What’s in your work bag? Laptop? Tourniquet?
If you are a subway commuter, your work bag probably has a laptop, pens, notepad, and iPhone charger. Maybe a bottle of water or coffee cup. A spare USB battery pack or pair of sunglasses. What happens when your train collides with another train at 50 mph splitting the cars open like aluminum cans? During busy rush hour service, hundreds of passengers will instantly suffer traumatic injuries. Arterial bleeding needs emergency treatment in seconds, not 8–10 minutes later when first responders arrive.
An active shooter in an office building results in traumatic injuries. Victims suffering gun shot wounds need immediate treatment to stop the bleeding. In most cases, action needs to be taken before EMS arrives to save lives.
Do you have the basic items needed to take life saving actions in these situations?
Daily Life as a Commuter is Full of Hazards
Traumatic injuries occur on or near mass transit systems every day. Pedestrians are stuck by cars, buses, and trains. People slip and fall down stairs, escalators, or onto train tracks. Innocent bystanders are caught in the middle of physical fights, stabbings, and shootings. Passengers waiting on the platform can be burned by arcing electrical rails, struck by falling concrete from crumbling ceilings, or cut by exposed metal edges or broken glass.
Both random violence and terrorist attacks have targeted transit systems around the world. Attacks have been simple and uncoordinated stabbing sprees in Taiwan, Berlin, Paris, Finland, Taipei, New York City, San Francisco, Portland, and Washington DC. Improvised explosives with varying degrees of complexity and effectiveness were used in London, Paris, and Spain to kill and injure dozens of commuters.
When traumatic injuries occur following a stabbing, shooting, explosion, or accident, life threatening bleeding can be stabilized immediately if you have the right equipment.
Mini Trauma Kit for Your Work Bag
Untreated severe bleeding will be fatal within seconds or minutes. A few simple and inexpensive items can temporarily stabilize most traumatic injuries. All of the following items cost less than $50, can fit into a 1-quart plastic bag, and only weigh a few ounces:
- Tourniquet (that can be applied with one hand)
- Israeli Bandage
- Occlusive Dressings
- Trauma Pads
- Rolled Gauze
- Trauma Shears
- Latex Gloves
If you have the extra space, it never hurts to add a Sharpie, penlight, N-95 mask, alcohol wipes, triangular bandage, and 4x4’s. You can use a bottle of water to rinse smoke and debris from your eyes or quickly irrigate a wound. A basic, lightweight LED headlamp designed for climbing or backpacking would be extremely useful in a dark subway tunnel after an emergency.
Be Ready When It Happens
The Las Vegas shooting will not be the last mass shooting. The Boston Marathon won’t be the only time an improvised explosive device kills and injuries innocent civilians. Trains and buses will crash. Accidents and attacks will happen.
The basic supplies that can save your life — or the lives of other commuters — are simple to use and easy to carry. A mini trauma kit can fit in the bottom of your backpack without you even noticing that it is there.
If a time ever comes when you really need a tourniquet more than your laptop or cellphone, you will be really glad you have it.
David Riedman is an expert in critical infrastructure protection, disaster preparedness, and emergency management. He is a co-founder of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Advanced Thinking and Experimentation (HSx) Program at the Naval Postgraduate School.
