has their blood type on their kit and I tried telling them that non military it’s useless bc EMS in the city doesn’t support a walking blood bank.
I am limited in knowledge but, the only things they really care about is medication you absolutely need to function, allergies, and next of kin. Most of this you can get stored on your state ID. I do and having a back up card isn’t a bad idea.
When UA-cam showed me the preview of this video, with no audio, I thought for sure you would sound like Jeff Foxworthy.
🤣
I wear mine because my blood type is B POS and its a reminder to Be Positive. =)
I wear mine so people know I'm a piece of shit
I’m not exactly excited to have someone’s blood going through me but I’m a Grandfather and I have a Pibble 🐕 that would be destroyed by me passing. I’m not sure what my type is either.
I do have extensive Emphysema and COPD. I get winded immediately after two steps walking. I would probably list that for a possible complication.
Thank you for your advice and thoughts. I appreciate your time. God be with you.❤️🖖🏼🇺🇸
Worst thing i ever saw in that regard was at an Airsoft event.
Dude had an "(don't know anymore) NOPEN"-Patch, so i ask him about how life is with such an allergy.
His answer: "Huh? Oh no, they just didn't have the normal Patch anymore so i got this instead"
With what I do…blood patch and NKDA are on my kit next to TQ. If I’m at the range I will have an INSTRUCTOR patch on my vest since I’m the instructor for everyone. Outside of the range that INSTRUCTOR patch comes off and only blood type and NKDA are left on kit attached to vest.
It’s a good habit, I know my blood type and if it gives me a higher than 0 chance of someone getting me my type and saving my life. I’m doing it anyway.
Being that you have never been in combat I have a problem with this video and your attitude. I was in a lot of combat over a 24 year period..I wear mine on several different items because I feel comfortable with it, I like it and I don’t have to justify it to anyone. I really like your updates and classes
on new and improved equipment and new protocols and techniques and I think you do a great job teaching and presenting them. This video I feel like you’re injecting your personal feelings into a subject that really never needed to be addressed.
Oh, you can do what ever you want but the fact, not the feeling, is that a blood patch in the continental US does nothing for you.
@@PrepMedic you don’t get it…that doesn’t matter…combat vets do a lot of things that won’t make sense to you. If they want to wear a patch and that makes them feel good that’s all that matters.
We don’t have to justify it to anyone or need someone talking down to us about why we do it.
I would think that if you got medically screened for the blood type, you should consider the patch. If you got shot up and need trauma care, there's a chance you might not be alone, and in an extreme situation, if the hospital is in triage, I'm sure that could save time and resources.
May be pointless, but I’m keeping them anyway, especially because I got tested before I bought them
same, i'm a universal recipient and it's annoying cause they could give me almost anything they have in their supply and save the universal donor supply for those who actually need it/don't know their type.
i do get the whole 'could be wrong' thing, but at what point do we stop making 7% of the population carry every emergency transfusion need?
maybe the supply wouldn't be a geopolitical event away from a shortage and not be so paper thin
@@TarsilyWasTaken exactly, people should know their type from the time they’re kids. I remember when we were gonna have a blood type lab in school, and it got shut down for “safety” and we had to do it with grapes. I only found out because there was a blood drive and it had free typing
Here’s the thing though, we have recently started using O+ blood for emergency transfusions with almost no increase in transfusion reactions. While there are some down stream effects, they are still easily mitigated.
@@PrepMedic my main concern is the O-/+ supply. i don't propose a solution cause i'm not far beyond a layman on this subject, but it seems inefficient and puts a significant donation strain on the universal donor population to support the emergency care mission. it works until it doesn't, and then there's an emergency shortage.
obviously there's a logistical nightmare of matching types and not being wrong, which i don't have a solution for, but i don't think the status quo is it. i'd love to hear your thoughts, though!
@TarsilyWasTaken fortunately O+ is 38% of the population. Add that to the 7% of O- and you have almost 50% of the population able to donate for emergency transfusions. The issue in a healthcare setting for type and screen is not accuracy, its speed. It takes time to cross match blood, especially with the safety measures we have in-place in US healthcare so logistically it is far easier to get an O blood type. It’s also not feasible to deploy every blood type to the field when we are discussing EMS and military applications so again O reigns supreme.
I have my military dog-tag on me, that have my civil registration number and blood type, on a chain around my neck under my clothes. With that number, it is possible to quickly find my medical journals in my country. That dog-tag also have one more marking on it, the heraldic symbol of our armed forces, so that you can find what country I'm from.
Personally, I'd add information about being a registered donor as well... Also, I think it'd be wise to keep your current medication regimen on there (especially if you take non-prescription medication daily).
The religious information is definitely important (a lot of people without military background wouldn't think about that)
Great (and useful) video!
Even in military settings you run their blood on an Eldon card if there’s no more O- and you need a transfusion from a squad mate.
The only spot I can see this as potentially beneficial is field expedient blood transfusion, when there is no hospital and you're relying on "backwoods nurses" to help transfuse direct from another person instead of an actual hospital or trauma center. I'd rather them take a gamble on identifying who could be used to transfer blood to someone else by what info is found on the patches instead of just giving it a shot and seeing what happens. I also fully recognize the chances of this being almost none and how unlikely it really is, but if the grid collapses and getting to a hospital isn't possible, having that little extra possible chance to survive something could be a benefit.
No one who would even do a field transfusion would trust a patch.
I donate blood often and im 100% sure of my blood type. I got a couple patches that has my correct blood type and NKDA on it, so I can have one on my helmet, PC, and shirt. Don’t really wanna throw away $60 worth of very high quality patches of accurate information to replace with ones that only have NKDA. If I didn’t know my blood type from hospitals and the red cross then I would replace them
I usually have literally all medical info, my whole medical history and everything, printed out and laminated then ducttaped to my back. :D
I recommend at least an A3 size paper.
Another scenario where the blood type would be wrong is if the vest isn't yours.
Nice to know you were swat cause i actually got a vaild question... Say an officer is in trouble gets shot you were able yo neutralize the threat.. are you allowed to give medical treatment to said cop
I am O negative. Patches on my gear even as a civilian veteran say O neg and NKDA, and even have it tattooed on my arm just above where an IV would go. Despite this, after an accident, they confused me for another patient in the ER and gave me A+. Nearly died.
Blood type patches are useless in the Military as well. We do not give type specific blood based on any patch. We type and cross pre deployment. The patch means nothing.
Huh
They’re not though
I've known my blood type since kindergarten because by dad was in the air force, and they screened each member of my family. It came in handy later when i needed some blood after an accident. My folks kept an envelope of our emergency papers in the glove box from our physician to speed up the process. I never joined the branches, but maintain a medical kit and envelope (for my wife, kids and self provided by our family physician) in each of the cars i own. I do not understand why more people do not do this. Reduce your medical response time and emergency costs
Mainly because it doesn’t actually speed anything up. They will still type and screen you before moving you away from O blood.
When the definition of mass casualty event is like 20 people, sure. If you're dealing with casualties in the hundreds, like Las Vegas, or something like a stadium collapse, maybe it would be necessary. I'm not saying it would make much, if not any difference, but having blood type on a driver's license, might be useful. I think unless the person was in the military, had their dog tags on them, I don't think I would risk taking their word. However, seeing as whole blood is pretty much the standard of care for good reason, that might be a voluntary measure worth exploring until such a time artificial O- blood can be effectively introduced into the logistical system.
But, the probability that you become a casualty while wearing your gear and are treated by a medical unit prepared and willing to provide whole blood that also doesn't have time or equipment to check is about zero for individuals and only slightly higher for independent organizations. Might be a good reminder that 'These violent delights have violent ends.'
until you have someone wearing their bf's tags or grandpas. I'd take the word from a Photo ID and maybe a patch if it was an actual LE/MIL.
I’m O- so I keep an O- patch on me so I can be sure I get the right blood. I’ve donated plenty of blood over my lifetime and I’ll keep donating as long as I can.
Probably what prescription drugs you take and when. Especially blood thinners or centrally acting. I put my Eldoncard in my IFAK and wrote my type on the rip away Velcro with a sharpie. Probably a fantasy, but that’s there for field transfusions from a live donor.
😢 And I soooo wanted that patch for the cool factor 😂 Thanks for an informative video. Noted!
I'm AB POS w NKA, and, have it inked on me, have for 20 years. Got that after taking a round to the head in the sandbox, about 21 yrs ago. Been shot once more in the plate. Over there, I was encouraged to have that and other identifying info on me. Literally. Here, yeah, it's superfluous in the civ div.
Ehhh… I’m B+ so for me it’s more about being a funny little morale patch for “be positive” more than a blood type
I wrote nkda on my ifak and I’ll add “med info in pocket” on there too when I make a med info card bc if someone is treating me they’ll be looking at my ifak most likely
Funny thing is most people probably rocking Blood types are probably wrong, I know people who’ve been in for years go get labs done and turns out their blood type is different than what their tags and soldier profile say
Edit: nevermind he did cover it lmao
I’ll say I disagree that having blood type displayed is pointless. Reason is while O is transfusion standard, there are many cases when O isn’t in supply, or the patient isn’t in a position where O blood can’t reach them resulting in emergency transfusion from team members or people around. Had this happen in Afghanistan actually on the FOB where there was a large amount of casevacs and more coming in from an IED chain, and there wasn’t enough type O on hand. They immediately began calling over radio channels for troops with all types of blood because they needed everything they could get and I was one of a small handful with type O. This could happen anywhere. Better to have and not need it, than to rely on the people treating you on figuring it out or getting the correct information. After that I have blood type displayed and red dog tags for my allergies everywhere I went. Easy quick reference.
The blood type is pointless in the military to. You’re getting O blood in emergency too and if you need more you’ll be type and screen too. More than likely won’t have plate carrier on by time you get blood anyway
Great job brother. As usual alot of useful information.
God bless
What should you keep on you? Allergies, definitely. My name and DoB can be found on my license, my emergency contacts can be found on my phone, but I might want to consolidate all that stuff into a single card or something. If you're an organ donor, you might want to make that prominent as well. I'm planning on keeping my internal organs on the inside for the foreseeable future, but if I don't need them any more, I'm not all that bothered if someone else can find a use for them. Blood type? That's much easier to test than your stance on organ donation, your emergency contacts and your spiritual needs. If I'm abroad, I'm definitely keeping my insurance information handy.
I knew it was completely pointless when I bought one, it was just for funsies. I do keep the NKDA patch though just because I know the nurses well enough to trust I’m not that dumb. That’s on my EMS plate carrier though.
I do have my medical information and emergency contacts on my iPhone but that’s on providers to think to check that
Its one of those difficult situations of "what is this for"
I have it for the military and my blood type was tested by them. I'll still keep it on my gear stateside because I see only two scenarios I'm wearing body armor stateside.
I've been shot at the range. During which the paramedics can happily ignore it.
Shits gone absolutely pear shaped and that stock of O is being or was nuked by the dozens, if not hundreds, of other people being triaged.
--------------
I'm not flopping on kit to check out a bump in the night.
I'm not doing vigilante shit.
The list of armor up situations where I'm not in some shit hole somewhere are:
Civil unrest
Red Dawn
Zombies
Aliens who don't want to just erase us from orbit
__________
As for the casualty card, I keep that where people doing first on the scene shit are going to find it.
In my IFAKs. (I have two for specific reasons)
Hell I'll put one in each and another in my wallet.
What about for a regular citizen? Where should they keep that info? Would somebody look for, or into, a wallet or cell phone case, or something along those lines? I would imagine, but may be wrong, that they would look for an ID of some sort in a common location, so maybe have it near the ID?
I'm also LE but nothing too cool, so where is the best spot, with my creds?
Lots of injuries in combat. If you're gonna be given blood, its not always gonna be the universal type, supply runs low when everyone is getting shot. Blood is spilled and you better make sure your blood type is on your tags or your apparel because that vest with all the fancy patches and weight will be coming off and the corpsman is not gonna look to it for reference. Wear your blood type for when SHTF, your buddies better do the same as one of them may need to donate to YOU. Not everyone is O
Perfect, thanks its true ppl no need "blood tags".
So, what would you recommend for military personnel for their personal kit? I generally run my issued kit when I am at the range doing any sort of training, and generally always have that kit in my vehicle with a weapon of some sort (unless on installation) in case the need arises. If I have a unit patch or an identifying patch that shows I'm military that also includes a blood type, would that be taken at face value?
Finally, i can larp with percision now
In my case I'm O+ but I have a card from the Red Cross saying so, from when I donated blood awhile ago. If I'm dying then people can have the rest of my blood.
2 emergency contacts. Well shoot. Now I gotta find 2 people that wanna know that kinda stuff about me lmao.......... 😂
I definetely know my bloodtype since my time in the German Army plus i´m a blood and plasma donor :)
Im surprised you didn't list/ mention or say anything about DNR wishes.
In the civilized parts of Europe, ambulance and other trauma-situation doctors only need to know your insurance number to get to this information - medical records and also information filled by you
It took me a lot of effort to find my blood type. Got excited and got the badges… was thinking of writing it on my boots… guess I’m done wasting effort in this regard.
I personally keep in my wallet my allergies but also what kind of anesthetic I respond to. You could inject me 5 times the normal dosage of Lidocaine and I would not react at all. My dentist try it... I'm also not responsive to several others anesthetics... So I explicitly specify to use Ultracaine blue or green.
my dog tag and my blood donation documents have the same bloodtype so i feel safe with that.. so in that case why not have a patch if the person is sure of their blood type
The real question remains why you would have a patch 🤷♂️. Even if the info is 100% correct it does nothing.
It could be part of medical history but I kind of missed current medications. Like drugs you take every day.
I tried to do a card for the information but i relize that all of that information is in my driver license, so just gonna carry it for edc as a civilian
Someone I know used to say it’s like changing your cars oil, need fresh blood to keep the body kicking 😂
But why not make that blood type patch with an rfid chip…. When you go to the doctors for an annual physical they review and download pertinent care directives to said chips, as well as print a hard copy. That way anyone with a smart phone can view info, there is no miscommunication due to human error. It’s not just a laminated card that isn’t discreet if lost. And you can keep i multiple patches on your persons so if you take a round to the carrier and it destroys that patch, the one on your ifak is also usable. Even if it’s covered in your blood.
I also put ORGAN DONOR on my medical card. Get my parts to someone who can use them.
Speaking for the military, your blood type patch doesn't mean anything there either. Not even your dogtags.
I knew a lot of soldiers with one and all my units made me sew it on our helmet.
A lot of soldiers don't actually know their blood types. Even the ones who think they do. And even then, sometimes troops have to borrow gear, and sometimes they carry the tags of someone important to them.
If you are taken to a trauma facility capable of blood transfusions (and require one), they will test your blood there before giving you any.
All it takes is 4 drops on a blood typing card. We see how it reacts in the 4 quadrants, and that determines your type. It only takes about 30 seconds.
Im O+, but i aint giving unless i get a fair pay for my resources, life is expensive if i have a resource someone wants they can pay me for it.
Wow, I didn't know there were so many experts on this subject in the world...judging by the comments section, there are A LOT.
EVERYONE is a bloodbanker now 😂.
You wear a blood type patch because you think it'll help, I wear one because I want to. Granted, my blood type is confirmed correct by medical records and it's listed on my CAC card, which is carried in a pouch just behind where the blood type and NKDA patches are.
Glad I'm not the only one to think this way. I know the military will do their things, but in the civilian world, a typing has an expiration date.
Regardless I carry a blood type patch on me at all times. But I knew my blood type at eleven years old.
We have government issued chipped card with Name, rank, ID, corp blood type are shown but also hidden info are squad or unit number, chronic disease, allergy both food and drug, past addictions, medical history. We have ID in clothes tag. And ID is enough since it’s on database. Before medic gonna do anything they‘d run ID first. And I am soldier number 69 in my company, Nice…
Serious question. Why is blood type not taken at your word but NKDA is? Can’t drugs be just as harmful if someone is allergic and not aware of it?